Brexit: David Mundell denies threatening to resign over No Deal

David Mundell has denied ever threatening to quit Theresa May’s Cabinet over the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union with no deal, claiming Brexit was not “a psycho drama about people resigning”.

Mr Mundell denied threatening to resign. Picture: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

The Scottish Secretary has previously claimed No Deal would be “catastrophic” for Scotland. He subsequently abstained on a non-binding motion, which called for Mrs May to rule out a No Deal Brexit, which was passed by a majority of MPs against the UK Government’s wishes.

Mr Mundell was one of 13 government ministers who defied whips by abstaining in the vote, and faced calls to resign from MPs across the political spectrum.

“I’ve never threatened to resign from the Cabinet,” he said in an interview with The Hardy Report podcast. “I have over a period of time in relation to Brexit matters set out my views...I’ve been very, very clear that I didn’t want to see a no deal Brexit.

He continued: “This isn’t a soap opera. It’s not a psycho drama about people resigning. It’s about getting outcomes.”

Mr Mundell also claimed the SNP was wanted the “most disorderly and chaotic Brexit that they can achieve”.

He added: “They want to see disruption, they want to see people believe their independence offering would be better than that and, therefore, they have an incentive to create chaos and disruption...It’s a complete myth to suggest that people were told that they had to vote to stay in the UK to stay in the EU.”

SNP MSP Tom Arthur said: “This is desperate stuff from David Mundell, who cuts an increasingly ludicrous figure and who appears to have now resorted to arguing black is white and engaging in delusional fantasies.

“Maybe it’s hard for a Tory to recognise a principle when they see it – but the SNP has consistently opposed a disastrous Brexit while David Mundell has hummed and hawed and achieved nothing at all.

“Mr Mundell set out self-declared red lines and then did absolutely nothing when Theresa May drove a bulldozer through them.

“It is a simple statement of fact that the No campaign said a vote against independence would protect EU membership. No wonder David Mundell would prefer people forget– but I can assure him they never will.

“David Mundell has failed to protect Scotland from the chaos of Brexit – if he had a shred of principle he would now do the decent thing and resign.”