Millions to be spent on Brexit planning
Hammond warns of ‘cloud’ hanging over business from trade uncertainty
POLITICS: Theresa May denied she was ramping up the rhetoric over the possibility of a hard Brexit as she revealed Government departments will be given millions of pounds to prepare for the break.
THERESA MAY denied she was ramping up the rhetoric over the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union without a trade deal as she revealed Government departments will be given millions of pounds to prepare for Brexit.
The Prime Minister confirmed £250m was going to Government departments to pay for “Brexit preparations” just hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond had told MPs the Government would wait until the “last point” to spend money on preparing for a no-deal Brexit.
Mrs May also moved to reassure Conservative backbenchers over her commitment to taking the UK out of the EU after a radio interview in which she refused to say how she would vote if there were a further referendum on Britain’s membership.
The Prime Minister has insisted it is down to the EU to end the apparent stalemate in the Brexit talks amid Brussels’ ongoing refusal to discuss future trade terms until more progress is made on issues including the so-called divorce bill.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May said: “We are not ramping up a no-deal scenario, we are actively working with the negotiations with the European Union to ensure that we get a good deal, the right deal for Britain for a brighter future for this country.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, challenged Mrs May over her refusal to be “straightforward” over how she would vote in a further referendum on EU membership.
The Prime Minister replied: “There is no second referendum. The people of the UK voted and we will be leaving the EU in March 2019.”
Mrs May, who backed Remain in last year’s referendum, also looked to burnish her Brexit credentials in a response to a Eurosceptic MP asking about the possibility the Brexit talks could be extended beyond the scheduled March 2019 leaving date.
“I’ve been very clear. We want those negotiations to end – not just the negotiations to end, we want to have an agreement on the future relationship, and our withdrawal – by March 2019, and we will leave the EU in March 2019,” she said.
European leaders are due to decide next week whether enough progress has been made in the Brexit talks for negotiations to begin on the future trading relationship.
But European Council president Donald Tusk has already indicated this week that it was unlikely trade would be discussed
Money going to Government departments to prepare for Brexit.
by the negotiation teams before the end of the year.
Mr Hammond told MPs business was facing a “cloud of uncertainty” over the failure to make progress on trade talks.
He said that the Government was ready to make preparations for Brexit talks which ended with no deal but argued doing so prematurely would divert money from other public services such as the NHS.
The Chancellor warned the value of the transition period proposed by Mrs May to allow business to adjust to Brexit would be diminished if trade talks dragged on.
Mr Hammond called for Brussels to allow “exploratory discussions” to take place and said it was astonishing the EU was not working on the future trading relationship.
He told MPs: “Our European partners need to think very carefully about the need for speed in order to protect the potential value to all of us of having an interim period that protects our businesses and citizens and allows investment and normal business activity – contracting and so on – to carry on.”
Mr Hammond admitted the Government had to prepare for a so-called hard Brexit.
He said: “We have to consider the possibility of a bad-tempered breakdown in negotiations where we have non-cooperation, or a worst-case scenario where people are not necessarily acting in their own economic self-interest.”
Labour MP Wes Streeting, a supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: “Philip Hammond’s heart isn’t in this because he, unlike many in his party, at least recognises the terrible risks and pitfalls Brexit has left this country vulnerable to.
“It’s time he and the Prime Minister showed some leadership, took on the hardliners on their backbenches, and reversed their damaging decision to leave the single market and the customs union.”
£250M