Jeremy Hunt has warned MPs that Brexit could be cancelled if MPs reject Theresa May’s deal for a third time.
The foreign secretary issued the warning to pro-Brexit Tory MPs as the Prime Minister travelled to Brussels to appeal to EU leaders to grant a delay to exit day.
He said cancelling Brexit was “unlikely” but said it was one outcome of the “extreme unpredictability” that would follow May’s deal being voted down.
There are just eight days to go before the UK is due to leave the EU, with no agreement in sight.
European Council president Donald Tusk said a “short” delay should be possible – but only if MPs finally back May’s deal before the deadline day on March 29.
Her deal was rejected by 149 votes at the last time of asking, and there is no evidence that support has shifted.
A petition calling for the Prime Minister to revoke Article 50 is nearing a million signatures with huge protests in the capital expected this weekend.
No-deal Brexit was also taken off the table last week after MPs voted 312 to 308 in favour of removing the option entirely.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4′s Today programme this morning, Hunt said there was only “a very limited list of things could happen” if the deal is rejected.
“Parliament could vote to revoke Article 50, which is cancelling the Brexit process – I think that’s highly unlikely,” he said.
“There could be an EU emergency summit to offer us an extension and we don’t know what the length will be and it could have some very onerous conditions – they could say, for example, ‘We’ll give you an extension if you have a second referendum’.
“Again, I think it’s very unlikely parliament would vote for that. And then we have no-deal as the legal default on Friday.
“So the choice that we have now is one of resolving this issue or extreme unpredictability.”
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
