Conservative Peer warns new Brexit bill will cause "grave danger" to the UK

11 September 2020, 08:30

Conservative Peer warns new Brexit bill will cause "grave danger"

Conservative Peer Lord Gavin Barwell branded the new Brexit bill as a "lose lose option" which will cause "grave danger" to the country.

A raft of senior Tory MPs, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, have raised serious concerns over a new Brexit bill which the Government admitted could "break international law."

Conservative Peer and former chief of staff to Mrs May Lord Gavin Barwell said that she "wouldn't have taken any pleasure at all" in opposing the new Brexit bill.

"What's really notable is a range of former Conservative leaders from John Major, who totally opposed Brexit and wanted a second referendum, to Michael Howard who strongly supported Brexit. All of them saying to the Government you've got this wrong and you need to think again."

Lord Barwell told Nick that he hoped the Government would have a change of heart.

He said: "It's very difficult to see any win out of this, the danger is we don't get a trade deal with our nearest neighbours and we poison the relationship with them."

Lord Barwell continued, "We also lose the prospect of a US trade deal, we do grave danger to our international reputation as a country and there are potentially significant consequences to the peace protest in Northern Ireland. It is very hard to see how the Government gets any win out of this, it's a lose lose option as far as I can see."

Nick countered that the new Brexit bill would allow state aid to Northern Ireland and keep the union together.

Lord Barwell responded, "I'm not a huge fan of the deal the Prime Minister...but he did this deal last autumn, he fought the general election, telling people this was a great deal for the country, no material thing has changed since then, so why the need to unravel it?

"There was a remarkable statement that came out earlier in the week from Number 10 saying it was all done in a bit of a rush, implying we didn't really realise what we'd agreed to. It was an incredible thing for them to say."

He told Nick that he hoped the House of Lords would take exception due to the myriad of reasons he had given against the bill, branding it "crucial we get this right."