Jeremy Hunt: I’m prepared to sacrifice people’s jobs ‘with a heavy heart’ to deliver Brexit The Tory leadership hopeful says that ‘with a heavy heart’ he would sacrifice jobs to deliver a no-deal Brexit

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Conservative leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has said he is prepared to sacrifice the jobs of British people in order to deliver Brexit.

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In an interview with the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Mr Hunt said he would be prepared to trigger a no-deal Brexit even though it will cause job losses.

Asked if he would “look people in the eye” and tell them they have to lose their jobs to secure Brexit, Mr Hunt said: “I would do so, but I would do it with a heavy heart, precisely because of the risks.

Matter of democracy

“What I would say to the people in that company is that I go around the world as Foreign Secretary and I find that people have a whole lot more respect for us than we sometimes have for ourselves.

I would find support for those companies to help them weather the storms Jeremy Hunt

“The heart of that respect is that we are one of the oldest and greatest democracies in the world. We are a country where politicians do what the people tell them to do.

“If, in order to do what the people tell us to do, we have to leave without a deal, I would do that, but I would find support for those companies to help them weather the storms.”

Brexit promises

Recent polling has shown that Mr Hunt’s leadership bid is gaining support among the general public, as frontrunner Boris Johnson has faced weeks of damaging news stories and gaffes.

However, Mr Hunt is still trailing significantly among the Conservative members who will ultimately decide the result of the race.

Mr Hunt, who voted Remain in 2016, has sought to appeal to the party’s Brexit-supporting membership with a series of grand promises on the issue.

On Saturday, Mr Hunt aped his rival’s threat to hold back payments on the UK’s existing EU spending commitments if a Brexit deal cannot be agreed.

The candidate has also sought to position himself as the candidate likely to deliver Brexit the soonest.



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Mr Hunt told Marr: “If there is no prospect of a deal that can get through Parliament then I will leave at the end of October [without a Brexit deal], because that is our democratic promise to the British people.

“I believe we’ll leave sooner with me than with Boris or with anyone else, because I am the person most likely to negotiate a deal, and that is the quickest way to leave.”