U.K. Chancellor Pledges More Money to Ease Path to No-Deal Brexit
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid is planning a no-deal Brexit “guarantee” worth 16.6 billion pounds
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid is planning a no-deal Brexit “guarantee” worth 16.6 billion pounds ($20.4 billion) and said leaving the European Union without an agreement is better than staying in the bloc.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Javid said the money -- including 4.3 billion pounds for the coming year if Britain departs without a deal on the Oct. 31 deadline -- would offset EU money normally earmarked for businesses, universities and charities.
Failing to deliver on the referendum carried out more than three years ago would “tear the fabric of our society,” Javid said, adding that a no-deal Brexit remains “very much on the table.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson would, he said, continue to press on with a plan to leave the EU at the end of next month.
“The best way to bring the country back together again and heal things is to deliver on that referendum,” the chancellor said.
His comments follow another tumultuous week in British politics, which saw the U.K.’s Supreme Court rule that the government acted unlawfully in suspending parliament for five weeks, followed by a febrile session in the House of Commons resulting in Members of Parliament demanding Johnson moderate his combative language. The government also suffered another defeat when MPs rejected the government’s bid to adjourn parliament next week for the Conservative Party recess.
A report in the Times newspaper on Friday quoted an unidentified senior cabinet minister warning that the country risked a “violent, popular uprising” if a second referendum overturned the result of the first. The headline: “Deliver Brexit or face riots.”
Javid’s comments also form part of the Conservative Party’s weekend media salvo before its annual conference, starting Sunday in Manchester. He sought to extend an olive branch to the 21 lawmakers expelled from the party for voting against the government this month to block the chance of a no-deal exit. The newspaper said he was “deeply uncomfortable” with Johnson’s decision.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, speaking in a separate interview with the Financial Times, pushed Johnson’s line that the government’s priority is to try to get a deal with the EU.
“Plan A is that we get a deal,” Leadsom said, adding that Britain wants to compete with the bloc but maintain a close relationship. “There’s nothing wrong with competition — it’s unfair competition you want to avoid.”
Bloomberg reported earlier that the government plans to present detailed proposals to break the Brexit deadlock with the EU after the conference next week. The plan would set out solutions for the post-Brexit border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, a dispute that has dogged divorce talks for almost two years and delayed the U.K.’s departure from the EU.
What Bloomberg’s Economists Say
“An election is brewing in Britain. Bloomberg Economics expects it to return a government with a mandate for a hard Brexit, which they will deliver in early 2020. A no-deal Brexit is, we now think, the most likely outcome, although it’s far from a certainty.”
-- Dan Hanson, senior U.K. economist
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--With assistance from Jessica Shankleman.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Ludden in New York at jludden@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew G. Miller at mmiller144@bloomberg.net, James Ludden
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