British Parliament can block no-deal Brexit – ex-finance minister Hammond

Britain’s former finance minister, Philip Hammond, is confident that Parliament could block a no-deal Brexit if unelected people around Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to force such a disorderly outcome, Reuters reports.

Hammond said on Wednesday that demands to remove the Irish border backstop were part of a wrecking strategy by unidentified advisers around Johnson that puts the UK on an “inevitable” course towards a no-deal Brexit.

“To set the bar for negotiations so high that we inevitably leave without a deal would be a betrayal,” Hammond told BBC radio.

Any attempt to bypass MPs would propel the UK into a constitutional crisis, Hammond said, adding that “Parliament is clearly opposed to a no-deal exit.”