Brexit news: Tory leadership contenders Esther McVey and Michael Gove clash over whether to suspend Parliament to force no-deal

Ella Wills9 June 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Two Conservative Party leadership candidates have clashed over whether they would suspend Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit.

Esther McVey has said she would be ready to ask the Queen to carry out the measure to ensure Brexit is delivered on time.

However Environment Secretary Michael Gove insisted such a move would be "wrong" and contradict "the best traditions of British democracy".

Eleven Tory MPs are vying to replace Theresa May as party leader and become prime minister.

The EU Settlement Scheme experienced technical issues on the day of its launch.
EPA

The former work and pensions secretary told the Sunday Times she would use "every tool" at her disposal to deliver on the referendum result.

Tory leadership candidate Esther McVey on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday
REUTERS

The Tory leadership contender later said that the move would not be her preferred option as prime minister.

But asked on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show whether she would be ready to do so if necessary, she said: “I wouldn’t be looking to do that. I have said I would use every tool at my disposal, so that would include that.

“It wouldn’t be my priority and I wouldn’t be looking to do that. I would be using what was in my toolkit.”

It comes after rival contender Dominic Raab said it would be "wrong" to rule out proroguing Parliament to secure Brexit.

Sajid Javid hopes to leave on October 31
REUTERS

Meanwhile, two other Tory leadership candidates have said that they are ready to crash out of the EU without a deal if the only alternative is halting Brexit.

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Sajid Javid said: “The policy of any government I lead will be to leave on October 31. We will do everything in our power to leave on October 31.

“I will do everything I can to get a deal, but if I have to choose between no deal and no Brexit, I will choose no deal.”

And Jeremy Hunt told the same programme: “I have always said that if the only way to leave the EU is without a deal, I would do that, because we have to honour that referendum result.

“But I would do so with a heavy heart because of the potential risks to business and to the Union, and I wouldn’t do it if there was a prospect of a good deal.”

The Foreign Secretary also said Angela Merkel told him the EU "would be willing to negotiate" on the Brexit deal with a new Prime Minister.

Mr Hunt said any deal with the EU needs to have the support of Parliament, suggesting he would include in his negotiating team the DUP, representatives of the Eurosceptic caucus the ERG, as well as Scottish and Welsh Conservatives.

On whether he was confident of renegotiating the Withdrawal Agreement, he said: "If you're asking me as someone who has done deals all their life 'is there a deal here?', yes, there is.

"Finding that deal is going to mean approaching the EU with the right kind of person. If we go in with an ultra hard-line approach, we will get an ultra hard-line response.

"Then we'll get to the end of October and nothing will have changed expect we'll be one step closer to a general election."

The Home Secretary has promised to break from the austerity of the last nine years by slowing the pace of debt reduction to fund a multibillion-pound spending spree.

Mr Javid said the move would still involve debt coming down but could free up to £25 billion a year for spending priorities, including a funding boost for education.

He also said he had "done my homework" on Brexit, insisting that a technological solution to the Irish border problem could be found - with the UK paying hundreds of millions of pounds to fund it.

The Tory leadership hopeful told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "I want to see a multi-year, multibillion-pound boost in investment and spending in schools, and really change the life chances of so many young people."

As Theresa May resigned as Tory leader on Friday, the starting gun was fired for the race to replace her.

The nomination process will take place on Monday, with candidates requiring eight MPs to back them in order to enter the race, with the first round of voting on Thursday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in