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Chancellor of the British Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves Downing Street in London, November 22, 2018 in London. REUTERS / Henry Nicholls
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Britain's draft agreement on leaving the EU is the best solution available to safeguard the economy and start reuniting the divided country, Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Saturday. .
Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to meet with European leaders in Brussels on Sunday to sign the Brexit agreement, although Spain's objections to Gibraltar may still frustrate their plans.
Even if it is approved, May faces a tough battle to get the agreement accepted by the British Parliament over the objections of some of its own legislators and allies of the Conservative Party in the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.
"This deal is a way for Britain to leave the European Union … with minimal negative impact on our economy," Hammond told the BBC.
"The only thing that is holding back the economy right now is the uncertainty about our relations with the European Union," he added.
"If we were to leave the EU without an agreement, there is no doubt that the consequences for the economy would be really very serious, very disruptive and very negative for employment, for future prosperity. "
Hammond, who met Friday with party leader Arlene Foster, said the deal was good for a country where divisions were revealed in the June 2016 EU referendum.
"Staying in the EU after the clear decision of a referendum to leave the EU would be totally debilitating for our policy, that would completely undermine confidence in the political system and leave a lot of people feeling betrayal, "he said.
"We must also look at the process of political healing, bringing our country together, because (…) countries that are divided and divided do not succeed."
Report by Elisabeth O 'Leary; Edited by Hugh Lawson / Keith Weir
