Top Remainer minister Philip Hammond sensationally revealed today that he intends to quit as Chancellor on Wednesday so Boris Johnson does not have a chance to sack him.

The Government's top money man told the BBC's Andrew Marr show he plans to resign to Theresa May on Wednesday before she leaves office.

Asked if he expected to be sacked if, as expected, Mr Johnson becomes prime minister, Mr Hammond said: 'I'm sure that I am not going to be sacked because I am going to resign before we get to that point.'

He added that he would take the step after Mrs May takes part in her last Prime Minister's Questions at lunchtime, before she goes to Buckingham Palace to herself hand in her resignation to the Queen.

'Assuming that Boris Johnson becomes the next prime minister, I understand that his conditions for serving in his government would include accepting a No Deal exit on the October 31 and it's not something that I could ever sign up to.

'It's very important that the prime minister is able to have a chancellor who is closely aligned with him in terms of policy and I therefore intend to resign to Theresa May before she goes to the Palace to tender her own resignation on Wednesday.'

His revelation on live television came after fellow Cabinet Remainer, Justice Secretary David Gauke, said he will quit this week rather than serve under Mr Johnson, branding a No Deal Brexit a national 'humiliation'.

It means that Mr Johnson will inherit a Cabinet shorn of several key posts - although those seeking to leave were expected to last only a matter of hours into the new administration before being sacked and replaced by Brexiteers.

Mr Johnson is widely expected to remove Remainers from the Cabinet if he takes over as prime minister and several like Mr Hammond (left, today) have decided to go before being pushed

Mr Hammond is not planning to stick around to be fired. His deputy Liz Truss and Home Secretary Sajid Javid are among those being touted as replacements

Asked whether he would vote against the new prime minister in a vote of no confidence, Mr Hammond said: 'I don't think it will get to that and, while many clever people have been scratching their heads, Parliamentary process is extraordinarily complex and sometimes arcane.

Boris backer Duncan Smith says Remainer rebel ministers should resign Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said rebel ministers should resign instead of voting against the party over Brexit. The Boris Johnson supporter, who has been tipped for a Cabinet return if he wins the leadership election, told Marr rebelling is 'legitimate', but that it is 'very honourable' to resign. He said: 'I have always had a very simple view. I didn't agree with Government policy back a few years ago over the cuts to the welfare system and I resigned before even attempting to rebel.' He added: 'If you are in Government, you back the Government, and if the Government has a whip on, you must vote with the whip. 'If you don't, well, it is quite legitimate and very honourable to resign and say 'I can no longer agree with the Government'.' He said he has not asked for a senior role in the next Government if Boris Johnson becomes prime minister. He told Andrew Marr he is 'quite relaxed' if he does not get one. Mr Duncan Smith said: 'I have finished my role right now, which was to help him get elected, it's up to him what he does. 'I have had no discussions with him. 'I honestly have bid for nothing, I asked for nothing, and if I get absolutely nothing, you will see a happy man sitting here if you want to interview me again. 'I'm quite relaxed about that, I promise you.' Advertisement

'I am confident that Parliament does have a way of preventing a no-deal exit on October 31 without parliamentary consent and I intend to work with others to ensure parliament uses its power to make sure that the new Government can't do that.

'The point of that is not to inflict some defeat on the new government, it is to ensure that the new government focuses then on trying to achieve a sensible, negotiated settlement with the EU that protects our economy and allows us all to get on with our lives.'

Mr Hammond told Andrew Marr it would be 'catastrophic' if Labour got hold of the 'levers of power'.

He said his focus will be on trying to persuade the new prime minister to work with colleagues opposed to no-deal to give himself more time and to use his power 'as leader of the Brexiteers to get a sensible outcome'.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Chuka Umunna said: 'Anyone who understands the nightmare scenario of no deal is heading to the margins of the Conservative party.

'However sitting quietly on the backbenches is not an option for any politician when Britain faces an economic catastrophe. The soon to be former Chancellor must vote against a Boris Johnson government in any vote of no confidence to stop a no deal Brexit.

'It is time that MPs who know any Brexit is bad for the economy, put party interest aside and back our campaign to stop Brexit.'

Like Mr Hammond the Justice Secretary plans to resign to Theresa May before she hands over the keys of 10 Downing Street to her successor - with Mr Johnson the runaway favourite to take over.

Mr Gauke signalled he would also support moves to set up a rebel parliament if Mr Johnson tries to shut down Westminster and force through No Deal - but ruled out defecting to the Liberal Democrats in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Justice Secretary David Gauke signalled he would also support moves to set up a rebel parliament if Mr Johnson tries to shut down Westminster to push through a No Deal Brexit

The newspaper reported that six of his colleagues have held discussions with the Remain-backing party over defecting or at least voting with it to cancel out the Government's majority in a no confidence vote.

Mr Gauke, who has served in Theresa May's Cabinet since she took office in June 2016, said he would not serve under the former foreign secretary if he pursues a no-deal Brexit.

