8 **^ Friday 16 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
Horns of a dilemma Sheep from Mudchute farm on the
Isle of Dogs, London, are herded in Westminster in protest
at no-deal Brexit. Farmers say it would ruin their industry.HEATHCLIFF O’MALLEY FOR THE DAILY TELEGRAPHLeaving with no deal isn’t a betrayal
- but attempting to prevent it is
E
arlier this week, Philip
Hammond declared that leaving
the EU by Oct 31 without a
Withdrawal Agreement would be a
disaster and that his purpose was to
stop that happening. He went further,
claiming that to leave without a deal
was a betrayal of the referendum
result. No one, he maintained, voted to
leave without a deal.
Other Remainers have intoned
similarly (and endlessly) that no one
voted to lose their jobs or to be poorer,
as though they had some incredible
insight into not just what motivated
those who voted Leave, but also into
the consequences of our departure.
This is, of course, utter nonsense.
The only thing we know the majorityof people didn’t vote for was to remain
in the EU. The question on the ballot
paper was simple: we were asked
whether we wanted to leave the EU or
remain in the EU. The attempt by Mr
Hammond and others to re-interpret
the referendum result is patronising
and deliberately misleading.
At the same time, Jeremy Corbyn
had been busy urging other party
leaders – and it appears some
Conservative MPs – to support him in
a vote of confidence. His plan is to win
that vote and then form an
administration.
The thought that anyone would
listen to this man – who stood on a
manifesto in 2017 to deliver on the vote
to leave the EU while opposed to a
second referendum, but who now
declares he is in favour of a second
referendum – is ludicrous. Remember
he was against Theresa May’s deal, but
also against no deal. So desperate is he
to grab hold of the levers of power that
he would agree to anything.
Yet it appears that some of myConservative colleagues are quite
prepared to do business with Mr
Corbyn in their desire to block Brexit.
I was astounded when I heard that
Conservatives might go along with this
Marxist who presides over a party
mired in charges of anti-Semitism and
who would break up the Union. I
believe the greatest danger we face is
without question a Corbyn
government – which would bankrupt
our country. How can any self-
respecting Conservative be prepared
to see Mr Corbyn and John McDonnell
in Downing Street?
The behaviour of Mr Hammond and
co while in government has, as Boris
Johnson said, played into the hands of
the EU. Not being ready to leave made
the UK the greatest pushover in the
history of trade negotiations. And the
message to those like Mr Hammond
who want to block Brexit and to those
who would do deals with Mr Corbyn to
block Brexit is this: leaving with no
deal isn’t a betrayal of the British
people, but trying to stop it is.Comment
By Iain Duncan SmithHammond could face confidence
vote after Brexit interventions
By Harry Yorke POLITICAL
CORRESPONDENT
PHILIP HAMMOND is facing a back-
lash from local Conservative party
members over his attempts to block no
deal, with insiders indicating he could
soon face a confidence vote.
A subset of pro-Brexit members are
becoming increasingly vocal in their
opposition to his stance and recent in-
terventions, according to multiple
sources.
Insiders in the former chancellor’s
local Conservative association have
told The Daily Telegraph that anger at
Mr Hammond has grown in recent
weeks, including among figures on the
executive committee.
One source said it was “no secret”Politics
that members of the MP’s Runnymede
and Weybridge association were “un-
happy with what they see as Philip
Hammond’s interference”.
Another claimed the views of a “sub-
set” of Brexiteers were hardening
against Mr Hammond, warning that
they expected tensions to boil over
next month when Boris Johnson is
widely expected to face a confidencevote in Parliament.
The row comes less than 24 hours af-
ter Mr Hammond claimed that no deal
would be “as much a betrayal” as re-
maining in the European Union, add-
ing that he was “very confident” that
MPs could still block Mr Johnson from
delivering no deal.
His comments have enraged Brexi-
teers, with Downing Street insidersaccusing Mr Hammond of undermin-
ing no-deal preparations while in
government and privately seeking
advice on preparations for a second
referendum.
The row within the Conservative
Party escalated last night as senior re-
bels Dominic Grieve and Sir Oliver
Letwin agreed to meet with Jeremy
Corbyn, after the Labour leader wrote
to them asking for their support to top-
ple Mr Johnson.
Dame Caroline Spelman also agreed
to talks, but later insisted she would
not vote against the Government in a
confidence vote.
Guto Bebb, the Tory MP for Aber-
conwy, also gave the clearest indica-
tion yet that he could vote with Labour,
after claiming that a “short-term Jer-
emy Corbyn government” would be
“less damaging” than no deal.Nick Boles
Ex-skills minister who resigned the whipDominic Grieve
The rebellious former attorney generalThe former ministers willing to work with Corbyn
‘There are
people in the
association
... in theexecutive
committee,
who are notbest pleased
with some ofthe things
that Philip
has said.’Dear Jeremy,
Thank you for your letter.
We agree that our common priority
should be to work together in Parliament
to prevent no-deal Brexit and welcome your
invitation to discuss the different ways that
this might be achieved. We would be happy to
meet with you as well as colleagues from other
opposition parties whenever convenient in
the weeks before Parliament returns.
Yours sincerely
Nick Boles, Dominic Grieve,
Oliver Letwin, Caroline Spelman
Brexit
Bulletin
Subscriber
exclusive
telegraph.co.uk/
brexitbulletin1t
Trump pledges
‘fantastic’ trade
deal for UK
By Nick Allen in WashingtonDONALD TRUMP last night promised a
“fantastic and big” US trade deal with
the UK and said the two countries were
moving rapidly towards it.
The US president said he had spoken
to Boris Johnson on Wednesday, add-
ing: “He and I are very much aligned.”
Mr Trump said: “I think we’ll make a
fantastic and big trade deal with the
UK. That’s moving along rapidly. We
should do much more business than
we’re doing.”
The US president, en route to a cam-
paign rally in New Hampshire. added:
“I don’t want to say closest ally, be-
cause it would make others jealous. But
certainly it’s one of our closest.”
Mr Trump has repeatedly indicated
his desire for close trading ties once the
UK leaves the European Union.
It came in the wake of a visit to the
UK by John Bolton, the White House
national security adviser, who said the
US would “enthusiastically” support a
no-deal Brexit, and accused the Euro-
pean Union of treating voters like
“peasants”.РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS