Echoing Margaret Thatcher, Sajid Javid vows today that he is ready to take Britain out of the EU without a deal if he cannot win concessions from Brussels.
Setting out his Brexit plan in an article for the Daily Mail, the Tory leadership contender rules out holding another referendum, an early general election or revoking Article 50.
‘In the words of a great British prime minister who knew how to get what she wanted from the European Commission: No, no, no,’ he writes.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid is vying to replace the outgoing Theresa May as leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister
‘The voters have been asked their opinion more than enough times. Never in this country’s history have we asked people to go to the polls a second time without implementing their verdict from the first.’
In his first major intervention since launching his campaign, Mr Javid reveals a five-point plan on Brexit which he describes as an ‘honest, credible set of proposals that recognises the significant challenges we face’.
He says he would immediately ramp up preparations for No Deal if he becomes prime minister to show he is serious about walking away.
This would include holding an emergency Budget to lay out for the first time details of the tax cuts the Government would introduce if the EU continues to play hardball.
He makes clear that his preference is to strike a deal – but the only way to get this through the Commons is to amend the backstop, which sank Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement.
He says he believes the technology exists to avoid a hard border in Ireland without needing the backstop – and adds he will even offer to pay tens of millions to Ireland to help pay for the equipment needed, in a bid to break the deadlock.
The Home Secretary is one of 12 contenders ,including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, in the race for Downing Street after Theresa May announced her intentions to stand down
Mr Javid, 49, says this would be ‘a small price to pay’ for resolving the border problem and rebuilding trust damaged by two years of fractious relations.
However, he insists that he would also accelerate work to get the country ready for No Deal.
‘This would show the EU we are ready … so when we turn up to negotiate they know we are not afraid of walking out,’ he writes.
Mrs May’s would-be successors are split on Brexit. Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey have all pledged to leave on October 31 come what may, while Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock have warned of the dangers of doing so.
Michael Gove is the only one of the leading contenders yet to spell out his plans.
In Mr Javid’s pitch to Tory MPs and party members, he vows to ‘take every step possible’ to get an agreement in place in place by the next deadline. ‘We should leave on October 31,’ he writes.
Setting out his Brexit plan in an article for the Daily Mail, the Tory leadership contender rules out holding another referendum, an early general election or revoking Article 50
‘If we cannot get a deal we should, with great regret, leave without one, having done everything we can to minimise disruption.’
But he warns that the parliamentary arithmetic was ‘inescapable’, adding: ‘It’s simply not credible to promise you can deliver a No Deal Brexit if Parliament is set again it.’
Is Amber backing her beach buddy Gove?
Amber Rudd prompted speculation she will back Michael Gove for prime minister yesterday after posting this picture of them together on a beach.
The Work and Pensions Secretary said she was ‘thrilled’ that Environment Secretary Mr Gove had designated Beachy Head East a conservation zone.
It is one of seven new ‘Blue Belt’ marine conservation zones created across the East of England.
More than 420 square miles of sea will be protected as part of the drive to give rare species a better chance of survival. Among the species and habitats that will benefit are long-snouted seahorses, tentacled lagoon worms and blue mussel beds.
Hastings MP Miss Rudd tweeted: ‘Great Hastings news. Thrilled Defra and Michael Gove backed my campaign.’
It came as Tory MP Bob Seely said he would back Mr Gove, adding: ‘Gove is best able to deliver [Brexit] – he may be the only leader who can.’
Mr Javid, who backed Remain in the referendum but has since positioned himself as a firm Leaver, says he can ‘unite the party and the country’.
His bid to win over Brexiteers has been boosted by the arrival of former Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott, who is running his campaign.
Mr Javid became the first home secretary from an ethnic minority background when he was appointed last April.
The son of a Pakistani bus driver from Rochdale, he was a managing director at Deutsche Bank before being elected to Parliament as the MP for Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.
He has long been a devotee of Mrs Thatcher, and has a picture of the former prime minister above his desk at the Home Office.
Yesterday he won the endorsement of justice minister Edward Argar. Writing on the Conservative Home website, Mr Argar said: ‘Sajid has an inspiring story of how he got ahead in life and what our country means for him – he is the embodiment of the Conservative values of aspiration and hard work, and of modern British identity.
‘The reason many voters never consider voting for us is because they don’t believe we understand their needs or share their values.
‘That’s why Sajid’s working-class background, with a family who relied heavily on public services, will be such an asset in the next election.
He says he believes the technology exists to avoid a hard border in Ireland (Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pictured) without needing the backstop – and adds he will even offer to pay tens of millions to Ireland to help pay for the equipment needed, in a bid to break the deadlock
He has long been a devotee of Mrs Thatcher, and has a picture of the former prime minister above his desk at the Home Office
‘The drive that took him to university, and into a highly successful business career, is also exactly the kind of spirit and skill we need as a country to fully seize our post-Brexit opportunities.
‘Sajid is someone with extensive experience in both the private sector and in Government, having held four different Cabinet roles.
‘This is the sort of man who could do the job of being our prime minister from day one.’
The London Chamber of Commerce yesterday said no prime minister can guarantee avoiding No Deal, and must be ready for it.
Chief executive David Frost said: ‘Business needs to be confident that Government is still preparing for a No Deal Brexit.
SAJID JAVID: ‘NO, I won’t back second referendum, NO, I won’t call a general election, NO, I won’t revoke Article 50,’ says leadership hopeful as he launches PM bid with Thatcher war cry
By Sajid Javid for the Daily Mail
As much of the country basks in early summer sunshine, we are just weeks away from the third anniversary of that momentous June day when the British people stood up and told that the world that it was time for the UK to leave the European Union.
As politicians we are supposed to serve our electors. We asked them for their decision. They gave it in good faith.
And as I said at the time, MPs and government had a duty to get on and deliver on the result.
‘MPs and government had a duty to get on and deliver on the result,’ writes Tory leadership contender Sajid Javid (pictured outside the Home Office)
To seize all the opportunities offered by leaving the EU, and go out into the world as a fully independent nation, in control of our destiny once more.
Three years later – and after local, national and European elections in which too many good, honest Conservatives have been voted out of office – the British people’s frustration and the need to make good on the referendum result have never been greater.
The responsibility of doing so will fall to the next leader of the Conservative Party – and if he or she fails in that task, we risk irreparable damage to the very fabric of our democracy.
Whoever they are, they will have a duty to be straight with the British people. And they will need a plan for getting the job done.
Not empty slogans and fiery rhetoric, but an honest, credible set of proposals that recognises the significant challenges we face – and which will deliver results not in the Parliament and EU we would like to see, but the Parliament and EU that are before us today.
There’s no point dwelling on how we got into the stormy seas that now surround us.
What matters is how we steady the ship and plot a course to the bright horizon we all want to reach – and I’m the right person to do it.
I spent a career in business doing international deals. I know how to make them happen and how to get the best out of negotiations, and I’ve used those same skills in government to get things done at home and build bridges with other countries.
Now, I’m ready apply those skills to the biggest challenge this country has faced since 1945 – and I have a detailed plan for doing so.
First, we must unite as a party to get a deal through in this Parliament. Some argue we should have a second referendum.
Others, a general election. Some even suggest revoking Article 50. Well, in the words of a great British Prime Minister who knew how to get what she wanted from the European Commission: No, no, no.
‘Three years later – and after local, national and European elections in which too many good, honest Conservatives have been voted out of office – the British people’s frustration and the need to make good on the referendum result have never been greater’, writes Mr Javid
‘Some even suggest revoking Article 50. Well, in the words of a great British Prime Minister who knew how to get what she wanted from the European Commission: No, no, no’, writes Sajid Javid, quoting Margaret Thatcher
The voters have been asked their opinion more than enough times. Never in this country’s history have we asked people to go to the polls a second time without implementing their verdict from the first.
Another vote before we leave would be disastrous for trust in politics, and cause the kind of chaos that risks handing Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-left supporters the keys to No 10.
Second – we need to prepare fully for No Deal. This isn’t because I want it. But we have to accept the reality of our situation.
The EU’s insistence that negotiations happen under a ticking clock mean, come October 31, that is what we face if we don’t have a deal.
As Prime Minister I would immediately step up No Deal preparations. We would aim to keep the impacts to a minimum.
But, while too much apocalyptic language has been used, we have to be honest. It wouldn’t be painless. So, as part of preparations we would have a broad, bold No Deal Budget ready.
‘We need to prepare fully for No Deal. This isn’t because I want it. But we have to accept the reality of our situation’, writes the Home Secretary
This would also show the EU we are ready – so when we turn up to negotiate, they know we are not afraid of walking out.
Third – we must focus on what we need to get a deal which can be agreed. That means accepting the realities of the parliamentary arithmetic, and what is practically possible.
We know the only thing that has got through our Parliament successfully is the Withdrawal Agreement with backstop provisions amended to include a time limit or exit clause.
So, fourth – I would work directly with Ireland so we can amend the backstop. The backstop is important to the EU because it is important to Ireland. So that’s where our efforts need to focus.
And there’s something big in our favour. We both want the same thing – as now, an invisible and frictionless border.
What’s currently missing is trust in our ability and determination to deliver that. That requires two things.
Someone who could work with them constructively building a strong relationship of personal trust. And a credible solution.
I’ve looked at this in the Home Office, tasking a team from Border Force to look at what we’d need in place.
Mr Javid (pictured with his wife Laura) believes that a revised deal needs to be put before Parliament
They were clear the technologies already exist to avoid a hard border, and important work in being undertaken by the Alternative Arrangement Commission on this front. What we need is the trust and will on both sides to make this work a reality.
Of course, some will say this isn’t possible. I understand that caution. But in practice this is a feasible plan.
And I think we will see more engagement as a new Commission takes place and we get closer to October.
Others will ask why Ireland should pay for the consequences of the UK’s decision to leave.
That’s a fair point, so as Prime Minister I would agree to cover the cost to Ireland of delivering this.
It’s a small price to avoid No Deal – and the risks that would bring to the hard-won peace.
Fifth – we’ll need to take this revised deal though Parliament. There is no getting around the fact that the timing for negotiations and then getting legislation through will be challenging.
But I would take every step possible to ensure we leave with a deal by October 31.
This is an honest, realistic plan to get a deal through. I have to be straight – delivering it won’t be easy.
But if we succeed – and I believe we will – then this is the path that will lead our great country to a still greater future.
As Prime Minister I would have a clear position. We should leave on October 31. And if we cannot get a deal we should, with great regret, leave without one, having done everything we can to minimise disruption.
Of course, the arithmetic of a minority government is inescapable. As the recent comments of the Speaker demonstrated, it’s simply not credible to promise you can deliver a No Deal if Parliament is set against it.
And anyone who promised this would risk driving us to a pre-Brexit general election this year.
A disaster first and foremost for our country and public trust in democracy, but also for our party.
That’s why we need a leader who can unite the party, and country, behind a credible plan – and then go and actually deliver it.
I believe this is that plan.
And I know I am that leader.