Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has said he would use the UK's no-deal Brexit "war chest" and copy Donald Trump's tax-cutting agenda to "turbo-charge" the economy.

The foreign secretary, who is running to replace Theresa May as prime minister, claimed Brexit would be seen as a "success" if the UK economy grew faster than the eurozone.

At his Spring Statement in March, Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed the Treasury has £26bn in extra spending power, which he could unleash if a no-deal departure from the EU is avoided.

But Mr Hunt, in an interview with The Spectator, revealed he would use the money immediately if he won the keys to 10 Downing Street.

He said: "Look at the headroom that we now have in the economy, the £26bn that we know the Treasury has now, which is keeping a business war chest for a no-deal. Use it right away.


"The best thing that you can do is to fire up the economy! Turbo-charge it so that, whatever challenges we face, our businesses are really motoring."

Mr Hunt, who has previously claimed a no-deal Brexit would be "political suicide" for the Tories, said he would still be prepared to see the UK leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

"In the end, I've always thought the democratic risk of no Brexit is more dangerous than the economic risk of no deal," he said.

Mr Hunt said he would also take inspiration from Mr Trump's economic agenda, having met the US president during his state visit this week.

The cabinet minister wants to cut UK corporation tax to 12.5% from the current 19%, bringing it into line with Irish levels.

He said: "Instead of fashionably deriding Trump, we should actually look at the fact that America's GDP growth is double ours."

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Meanwhile, ex-cabinet minister and fellow Tory leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom used an article on the BrexitCentral website to set out her plan for a "managed" exit from the EU.

Declaring Mrs May's Brexit deal with the EU "dead", the former leader of the House of Commons said she would introduce a Citizens' Rights Bill to "give peace of mind" to UK citizens living in the EU and EU citizens living in the UK.

Image: Andrea Leadsom set out her plan for a 'managed' Brexit

If she became prime minister, Ms Leadsom said she would also bring forward an EU Departure Provisions Bill to enshrine in law those agreements that have already been successfully negotiated by the UK and EU.

In addition, the Brexiteer would speed up no-deal Brexit preparations for businesses and for "alternative arrangements" on the Irish border, as well as proposing a summit for EU leaders to agree "sensible measures" with the UK for a "smooth exit".

The EU has previously insisted there will be no renegotiation of Mrs May's withdrawal agreement, while the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has dismissed suggestions of a "managed" no deal.

He has warned there would be "no further discussions" between the EU and the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit, with "unilateral" contingency plans to be activated in such a scenario.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow ruled out parliament being temporarily shut down in order for a no-deal Brexit to happen on 31 October.

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has not ruled proroguing parliament to prevent MPs blocking a no-deal exit this autumn, should he become prime minister.

But, Mr Bercow told MPs on Thursday: "Parliament will not be evacuated from the centre stage of the decision-making process on this important matter.

"That's simply not going to happen, it's just so blindingly obvious that it almost doesn't need to be stated.

"But apparently it does, and therefore I have done."