UK Justice Secretary David Gauke has said he would find it “very difficult” to remain in Theresa May's government if the country remains on the course to exit the EU without a deal. While May battles to maintain cabinet discipline as senior ministers set out rival plans for dealing with the potential rejection of her Brexit proposal next month. May has stressed that a no-deal Brexit is a possible outcome if her plans is rejected by the MPs.
Responding to her approach, Gauke said, “Making a conscious decision to proceed with no deal would not be the responsible course of action.” He said he would be “very surprised if the prime minister went down that route.” When asked if he could remain in the cabinet if that became the government's policy, he said, “I think it would be very difficult for me in those circumstances. I am conscious that there is a risk of an accidental no deal... Although parliament clearly doesn't want no deal, it's not clear that there is a majority for a specific course of action to stop no deal.”
He added, “The best way of stopping no deal is to back the prime minister’s deal in my view. So I think it would be very difficult and I think if it came down to the government saying consciously, “well, we'll just have to do that”, I don't think there would be a lot of support for it.” He is rumoured to be one of a group of senior ministers who would quit the cabinet if the UK were heading for a no-deal Brexit.
Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom said a “managed no-deal” Brexit was a possibility, while the Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd acknowledged a “plausible argument” for a second referendum. Yesterday, while addressing a press conference, May insisted the cabinet was focused on the deal. “Everybody is very clear that not only what government policy is but what we are all individually and collectively focused on is making to ensure that that deal is able to be agreed by and go through a meaningful vote in the House of Commons.” She said the UK was still seeking “greater political and legal reassurances” from the EU over elements of her plan, particularly the backstop measures designed to prevent a hard border with Ireland, before it is put to MPs in January.
Meanwhile, Gauke has kept his opposition to a no-deal Brexit, even a “managed” one, clear at the most recent cabinet meeting. He reportedly told the cabinet, “The responsibility of cabinet ministers is not to propagate unicorns but to slay them.”
