Hammond issues Brexit budget warning to leadership contenders

No Deal would mean spending plans must be dropped, says chancellor

As the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and Britain's next Prime Minister reaches its final stage, Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned the two remaining candidates — Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt — that they must have a plan B for Brexit, and that pursuing a no-deal Brexit policy means they must abandon any spending plans that they have.

Hammond's remarks in a speech to business leaders at the Mansion House in London on Wednesday night have widely been interpreted as a warning to Johnson, under whose leadership Hammond would most likely lose his cabinet position.

"There is a choice. Either we leave with no deal … or we preserve our future fiscal space. We cannot do both," he said.

One of Johnson's plans, should he become prime minister, is to raise the 40 percent tax threshold from 50,000 to 80,000 pounds, which has been estimated to cost more than 14 billion pounds ($17.8 billion).

Hammond also said the next leader owed it to the British electorate to have a plan B in case any proposed Brexit negotiations with the European Union — which has yet to show any interest in new negotiations — are unsuccessful.

"The question to the candidates is not 'what is your plan?' but 'what is your plan B?," he said.

"If your plan A is undeliverable not having a plan B is like not having a plan at all. So, the candidates need to be honest with the public.

"We cannot allow ourselves to be forced to choose between our democracy and our prosperity. If the new prime minister cannot end the deadlock in Parliament, then he will have to explore other democratic mechanisms to break the impasse. Because if he fails, his job will be on the line — and so, too, will the jobs and prosperity of millions of our fellow citizens."

A survey of Conservative Party members this week revealed that 63 percent would be willing to see Scotland leave the United Kingdom, and 59 percent would be willing to sacrifice Northern Ireland, in order for Brexit to be delivered.

More than 60 percent said they considered "significant damage to the UK economy" a price worth paying, prompting Hammond to say two "core, unshakeable, beliefs" of the Conservative Party were at risk.

"I will not concede the very ground we stand on," Hammond said. "I will fight, and fight again, to remake the case for pragmatism and, yes, for compromise in our politics — to ensure an outcome that protects the union and the prosperity of the United Kingdom."