Government ‘cautiously optmistic’ of striking Brexit deal – Hunt
BRITAIN is “cautiously optimistic” of striking a Brexit deal with the European Union “but there is a lot of work to do to get there”, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.
Mr Hunt said he was “confident” the Prime Minister would succeed in her negotiations with the EU, adding: “British politics is littered with the graveyards of people who have predicted the demise of Theresa May and been proved wrong.”
His comments came as Mr Hunt became the first British minister to deliver a speech in Japanese while making his initial official visit to Japan since becoming Foreign Secretary.
Mr Hunt, who has been tipped by some as a possible future Conservative Party leader, held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and foreign minister Taro Kono to discuss a range of issues including the future UK-Japan economic partnership and security on the Korean Peninsula.
Speaking about Brexit, he told the Associated Press: “I don’t think it’s brinkmanship. If we can’t come to an agreement, then the default is that we will leave the EU on the 29th of March.
“So that could happen. But I don’t think it’s in anyone’s interest for that to happen.
“So that’s why we are cautiously optimistic that we will get a deal but there is a lot of work to do to get there.”