UK finance minister Hammond to quit if Johnson becomes PM

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond leaves the BBC studios in London, Britain. [Reuters]

Finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday he would resign if Boris Johnson became Britain’s new prime minister because he could not support a leader happy to take the country out of the European Union without a deal.

Hammond’s decision underlines the strength of feeling in parliament against a no-deal Brexit, which some lawmakers and many businesses say would be catastrophic for the economy.