Rudd: I won’t ‘lie down in front of the bulldozers’ of a no-deal Brexit

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 20: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, arrives at Westminster Abbey to attend a Service Of Thanksgiving To Remember The Life Of Lord Jeremy Heywood on June 20, 2019 in London, England. Lord Jeremy Heywood of Whitehall GCB CVO served as Head of the Civil Service until shortly before his death in 2018. Former Prime Ministers, senior politicians, civil servants joined his family and friends at a service of thanksgiving for his life and work. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd today said her department is preparing for a no-deal Brexit, and could hire more people to deal with a potential recession.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Rudd said that the consequences of leaving the European Union without a deal “will be difficult to handle”.

Read more: Bank of England could cut interest rates to near zero in no-deal Brexit

But the Department for Work and Pensions would have to be ready to deal with the consequences, she said.

“We are preparing for it, we are making sure that should that happen, should there be a no-deal Brexit, and should there be an adverse consequence to the employment levels … then we’ll have to make sure that we do recruit more people in order to deal with it,” she said.

Rudd was one of the Conservative MPs who broke with Prime Minister Theresa May in a bid to rule out a no-deal Brexit earlier this year.

But the work and pensions secretary said she no longer thinks that a second referendum is preferable to leaving without a deal.

Read more: British businesses split on Brexit ‘brain drain’ in tech industry

Rudd, who is supporting Jeremy Hunt’s bid to be Tory leader, said she would no longer “lie down in front of the bulldozers” of a no-deal Brexit.

“I accept I’ve changed, but I accept the circumstances have changed as well,” she said.