The only way out of the EU is with no deal, says Mcvey
Tory leadership hopeful claims European election results show public view on Brexit has hardened
‘It’s time for the Conservative Party to wake up, listen to the voters and embrace Brexit as a magnificent opportunity’
A CLEAN break from the EU is the only viable and acceptable option left, Esther Mcvey says today, as the Tory leadership race descends into a bitter fight over a no-deal Brexit.
The former work and pensions secretary says the Prime Minister’s deal is dead and the only way to deliver Brexit “is to actively embrace leaving the EU without one”.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Ms Mcvey seeks to distinguish herself from other Brexiteer candidates by making clear that no deal is her preferred choice, rather than an option she would be prepared to contemplate.
She launches a direct attack on Jeremy Hunt, who said attempting a nodeal Brexit would be “political suicide”, saying that “extinction” would only come about through failing to leave the EU on Oct 31.
Ms Mcvey, Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom and Dominic Raab have all said they would be prepared to take the UK out of the EU without a deal, but David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, and Rory Stewart, the International Development Secretary, both joined Mr Hunt in attacking the idea yesterday.
Mr Stewart, one of 10 Tory MPS to have declared their candidacy, said no deal was “Wizard of Oz” thinking, while Mr Gauke, who is not currently running, said no deal would be too detrimental to the economy.
Kit Malthouse, the housing minister, was the 10th MP to join the race, saying it was time for “a new generation to lead the charge into our future”. James Cleverly, a Brexit minister, is expected to announce his own candidacy today.
Mr Hunt’s decision to come out against no deal in Monday’s Telegraph appeared to have cost him support among MPS yesterday, with reports that some backers were switching to Michael Gove. The Environment Secretary is now the bookies’ joint-second favourite, with Mr Raab, to become the next prime minister. Mr Johnson remains well ahead.
Mr Gove said that Brexit had to be delivered before the next general election, “otherwise we will be punished at the ballot box, Corbyn will be in Number 10 propped up by the SNP, and Brexit may well be reversed altogether”.
Theresa May yesterday visited Brussels for a meeting of EU leaders to discuss who should take over from Jean-claude Juncker as European Commission president this summer. She simply said Brexit was now a
Mrs May arrives in Brussels for an EU summit to discuss who should succeed Mr Juncker
“matter for my successor”. Downing Street confirmed that the Prime Minister had given up hope of presenting her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to Parliament next week, meaning it was unlikely any progress on Brexit would be made until a new Tory leader was in place in late July.
Mr Hunt said yesterday he would try to renegotiate the current Brexit deal and would include Tory Brexiteers from the European Research Group and representatives of the DUP, the Scottish and Welsh assemblies in his negotiating team. But Mr Juncker yesterday insisted: “I was crystal clear. There will be no renegotiation.”
Ms Mcvey, who resigned from the Cabinet last year over Mrs May’s Brexit policy, says: “No government that I lead will ever seek an extension beyond Oct 31. It’s time for the Conservative Party to wake up, listen to the voters and embrace Brexit as a magnificent opportunity – not as a problem to be managed, mitigated and ultimately reversed. Otherwise Jeremy Corbyn will become the prime minister.”
She says the European election results showed that the public’s view on Brexit has “hardened” and so “we need to stop wasting time having artificial debates about renegotiating backstops or resurrecting botched deals”.
She adds: “If they believe that tying us to thousands of Brussels’ rules and regulations during an implementation period and handing over £39 billion without even a trade deal in return will now bring back the millions of voters we have lost to the Brexit Party then I fear they are in cloud cuckoo land.”
In a clear swipe at not only Mr Hunt but also Mr Johnson and Mr Raab, Ms Mcvey says: “Anyone who pretends that they will achieve in three months what Theresa May failed to do in three years simply through the force of their personality is not being straight with people.”
She adds: “Messing about with this inadequate Withdrawal Agreement will just prolong the agony and cause yet more disruption and uncertainty for British business.”
Last night, Tory MP Crispin Blunt and another senior MP told The Times they would no longer be supporting Mr Hunt after he yesterday wrote in this paper that leaving without a deal would be “political suicide” for the party.
Mr Hunt was accused of flip-flopping after previously saying he would choose no deal over no Brexit.
Mr Blunt, the former chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said: “It’s all very well saying you would try and get a deal but you have to have a plan B, and we no longer know what Jeremy’s plan B is.”