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| Hunt: push for no-deal Brexit would be 'political suicide' | Hunt: push for no-deal Brexit would be 'political suicide' |
| (3 days later) | |
| The UK will be forced into a general election that will obliterate the Conservative party if a new leader pushes for the UK to leave the EU with no deal in October, Jeremy Hunt has said. | The UK will be forced into a general election that will obliterate the Conservative party if a new leader pushes for the UK to leave the EU with no deal in October, Jeremy Hunt has said. |
| Having written in a Telegraph article that a no-deal Brexit would be “political suicide”, Hunt said on Tuesday he did not believe parliament would allow the UK to leave with no deal on 31 October and would force an early election. | Having written in a Telegraph article that a no-deal Brexit would be “political suicide”, Hunt said on Tuesday he did not believe parliament would allow the UK to leave with no deal on 31 October and would force an early election. |
| Jeremy Hunt says no-deal Brexit would be 'political suicide' – live news | Jeremy Hunt says no-deal Brexit would be 'political suicide' – live news |
| “I’m making this argument because I want to solve the Brexit crisis we are in and I’m worried if we don’t solve it we will face a political crisis that is far bigger than our legal relationship with the EU; it could lead to the destruction of our party system and the end of my own party,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. | “I’m making this argument because I want to solve the Brexit crisis we are in and I’m worried if we don’t solve it we will face a political crisis that is far bigger than our legal relationship with the EU; it could lead to the destruction of our party system and the end of my own party,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. |
| “The biggest risk to Brexit now is not an issue of getting a majority, challenging as that is; the biggest risk is a general election, because the Labour party is now changing its position to a second-referendum party.” | “The biggest risk to Brexit now is not an issue of getting a majority, challenging as that is; the biggest risk is a general election, because the Labour party is now changing its position to a second-referendum party.” |
| The foreign secretary said he believed the result of a general election would be catastrophic for the Conservatives. “As we’ve learned from the local elections and the European elections, we must not go back to the electorate asking for their mandate until we have delivered what we said we’d deliver last time.” | The foreign secretary said he believed the result of a general election would be catastrophic for the Conservatives. “As we’ve learned from the local elections and the European elections, we must not go back to the electorate asking for their mandate until we have delivered what we said we’d deliver last time.” |
| Hunt, one of the frontrunners for the Tory leadership, who has previously been bullish about a no-deal exit, said he believed it was still possible to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, despite the EU having said it would not do so. | Hunt, one of the frontrunners for the Tory leadership, who has previously been bullish about a no-deal exit, said he believed it was still possible to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, despite the EU having said it would not do so. |
| The environment secretary’s campaign plan was knocked off course by revelations about drug-taking. | |
| He has sought to regain his place as the leading ‘Stop Boris’ with a series of policy pledges, from a new social insurance to pay for social care, to changing human rights law to prevent service personnel being pursued over historical crimes. He has better Brexiter credentials than Hunt, is liked by the moderate wing of the party, and is a better orator than almost any other candidate. | |
| He has played up his senior role in the Vote Leave campaign, saying he had ‘led from the front’ because he believed it was ‘the right thing to do, at a critical moment in our history’. | |
| On Brexit he has publicly discussed the idea of extending the Brexit deadline slightly beyond 31 October, if needed to finalise a deal. Has not completely ruled out a no-deal Brexit. | |
| He received 37 votes in the first round, coming third. | He received 37 votes in the first round, coming third. |
| The foreign secretary has made the case that he is the most serious and experienced would-be leader, in an apparent rebuke to his main rival, Boris Johnson. | |
| On Brexit he believes a new deal is possible by 31 October, and would send a new, cross-party negotiating team to Brussels. Would countenance leaving EU without a deal, but has warned that could lead to a confidence vote and potentially an election. | |
| Hunt’s problem is he is seen as the continuity candidate, the safe pair of hands, when colleagues are starting to see the attraction of a new style. | |
| He received 43 votes in the first round, placing him second. | He received 43 votes in the first round, placing him second. |
| Javid struggled to define himself in the first days of the campaign, not a fresh face, not a safe pair of hands, or a true Brexit believer. But his campaign picked up, with the endorsement of popular Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, a polished leadership video telling the moving story of his background, and a lively launch speech. It was still only enough to place him fifth, though. | |
| On Brexit, Javid says he wants to leave with a deal, but has talked down the idea of another extension and would be prepared to opt for no deal. | |
