By Joe Middleton For Mailonline
Published: 13:37 BST, 2 June 2019 | Updated: 18:21 BST, 2 June 2019
7 shares
1
View
comments
Tory leadership hopeful Sajid Javid has refused to rule out extending Britain's departure from the European Union beyond the end of October and wants to find an alternative arrangement to the controversial Irish backstop.
The Home Secretary, who is among 13 candidates vying to replace Theresa May, said he did not want to delay Brexit but would not ignore Parliament if it forced his hand.
It follows reports that Environment Secretary Michael Gove told colleagues he is prepared to delay Brexit until the end of next year rather than leave without a deal on October 31.
'I'm clear that my plan would be to leave on October 31. I want to leave with a deal but if I have to choose between no deal and no Brexit I would pick no deal,' Mr Javid told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show.
The Home Secretary, who is among 13 candidates vying to replace Theresa May, said he did not want to delay Brexit but would not ignore Parliament if it forced his hand
Pressed on the matter, he said: 'That's not something I would do, but we are a parliamentary democracy and what we've seen in the last few months is Parliament has taken on some extraordinary powers to initiate its own legislation so if it's statute, if it's the law, I would not break the law if I was prime minister, of course I would observe the law.'
The Cabinet minister also said he had been working with the Border Force to find an alternative arrangement to
