Two Top U.K. Officials Vow to Quit If Boris Johnson Becomes Next PM
Two Top U.K. Officials Vow to Quit If Boris Johnson Becomes Next PM
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said he’ll quit should Boris Johnson become the next U.K. prime minister, suggesting he’ll be a thorn in the new leader’s side if he pursues a no-deal Brexit.
Hammond told the BBC TV’s "Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday that Johnson’s requirement that members of his government be prepared to accept leaving the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31 meant he had to rule himself out of staying in the cabinet should the favorite in the contest to succeed Theresa May as premier and Conservative Party leader win.
"That is not something I could ever sign up to," Hammond said. "It’s very important that a prime minister is able to have a chancellor who is closely aligned with him in terms of policy, and I therefore intend to resign to Theresa May before she goes to the palace to tender her own resignation on Wednesday."
Hammond joins Justice Secretary David Gauke in pledging to quit if Johnson is victorious in the contest with current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The former foreign secretary is the clear favorite to win on Tuesday and take office a day later. Hammond and Gauke both say they’ll oppose efforts by Johnson to pursue a no-deal Brexit that economic forecasters say would damage jobs and the economy and force a drop in the pound.
In a swipe at Hammond, Johnson referenced the moon landing 50 years ago and criticized "technological pessimists" who say there aren’t technical solutions currently available to keep trade free-flowing across the border with Ireland if the U.K. crashes out of the bloc.
"If they could use hand-knitted computer code to make a frictionless re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere in 1969, we can solve the problem of frictionless trade at the Northern Irish border," Johnson wrote on Monday in his weekly column in the Daily Telegraph. "It is time this country recovered some its can-do spirit. We can come out of the EU on October 31, and yes, we certainly have the technology to do so."
Also on Monday:
- The Tory leadership ballot closes at 5 p.m., with results due late on Tuesday morning
- The Liberal Democrats will announce the result of their own leadership contest, pitting Deputy Leader Jo Swinson against former Energy Secretary Ed Davey
- May will chair a meeting of the U.K.’s emergency committee to discuss the security of shipping in the Persian Gulf after Iran seized a U.K.-flagged tanker
Tory opponents to Johnson are already lining up to show him he’ll struggle to get his way on Brexit, with the parliamentary math unchanged by the leadership election. Johnson has said that while he wants to broker a new deal with the EU, the U.K. must leave the bloc "do or die" on the Oct. 31 deadline. He’s refused to rule out suspending Parliament to push through a departure without a deal.
"I intend to work with others to ensure that Parliament uses its powers to make sure that the new government can’t do that," Hammond said. "No deal is a catastrophe for our country."
Tory Rebellion
More than 30 Tories rebelled on Thursday in a vote on a measure that makes it harder for a new premier to bypass Parliament and take Britain out of the EU without a deal. Hammond and Gauke abstained, with Hammond saying it’s the first time he’s defied party orders in his 22 years in Parliament.
Johnson also faces international obstacles, with Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney on Sunday pushing back against his Brexit proposals. In a BBC interview, he said Ireland isn’t prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement and won’t drop the Irish backstop provision that’s opposed by Brexiteers in the House of Commons.
“If the approach of the new British PM is that they’re going to tear up the withdrawal agreement, then I think that we’re in trouble,” Coveney said. “The facts don’t change around Brexit" even with a new U.K. premier.
Gauke Resignation
Coveney said Johnson’s suggestion to keep no-tariff and no-quota trade after a no-deal Brexit by relying on the World Trade Organization’s GATT treaty isn’t a “viable option.”
The Times earlier reported Gauke as saying he’d hand in his resignation letter to May before she leaves her post. He said that even in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Johnson would have to negotiate some form of relationship with the EU.
“We’ll go through the pain of no-deal and then we will have no choice but to go back to the EU but in a weaker negotiating position," The Times reported Gauke as saying.
Other ministers likely to leave the cabinet in the event of a Johnson victory include Business Secretary Greg Clark and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart, both of whom joined Thursday’s rebellion.
While Hammond wasn’t expected to retain his job in a Johnson government, his announcement on Sunday will intensify speculation about his successor, with candidates including Hunt, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd.
The Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph both reported that Johnson’s one-time nemesis Michael Gove, who scuppered his bid in 2016 for the party leadership, is set for a promotion. Former Tory Leader Iain Duncan Smith, a key figure in Johnson’s campaign team, told the BBC on Sunday that he hasn’t asked for a role.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann
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