He told the paper: 'I recognise that this spell in government is coming to an end. Given that I've been in the cabinet since Theresa May came to power, I think the appropriate thing is for me to resign to her.'

Mr Gauke was widely expected to be removed from his post this week after leading a group of Remainer Tories opposed to Mr Johnson branded the 'Gaukeward Squad'.

It is also believed to include Mr Hammond as he prepares for life outside the Government.

Mr Gauke, who has served in Theresa May's Cabinet since she took office in June 2016, said he would not be able to serve under the former foreign secretary (pictured) if he pursues a no-deal Brexit

Philip Hammond was pictured yesterday packing belongings into a car outside 11 Downing Street ahead of his expected firing as Chancellor

He was pictured yesterday packing belongings into a car outside 11 Downing Street.

Defence minister: No Deal 'isn't a solution' Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood repeatedly sidestepped questions over whether he would serve in a Boris Johnson government today. 'I really get frustrated with this energy towards no-deal. I know all my parliamentary colleagues on all sides of the House recognise the dangers of no-deal,' he told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday when asked. 'The fact that we keep talking about it - it isn't a solution.' Pressed again, he said: 'I want us to move away from discussion about no-deal at all. I believe a deal is absolutely possible. 'The fact that we keep talking about no-deal fuels the small caucus of people that see that as their destination.' Advertisement

As the Tory leadership contest enters its final 48 hours, prominent no-deal critic Mr Gauke said that crashing out of the European Union would lead to national 'humiliation'.

He said: 'In a period of time where there is no parliamentary majority, there's political uncertainty and a lack of stability, I worry that the UK then will essentially be supplicants.

'We'll go through the pain of no-deal and then we will have no choice but to go back to the EU but in a weaker negotiating position.

'I fear that, frankly, there is a humiliation for us there if we go down that route.'

And Mr Gauke added that the appropriate thing is for him to resign to Mrs May.

He also signalled his backing for a rebel Parliament to sit if Mr Johnson prorogues the Commons - shutting it down over the end of October to stop MPs blocking a No Deal departure.

Former leadership candidate and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart - another expected resignation if Mr Johnson wins - threatened to set up a rival chamber in June, saying that 'if he (Johnson) were to try, I, and every other MP will sit across the road in Methodist Central Hall and we will hold our own session of Parliament and we will bring him down'.

Mr Gauke told the Sunday Times: 'The idea of booking the Methodist hall and having a gathering of Parliament in some other building is a perfectly reasonable response.'

The ballot for the Tory leadership race will close on Monday, with the result announced the following day.

The new prime minister will then take over on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Johnson, who is widely predicted to win the contest, has reportedly been secretly wooed by European politicians and officials in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan to avoid a no-deal exit, the Sunday Times reported.

It said figures from Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands had established contact with the frontrunner's team and signalled their intention to do a deal.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, a former Remainer, urged her Tory colleagues to back whoever wins the contest.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she said that she knew many colleagues have 'strong feelings' but a new prime minister would get a 'new hearing' in the EU, and if the party does not unite then the alternative could be Jeremy Corbyn for Christmas.

Her comments came after Chancellor Philip Hammond fired a warning shot to Mr Johnson, saying he would do 'everything in my power' to block a no-deal Brexit and left open the possibility of voting to bring down a Conservative government in such an event.

Ireland warns Boris Johnson that tearing up the Withdrawal Agreement and going for a No Deal Brexit would cause 'trouble' and the deal will not be changed to scrap the backstop after reports suggested EU was trying to woo likely next prime minister

Ireland's foreign minister warned Theresa May's successor today that tearing up the current Brexit deal would cause 'trouble' as he tore into hardline Brexiteers' bravado over a No Deal departure.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney said that the battle between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to succeed Theresa May had changed nothing in terms of Britain's attempts to get out of the EU.

He offered a brutally stark assessment after reports claimed EU countries including Ireland are secretly wooing Mr Johnson, the favourite to enter Number 10, in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid No Deal.

Mr Coveney told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: 'Just because there is a change of personality as prime minister doesn't mean the negotiations of the past three years, the solutions that were demanded by the UK Government ... are not as important today as they were six to eight weeks ago.

'If the approach of the new British prime minister is that they're going to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement, then I think we're in trouble, we're all in trouble, quite frankly, because it's a little bit like saying: ''Either give me what I want or I'm going to burn the house down for everybody''.'

He added: 'The EU has made it very clear that we want to engage with a new British prime minister, we want to avoid a no-deal Brexit.'

Mr Covney said: 'If the attitude of the new prime minister is that they are going to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement then we are in trouble'

Mr Coveney said the backstop can be avoided by negotiation, but that it needs to be part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

'The idea that we can consider moving away from something that took 2.5 years to negotiate given all of that complexity and compromise on both sides to try and accommodate British red lines, don't forget, not EU red lines, we're simply not going to move away from the Withdrawal Agreement,' he said.

Earlier it was claimed senior Irish politicians and diplomats have held talks with two of Johnson's cabinet allies in recent days, and German and French figures as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments have also established contact with Johnson's team and signalled an intention to do a deal, it is claimed.