| He is expected to make a new push to define himself as the change candidate who can talk to Tory voters in new places – though he may also be tempted to drop out to tuck in behind one of the frontrunners. It is hard to see how he could make it into the final two from this position. | |
| He received 23 votes in the first round. | He received 23 votes in the first round. |
| The former foreign secretary already has enough support to progress through to the members’ ballot. All Johnson needs to do is sit tight, keep his MPs sweet and try not to ruin it for himself. He has kept a low profile in the media and stayed in the tearooms and in his office, methodically talking round colleagues. His team know that one negative news cycle because of an off-guard comment could see his star plummet – and Johnson is more prone to those than most. | |
| On Brexit he has promised the UK will leave the EU on 31 October, come what may, even without a deal if a new agreement cannot be reached in time. | |
| Johnson won the first round with 114 votes. | Johnson won the first round with 114 votes. |
| The former Brexit secretary has had a rocky start to his campaign after telling broadcasters he was not a feminist and missing out on a slew of endorsements from the Brexiter right of the party, which instead went to Boris Johnson | |
| On Brexit Raab has said he would actively seek a no-deal departure, and has repeatedly refused to rule out proroguing parliament to make sure MPs could not block this. ‘We’ve been humiliated as a country in these talks with the EU,’ he said. ‘We’re divided at home, and demeaned abroad.’ | |
| His limited chance of success really now depends on whether Johnson stumbles and a more moderate candidate gains momentum, in which case Raab could be the beneficiary. | |
| Raab got 27 votes in the first round. | Raab got 27 votes in the first round. |
| Stewart said he was ‘over the moon’ to scrape into the next round of voting with 19 votes, one-sixth of Johnson’s tally, and insisted afterwards he could still make the final two. He still has a mountain to climb to get into the next round, where he will need to get another 14 endorsements – and avoid coming last – or he will be automatically eliminated. | |
| The safe money would say it is likely that he will not make it through the next round, yet it is just about possible that his mounting popularity with the public could convince colleagues to take a gamble on him if they hope to find an outsider with a chance of beating Johnson. | |
| On Brexit he is by far the softest of the candidates – he so vehemently rules out no deal that he has discussed holding an impromptu parliament elsewhere in Westminster if a new PM opted to prorogue the Commons. | |
| Stewart got 19 votes in the first round. | Stewart got 19 votes in the first round. |
| “We need to have a new negotiating team, with someone from the Democratic Unionist party, the [Tory hardline Brexit] European Research Group, someone from Scotland and Wales so that the union side of these issues is properly thought through,” he said. | “We need to have a new negotiating team, with someone from the Democratic Unionist party, the [Tory hardline Brexit] European Research Group, someone from Scotland and Wales so that the union side of these issues is properly thought through,” he said. |
| He said the Labour party should not be involved because it had showed it was “not prepared to do this in good faith”. | He said the Labour party should not be involved because it had showed it was “not prepared to do this in good faith”. |
| However, Hunt said he had not asked the DUP or the ERG whether they would be willing to join negotiations led by him. | However, Hunt said he had not asked the DUP or the ERG whether they would be willing to join negotiations led by him. |
| The justice secretary, David Gauke, who has ruled himself out of the race, hinted on Tuesday that he could back Hunt’s campaign and agreed with him about the risks of no deal. | The justice secretary, David Gauke, who has ruled himself out of the race, hinted on Tuesday that he could back Hunt’s campaign and agreed with him about the risks of no deal. |
| “I think if we were to try to pursue a no-deal Brexit … then I think there are real risks for the country most importantly of all, but I don’t think that’s the right position for the Conservative party to be on. We have to be responsible,” he told Today. | “I think if we were to try to pursue a no-deal Brexit … then I think there are real risks for the country most importantly of all, but I don’t think that’s the right position for the Conservative party to be on. We have to be responsible,” he told Today. |
| Gauke said he had worked closely with the health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the international development secretary, Rory Stewart, who he said had been “very impressive so far”, and that he was encouraged by what Hunt was saying. | Gauke said he had worked closely with the health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the international development secretary, Rory Stewart, who he said had been “very impressive so far”, and that he was encouraged by what Hunt was saying. |
| The housing minister Kit Malthouse became the 10th leadership contender on Monday night, telling the Sun he had seen his compromise proposal on the Northern Irish backstop cited by many leadership contenders which led him to believe he was the best to deliver it. | The housing minister Kit Malthouse became the 10th leadership contender on Monday night, telling the Sun he had seen his compromise proposal on the Northern Irish backstop cited by many leadership contenders which led him to believe he was the best to deliver it. |
