Philip Hammond says a no-deal Brexit would cause 'irreparable damage' to UK

Former Chancellor Philip Hammond has said leaving the EU with no deal is "as much a betrayal" of the referendum than not leaving.

Crashing out the European Union with no deal would be "as much a betrayal" of the EU referendum as not leaving at all, and could cause "irreparable damage", the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has warned.

Mr Hammond accused the Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his advisers of trying to "bypass Parliament" to force though a no-deal Brexit, and said their actions could ultimately "provoke a constitutional crisis".

The former Chancellor was speaking on Radio 4's Today programme this morning, and said that attempts to get the EU to back down on the backstop were also a "wrecking tactic".

His comments come a day after it was announced a legal bid to prevent Boris Johnson from suspending the UK Parliament to force through a no deal Brexit will have a full hearing next month. More than 70 MPs and Peers have joined forces to call on the courts to rule that suspending Westminster to allow the UK to leave without a deal would be “unlawful and unconstitutional”.

Mr Hammond said: "Leaving the EU without a deal would be just as much a betrayal of the referendum result as not leaving at all.

"The British people were offered a proposition that we could leave the European Union while having a close relationship, they were told it would be the easiest deal ever done.

"And all the evidence points to people wanting to maintain a close trading relationship with the EU to protect British jobs and British prosperity and minimise disruption in the future.

"To set the bar for negotiations so high that we inevitably leave without a deal would be a betrayal and the Prime Minister said he would get a deal and we want to see him deliver that deal."

He added: "We were talking until a few weeks ago about the need to change the terms of the backstop and I think, although that would have been an extremely difficult discussion, it was a tough negotiating position.

"But pivoting to say that the backstop has to go in its entirety, a huge chunk of the Withdrawal Agreement just scrapped, is effectively a wrecking tactic. The people behind this know that that means there will be no deal."

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Mr Hammond said there is no mandate for no-deal, and that most people want a close relationship with the EU to protect jobs and the economy.