Hunt says ‘political suicide’ to pursue no-deal Brexit

London (Reuters): Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it would be “political suicide” for Britain to pursue a no-deal Brexit, becoming the most senior figure vying to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May to rule it out and drawing a battle line with rival contenders.

Hunt’s remarks put him at odds with most other candidates including the frontrunner, Hunt’s predecessor as foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, who has said Britain should quit the EU with or without a deal by the end of October.

May has announced plans to step down after repeatedly failing to secure parliament’s approval for her deal to leave the EU, setting up a contest in her ruling Conservative party to succeed her in the coming weeks. That contest could determine how or even whether Britain leaves the EU, or whether it would face a new national election with its major political parties divided and shaken by Brexit.

Pitching himself in contrast to Johnson and others who insist leaving the EU without a deal must remain on the table, Hunt said any such move would be blocked by lawmakers and trigger a national election.

“Trying to deliver no deal through a general election is not a solution; it is political suicide,” Hunt wrote in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph. “A different deal is, therefore, the only solution – and what I will pursue if I am leader.”

Under the party’s rules for picking a new leader, Conservative lawmakers will select a short list of candidates and put them to the party’s members for a vote.