Chancellor Resignation Statement

[Michael Marshall]

Mr. Speaker,

I rise today to address the Government and the opposition in my resignation as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

I will begin by foremost addressing the leading cause of my resignation in the disjointed policy approach of the Government and the vitriol Members of Parliament have taken to each other. I have reconciled with the Prime Minister that amidst fast-paced negotiations it was genuine that he did not receive information of a 50 million pound concession to the Chinese Government in exchange for their gesture to accept 6 billion pounds for a 7 billion pound stake in nuclear provider Hinckley C. This was an oversight as the agreement was not formalized until the FCO and Chinese Foreign Ministry could formalize it. I have not, however, reconciled with the Prime Minister the disjointed policy approach of the Government or destroying an agreement with a 1 billion concession from China in exchange for 50 million on our part. While I will not disclose which of our allies, civil service members, and senior members of government expressed those concerns I will disclose that they were discussed frequently.

It is critical that Members of Parliament, the civil service, and our allies coordinate closely while handling foreign policy. It is further critical that the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition may speak candidly in private. This requires a level of public respect for Great Britain itself that the opposition not only failed to show, but officially endorsed. I do not make these statements to harm my colleagues opposite political prospects. I make these statements to preserve the prospects of a United Kingdom. Great Britain cannot stand under such vitriol that we weaken ourselves abroad when Her Majesty’s official opposition reinforces statements such as the Government is going “cap in hand” to a foreign power. This was unequivocally false as demonstrated by the significant concessions received.

Too many Members of Parliament took the moment in which our workers truly were being threatened as a moment for political opportunism and prideful boasting. The trade threat was disproportionate against Great Britain and our partners. It challenged not only Great Britain, but the norms of the world trade organization as we have known them for over 70 years. Our allies abroad were in agreement this could not stand, but at home we found an opposition mired in tabloid headlines as their official talking points. 

I have been known to make brutally fiery statements against the enemies of the Conservative Party, and of Great Britain. There is no like among myself and members of the opposition. However, there should always remain an understanding of countrymen to do what is right by Great Britain. That understanding collapsed.

We cannot go on with a disjointed Parliament and foreign policy to the threats we face. I urge the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to reconcile from this, and to meet within Her Majesty’s privy council to align the strength of Great Britain against our enemies once again, regardless of political party. 

I thank our allies, civil service, and the senior members of the Government for their ongoing service amid confusing and hard times, but I must resign so long as we cannot carry on against the threats against us all, with a sense of calm and rationality, at the most senior levels of Parliament.