Conservative lawmaker Philip Hammond continued on Wednesday to criticize the cabinet's strategy for the divorce with the European Union, telling the BBC that Parliament would opt for a "democratic event" if there is no deal with the administration in Brussels and if Prime Minister Boris Johnson fails to get the majority in the House of Commons to back a disorderly Brexit. The former chancellor of the Exchequer, replaced by Sajid Javid, brushed off the possibility of a national unity government and hinted at the possibility of a referendum or early election.
In a reaction to indications from Johnson that legislators could be blocked from deciding about the matter, Hammond said it would mean a parliamentary crisis and stressed that "there is no mandate for no deal." He noted the Leave camp never mentioned that the country could crash out of the EU. Such a move would be "as much as a betrayal" as averting the withdrawal, in his words. The prominent Tory accused the prime minister of "purposefully setting the bar too high" by rejecting the so-called Northern Ireland backstop and criticized him for "a wrecking tactic."
