Cabinet splits emerge as Boris Johnson says getting no deal with the EU after Brexit would be ‘perfectly OK’ but Liam Fox insists it would be bad for our economy
Ministers have been accused of putting the national interest at risk by failing to prepare for the prospect of no deal with the EU after Brexit talks
CABINET splits have emerged over what would happen to Britain if we didn't get a deal with the EU after Brexit.
Today Boris Johnson said not getting an agreement would be "perfectly OK" but Liam Fox insisted it would be bad for our economy.
Ministers have been accused of putting the national interest at risk by failing to prepare for the prospect of no deal with the EU after Brexit talks - but David Davis has said he is considering it.
MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee told the Brexit Secretary Mr Davis that it would be a "dereliction of duty" if the Government allowed the UK to crash out of the EU without a deal.
The report said leaving the EU on World Trade Organisation rules would be "destructive" and would lead to "mutually assured damage to the EU and the UK".
It added: "there is no evidence to indicate that this is receiving the consideration it deserves or that serious contingency planning is under way".
Trade Secretary Liam Fox told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday that not having a deal would be "bad... not just bad for the UK, but for Europe as a whole."
And he said that it should be considered as a "plan Z" not a plan B.
Former minister Anna Soubry added that no deal would be like "falling off a cliff" and her constituents didn't vote for that "hard Brexit".
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, however, said that it would be "perfectly OK" if we did not get a deal with the EU - but he was confident that we would. He tried to play down the idea that Britain was planning for no deal.
He told ITV's Peston on Sunday that considering the possibility of no deal was "excessively pessimistic" but that if we had to fall back on WTO rules the consequences would not be "quite as apocalyptic" as people said.
And Nigel Farage claimed that it could spark a general election if a deal was rejected by MPs.
MPs say that plans to rely on World Trade Organisation rules only would severely impact on the economy - as they are "out of date" and "lacks the ambition that the UK's modern economy needs".
A handful of Tories are set to vote against the Government or abstain in tomorrow's vote on considering amendments from the Lords.
Peers voted in favour of two changes to the Brexit Bill which would mean that Mrs May would be forced to guarantee the rights of EU citizens after Brexit, and for a meaningful final vote on any Brexit deal in Parliament.
Government whips are confident that MPs will be able to reject the amendments and pass the Bill later this week.
Former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith wrote in the Sun on Sunday that the amendments were ignoring the referendum result and throwing it back in the face of British voters.
He said: "This would mean that Parliament, including unelected peers, could defy the referendum result and hurl the clearly expressed view of British people back in their faces.
"That means they could, in effect, veto the UK’s departure from the EU by the back door if they did not like the outcome."
Mr Davis today said MPs should leave the Bill untouched.
The defiant Brexit Secretary insists the public now want the Prime Minister to get on with formally triggering our departure from the EU.
He said: "What we can’t have is either House of Parliament reversing the decision of the British people. I am quite sure there will be votes throughout this process."
Mr Davis said he was carefully choosing the day Britain will trigger Article 50 - and insisted that the first thing to settle would be to agree the rights of EU citizens and Brits abroad.