Theresa May to hold Cabinet crisis summit to prepare for a ‘no deal’ Brexit as her ministers go to war over doom-laden forecasts
PM has told her top team to clear their schedule for September 13 to work on contingency plans for exiting EU without an agreement
THERESA May is set to hold a crisis summit with her Cabinet to discuss preparations for a “no deal” Brexit as her ministers go to war over doom-laden forecasts.
The Prime Minister has told her top team to clear their schedule for September 13 to work on contingency plans for exiting the EU without an agreement next year.
It comes after Philip Hammond reignited the row over the issue by warning of “large fiscal consequences” in such a scenario.
It led to calls by Brexiteers for Mrs May to sack her Chancellor, saying he was undermining the Government’s whole negotiating strategy with Brussels.
And the Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab hit back today, saying most forecasts have “been proved to be wrong”.
So in an attempt to stop the row from damaging Britain’s prospects of exiting the bloc with the best possible arrangement, a crunch meeting has been arranged.
The said Number 10 has confirmed Mrs May has called for a gathering to do a “stock take” of preparations, with concerns just £750million has been spent on no-deal planning, with another £3billion not yet allocated..
Officials told the newspaper the she was calling a “no-deal cabinet” as some “remain” ministers like the Business Secretary Greg Clark had been “dragging their feet”.
One said: “The meeting is needed to work out once and for all if we can survive a no-deal scenario.
“Some departments are better prepared than others; we urgently have to get the money where it is needed. The meeting will decide what gets spent where.”
It comes as Mr Raab risked a row with his Cabinet colleague Mr Hammond after questioning the worth of economic forecasts about Brexit .
He did not mention the Chancellor by name but it needed little interpretation to see the Eurosceptic minister was singling out the Treasury boss.
Mr Raab said some projections needed to be treated with "a measure of caution", adding that GDP estimates for 2019 "have been revised up.
He added: "I'm always chary of any forecast because most of them have been proved to be wrong."
A ‘no-deal’ Brexit will break up the UK, warns Van Rompuy
THE FORMER president of the European council has claimed exiting the UK without a deal could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom
Herman Van Rompuy, a man once described by Nigel Farage of having the "charisma of a damp rag", said a 'no deal' brexit would end up creating new pressures over Scottish independence.
He said the threat was a new “operation fear” tactic, this time being used by the British government - but said it would not work with the EU.
The ex-Belgian prime Minister told the that crashing out without a deal was an "an existential threat to the UK itself".
Mr Van Rompuy said: "One can imagine that a no deal will have a big impact and cause concern in some of the regions.
"Speaking of Scotland, it could have consequences for them and others.”
He added: "We could end up with a situation in which the EU27 becomes more united and a United Kingdom less united.
"This talk about a 'no deal' is the kind of nationalist rhetoric that belongs to another era."
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The row began when Mr Hammond's comments in a letter to a commons committee emerged hours after Mr Raab had attempted to play down the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit while outlining the impact of such a scenario via a series of technical papers.
The Chancellor said GDP could fall and borrowing could be about £80billion a year higher by 2033/34 without a deal.
And he also warned of damaging effects on industries from car-building to retail, leading to senior Tories branding him the “Gerald Ratner of British politics”.