TORY Cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom is a “little Englander” who wants “Brexit at any costs” and is “not to be trusted,” the SNP’s Joanna Cherry has claimed.
The Edinburgh South West MP was responding to comments made over the weekend by the Leader of the House of Commons, where she claimed a hard-Brexit would be the “default” position if MPs failed to back Theresa May’s deal.
Leadsom, who is a prominent supporters of what she describes as a “managed no-deal,” told the Telegraph: “Parliament can always of course express a view, but in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit, Parliament does need to vote for a deal.
“The legal default position is that if there isn’t a deal then the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without a deal.”
Those comments were welcomed by Eurosceptics. Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns said this was what most Brexiteers were hoping for.
She tweeted: “Please fight to ensure @andrealeadsom the rest of the Cabinet will respect this too, and when the deal falls they don’t try to push for a second ref or extend A50.”
The remarks also laid bare the civil war at the heart of government. At least three ministers have indicated that they’ll quit the Cabinet if May backs a no-deal Brexit.
READ MORE: The year of Brexit: How the UK went kaput
Cherry said the European Court of Justice’s ruling that the UK could unilaterally revoke Article 50, the process for leaving the EU, meant there was a “third way”.
“Parliament could vote to extend Article 50, hold a second referendum with remain on the ballot paper, and if remain won it could revoke Article 50,” she said.
“Or Parliament itself could vote to revoke Article 50, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a second referendum, although the consensus is there probably ought to be one for reasons of getting democratic consent to it.”
Cherry, pictured above, added: “What Andrea Leadsom says is not to be trusted. She is an ardent Brexiteer and a little Englander, and all she wants is Brexit at any costs, and she’s willing to let the whole of British economy go to the wall and have people’s jobs and living standards severely affected. She’s just being deeply irresponsible.”
Labour MP Ian Murray agreed that it wasn’t “too late”.
“Parliament doesn’t have to accept May’s bad deal or no deal. It can choose to offer the people of the UK the option of keeping the best deal we currently have as a member of the EU, through a People’s Vote.
“All parties should work together to achieve this aim and prevent a hard Brexit.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon urges May to 'end sorry mess' and stop Brexit
Earlier this month, facing near certain defeat, Number 10 delayed the meaningful vote on the Prime Minister’s deal with Europe, until January.
May told MPs she wanted the postponement in order to try to secure further concessions from the EU, specifically over the contentious Irish backstop.
But with Europe unwilling to renegotiate, the Prime Minister’s deal still seems likely to be kiboshed in the Commons.
Yet reports over the weekend suggested her advisors believe she can both win the vote, and keep her job until 2021. A government source told the Sunday Times: “It’s now very much our expectation that we can win this vote, if not the first time then the second time around.”
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