Cabinet split over no-deal Brexit spending

By Steven Swinford

and Christopher Hope A CABINET rift opened yesterday over whether Britain should spend money planning for Brexit without a deal as Theresa May appeared to rebuke Philip Hammond.

The Prime Minister said that “where money needs to be spent, it will be spent” after reports of a “robust” Cabinet row over the issue between Mr Hammond and Eurosceptic ministers.

Mr Hammond told MPS yesterday morning that the UK would not spend money on preparing for a no-deal scenario until the “very last moment”.

Appearing before the Treasury select committee, the Chancellor said that every pound spent on “contingencies” for leaving the EU without a deal was a pound not available for the NHS and other national priorities.

In a pointed criticism of Eurosceptic Tory MPS, who are pushing for more spending on planning for a no-deal scenario, he said that he would not spend any cash early “just to make a demon- stration point” to the EU.

Cabinet sources suggested that there had been a disagreement and “robust” exchanges between ministers, with one telling the BBC that Mr Hammond’s behaviour was either “deliberate and divisive or politically stupid”.

It was claimed that Mrs May “slapped down” Mr Hammond after a row over an article in which he suggested it would not be “responsible” to spend money before it was necessary. The

article prompted anger from Eurosceptic Tory MPS, with one saying that calling Mr Hammond “Eeyore” would be “an insult to Winnie the Pooh”.

Mr Hammond told MPS that he would release more than £250million from reserves for no-deal contingencies, but insisted he would not spend cash early. “I am clear we have to be prepared for a no-deal scenario unless and until we have clear evidence that this is not where we will end up.

“What I am not prepared to do is allocate funds to departments in advance of the need to spend.

“Every pound we spend on contingency preparations on a hard customs border is a pound we can’t spend on the NHS, social care or education. I don’t believe we should be in the business of making potentially nugatory expenditure until the very last moment when we need to do so.”

Last night it emerged that Michael Gove, who was a leading Leave campaigner, suggested at Cabinet on Tuesday that ministers should receive weekly updates on departmental spending on preparing for Brexit.

Mr Gove, who was supported by other Eurosceptic ministers, reportedly wanted to ensure that preparations for a no deal were under way. “It looked to us like Gove wanting to take back control,” one minister told ITV.

While Mrs May did not explicitly reject the suggestion, ministers were reportedly left with the impression Mr Gove had been “put back in his box”.

Mr Hammond, who has been accused of being too pessimistic about Brexit, told the Treasury committee of MPS a “cloud of uncertainty” over the negotiations was “acting as a dampener” on the economy. However, Mrs May struck a different tone at Prime Minister’s Questions. She said: “We are committing money to prepare for Brexit, including a no-deal scenario. Where money needs to be spent, it will be spent.”

Labour, meanwhile, said it would vote down any attempt by the Government to leave the EU without a deal. is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and we subscribe to its Editors’ Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content, please visit

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