LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond, speaking ahead of a government report on the economic impact of various Brexit scenarios, said Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan was the best one for the economy.
Hammond said staying in the European Union would be best for Britain in purely economic terms.
“If the only consideration, the only consideration, was the economy, then the analysis shows clearly remaining in the European Union would be a better outcome for the economy, but not by much,” he told BBC television on Wednesday.
“The prime minister’s deal delivers an outcome that is very close to the economic benefits of remaining in.”
He also denied the government was trying to scare lawmakers into dropping their opposition to May’s plan ahead of a vote in parliament on Dec. 11.
“I am not trying to scare anybody and I reject the term scare-mongering,” he said.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew MacAskill; Writing by William Schomberg)
