Political reporter(wp/es):
Philip Hammond led attempts today to rescue the Prime Minister’s much-criticised Chequers blueprint by saying it would deliver an immediate “deal dividend” to the economy.
The Chancellor also pledged to intervene with spending “firepower” to prop up the economy in the event of a no-deal Brexit
His speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham came as senior ministers desperately tried to head off an attempt by Boris Johnson to hijack the rally when he arrives tomorrow.
Today three Brexit-backers in the Cabinet moved to block Mr Johnson from ousting Theresa May by issuing their own pleas for unity behind the Prime Minister and her Brexit proposals.
Mr Hammond told the hall that thousands of jobs depend on keeping up “friction-free” trade in goods. “That is why I share the Prime Minister’s determination to get the Chequers plan agreed,” he said. “A plan which delivers on the decision of the British people.” Mr Hammond went on to give an impassioned call for unity in the “complex” Brexit process and afterwards on a programme to deliver on domestic concerns among the population.
“So over the next few weeks we must stand together, four-square behind the PM, to get the best possible outcome for Britain,” he said.
Mr Hammond promised that he would intervene if Britain had to crash out of the EU without a deal, an outcome many Tory Rightwingers say they prefer. “Be in no doubt that I will maintain enough fiscal firepower to support our economy if that happens,” he said.
But he said Chequers would make Britons feel instantly better off. “I’m going to stick my neck out here today and make a prediction to you, that when the Prime Minister gets a deal agreed there will be a boost to our economic growth — a ‘deal dividend’.”
Mr Hammond also warned international business giants dodging taxes that the UK is ready to introduce a digital services tax without the backing of other countries.
“The best way to tax international companies is through international agreements,” he said. “But the time for talking is coming to an end … and the stalling has to stop. If we cannot reach agreement … the UK will go it alone with a digital services tax of its own.”
Mr Hammond hit back at Brexiteer claims he is not patriotic enough. “Like everyone in this room, I love this country,” he said. “All of us are patriots, all of us are on the same side when it comes to our national interest, the side that stands up for Britain.”
Three Cabinet ministers who stood with Mr Johnson in the Leave campaign before the 2016 referendum backed up Mr Hammond’s defence of the Chequers blueprint this morning.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said: “To rise to this challenge, we’ll need some unity of purpose. And I believe we’re at our best when we work together to forge something bigger than the sum of our parts, as a government, as a party and as a country.”
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who was at one stage thought to be considering her position over Chequers, tweeted support for Mr Hammond’s speech “calling for unity to deliver the best Brexit possible”.
In his own speech to the hall, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “We need to be clear that under Theresa May this country will not accept a deal that is bad for Britain or one that is bad for the union that is the United Kingdom. So that is why we are backing our Prime Minister.”
Earlier Mr Hammond mocked Mr Johnson’s favoured Brexit involving a Canada-style trade deal as a “fantasy world. The Chancellor said there was no chance of the EU signing up to an agreement that would cause a hard border with Northern Ireland.
He also stepped up attacks on Mr Johnson’s suitability to become prime minister, deriding him as a “big picture” politician who was good at “flamboyant” statements but had no grasp of detail.
A figure close to Mrs May said of Mr Johnson: “It’s the last throw of the dice. He’s going a bit deranged.”
Mr Johnson appeared to hit back with some gentle mockery of his own, allowing himself to be photographed jogging through a field. The images seemed to make fun of Theresa May’s much-mocked claim in the 2017 election campaign that running through a field of wheat as a child was the naughtiest thing she had ever done.
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