Jeremy Hunt has been mocked after insisting that Britain would “survive and prosper” after a no-deal Brexit, the day after describing it as a “mistake we would regret for generations”.
Mr Hunt had been criticised by Hard Brexiteer MPs after an interview with ITV News yesterday in which he appeared to play up the risks of leaving the EU in March without a deal.
In a tweet sent this morning Mr Hunt said: “Important not to misrepresent my words: Britain WOULD survive and prosper without a deal… but it would be a big mistake for Europe because of inevitable impact on long term partnership with UK.
“We will only sign up to deal that respects referendum result.”
Important not to misrepresent my words: Britain WOULD survive and prosper without a deal…but it would be a big mistake for Europe because of inevitable impact on long term partnership with UK. We will only sign up to deal that respects referendum result
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) August 17, 2018
Speaking earlier to ITV Mr Hunt had discussed the risks of no proper negotiated deal, saying: “It would be a mistake we would regret for generations, if we had a messy, ugly divorce, and would inevitably change British attitudes towards Europe.”
Eloise Todd, CEO of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said: “There are more flip-flops in the government than Clark’s shoe shop.
“Can we really trust a government minister who has moved from Remainer to hardcore leaver in the matter of weeks?
“We can’t all be expected to go on Mr Hunt’s road to Damascus though. We need to do what’s best for our families and communities. It’s clear no deal would be a disaster for Britain and only a people’s vote with the genuine choice of remaining in the EU can help us avert it.”
When asked whether he was presenting the government’s Brexit plan as “take it or leave it”, Mr Hunt answered: “No, but it is a framework on which I believe the ultimate deal will be based and I’ve been to several countries and met seven foreign ministers and am meeting more in the weeks ahead and I’m getting a strong sense that not just in Holland but in many of the places I’ve visited that they do want to engage seriously to try and find a way through to try and get a pragmatic outcome.”
He also revealed that the government would consider EU proposals that demanded accepting European environmental and social legislation in order to facilitate a free trade agreement.
Fellow Tory Conor Burns told the Telegraph that “the thing that we want to avoid for ‘generations to come’ is being locked into a permanent orbit around the EU where we end up with a deal but don’t have a seat around the table”.
The Danish finance minister today echoed warnings that there is an even chance of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal.
Kristian Jensen said time was running out to strike a deal that was positive for both Britain and the EU, after Latvia’s foreign minister claimed the chance of a no-deal Brexit was “50-50”.
Mr Jensen, appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, was asked about Mr Rink?vi?s’ remarks.
He said: “I also believe that 50-50 is a very good assessment because time is running out and we need to move really fast if we’ve got to strike a deal that is positive both for the UK and EU.”
He went on to describe Theresa May’s Chequers plan as a “realistic proposal for good negotiations”.
“We need to go into a lot of details but I think it’s a very positive step forward and a necessary step,” he told the programme.
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