Jeremy Hunt warns Brexit paralysis could keep Britain in EU

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that Brexit paralysis could lead the UK to stay in the EU and would damage the long-term future of the country.

Hunt urged MPs to pass Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement next week and said the failure to deliver Brexit would be “incredibly damaging”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Today Programme this morning Hunt said: “If this deal is rejected, ultimately what we may end up with is not a different type of Brexit but Brexit paralysis. And Brexit paralysis ultimately could lead to no Brexit.

“I’m saying this would be [an] incredibly damaging breach of trust and it would also be very bad for Britain’s reputation abroad, having decided to leave the EU, if we in the end for whatever reasons found we weren’t able to do it.

“If we were, as a political class, not to deliver Brexit, that would be a fundamental breach of trust between the people and the politicians. I think that is something that we would regret for many, many generations.”

Hunt’s comments came as MPs prepare to vote on May’s Brexit deal in parliament on Tuesday.