UK finance minister calls for Brexit solution

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Britain must find a way to leave the European Union in an orderly fashion rather than trying to oust Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said on Sunday.

When asked by Sky about newspaper reports of a plot to oust May by senior ministers and whether she had run out of road, Hammond said: "No, I don't think that is the case at all."

"Changing prime minister wouldn't help us," he said. "To be talking about changing the players on the board, frankly, is self-indulgent at this time."

When asked if he was trying to get May's de-facto deputy, David Lidington, to take over as interim prime minister, Hammond replied: "That's not the case."

(L-R) Britain's International Development Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt, Britain's Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster David Lidington, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid in the House of Commons in London, February 13, 2019. /VCG Photo

Lidington also denied such reports. He told reporters on Sunday that he doesn't think he has any wish to take May's job. "I don't think that I have any wish to take over from the PM, I think (she) is doing a fantastic job," he said.

"One thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task," he said. "I have absolute admiration for the way she is going about it."

"I'm realistic that we may not be able to get a majority for the prime minister's (Brexit) deal and if that is the case then parliament will have to decide not just what it's against but what it is for," Hammond said.

When asked about possible options for Brexit, Hammond said he was not sure there was a majority in parliament for a second referendum but that it was a coherent proposition.

"It's clear there is going to be an opportunity over the next few days for the House of Commons, if it doesn't approve the prime minister's deal, to try to find a majority behind another proposition that it can take forward," Hammond said.

Britain's Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay appears on BBC's Andrew Marr Show in London, March 24, 2019. /VCG Photo

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay warned the UK could face the risk of election if parliament takes control of Brexit process this week.

"Ultimately at its logical conclusion, the risk of a general election increases because you potentially have a situation where parliament is instructing the executive to do something that is counter to what it was elected to do," he told the BBC on Sunday.

Source(s): Reuters