Rory Stewart has promised that “there would never be a no deal” Brexit if he wins the Conservative leadership contest and becomes prime minister.
The international development secretary said crashing out of the EU without a deal is “unnecessary and damaging” in the BBC’s televised debate with the other four remaining candidates seeking to be Britain’s next leader.
Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid all claimed keeping the no deal option on the table was a necessary negotiating tactic with the European Union.
Mr Johnson said there was “a wide consensus that we must get out on 31 October … and that is the way we will get the deal we need”. Mr Hunt added: “The reason we need to keep [no deal] on the table is to get a deal”.
Mr Stewart said it would not be possible to negotiate a new deal by 31 October, and claimed leaving via the existing Withdrawal Agreement way the only way out of the EU.
“I would say to all these people on the platform who voted for the deal, take the shock of the European election, let’s get on with it, let's vote it through, let’s get it done,” he said.
Mr Stewart, who received 37 MPs’ votes in the second round of the contest on Tuesday, added: “In the end, we’re in a room with a door and the door is called Parliament, and I am the only person here trying to find the key to the door. Everybody else is staring at the wall shouting “believe in Britain”.”
Both Mr Hunt and Mr Gove did say a delay beyond 31 October may be necessary if a deal was within reach.
The foreign secretary said he would walk away without a deal if there was no prospect of agreement by October 31, but “if we were nearly there, then I would take a bit longer”.
Mr Gove compared Brexit to a football match said he would be prepared to allow “extra time”' if a deal was close. He said he was “upset” and “angry'' that Brexit had not yet happened.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it was “fundamental” to get out of the EU by 31 October and honour the result of the referendum.
He said: “We have failed to act on those instructions and it is fundamental that it has to be by October 31. One of the mistakes we have made so far is by having this flexible deadline.
“If you don't have a deadline, you don’t concentrate minds, and that also includes the minds of our European friends.”
