Pursuing a no-deal Brexit would be suicide for Conservatives, warns Hunt
Foreign Secretary says hard exit would lead to general election that could install Corbyn in Downing Street by Christmas
THE Conservatives will be committing “political suicide” if they attempt to push through a no-deal Brexit in the wake of the party’s disastrous showing in the European elections, Jeremy Hunt warns today.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary warns that any prime minister who tries to take Britain out of the EU without a deal will trigger a general election that would risk the “extinction” of the Conservative Party.
He argues that Brexiteer Tory leadership candidates risk putting Britain’s “first Marxist prime minister” in No10 by Christmas, as Parliament would be likely to bring down the Government to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
In his article, Mr Hunt pledges to scrap Theresa May’s Brexit and reach a new agreement with the EU if he wins the leadership election. “Go to them with a shared problem and there is a chance of a shared solution,” he says.
The no-deal issue is becoming increasingly pivotal in the leadership race, with senior Remainers including Philip Hammond indicating they could bring down the Government rather than support a no-deal Brexit.
Previously Mr Hunt was thought to have been ready to embrace no deal, but today sets out his position clearly for the first time. He says: “The results contain a simple message which we ignore at our peril: if we attempt a general election before we have delivered Brexit we will be annihilated.
“Attacked by the Brexit Party on the Right and the Liberal Democrats on the Left, we will face extinction. Any candidate for prime minister whose strategy leads inexorably to a general election is offering a prospectus for disaster. Trying to deliver no deal through a general election is not a solution. It is political suicide that would delight Nigel Farage and probably put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10 by Christmas.”
Mr Hunt’s opposition to no deal puts him at odds with several of the Tory leadership candidates. Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Esther Mcvey have all said that the UK must be prepared to walk away from the EU by the end of October. Yesterday Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, became the ninth candidate to join the leadership contest as he pledged to “bridge” divides in Britain. Today Kit Malthouse, the housing minister, will also enter the race.
The European election results left both the Tories and Labour in disarray as the public became polarised, backing parties offering clear policies of either hard Brexit or Remain. The full results, published yesterday evening, showed that the Tories endured their worst election result since 1832 as they fell to fifth with 9 per cent of the vote.
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party won the largest vote share with 31.6 per cent. The Liberal Democrats were second on 20.3 per cent, while Labour slumped to third on 14.1 per cent, only narrowly ahead of the Greens. Jeremy Corbyn
yesterday moved closer to giving his unconditional support for a second referendum after leading allies including John Mcdonnell and Diane Abbott demanded a clearer position.
The success of the Brexit Party provided a significant boost to Eurosceptic Tory leadership candidates arguing that Britain must keep a no-deal Brexit on the table.
Mr Raab unveiled plans for a “Brexit Budget” to prepare Britain for leaving without a deal. He said: “We will not be taken seriously in Brussels unless we are clear that we will walk away on World Trade Organisation [WTO] terms if the EU doesn’t budge.”
Ms Mcvey said that the UK must leave the EU with a “clean break” on Oct 31. “Nothing else will wash now,” she said. Last night she responded to Mr Hunt’s article by saying: “Political suicide actually lies in not having a clean break from the EU and not leaving on Oct 31.”
Mr Hunt argues that the EU will not make concessions to a hardline Brexiteer because doing so will only serve to “embolden their political foes at home”.
Michael Gove, meanwhile, is preparing to make his first major policy announcement as a leadership contender, pledging free British citizenship for three million EU nationals living in the country before the 2016 referendum.
According to aides to the Environment Secretary, he will back plans to waive the £1,330 naturalisation fee as a gesture of goodwill. A source close to Mr Gove said: “Michael Gove is ready to unite the country. Guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals through a declaratory scheme, and making a generous offer of citizenship to those lawfully here at the time of the referendum, is a first step in that direction.”
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, used the SNP’S success to call for a second independence referendum next year. She said: “There will be another Scottish independence referendum and I will make a prediction today that Scotland will vote for independence and we will become an independent country just like Ireland.
“I want to see Scotland having the choice of independence within this term of the Scottish Parliament, which ends in May 2021, so towards the latter half of next year would be when I think is the right time for that choice.”