Jeremy Hunt unveils $36bn war chest for Brexit

Jeremy Hunt will reveal plans for a no-deal Brexit ‘war chest’ worth almost $36 billion.

Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt. Picture: AFP

Jeremy Hunt will reveal plans for a no-deal Brexit “war chest” worth almost £20 billion ($36bn), which he would use to slash corporation tax and compensate small businesses.

In a speech to be given this morning (AEST) the Foreign Secretary vows to mitigate the effects of tariffs on fishermen and farmers with £6bn worth of funding, saying that they are entitled to help just as the banks were when they were bailed out during the ­financial crisis. He also pledges to cut corporation tax to 12.5 per cent, at an estimated cost of £13bn a year, regardless of whether there is a Brexit deal.

He says Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan amounts to little more than a “wing and a prayer”, while he has put in the “hard yards” with a ­detailed strategy. “If you’re a sheep farmer in Shropshire or a fisherman in Peterhead I have a simple message for you,” Mr Hunt says. “I know you face uncertainty if we have to leave the EU without a deal.

“I will mitigate the impact of no-deal Brexit on you and step in to help smooth those short-term difficulties. If we could do it for the bankers in the financial crisis, we can do it for our fishermen, farmers and small businesses now.

“Britain deserves a leader with the courage to not just tell the ­European Commission he will walk away but to show them he is willing and able to do so. Because in the end, without those abilities, without that determination, and without that plan, it is just a wing and a prayer.”

Mr Hunt said on Sunday that he would be prepared to tell the owner of a business that went bust because of a no-deal Brexit that it was necessary to show that Britain was a “country where politicians do what the people tell them to do”.

Mr Hunt has been under pressure from Mr Johnson, his rival for the Conservative leadership, over his refusal to commit himself to leaving the EU on October 31, deal or no deal.

In his speech, to be given to the think tank Policy Exchange London, Mr Hunt presents a plan to get the country ready for no-deal.

It includes a £6bn relief program, designed to “ease transition” out of the EU for fishermen and farmers who export to ­Europe and would be hit by tariffs. There would be an emergency budget and an emergency committee to “turbocharge” Brexit preparations.

Mr Hunt told the BBC on Sunday that he would be prepared to pursue a no-deal Brexit, albeit “with a heavy heart”, and admitted that some of his spending pledges would have to be postponed. He refused to say whether he would “definitely” take Britain out of the EU this year.

“If we got to the end of October and we’ve got a deal and we’re trying to get it through parliament but we need a few more parliamentary days, I’m not going to rip up that deal — Boris is,” he said. “At the beginning of October if there is no prospect of a deal that can get through parliament then I will leave at the end of October.”

Pressed further, he said: “I ­believe we’ll leave sooner with me than with Boris or anyone else ­because I am the person most likely to negotiate a deal, and that is the quickest way to leave.”

He faced embarrassment after announcing that Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister, would negotiate his Brexit deal. Mr Harper then tweeted that he was “neutral” and would work with whoever ­became prime minister.

The Times