David Davis says it is not too late to save Brexit as he hits out at Chequers deal and blasts Treasury’s ‘Project Fear’

DAVID Davis says Brexit can be saved - but we may have to rip up the current plans and start again.

The outgoing Brexit secretary told the Express that his wife convinced him to resign and he mulled over his decision for two days before taking the leap after Theresa May revealed her Chequers plan to him.

He hit out at the Treasury for "mumbo jumbo" maths and said quitting the EU with a "no deal" would not be the end of the world.

Asked if it was too late to save Brexit, Davis said: "It’s not too late but we’re going to have to fight very hard from outside to influence the way the Government goes.

"Through September and October it’s going to be a very high intensity argument, I think."

But he admitted that Autumn would be a crunch time, and if no agreement was in place "we’re going to have to start again."

David Davis announced his resignation minutes before midnight on July 8, 2018, with a devastating letter warning Mrs May her proposals would leave the UK in "a weak negotiating position" with Brussels.

He revealed he holed up in his home in Yorkshire listening to Mozart while mulling over whether to quit.

Davis told the paper: "When I make a big decision I always put two days’ cooling off period in my own mind."

"The big things in my mind were: 'One: can I stand at the despatch box and say this? And tell the truth?' And the answer’s no."

He added: "I talked it over with my wife and her advice was: 'Leave'. Mind you, she’s had to put up with the workload and the absence."

Davis says Theresa May would look at deals struck with other countries - Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, New Zealand - and create a "best-of" dossier as a bargaining chip.

And he slammed the Treasury for fear mongering, saying: "You’ve got a Whitehall establishment which putting it mildly, is not an enthusiast for the project. And certainly at the Treasury, which believes all these nonsensical forecasts. Project Fear Mark III, I think it is now.

"The Treasury in total believes this stuff and I don’t. I simply think this is mathematical mumbo jumbo."

He also denied wanting to replace May as PM adding: "I’ve just given up my job, I don’t want another one."

Davis tipped his Brexit sec successor, Dominic Raab to succeed in the role - calling him "my boy".

Discussing the notion of a "no deal", he admitted the country is not yet prepared for that eventuality, but said it would not be the end of the world.

Davis says if there was a second Brexit vote, the victory would be more emphatic - with Remainers becoming disheartened by the confusion and wishy-washy nature of the split.

He said: "I think they would. I think it would be about 60-40 ."

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