Crashing out of the European Union without a deal would have a “very adverse effect” on the UK’s economy, security and union with Northern Ireland, a Cabinet minister has warned.
David Gauke suggested he would back an extension to Article 50 if a deal between the UK and EU was not reached, and said he expected the Government to act “responsibly” if the current deadlock prevailed.
And the Justice Secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he hoped it would be made clear in the next 10 days that the UK is in a position to leave with a deal on March 29.
But he said: “If not, then we will have to, in my view, act responsibly and make sure that this country, the economy is protected, our security is protected and the integrity of the Union is protected.
“I have very grave concerns about the consequences of leaving without a deal.”
Mr Gauke added: “I think the idea of leaving without a deal on the 29th March would be one that would have a very adverse effect, to put it mildly, on our economy, on our security and on the integrity of the Union and I think my position on that is very clear.”
He has previously suggested that Brexit might have to be delayed beyond the scheduled exit date.
Mr Gauke said he hoped a deal would have been reached by the next round of Commons votes on February 27, which has been described as a “high noon” moment for the future of Brexit.
“I would hope and expect that the Government would act responsibly and consider the situation. I hope that by the time we get to that point that there will have been a deal reached with the European Union and the House of Commons.
“If not, I think my position is very clear and I think the consequences of leaving without a deal would not be in the national interest.”
The next round of Brexit votes on February 27 has been described as a ‘high noon’ moment (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
Meanwhile, the Times reported that female MPs have been forced to move house and hire bodyguards because of tensions over Brexit.
The newspaper said one female parliamentarian was advised by police not to travel alone at night, while another was told not to drive herself and a third was warned against running in her local park.
A number of cross-party MPs have reported experiencing abuse in recent weeks.
Among them was pro-EU Conservative MP Anna Soubry, who was called a “Nazi” by pro-Brexit protesters as she was interviewed outside Parliament last month.
Meanwhile, the Government has stepped up its information campaign on Brexit preparations.
On Saturday, the Government began running a series of adverts in local and national newspapers and websites as part of a campaign to explain what leaving the EU will mean for citizens and businesses.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here