Tobias Ellwood, a vocal no-deal Brexit critic, warns Boris Johnson of a decade in opposition He said he had ‘bothered to learn about the consequences’ of a no-deal Brexit, and that is why he is so adamantly against it

Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood – a vocal critic of no-deal Brexit – has been axed from the Government.

As he was fired, he let out another warning to new Prime Minister Boris Johnson that no-deal Brexit would leave the Tory party in the “abyss” of opposition for 10 years. Mr Ellwood said that “like many, I was invited back to the backbenches” as Mr Johnson carried out a cut of Theresa May’s ministers.

No-deal ‘consequences’

He told the Press Association that he had “bothered to learn about the consequences” of a no-deal Brexit, and that is why he is so adamantly against it.

The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

Mr Johnson has committed to leaving the EU on 31 October at the latest, deal or no-deal.

The Bournemouth East MP, who had previously served in the Foreign Office, said: “I have been very much of a view and have been vocal to say I think a deal is possible given the numbers and where we go. We would be in the abyss for a decade.

“But ultimately you can see the make-up of this Government, it’s for a particular challenge and I think – it’s the Prime Minister’s decision, the make-up of the team, to meet the particular challenge of the day.

“It’s been a privilege to serve, it’s been an amazing journey in two amazing departments and I’ve been very fortunate.”

‘No-deal isn’t a destination’

Mr Ellwood would not say whether he would actually vote against a no-deal Brexit.

He said: “At the moment I’m 100 per cent behind the Prime Minister and I actually think it’s the duty of every single Member of Parliament to support the Prime Minister.

“His objective, his main effort – to use a military term – is to get a deal. The more you big up no deal, which actually isn’t a destination, the more you give some of our pure Brexiteers fuel to say that’s where we should want to go.

“It’s been a very unhelpful debate in playing up no deal. It’s not in our manifesto, it wasn’t on the books when Vote Leave was created and it should be avoided at absolutely all costs.”

He said every effort should be directed at getting a deal “otherwise the damage to our economy will send our party into opposition for a decade”.

Fighting for defence

The former army officer had been a popular defence minister and vowed to continue speaking out in favour of increased spending on the armed forces.

Mr Ellwood said the Government had to increase defence spending to deal with the threats now facing the country.

He said the seizure of a British flagged tanker by Iran was an example “of us being caught short”.

A number of Royal Navy ships were “stuck in refit” and “you can’t operate in and meet the new threats coming over the horizon with such a limited surface fleet”.

Investment was needed in increasing the number of RAF jets and replacing tanks which are 20 years old, he added.

“We enter a new era of instability facing ever more complex and diverse threats,” he said. “Britain must develop our hard power if we are to retain our influence on the international stage.”

Additional reporting from Press Association.