Jeremy Hunt set to unveil ‘detailed’ no-deal Brexit plan

Foreign secretary’s proposal includes Cabinet Task Force and £6bn stimulus package

Jeremy Hunt is trailing Boris Johnson in the race to become leader (REUTERS)

Jeremy Hunt is set to reveal what he is describing as a “detailed” plan to prepare the UK for a no-deal Brexit.

The foreign secretary is seeking to win over Conservative Brexiteers as he competes with Boris Johnson to become prime minister.

In a speech on Monday, he is expected to pledge extra protection for the fishing and farming industries if the UK crashes out of the EU in October, by way of a £6bn stimulus package .

Mr Hunt has said a no-deal Brexit is not his first choice but that Westminster still needs to prepare for the eventuality.

“If you’re a sheep farmer in Shropshire or a fisherman in Peterhead I have a simple message for you,” Mr Hunt will say, in remarks which will be delivered at a central London venue.

“I know you face uncertainty if we have to leave the EU without a deal.

“I will mitigate the impact of no deal Brexit on you and step in to help smooth those short term difficulties.

“If we could do it for the bankers in the financial crisis, we can do it for our fisherman, farmers and small businesses now.”

Under the Mr Hunt's plan a no-deal Brexit budget will also be produced, with corporation tax will be slashed to 12.5 per cent and 90 per cent of high street businesses exempted from having to pay rates.

He has also pledged to form a National Logistics Committee, led by the Department of Transport, which will produce a plan to keep goods flowing in and out of the UK.

It is currently unclear how this would be achieved, but the committee would supposedly be able to assess if emergency powers are needed to keep ports and airports operating across the UK.

The South West Surrey MP also plans to set up a no-deal Cabinet Task Force, which will have similar powers to the COBRA emergency council.

Part of the task force’s role will be identifying steps the government could take to mitigate the short-term impact of a no-deal Brexit.

The foreign secretary, who campaigned for Remain before the 2016 referendum, is trailing Boris Johnson in the race to become Conservative Party leader.

His normally cautious rhetoric around a no-deal Brexit has hardened in recent days, as the race intensifies.

Mr Johnson is the preferred candidate of many Brexiteers and Conservatives on the right of the party.

Mr Hunt said he would take the UK out of the EU without a deal at the end of October, if there was no prospect of reaching an agreement.

“At the beginning of October, if there is no prospect of a deal that can get through parliament, then I will leave at the end of October because that is our democratic promise to the British people,” he said on Sunday, in an interview on The Andrew Marr Show.

Asked if he would look business owners in the eye and say their companies would go bust in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the foreign secretary said he would “with a heavy heart, precisely because of the risks.”

“Britain deserves a leader who works tirelessly to get a deal. But who is prepared to put the hard yards in preparing for no deal,” Mr Hunt will say on Monday.

“I have made it clear that my preference is for us to leave with a new deal. One that removes the backstop and ensures we have a fully independent trade policy. And if the Commission engages in good faith I believe this is possible.

“But Britain deserves a leader with the courage to not just tell the European Commission he will walk away. But to show them he is willing and able to do so.

“Because in the end, without those abilities, without that determination, and without that plan, it is just a wing and a prayer.”

WTO tariffs will come into effect in the event of a no-deal Brexit, with experts fearing significant upheaval to the economy if the UK crashes out of the EU.