PHILIP Hammond on Sunday sensationally revealed he could lead a rebel Tory charge to topple the next leader if they go for a no-deal Brexit.
In a bombshell threat, the Chancellor refused to rule out joining a no confidence vote against the next PM to stop Britain crashing out on Halloween.
Reuters
And the Brexit-bashing Cabinet minister warned other Tory MPs could join him in going for the nuclear option.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “A Prime Minister who ignores Parliament cannot expect to survive very long.”
It puts him at war with leadership frontrunners Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, who said they would go for a no-deal rather than delay Brexit again.
Mr Hammond blasted their promises to try to renegotiate the hated backstop as a “fig leaf” for no-deal.
Asked several times if he would join Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in toppling a no-deal PM, he refused to rule it out.
He said: “I would find it very difficult to vote for a no-deal Brexit.”
And hinting that he could lead a gang of rebels, he added: “This is a very difficult situation. It would challenge not just me, but many of our colleagues, and I hope we will never get to that position.”
The staggering threat sparked uproar from Tory big beasts who slammed him for contemplating letting hard-left Mr Corbyn into No10.
Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith angrily accused him of trying to “scare” MPs away from backing Mr Johnson.
He told The Sun: “This is an extension of Project Fear and an attack on Boris Johnson.
“If Philip Hammond and others do this their historical epitaph would be ‘they destroyed the Conservative Party and let the Marxist Jeremy Corbyn into No10’.”
Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “It is hard to believe that Philip Hammond loves the EU more than he fears Mr Corbyn as Prime Minister.”
Labour have vowed to bring a no confidence motion against the next PM as soon as they move into Downing Street.
AFP
AFP