Mr Coveney has indicated Dublin is prepared to compromise, the Sunday Times reported.

But this appeared in stark contrast to his comments on the BBC.

Boris Johnson is pictured outside his second home in Oxfordshire yesterday

Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with or without a deal but Coveney said in an article for the paper that EU member Ireland wants to avoid a no-deal exit at all costs.

'If Britain decides to leave without a deal it could cause huge damage to us all,' he wrote. 'A no-deal Brexit would devastate the northern Irish economy.'

The news comes amid Justice Secretary David Gauke's announcement that he will quit the Government on Wednesday if Boris Johnson wins the race to become prime minister - over objections to the Conservative frontrunner's plans to brace for No Deal.

Mr Gauke said that crashing out of the European Union would lead to national 'humiliation'.

Johnson is widely expected to have beaten Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt when the result of a ballot of members of the ruling Conservative Party for their next leader to replace Theresa May is announced on Tuesday.

The news comes amid reports Brussels will offer Mr Johnson a Brexit extension past October 31 in a final bid to strike an agreement deal and to help him keep the Conservative party together.

The extra time in the EU would be used for negotiation but could apparently be sold to Tory Brexiters as a chance to further prepare for a No Deal exit.

Yesterday protestors marched through central London for a 'No to Boris, yes to Europe' demonstration

Protestors flew a Boris 'blimp' similar to the one fashioned of Donald Trump, with a £350million battle bus T-shirt and Nigel Farage underwear over Parliament Square

Anti-Brexit protestors are pictured marching down Whitehall during a demonstration yesterday

'It will be described as a technical delay to save Boris from political embarrassment but then we will have time to find an agreement,' one senior EU diplomat told The Guardian.

Yet the reported approach will worry hard Brexiters in Westminster who want to leave on 31 October no matter the cost.

Key member states are said to be increasingly confident that the UK leaving without a deal could be avoided after the House of Commons this week voted to prevent the next prime minister from proroguing parliament.

The proposal reportedly being discussed in Brussels could see Johnson, who is expected to be the next Prime Minister, insist he is heading towards leaving without an agreement, all while keeping discussions ongoing for a deal with the bloc.

EU leaders are said to also be contemplating how they are going to escape a crisis if Johnson does proceed with No Deal on 31 October.

A second diplomat told the Guardian: 'How do we build back out of the abyss in a time where minds on both sides of the channel are probably not very consolatory?

'We need to pre-empt that moment and create a platform for re-engagement on the day the UK leaves which might be used once the dust has settled. Provided of course the existing obligations are settled.'

Yet EU diplomats are confident that a No Deal is now less likely following the events of this week.

On Friday, Philip Hammond and Tory Remainer rebels suggested they could bring down the next government 'in the interests of the country' if Boris Johnson pursues a No Deal Brexit.

Mr Hammond has claimed a further Brexit delay is 'urgently needed' to avoid a disorderly divorce but he also failed to rule out backing a vote of no confidence in a government led by Mr Johnson.

Boris Johnson, pictured on Friday in Westminster, has committed to delivering Brexit by October 31 'do or die' and with or without a deal

Philip Hammond, pictured yesterday at a G7 meeting in Paris, France, has claimed a further Brexit delay is 'urgently needed' to avoid a disorderly divorce

Meanwhile, Stephen Hammond, a Remain-backing Tory health minister, has hinted he would be willing to push the 'nuclear button' of a no confidence vote as he said politicians must 'do the right thing as they see it for the country'.

Mr Hammond said he was not going to 'exclude anything at the moment' when asked directly whether he could back a bid to scupper Mr Johnson who has pledged to deliver Brexit by October 31 'do or die'.

This week, Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European Commission who will take office the day after Brexit on November 1, said she is 'ready' to agree to a further extension.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday reiterated the EU's long-held stance that it will not renegotiate the divorce agreement it struck with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Conservative lawmaker Alberto Costa, who led the cross-party delegation that met EU negotiator Michel Barnier (pictured) in Brussels, said: 'He made very clear that the European commission has at its very top of the political agenda the protection of citizens' rights'

'The withdrawal agreement is the withdrawal agreement,' she said.

However she added: 'But the moment that a solution for the management of the border is found in (the declaration on) the future relationship - so for the European Union's future ties to Britain -- which basically squares the circle - on the one hand I have no physical border but on the other hand the EU Single Market ends - that satisfies both questions, then the backstop will be overwritten, so to speak.'

Merkel added: 'This means the task is to draft future relations that way and perhaps to draft them more specifically and better and more precisely than so far.'

Then there is scope to come to an agreement and determine future relations, Merkel said.

And on Friday, Conservative lawmaker Alberto Costa, who led the cross-party delegation that met EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels, said: 'He made very clear that the European commission has at its very top of the political agenda the protection of citizens' rights and it will continue to do everything it can to protect the rights of those 5million citizens even in the absence of a withdrawal agreement.'