Jeremy Hunt sets 30 September as no-deal Brexit ‘D-Day’
Jeremy Hunt would decide on 30 September whether to take the UK out of the EU without a deal if he was Prime Minister, he has revealed.
The foreign secretary made the announcement on Monday morning as he set out his so-called “Brexit delivery plan” in a bid to show he was serious about walking away from the talks with Brussels.
To ensure the UK is ready for a no deal outcome, Hunt said he would cancel all civil service leave throughout August, create a special task force similar to those formed in times of national emergencies, and start preparing a “No Deal Brexit Budget” to prepare the economy.
Corporation tax would be slashed to 12.5%, and billions would be pumped into sectors predicted to suffer the most in a no-deal scenario – such as farming and fishing.
The leadership hopeful justified ploughing money into those industries by comparing a no deal Brexit with 2008 financial crash.
“We spent just over £1 trillion bailing out the banks after the financial crisis. So if we did it for the bankers then why wouldn’t we do it what is needed for our fishermen and our farmers now?” he said.
In an ambitious move, Hunt would give himself just three weeks to secure a new deal with the EU after MPs return from the summer recess.
He said: “I will start engaging with the European Union straight away throughout August, then when we have published our plan for a deal that we think will get through parliament by the end of August we will start formal negotiations in September.
“This won’t be something that the European Union are seeing for the first time, but yes there is a hard deadline in what I said.
“By the end of September I, as Prime Minister, will make a judgement as to whether there is a realistic prospect of a deal that can get through parliament in the short term.
“If my judgement is that is not the case, talks will stop and we will put our heads down and focus on no deal.”
Hunt claimed he was able to make spending commitments in case of a no deal Brexit because of the “headroom” in the UK’s finances.
Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in March the government had a £26.6billion of spending firepower available if the UK was able to secure a withdrawal deal with the EU.
However, Hunt argued in his speech that this money would be available in the case of a no deal Brexit, something which Hammond disputes.
Taking to Twitter, the chancellor said: “The ‘fiscal firepower’ we have built up in case of a No-Deal Brexit will only be available for extra spending if we leave with an orderly transition. If not, it will all be needed to plug the hole a No Deal Brexit will make in the public finances.”
Hunt responded to Hammond’s tweet by arguing he would be using the ‘fiscal firepower’ exactly as the chancellor intended – to boost the economy in case of a no deal Brexit.
He said: “I think what Philip Hammond was talking about was the headroom that he has built up, and is jealously guarding at the moment, is headroom that is there to deal with the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit.
“So I was very explicit yesterday that some of my other spending plans, more money for education, for example, things I passionately want to do, they will take longer to do in a no-deal situation because our immediate priority is going to be to support businesses that are directly affected by a dramatic change in our economic circumstances.”