PRITI Patel has fueled hopes of Leaving the EU with a deal by October 31.
The Home Secretary appeared to hint that crashing out of the bloc was not an option, when she said this morning “we have to leave with a deal.”
Boris Johnson has previously said the threat of leaving without a Withdrawal Agreement was vital to negotiating with Brussels.
He previously accused Remainer MPs of having “totally wrecked” chances of getting a deal with Brussels by pushing through their law to block No Deal.
He said earlier this month: "The truth is that we've had our chance to get a deal in Brussels on Brexit really badly damaged if not totally wrecked by the surrender bill."
But Patel told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show this morning that leaving without a deal was out of the question.
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
She said: “I’ve been very clear. I’m a member of the Prime Minister’s government and when he brought me in, along with other MPs, we were clear to him as he was us to us that our focus is to leaving on October 31 with a deal.
“Our job now is to give confidence to secure that deal and back the Prime Minister.
We are focused as a government as leaving, but leaving with a deal.
“We’re in a negotiation right now and it’s a not a public negotiation, there is a great deal of work going on now.
“The Sherpas have been over, the Prime Minister is going to Luxembourg, I’m not going to pre-empt any of the discussions.
“We have to leave with a deal and there’s no point trying to pre-judge the negotiations at this stage.
“We are focused as a government as leaving, but leaving with a deal.
“Our focus is on getting a deal and we will do that.”
Her comments come after the PM warned that Britain will break free of its EU 'manacles' like the Incredible Hulk.
Boris vowed to ignore a Commons vote ordering him to delay Brexit if negotiations break down – adding: "The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets."
Bo-Jo’s warning to Remainers came ahead of crunch talks with Brussels chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg this week.
Johnson has vowed to push through a new Brexit deal in a 10-day blitz.
The PM and his team will work round the clock during late-night and weekend sittings to thrash out an agreement before the October 31 deadline.
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