PHILIP Hammond has said he is “very confident” MPs will come up with a way to stop Boris Johnson taking the UK out of the EU without a deal in October.
In his first major intervention since stepping down as Chancellor three weeks ago, he warned the new Prime Minister that Parliament would “make its voice heard”.
His comments follow an intervention from Commons Speaker John Bercow, who vowed to “fight with every breath” to prevent Downing Street from proroguing Parliament in order to achieve a No-Deal Brexit.
Speaking on BBC Radio’s Today programme yesterday, Hammond said: “I’m confident that Parliament has a clear view on this and that Parliament has the means to express that view.”
And he added: “I’m very confident that the means exist for Parliament to make its voice heard, and to pass legislation that gives effect to the clear view of Parliament.
“Of course, the mechanisms being there doesn’t necessarily and automatically deliver you the majority. In a parliamentary democracy everything depends on whether a majority of members of Parliament are prepared to support something.
“But it’s very clear to me, and I think the Speaker of the House of Commons has also been very clear, that if a majority of members of Parliament clearly want to go down a certain route, a means will be delivered to allow that to happen.”
The PM has vowed to achieve Brexit “do or die” by October 31, and has ramped up preparations for a No-Deal outcome in the event that he cannot convince the EU to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement and scrap the backstop solution to keep an open border in Ireland.
Johnson hit back at Hammond during a self-styled “People’s PMQs” on Facebook from Downing Street, accusing MPs and the EU of collaborating to block Brexit.
Asked how he can deliver his pledge to leave the EU by October 31 given the lack of movement from the EU and opposition from MPs, he said: “There’s a terrible kind of collaboration, as it were, going on between people who think they can block Brexit in Parliament and our European friends.
“And our European friends are not moving in their willingness to compromise, they’re not compromising at all on the Withdrawal Agreement even though it’s been thrown out three times, they’re sticking to every letter, every comma of the Withdrawal Agreement – including the backstop – because they still think Brexit can be blocked in Parliament.
“The awful thing is the longer that goes on, the more likely it is of course that we will be forced to leave with a No-Deal Brexit. That’s not what I want, it’s not what we’re aiming for, but we need our European friends to compromise.”
Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s Europe spokesman, responded: “Boris Johnson is dangerously deluded and detached from reality in his rhetoric over the UK’s exit from the EU and his ‘do-or-die’ plan to crash out without a deal.
“Rather than ramping up the hostile comments he should be engaging with our EU partners and with MPs from across all political parties, who are seeking to prevent our economy being harmed, jobs being lost and people’s living standards being hit.
“Economic analysis over the past few weeks has already revealed that the UK is on the brink of recession and the value of the pound has plunged to new lows due to the continued instability – and this is before the UK has even left the EU.
“The Tory Prime Minister must end the bunker mentality and rule out any attempt at shutting down Parliament and bypassing democracy in order to force through a catastrophic No-Deal Brexit.
“With the October Brexit deadline fast approaching, Scotland is looking on in horror at the bleak Brexit Britain on offer. Scotland must have a choice over a better future. It is clearer than ever that the only way to properly protect Scotland’s interests is by becoming an equal and independent European country.”
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