U.K. Minister Strikes a Note of Optimism on Brexit and Backs May

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Education Secretary Damian Hinds is feeling optimistic.

That is not a position that gets much airtime in coverage of the Conservative Party conference that kicked off Sunday. But it’s one that Theresa May is betting her political life on as Boris Johnson seems poised to mount a leadership challenge over her Brexit plan, which he dubbed “deranged.”

“It’s a good package,” Hinds insisted. “Of course you can pick holes. You can pick holes in any package. But unless you’ve got something better to put forward as an alternative, that is what there is.’

Hinds thinks a compromise can be found -- and that when it is -- Tories will swing behind it. At present May is assailed on all sides and the European Union has rejected her proposed divorce settlement.

But according to Hinds, everything will be fine.

“There’s a chance of a no deal,’’ he acknowledged in an interview at the opening of the Tory conference in Birmingham, England. “It could happen. But I don’t expect that to happen because there’s mutual interest on both sides in having a good deal.’’

But is there any chance of that deal getting through Parliament, when many Conservatives are already publicly committed to voting against it?

‘Pragmatic’

“The great bulk of people in the Parliamentary Conservative Party are pragmatic,’’ he said.

On the discussion with the EU, he’s not downhearted. “If the proposal we’re putting forward doesn’t win total and immediate favor with the EU, that shouldn’t be a surprise or a disappointment. It is a negotiation. It challenges some of the EU’s assumptions about how arrangements should be.’’

And he’s sure a deal based on May’s “Chequers’’ proposal can get through Parliament. That plan sees the U.K. sticking close to EU markets while leaving its institutions. It’s been met with opposition both at home and from EU counterparts, most recently in Salzburg.

The 48-year-old was elected to Parliament in 2010 after a career in the hospitality industry. He sits in the David Cameron tradition of inclusive Toryism. He campaigned against Brexit but said he views the result of the referendum as clear and irreversible.

“As soon as you had that result, reality changes. As a democrat, you have to respond to that properly fully and in good faith. That is a hard thing to do.’’

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs

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