LONDON: British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday he would resign if Boris Johnson became prime minister because he felt unable to support a leader happy to take the country out of the European Union without a deal.
Hammond’s decision underlines the strength of feeling in parliament against a no-deal Brexit, which some lawmakers and many businesses say would be catastrophic for the economy.
A loyal Conservative who has served in a number of ministerial roles, Hammond is an unlikely rebel. He said his fears over a no deal forced him to vote against the government for the first time in his 22-year political career last week.
Britain’s new prime minister is tipped to be former London mayor Johnson, who has promised to leave the EU “do or die” by an Oct. 31 deadline. That leaves him facing a tricky Brexit challenge from the moment he would take office on Wednesday.
Johnson has said he would ramp up preparations for a no deal to try to force the EU’s negotiators to make changes to the agreement that Prime Minister Theresa May sealed with Brussels and UK lawmakers voted down three times.
But parliamentary opposition to a no deal is growing and the EU is refusing to budge over that withdrawal agreement.
“I am sure I am not going to be sacked because I am going to resign before we get to that point,” Hammond told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, adding he would resign to May before she tendered her own resignation to the Queen on Wednesday.
“Assuming that Boris Johnson becomes prime minister, I understand that his conditions for serving in his government would include accepting a no-deal (EU) exit on the 31st of October. That is not something I could ever sign up to.”
ONE OF MANY?
Johnson has said his most senior ministers “would have to be reconciled” with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31, a departure he does not want to see happen, but one he says must be planned for to try to increase pressure on the EU.
That stance means several more ministers who want to leave with a deal may seek to quit before facing the prospect of being sacked by Johnson.
Justice minister David Gauke has indicated he will also step down on Wednesday, and some lawmakers say they expect more pro-EU Conservatives to leave their positions to hold talks in parliament to find a way to prevent a no deal.
Keir Starmer, Brexit policy chief in the main opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter he respected Hammond’s decision.
“I want to work with all those MPs (members of parliament) who, like me, want to ensure parliament can stop a disastrous no-deal exit,” Starmer said.
Hammond, who according to sources close to Johnson often infuriated the former mayor who felt the finance minister was “talking Britain down,” said he did not believe his former colleague could win a deal with the EU by the deadline.
He instead advised the new prime minister to ask the EU for a little longer if there were signs that the two sides could agree on a compromise position — something Johnson’s rival for the premiership, Jeremy Hunt, has said he is open to.
But the EU has so far been steadfast in its view that it cannot open the withdrawal agreement, and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said both sides would be “in trouble” if the new prime minister was intent on tearing up the deal.
He suggested the new leader could secure changes to the political declaration on future ties to get rid of the Northern Irish backstop — an insurance policy to avoid the return of a hard border between the British province and Ireland.
“We hope that the backstop that many in the UK don’t seem to like can be avoided,” Coveney told the BBC. “(But) we are simply not going to move away from that withdrawal agreement.”
Johnson and his supporters say the hard-line stance is little more than a negotiating ploy. But if the standoff failed to be broken and a no deal Brexit was in the offing, Hammond would become a high-profile backer of attempts in parliament to stop a no deal.
“Yes, (I will campaign) to stop no deal happening on Oct. 31 without the consent of parliament,” Hammond said.
“I want to be a loyal supporter of the next Conservative government and if (it).. can deliver a negotiated Brexit deal that protects our economy then I will strongly support that government. And I hope I will be able to.”
UK finance minister to quit over no-deal Brexit if Johnson become PM
UK finance minister to quit over no-deal Brexit if Johnson become PM
- Hammond is the third minister within a week to quit or say they will resign in order to try to block a no-deal Brexit
- Johnson is the strong favorite to win a two-person runoff to lead the Conservative Party and the country
Moscow made an offer to France regarding a French citizen imprisoned in Russia, says Kremlin
- Laurent Vinatier, an adviser for Swiss-based adviser Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Vinatier was arrested in Moscow in June 2024
- He is accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities”
The Kremlin on Thursday said it was in contact with the French authorities over the fate of a French political scholar serving a three-year sentence in Russia and reportedly facing new charges of espionage.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia has made “an offer to the French” regarding Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow last year and convicted of collecting military information, and that “the ball is now in France’s court.” He refused to provide details, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
French President Emmanuel Macron is following Vinatier’s situation closely, his office said in a statement. French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said Thursday that all government services are fully mobilized to pay provide consular support to Vinatier and push for his liberation as soon as possible.
Peskov’s remarks come after journalist Jérôme Garro of the French TF1 TV channel asked President Vladimir Putin during his annual news conference on Dec. 19 whether Vinatier’s family could hope for a presidential pardon or his release in a prisoner exchange. Putin said he knew “nothing” about the case, but promised to look into it.
Vinatier was arrested in Moscow in June 2024. Russian authorities accused him of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities” that could be used to the detriment of national security. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The arrest came as tensions flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments about the possibility of deploying French troops in Ukraine.
Vinatier’s lawyers asked the court to sentence him to a fine, but the judge in October 2024 handed him a three-year prison term — a sentence described as “extremely severe” by France’s Foreign Ministry, which called for the scholar’s immediate release.
Detentions on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia and its heavily politicized legal system since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In addition to criticizing his sentence, the French Foreign Ministry urged the abolition of Russia’s laws on foreign agents, which subject those carrying the label to additional government scrutiny and numerous restrictions. Violations can result in criminal prosecution. The ministry said the legislation “contributes to a systematic violation of fundamental freedoms in Russia, like the freedom of association, the freedom of opinion and the freedom of expression.”
Vinatier is an adviser for the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization, which said in June 2024 that it was doing “everything possible to assist” him.
While asking the judge for clemency ahead of the verdict, Vinatier pointed to his two children and his elderly parents he has to take care of.
The charges against Vinatier relate to a law that requires anyone collecting information on military issues to register with authorities as a foreign agent.
Human rights activists have criticized the law and other recent legislation as part of a Kremlin crackdown on independent media and political activists intended to stifle criticism of the war in Ukraine.
In August 2025, Russian state news agency Tass reported that Vinatier was also charged with espionage, citing court records but giving no details. Those convicted of espionage in Russia face between 10 and 20 years in prison.
Russia in recent years has arrested a number of foreigners — mainly US citizens — on various criminal charges and then released them in prisoner swaps with the United States and other Western nations. The largest exchange since the Cold War took place in August 2024, when Moscow freed journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, fellow American Paul Whelan, and Russian dissidents in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.
