Brexit: Taking no-deal option off the table ‘bonkers’

A transcript of a leaked conference call, obtained by The Telegraph, details Mr Hammond speaking with 11 business leaders just hours after Theresa May lost the parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal.

Mr Hammond began the call by explaining that the defeat raised two questions; can Article 50 be revoked and “whether we can somehow take the option of no deal off the table”.

The Chancellor said the EU would not consider extending Article 50 “unless or until we have a clear plan to go forward” and the “large majority” in the commons are opposed to a no-deal “in any circumstances”.

He referred to a cross-party Bill, from Tory MP Nick Boles, which aims to force the Government to extend Article 50 if a Brexit deal cannot be reached, according to The Telegraph. MPs will vote on an amendment that will “pave the way for the Bill”, the paper said.

DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson, whose party came to the Prime Minister’s rescue on Wednesday by helping her survive a no confidence vote, warned that the Government would be “absolutely stark raving mad” to revoke Article 50.

He told the News Letter: “Take no-deal off the table and you have removed another advantage that the PM could have in what are going to be very tough negotiations with the EU to try and get the withdrawal agreement changed.

“She is facing an uphill struggle at the moment as it is. The EU have said they don’t intend to move on the withdrawal agreement, they don’t intend to give any concessions.

“What leverage does she then have if she removes March 29 from the table? With her deal being so heavily defeated at Parliament, she can now go back and attempt to force some concessions from Brussels over the backstop.”

The East Antrim MP added that to remove the option of a no-deal would infuriate Brexiteers within her own party.

Mr Wilson continued: “If she thought the rebellion within the Tory party over the withdrawal agreement was bad, the problems she would face if she removes the date for leaving the EU would be even worse. It would be taken as a signal that she had given up on leaving the EU, because in effect that is what she would be doing.”

A Treasury spokesman confirmed the conference call – which consisted of senior business figures such as Doug Gurr, head of Amazon UK and John Allan, chairman of Tesco and president of the CBI – took place shortly after the vote on Tuesday, but would not confirm any details.

Expressing his unhappiness in the House of Commons, Eurosceptic Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope labelled Mr Hammond “treacherous”, and accused the Chancellor of undermining the Prime Minister with his comments.