Hammond is echoing Project Fear, says Fox

And PM refuses to back Chancellor, saying a no-deal wouldn’t be the end of the world

PHILIP Hammond’s dire warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit are “hard to swallow” after the “Project Fear” claims during the referendum, Liam Fox said yesterday.

Dr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, said that the “economic shock” predicted in the wake of a vote for Brexit had failed to happen. He added: “That was over a two-year time horizon, so projections over a 15-year time horizon [the forecasts which were highlighted by the Chancellor] are rather hard to swallow.”

During a visit to Singapore, Dr Fox said: “Some of us remember the supposed economic shock that we were going to get if Britain voted to leave the European Union.

“The result of the referendum itself was going to cost us half a million jobs, it was going to see investors desert the UK and our economy plunge into recession.

“What has in fact happened? We’ve added 600,000 jobs to the economy, we saw a record number of inward investment projects land in the UK last year and our economy has continued to grow.”

Mr Hammond last week prompted a backlash from Downing Street and from Eurosceptic Cabinet colleagues when he said that a no-deal Brexit could increase the UK’S borrowing by £80billion a year by 2033.

The Chancellor said that the analysis, which was first published in January, was being “refined” and indicated that a new version would be published in the run-up to a parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal.

However, the Prime Minister has also appeared to dismiss Mr Hammond’s warnings. She said that leaving the EU without a deal would not be the “end of the world”.

Downing Street subsequently said that the analysis referred to by Mr Hammond may not be published.

Officials refused to guarantee that

‘We have added 600,000 jobs, we saw a record investment and the economy has continued to grow’

MPS would be provided with an economic analysis of a no-deal Brexit before they vote on whether to accept or reject Mrs May’s proposed deal with Brussels.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said instead that “once the deal is negotiated then the Government will provide Parliament with that meaningful analysis on the deal ahead of the vote”.

Mrs May twice refused to endorse Mr Hammond’s claims that a no-deal Brexit would lead to billions in additional borrowing and a slowing of economic growth by up to 10 per cent over the next 15 years.

She said: “Look at what the director of the World Trade Organisation has said.

“He’s said that a no-deal situation would not be a walk in the park but it would not be the end of the world.”

The Prime Minister again refused to say if she would vote for Brexit in the event of a second referendum, describing it as a “hypothetical question”.