The U.K. Parliament will resume debating Theresa May’s apparently doomed Brexit deal on Friday, with fresh warnings over what’s at stake ringing in their ears.
Key developments
- Rudd vows to try to stop no-deal, won’t say if she’d quit Cabinet
- CBI says no-deal split with European Union risks shrinking U.K. GDP by 8%
Hunt Says Parliament Unlikely to Allow No Deal (8:15 a.m.)
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he believes Parliament won’t stand for no-deal Brexit. It’s much more likely that politicians will try to stop the U.K. leaving without an agreement, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
Hunt warned of “Brexit paralysis” leading potentially to the U.K. staying in the EU if the House of Commons rejects May’s withdrawal agreement on Tuesday. MPs who think they’ll have a chance to vote on their alternative Brexit visions after rejecting the government plan may be disappointed, he said.
Rudd declines to rule-out quitting over ‘No Deal’ (7:20 a.m.)
Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd underlined the damaging impact of leaving the EU in March without a new trade agreement in place, and hinted she could even quit over the issue.
“This is a strong and great country, we will find a way to succeed,” Rudd told BBC radio’s Today program on Friday.“But I do not think that ‘no deal’ will be good for this country and I am committed to making sure that we find an alternative.” Rudd was asked three times if she’d resign from the government if it pursued a no-deal Brexit. She refused to say.
Her intervention follows similar comments from Business Secretary Greg Clark. It shows how pro-EU ministers in May’s Cabinet are increasingly emboldened to make their case against May’s threat to take the U.K. out of the bloc without an agreement with the European Union. It also highlights that Cabinet unity is fracturing as Britain gets closer to the March 29 Brexit day cliff-edge.
