17 January 2019

The Guardian: Philip Hammond tells business no-deal Brexit will be stopped

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, told business leaders that the threat of a no-deal Brexit would be taken off the table within days after MPs rejected the prime minister’s proposals earlier this week, according to leaked details of a conference call.

Hammond also told executives from major companies that article 50, which triggered the process of Britain leaving the EU, could be rescinded.

Attempting to reassure the concerns of business chiefs, he told them that a backbench bill which could force ministers to extend article 50 would act as a “sort of ultimate backstop if the work the government is doing in seeking to find a way forward fails to deliver”.

Executives from leading companies spoke for more than an hour to Hammond at 9.30pm on Tuesday and a recording of the call was obtained by the Daily Telegraph. The call took place after Theresa May sustained the heaviest parliamentary defeat of any British prime minister in the democratic era, with MPs rejecting her Brexit deal by a resounding majority of 230.

The call included representatives of 330 businesses, among them the heads of Tesco, BP, Siemens and Scottish Power as well as other senior executives who have been vocal in warning against the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the economy.

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 were opposed to no deal “in any circumstances”. [...]

Full article on The Guardian

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