| Tory leadership race: the favourites to replace May | Tory leadership race: the favourites to replace May |
| The “Malthouse compromise” of replacing the backstop with alternative arrangements, or negotiating a longer-term transition to a no-deal exit, has been backed by leavers and remainers in the Conservatives but was rejected as unworkable by Downing Street. | The “Malthouse compromise” of replacing the backstop with alternative arrangements, or negotiating a longer-term transition to a no-deal exit, has been backed by leavers and remainers in the Conservatives but was rejected as unworkable by Downing Street. |
| Malthouse, who entered the Commons in 2015, said he believed the new prime minister should come from the next generation. “This leadership campaign cannot be about the same old faces, scarred by wars that have split the Tory party over three years,” he said. | Malthouse, who entered the Commons in 2015, said he believed the new prime minister should come from the next generation. “This leadership campaign cannot be about the same old faces, scarred by wars that have split the Tory party over three years,” he said. |
| “We need to end the Brexit paralysis, and while I voted to leave the EU, I know that without unity across the UK, we cannot get a deal over the line. It’s time for a new generation to lead the charge into our future with boldness and vision.” | “We need to end the Brexit paralysis, and while I voted to leave the EU, I know that without unity across the UK, we cannot get a deal over the line. It’s time for a new generation to lead the charge into our future with boldness and vision.” |
| Other candidates who have declared in recent days include the environment secretary, Michael Gove, and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. Gove is understood to be unveiling a pledge on Tuesday to get rid of citizenship fees for all non-British EU citizens living in the UK before the referendum – around 3 million people. | Other candidates who have declared in recent days include the environment secretary, Michael Gove, and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. Gove is understood to be unveiling a pledge on Tuesday to get rid of citizenship fees for all non-British EU citizens living in the UK before the referendum – around 3 million people. |
| Hancock wrote in the Mail on Tuesday that the next general election battle should be over the economy, once Brexit had been delivered, and that the Tories should stand on a platform of low tax and a higher living wage. | Hancock wrote in the Mail on Tuesday that the next general election battle should be over the economy, once Brexit had been delivered, and that the Tories should stand on a platform of low tax and a higher living wage. |
| Stewart, who spent Monday visiting remain and leave areas of London and challenging voters to talk to him about his campaign, was endorsed overnight by the veteran MP and grandson of Winston Churchill, Nicholas Soames. | Stewart, who spent Monday visiting remain and leave areas of London and challenging voters to talk to him about his campaign, was endorsed overnight by the veteran MP and grandson of Winston Churchill, Nicholas Soames. |
| This whole day - whether in “remain” areas or “leave” areas is just a reminder that we have far more in common than divides us. #letscometogether pic.twitter.com/JJs3Xtze6S | This whole day - whether in “remain” areas or “leave” areas is just a reminder that we have far more in common than divides us. #letscometogether pic.twitter.com/JJs3Xtze6S |
| Stewart said he believed many Tory colleagues were “taking the party to the right … I think a no-deal Brexit would divide the country, divide the party. | Stewart said he believed many Tory colleagues were “taking the party to the right … I think a no-deal Brexit would divide the country, divide the party. |
| “You can’t threaten someone in negotiation with something you can’t deliver. I’ve negotiated in Iraq and in Afghanistan and the lesson I’ve taken from that is the key thing is to get agreement on what shared future you want together.” | “You can’t threaten someone in negotiation with something you can’t deliver. I’ve negotiated in Iraq and in Afghanistan and the lesson I’ve taken from that is the key thing is to get agreement on what shared future you want together.” |
| Stewart said he would take any proposed deal to a citizens’ assembly. | Stewart said he would take any proposed deal to a citizens’ assembly. |
| He said it would be a “jury of 500 ordinary people, we would go out to them and they would sit and take evidence in public, sitting seven days a week, and they would talk about the detailed issues of Brexit, hearing from the experts and … they would make the recommendations back to parliament”. | He said it would be a “jury of 500 ordinary people, we would go out to them and they would sit and take evidence in public, sitting seven days a week, and they would talk about the detailed issues of Brexit, hearing from the experts and … they would make the recommendations back to parliament”. |
| He pointed out that a similar process was used to find a solution to the issue of abortion in Ireland. “Look how well it worked in Ireland. I think it would work here too.” | He pointed out that a similar process was used to find a solution to the issue of abortion in Ireland. “Look how well it worked in Ireland. I think it would work here too.” |
| Jeremy Hunt | Jeremy Hunt |
| Conservative leadership | Conservative leadership |
| Brexit | Brexit |
| Kit Malthouse | Kit Malthouse |
| Rory Stewart | Rory Stewart |
| Conservatives | Conservatives |
| Foreign policy | Foreign policy |
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