May Warns Tory Rivals She Could Vote to Stop a No-Deal Brexit
May was asked if she could guarantee she will support her successor’s Brexit policy even if it meant a no-deal Brexit.
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Theresa May has given her strongest signal yet that she could oppose her successor if he tries to force the U.K. out of the European Union without a deal.
Speaking to reporters on her way to the Group of 20 summit in Japan, May declined to promise she will loyally follow the orders of the next Conservative Party leader and vote for whatever Brexit policy either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt -- the two candidates to succeed her -- chooses.
May is due to be replaced by the end of July after resigning over her failure to get her own Brexit plan approved in the U.K. Parliament. She has already voted against leaving the EU without an agreement, arguing it would disrupt trade and damage the economy.
May was asked if she could guarantee she will support her successor’s Brexit policy even if it meant leaving the bloc without an agreement. Her reply indicated she could join rebel Tories who are warning they will try to block any attempt by the next prime minister to pursue a chaotic no-deal divorce.
“What you are saying to me is, ‘will you now say that whatever happens in the future you’re going to agree with it?”’ May said. “I think it’s important for us to deliver Brexit in a way that is good for British people.”
Key Vote
While May will no longer be in charge of Brexit policy, her vote as a rank-and-file member of Parliament could be crucial given that the ruling Conservative Party has no overall majority in the House of Commons.
May also suggested she did not believe the EU was ready to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement. Both Johnson and Hunt have promised to reopen talks with the bloc to get a better deal that Parliament will vote for.
“The EU has made its position clear. We negotiated a good deal with the EU. There was an opportunity for Parliament to vote for that. Sadly Parliament did not vote for that,” May said. “It will be up to whoever succeeds me to take this forward. It is important to deliver Brexit and deliver Brexit in a way that is good for the U.K.”
Both Johnson and Hunt have said they would prefer a no-deal split to not delivering Brexit at all.
‘Do or Die’
Johnson, the front-runner in the leadership race, has taken a harder line than Hunt, promising this week that the U.K. will leave the EU by the deadline of Oct. 31, with or without a deal, “do or die.”
He has also not yet fully ruled out suspending Parliament in order to stop a rebellion from Conservatives blocking his effort to take the U.K. out of the bloc on time. May was asked if she thought this was a legitimate way to behave. She suggested she did not.
“What I hope and expect is that my successor will be able to put before Parliament proposals that will enable us to deliver on the vote of the British people in a way that will be good for the United Kingdom,” May said.
That emphasis on Brexit being delivered in a way that is good for the country has been her code for not leaving the EU without a deal. When asked if she understood why some Tories were ready to rebel over the issue, she said: “This is an issue on which people feel strongly.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Ross in Osaka at tross54@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Mark Williams
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