The Foreign Secretary said he would be willing to deliver a no-deal Brexit if he were prime minister because the “democratic risk” of not leaving the EU is greater than the economic damage of leaving without an agreement. Mr Hunt, who backed Remain, was speaking as pressure mounted on Theresa May to name a date to quit as Tory leader. Mrs May has said she will step down if her Withdrawal Agreement is ratified, but with the EU deadline for Brexit extended to the end of October, has not made clear how long she intends to stay if no deal is reached.
Addressing a Westminster lunch Mr Hunt, who is seen as a frontrunner to be the next Conservative Party leader, said: “As far as Brexit is concerned, my view is very straightforward. We have to leave, leave quickly and leave cleanly.”
Asked if he would be willing as prime minister to take Britain out of the EU without a deal, he said: “If there was a choice between no deal or no Brexit I would choose no deal because I think the democratic risk of no Brexit ultimately is higher than the economic risk of no deal.”
He said he did not believe Parliament would allow a no-deal exit, however, and added: “I would always prefer to leave with a deal because I think there would be disruption without a deal and it’s very difficult to predict exactly what that disruption would be, but it would potentially be very significant.”
He added: “A second referendum is a complete blind alley because I don’t think it will solve anything.”
On his personal leadership ambitions Mr Hunt teased “wait and see” when asked whether he would throw his hat into the ring to be Tory leader when Mrs May stands down.
Mr Hunt said Britain should make Donald Trump “very welcome” during his state visit to the UK in June.
“I think that it is very important when you have a state visit by our closest and most important ally that we think about the office as much as the person,” he said.
