IT’S PHIL STEAM AHEAD
..and sod the Brexit icebergs, says Cap’n May
THERESA May promised to spend cash now in preparation for a hard “no deal” Brexit – just hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond ruled it out.
Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister revealed £250million of taxpayers’ money has been set aside to help departments plan for the UK leaving the EU without a trade deal.
She also announced the Treasury will soon set out how ministers can apply for extra cash to help with contingency planning.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, May said: “Where money needs to be spent it will be spent”.
Earlier, Hammond said funding for a no-deal plan would not happen “until the very last moment”.
At PMQs, shortly after the Chancellor’s appearance, May was asked by Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith MP to confirm “that all monies necessary will be allocated as and when required” to prepare for “no deal”.
May replied: “We are committing money to prepare for Brexit, including a no-deal scenario.”
A No 10 spokesman later twice declined to clarify whether the announcement was a contradiction of Hammond’s position.
Labour said they will vote against any attempt by the Government to take Britain out of the EU without a formal agreement with Brussels.
A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn said the opposition would instead call on ministers to continue negotiations until a deal is struck.
The move sets up the possibility of Tory rebels joining forces with Labour to defeat May in a landmark vote ahead of the Brexit deadline of March 29, 2019.
In a radio interview earlier in the
week, May refused to say how she would vote in a second referendum.
She finally managed to sidestep the question on how she would vote now when she was cornered by the SNP’s Ian Blackford, saying: “There isn’t going to be a second referendum.”
Given May’s refusal to commit to the SNP’s ambitions to stage another independence referendum, the answer had a particular sting. But Corbyn also dodged the question. His spokesman declined to answer on behalf of the Labour leader, saying “there isn’t any referendum in prospect”.
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Michael Gove is said to be pushing for the UK to ditch the EU’s fisheries policy immediately after Brexit.
Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, a former Scottish secretary, raised the issue during the questions session.
May said: “When we have left the European Union, we will be leaving the common fisheries policy. As part of the agreement we need to enter into for the implementation period, this and other issues will be part of that.”
Earlier, shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett attacked the Government over a perceived failure to prepare for a “no deal” scenario if the UK fails to agree a new trading relationship with Brussels.
It comes after Hammond suggested taxpayers’ money should not be used for preparing for such an outcome from the negotiations, saying he would only spend cash “when it is responsible to do so”.
At Cabinet Office questions, Trickett said: “The truth is there is no contingency plan for a no deal Brexit and that explains the breakdown of policy co-ordination, which he is supposedly responsible for right at the heart of Government.
“This Government is a shambles. It’s wholly divided.
“After all, we had a Prime Minister who said no deal is better than a bad deal, a Chancellor who now said he won’t fund a no deal scenario, and a Foreign Secretary who seems perfectly happily with a no-deal arrangement.
“The stakes cannot be higher, but the Government is a shambles.”