Hammond Says Removing Prime Minister Won't Help: Brexit Update
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond says ousting Theresa May won’t help the U.K.
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond says ousting Theresa May won’t help the U.K. amid reports the prime minister is facing an open revolt over her withdrawal deal with the European Union.
Key Developments
- David Lidington denies any interest in replacing Theresa May as prime minister
- Hammond calls on Parliament to find a way forward if May’s deal lacks support. He doesn’t rule out a second referendum, which he says is a "perfectly coherent proposition" that "deserves to be considered”
- Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay says vote for a softer Brexit could risk an election
- An estimated 1 million anti-Brexit protesters rallied in London on Saturday, while more than 4.18 million people have signed an online petition urging the government to cancel Brexit, the most names ever collected in a public campaign
- Key Brexiteers, including Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, have been invited to the prime minister’s Chequers retreat on Sunday, Times says
Lidington: No Interest in Taking May’s Job (11:27 a.m.)
David Lidington, May’s de facto deputy and one of the names mentioned in the Sunday newspapers as a potential short-term replacement, says he has no interest in taking the prime minister’s job.
“I don’t think that I’ve any wish to take over from the PM,” Lidington told reporters in comments broadcast on Sky News. “I tell you this, one thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task.”
“I’m not attracted by plotting,” he said, and called on both “leavers” and “remainers” in Parliament to get behind May’s deal.
Barclay: Vote for Softer Brexit May Risk Election (10:55 a.m.)
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay says any majority in indicative votes in the coming week will not be binding, but if Parliament votes for a softer Brexit than it would collide with the Conservative’s manifesto and risk a general election.
Speaking on the BBC, he added that he agrees with colleagues that a leadership contest at this point would be a distraction.
Duncan Smith Says He’s Keeping Options Open (10:27 a.m.)
Veteran Brexit campaigner Iain Duncan Smith, a Conservative Party member who has twice voted against May’s deal, said he will keep his options open this week and recommended that this colleagues do the same.
Speaking on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show,” the former Tory leader also said that any idea of a leadership election would create “chaos.” The timing of May’s departure isn’t something the Conservative Party needs to deal with at this time, he said, and MPs plotting against her should be sanctioned.
Benn, Lucas Back Confirmatory Public Vote (9:50 a.m.)
Labour’s Hilary Benn, chairman of a Parliament committee on Brexit, and Green Party politician Caroline Lucas both signaled in Sky News interviews they’d support a plan to hold a confirmatory public vote on Theresa May’s twice-defeated deal.
Lucas, who has been a long-standing backer of a second referendum, said she’d back May’s Brexit deal “with a heavy heart” if it was “intrinsically linked” to another public vote.
Hammond Doesn’t Rule out Second Referendum (9:30 a.m.)
Throughout his Sky interview, Hammond reiterated that it was up to lawmakers to come together to find a way forward if they continue to reject May’s deal and that the government would give them time to do that in coming days. He said that “one way or another Parliament is going to have the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favor of.”
When presented with a list of possible options, he ruled out a no deal exit or revoking Article 50, but was less equivocal about the prospect of a second vote. A second referendum is a "perfectly coherent proposition," he said, and "deserves to be considered” along with other proposals, he said. Still, he added that he didn’t think there was majority in Parliament for such an outcome.
Removing Prime Minister Won’t Help: Hammond (9:09 a.m.)
Changing prime minister won’t help the U.K., and talk of a new leader is “self-indulgent,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said in an interview with Sky News.
Hammond said it is essential that the U.K. leaves the EU with a deal in place, and that May’s agreement is the best way forward. Still, it’s looking “very difficult” to find a majority for it, he says, and, if it is voted down, lawmakers will need to craft an alternative “quickly.”
Johnson, Rees-Mogg Invited to Chequers: Times (9:08 a.m.)
Prominent Brexiteers Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and Jacob Rees-Mogg are among a number of U.K. politicians on an invite list to go to Theresa May’s Chequers retreat Sunday, Times journalist Sam Coates says on Twitter, without saying how he got the information.
May’s Resignation is on the Cards, Cash says (8:34 a.m.)
Bill Cash, a veteran Tory member of Parliament who was one of the European Research Group’s panel of legal experts that rejected May’s deal earlier this month, says the prime minister could indeed quit.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann
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