I can make Brexit happen before Boris and will accept No Deal with a ‘heavy heart’, says Hunt as he claims he is best placed to take on rebel Remainers in Parliament
- The Foreign Secretary played-up his deal making abilities on Marr this morning
- He warned ‘if we don’t do what the people tell us to do we are not a democracy’
- Added: ‘I believe we’ll leave sooner with me than with Boris or anyone else’
Jeremy Hunt claimed he could get Brexit completed before Boris Johnson today as he talked up his Leave credentials.
The Foreign Secretary played-up his deal making abilities saying he was best placed to go to Brussels and get a deal that would be approved by Parliament.
Reiterating his backing for a No Deal Brexit on October 31 – unless a deal was very close to completion – he warned ‘if we don’t do what the people tell us to do we are not a democracy’.
Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show he attacked the ‘fake debate’ over the Halloween deadline to quit the EU, saying: ‘I believe we’ll leave sooner with me than with Boris or anyone else because I am the person most likely to negotiate a deal – and that is the quickest way to leave.
Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show he attacked the ‘fake debate’ over the Halloween deadline to quit the EU
Mr Hunt said: saying: ‘I believe we’ll leave sooner with me than with Boris or anyone else because I am the person most likely to negotiate a deal’
‘What you’re saying is something that’s a dilemma. Parliament is trying to stop a no-deal Brexit, they succeeded before, they may succeed again – that is an issue that will face any prime minister, whatever they’ve said about October 31.
‘The quickest way to leave the EU is to choose a prime minister who can actually get us a deal that can get through Parliament, and if you want a deal done ask a business person.’
Mr Hunt, questioned if he would look people in the eye and tell them they should be prepared to lose their job as he will pursue a no-deal Brexit, replied: ‘I’d do so but I’d do it with a heavy heart precisely because of the risks.’
Mr Hunt currently trails Mr Johnson in polls of the Conservative Party members who will choose the next Tory leader and prime minister, although he is ahead among the general public.
Mr Hunt added: ‘The difference between me and Boris is not as big as people are saying.
‘If we got to the end of October and we have got a deal and we are trying to get it through parliament but we need a few more parliamentary days I am not going to rip up that deal, Boris is.
‘At the beginning of October if there is no prospect of a deal that can get through Parliament then I will leave at the end of October because that is our democratic promise to the British people.’