New referendum deserves to be considered, says Hammond
PHILIP HAMMOND described a second EU referendum as a “coherent proposition” yesterday – the day after a million people marched to support it.
In comments sure to anger Brexiteer colleagues, the Chancellor said another vote “deserves to be considered” by Parliament.
Asked which options he would consider if Theresa May’s deal was rejected again, he said no deal and cancelling Brexit should both be off the table.
MPS today have the chance to seek to take control of Brexit when they vote for an amendment which will pave the way for a series of indicative votes.
Mr Hammond acknowledged it was looking “very difficult to bring a majority for Mrs May’s deal”.
He continued: “One way or another, Parliament is going to have the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favour of.”
He added that Parliament had to choose an option that was “deliverable, not some unicorn”.
Speaking on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Hammond said: “I’m not sure there’s a majority in Parliament in support of a second referendum. Many people will be strongly opposed to it. But it’s a coherent proposition and it deserves to be considered along with the other proposals that you’ve got on the list.”
Mark Pritchard, a Tory MP and Government trade envoy, yesterday accused Mr Hammond of “freelancing” and insisted there would be no second referendum.
Meanwhile, a Remain-supporting Tory MP called on those who signed a parliamentary petition to revoke Article 50 to join the Conservative Party so they can have a “decisive say” in choosing its next leader.
Antoinette Sandbach said: “If just 1 per cent of those who signed joined the party, they would have a vote for the next leader … could be the best £25 you have ever spent.”
The petition broke through the five million-signature mark yesterday.
On Saturday, a crowd estimated at one million people marched through central London demanding a second referendum. Demonstrators walked from Park Lane to Parliament Square on the Put It To The People March.