Philip Hammond has rubbished claims by Jacob Rees-Mogg that a no deal Brexit would be better for the United Kingdom than the government’s plan.
Rees-Mogg today endorsed a report from the Economists for Free Trade group that said the UK had “nothing to fear” from crashing out of the EU and trading on World Trade Organisation rules.
The chancellor said the claim was “wildly out of line” with what other economists thought and “not sustainable”.
Hammond also warned today the summer of 2019 could be “quite a turbulent period for our economy”.
Asked about the chancellor’s comments, Theresa May sidestepped the question.
“What we’re working for with the European Union is a good deal for the UK, for our future relationship,” she said
“We have agreed with the EU that smooth transition through the implementation period.”
The UK is set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 and will remain in a transition period until the end of 2020.
An Economists for Free Trade event in parliament today was attended by Tory Brexit big-hitters including Rees Mogg, former Brexit secretary David Davis and his ex-deputy Steve Baker, former party leader Iain Duncan Smith and ex-Defra Secretary Owen Paterson.
Johnson stepped up his attack on May and claimed her Chequers plan for a Brexit deal would be “substantially worse than the status quo”.
However the boss of Jaguar Land Rover,Dr Ralf Speth, has warned a “hard Brexit” would cost the car maker tens of thousands of jobs.
“We are absolutely firmly committed to the UK, it’s our home. But a hard Brexit will cost Jaguar Land Rover more than £1.2bn a year – it’s horrifying, wiping our profit, destroying investment in the autonomous, zero-emissions, we want to share,” he said.