PROJECT SNEER
No Deal Brexit scare stories are ‘wildly overdone’, Boris Johnson blasts
FEARS about a No Deal Brexit are "wildly overdone", Boris Johnson insisted today as he mocked doomsday predictions from Remainers.
The would-be PM and rival Jeremy Hunt both vowed to kill off the hated Irish backstop and cut a new Brexit deal which doesn't risk breaking up the UK.
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And BoJo insisted there was no problem leaving with No Deal if Brussels plays hardball, saying: "I think a lot of the negativity about a WTO Brexit has been wildly over-done.
"People say that there won’t be any clean drinking water, and the planes won’t fly, and there won’t be milk solids and glucose and whey to make Mars bars. Do you really believe that? It is total nonsense.
"I prophesy very confidently that we will have a successful Brexit, the planes will fly, there will be clean drinking water, and there will be whey for the Mars bars, because where there’s a will, there’s a whey, as I never tire of saying."
As the two rivals squared off in Belfast:
- Philip Hammond threatened to bring down the next PM if they go for No Deal Brexit
- Boris backers branded Mr Hunt a "pushover" who would fail in Brussels talks
- The Foreign Secretary won a boost as William Hague endorsed him
- Brexit Party MEPs turned their backs on the EU national anthem in the European Parliament
Speaking at a hustings event in Northern Ireland, Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt both admitted the backstop proposal is now dead.
The plan, a key part of Theresa May's Brexit deal, would have seen the whole UK stay in the European customs union to keep the Irish border open.
Mr Hunt said: "We are never going to have a deal to leave the EU with the backstop, so it has to change or it has to go.
"It has to be a technology-led solution, what the Germans call an invisible border."
Mr Johnson claimed the backstop would break 200 years of precedent by forcing customs checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
People say that there won’t be any clean drinking water, and the planes won’t fly... It is total nonsense
Boris Johnson
He said: "The backstop presents a Prime Minister of the UK with an absolutely unacceptable choice.
"Between abandoning our ability to govern ourselves... or alternatively to give up control of the government of Northern Ireland, and that is clearly unacceptable.
"The solution must be for the whole UK to come out in its entirety from the EU.
"The withdrawal agreement as it currently stands is a dead letter.
"We've been wanting to come out of the EU supposedly while actually being prepared to stay in the customs union and full regulatory alignment."
The frontrunner added: "Under no circumstances will I allow the EU or anyone else to put a border down the Irish Sea.
"That is why I opposed the withdrawal agreement, and that is why I resigned over Chequers - it's a terrible moral blackmail."
And he denied reports he could appoint a much smaller Cabinet, with roles such as Northern Ireland Secretary abolished, insisting it was unfounded speculation.
TORY WARS
Both candidates were asked which character from Game of Thrones - which is filmed in Northern Ireland - they most identify with.
Mr Hunt namechecked hero Jon Snow, who at one point is left for dead before making an unlikely comeback, while BoJo admitted he's never seen the fantasy hit.
Saying he prefers Star Wars, Boris joked: "I identify very much with the guy with the lightsabre - the Jedi knights, that's it."
Philip Hammond dealt a blow to both candidates when he warned them he could step in to block a No Deal Brexit after he stops being Chancellor.
He told the Commons today:"I think I have been consistently clear that I believe leaving with a No Deal exit will be bad for the UK, bad for the British economy, bad for the British people.
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"It would be wrong for a British Government to seek to pursue no deal as a policy - and I believe that it will be for the House of Commons, of which I will continue proudly to be a member, to ensure that that doesn't happen."
But in a boost for the two rivals' hopes of pushing a deal through Parliament, Labour's Lisa Nandy today admitted she would vote for a deal rather than risk Brexit being cancelled.
She told the BBC: "If that deal were put on the table through the Withdrawal Agreement Bill I would do - as I said we should just before Theresa May resigned - and vote for it at second reading in order to thrash out the details at a later date because there are still outstanding concerns."
Boost for Hunt as William Hague backs him to be next PM
JEREMY Hunt won a boost today as he was endorsed by ex-Tory leader William Hague.
The ex-Foreign Secretary lavished praise on the current holder of the job, saying Mr Hunt is "one of the most talented ministers with whom I have shared the Cabinet table".
And he warned Boris Johnson his Brexit plan was doomed to failure if it meant sidelining Parliament.
Lord Hague, who led the party between 1997 and 2001, praised the "great qualities" of both candidates and said Boris "can inspire, entertain and provoke".
But he wrote in the Telegraph: "On what should be a key criterion for choosing the new leader - who can best do the actual job of being Prime Minister and do it instantly - Jeremy Hunt has a clear advantage."
The ex-leader also claimed Mr Hunt's Brexit proposals are more likely to succeed because he has given himself more room for manoeuvre.
He concluded: "Both men have great merits. But asked to weigh who might make the better Prime Minister, and have the best chance of avoiding calamity over Brexit, I come to a clear conclusion. I will mark my ballot for Jeremy Hunt.
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Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage says 'we did the right thing' after MEPs turned their backs on European Parliament
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