Chancellor says he or Treasury was not source of alleged briefing and he did not support ‘moving away’ from Brexit agreement
Jeremy Hunt has repeatedly refused to deny that the Treasury briefed a newspaper that the government was considering a closer, Swiss-style relationship with the EU, while insisting that this had never been the government’s plan.
In sometimes confusing exchanges before the Commons Treasury committee, the chancellor said the UK could never, like Switzerland, be in a position to accept EU regulations, or give way on other areas such as freedom of movement.