Politics

Jeremy Hunt takes aim at Boris as he warns Tory leader rival can't be trusted on Brexit


Jeremy Hunt / Boris Johnson

Hunt declared himself the only candidate to be trusted with Brexit negotiations (Image: NC)

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Express, the Tory leadership contender insisted he was impatient to get the UK out of the EU as soon as possible “to start the next chapter of our exciting history”. He set out his vision of an “energised” Britain standing “on it’s own two feet” in the world with a fast-growing, entrepreneurial economy. And in a jibe at his rival’s “do-or-die” Brexit pledge, he said: “You’ve got to be careful only to promise what you can deliver.” Mr Hunt spoke out about his “zeal” for delivering Brexit as he headed back to Westminster after a string of campaign visits in Essex yesterday. He joked that he wanted the UK to quit the EU “tomorrow” and admitted the failure to leave the bloc on time last March had provoked anger across the country. “The absolute fact is that every single day beyond March 29 is too late.

“I think it will become very clear in the next couple of months that the EU is ready to negotiate. And if they’re not, they will see that Britain is ready for no deal.”

Mr Hunt refused to directly criticise Mr Johnson – who earlier this week vowed to get the UK out of the EU by October 31 “do or die” – during the interview while rubbishing his rival’s Brexit blueprint as “nonsense”.

“I don’t want to talk about other candidates because that demeans the contest. I’m standing on my own qualities,” Mr Hunt said.

“I think people can see I am someone who has no background in politics, I’ve been out in the real world running my business. If you want a deal, then send for a business person.”

But he went on to insist the key difference between him and his rival was a question of who could be trusted to deliver on their promises.

Boris Johnson / Jeremy Hunt

Hunt refused to criticise Johnson, but didn’t hesitate to point out differences between them (Image: GETTY)

He said: “The argument now isn’t about whether or not we leave the EU. It’s who is the prime minister we trust to actually get us out quickly.

“As an entrepreneur and a negotiator, I can go to Brussels get that deal, get it through Parliament and allow us to start the next chapter of our exciting history.”

He warned that Mr Johnson’s threat to take the UK of the EU without a deal on October 31 would be rejected by Parliament, almost certainly triggering a general election likely to lead to Brexit being cancelled.

“If we have an election before we deliver Brexit, we will be wiped out and then there would be no Brexit. That’s why we’ve got to get what we do absolutely right,” he said.

He added: “I want to leave. Frankly, every day after March 29 is a day too long.

Boris Johnson

Johnson has been criticised for avoiding media scrutiny throughout the leadership contest (Image: GETTY)

“I’m the prime minister who will get us out the most quickly. But to do that, you’ve got to send the right person to Brussels – someone who can negotiate, someone they are prepared to talk to, someone that won’t blink, someone who’s prepared to walk away.”

The Foreign Secretary said that the country’s economic growth since the 2016 EU referendum vote to leave the EU – confounding the doom-mongering warnings of anti-Brexit campaigners – had convinced him he was wrong to have voted Remain in the poll.

“I’ve got the zeal of the convert because I am someone who votes Remain because I was worried about the short-term impact on the British economy,” the Foreign Secretary said.

“But I’ve just seen how resilient our economy has been and all the things that people predicted haven’t happened and that’s persuaded me we can make a tremendous success of Brexit.”

Asked about what the UK can gain from quitting the EU, the contender said: “I think the benefit of leaving is energising the ability for us as a country of standing on our own two feet.

“I loved setting up my own business because I felt I was in charge of my own destiny. That’s what we can do as a country.”

Mr Hunt ridiculed one option floated by his rival – the idea of using rules in the international General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs to continue UK’s trade relationship with Brussels pending further negotiations – as “nonsense” that had been dismissed by two Brexiteer Cabinet ministers.

“The GATT idea has been shown up, not just by Liam Fox but also by Geoffrey Cox who is supporting Boris, to be nonsense. The reality is no deal would be very difficult to get through Parliament. If it was on the table, if it was the only way to leave the EU, that’s what I’d do. But the surest way to leave the EU is to send someone who can negotiate a deal.”

Jeremy Hunt

Hunt says his entrepreneurial experience makes him the ideal PM to get us out of the EU (Image: GETTY)

Mr Hunt warned failure to deliver Brexit would lead to a backlash from the voters that could permanently damage the country’s democracy.

“I think people would become very angry. I’m Foreign Secretary, I travel around the world. The best thing about our country is that we are one of the most respected democracies. This is a country where politicians do what the people tell them. That’s why we’ve go to leave,” he said.

He also fleshed out his plan to invite the Democratic Unionist Party and Brexiteer Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg’s European Research Group of MPs to bolster his EU negotiating team for future talks with Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

“I think they would be in the team that came up with the proposals that we put to Michel Barnier.

Michel Barnier

Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier has shown a hardline stance towards Brexit in the past (Image: GETTY)

“The reason for that is we would make sure that we would not propose things that we couldn’t deliver. That’s where I think went wrong last time. The EU started believing that whatever they agreed with Theresa May, she could never get it through Parliament,” Mr Hunt said.

He rejected the idea that Nigel Farage should also be included on the negotiating team after his Brexit Party won the euro elections in the UK last month.

“Nigel Farage doesn’t want a deal. He wants to leave without a deal. The Brexit Party doesn’t have any MPs in Parliament. To deliver Brexit, you’ve got to get it through Parliament,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary said his contacts with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had confirmed there was a readiness in Europe for fresh negotiations to break the Brexit deadlock.

Nigel Farage

Hunt says Nigel Farage shouldn’t be involved within Brexit negotiations (Image: GETTY)

“What they say is that if the UK has some new proposals as to how to address the Irish border issue then of course they’ll look at them.

“They are prepared to look at the whole package.

“In the end, if they won’t be flexible, I will leave without a deal; it wouldn’t be my first choice but it would be what we have to do,” he said.

“My own view is that with a technological solution, not just on the Irish border but on the whole of the border, we can have frictionless trade – there will be some forms that need to be filled in, but they can be filled in online in advance – and have our own trade policy.”



READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.