PHILIP Hammond has issued a fresh warning to Boris Johnson that he will do "everything I can" to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
The Chancellor, who said he will not serve in the incoming government, insisted he would try to support the new administration led by Mr Johnson or Jeremy Hunt.
But he made if the new premier tried to "drive the UK over a cliff edge" with a no-deal Brexit, he would do everything he could to stop it.
Mr Johnson has promised to get the UK out of the European Union by October 31 “do or die” with or without a deal and has refused to rule out suspending Parliament to prevent MPs blocking a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Hunt has said he would also accept a no-deal Brexit if there was no prospect of an agreement with Brussels, but has indicated he would delay beyond the October deadline if progress was being made.
The Chancellor, speaking to CNBC during a trip to New York, pointed out the slender majority the new prime minister would have to work with in Parliament; a figure which will be reduced to just three if the Tories lose the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election on August 1.
"I will be one of them, so a lot of power rests in Parliament going forward," declared Mr Hammond.
Asked if he would make life difficult for Theresa May's successor, he replied: "That's not my desire, I want to work with the new prime minister, the new administration.
"So long as they are focused on doing the things that will strengthen the UK economy and make it resilient in the future, I will be fully supportive.
"But if the new government tries to drive the UK over a cliff-edge called no-deal Brexit, I will do everything I can to stop that happening," insisted the Chancellor.
He also played down the prospect of a quick trade deal with Donald Trump's United States; something Mr Johnson is believed to view as a potential early target for his premiership.
Mr Hammond dismissed the idea of a deal being reached within a year.
"I don't think delivery in that kind of timescale is realistic. Trade deals are intrinsically complex," he argued.
Noting how Mr Trump had expressed support for a UK-US deal but also had an "America first" policy, the Chancellor said: "The President's idea of a trade deal may not entirely coincide with some people in the UK's idea of a trade deal.
"There's going to be big questions about how we manage access for farm produce, how we deal with different food hygiene standards that we have; different farming practices.
"There are very deeply entrenched views about some of this stuff. It's not just about economics, when you come to issues around animal welfare there are very deeply held views in the UK.
"So, it can be done, we should be ambitious but we have got to be realistic it's not something we're going to do in five minutes," he added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel