A Brexit minister has accused the head of the National Audit Office of using “overdone” language after he said that the government’s approach to leaving the European Union could “fall apart like a chocolate orange”.

Steve Baker, an undersecretary in the Department for Exiting the EU, also urged opposition parties to back Thursday’s Brexit bill in the national interest after Labour said it would vote against it.

Interviewed by Sky News, Baker was asked about unusually outspoken criticism by the auditor general, Amyas Morse, over the risk of a directionless approach to Brexit from the various Whitehall departments involved.

“What we don’t want to find is that at the first tap it falls apart like a chocolate orange. It needs to be coming through like a cricket ball,” Morse told journalists.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Baker conceded. But he added: “I think it is overdone language. What I’m seeing every day in the department is civil servants working extremely hard under strong political direction from ministers to deliver the plans that we need to make sure that our exit from the EU is smooth and orderly and successful in whatever circumstances we face.”

Baker suggested that MPs who voted against the government’s flagship repeal bill would be punished by their constituents. “If somebody wrecks this bill then they will leave the UK statute book in an unworkable condition, and they will have to explain to their electors why they have chosen to do that,” he said.

“The bill which we are bringing forward today is a bill which deserves to have the support of people right across the political spectrum and right across the United Kingdom. We need to ensure that businesses and individuals have certainty, continuity and control as we leave the European Union and it is incumbent on everyone to look closely at this bill to work out ways to support it in the national interest.”

Baker’s comments come as the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is due to meet the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, as well as the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and her Welsh counterpart, Carwyn Jones.



Asked about the meeting Baker said: “This is a time to come together in the national interest.”

Baker was also asked to explain Boris Johnson’s remarks suggesting that the EU could “go whistle” on its “extortionate” bill for leaving the bloc. Baker used more diplomatic language. He said: “We know that we have rights and obligations and we are testing the European Union’s claims. But we won’t pay a penny more then we need to. We are not going to put a figure on it today. It is matter for negotiation.”

Steve Baker urged opposition parties to back the Brexit bill in the national interest. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

Speaking later on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Baker said the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) was wrong to be concerned about the supply of cancer-treating materials if the UK leaves Euratom, the European atomic energy community, as part of Brexit.

He said: “We are certainly listening to those concerns, but we believe that those concerns are not correct. Our advice is that medical radioisotopes and their import into the United Kingdom is not covered by the safeguarding provision [under Euratom].”



The RCR is demanding further assurance from the government that the supply of radioisotopes will not be disrupted if the UK leaves Euratom. It pointed out that such cancer-treating materials are listed in the European treaty covering Euratom as being protected from the imposition of tariffs.

The RCR president, Dr Nicola Strickland, said: “As a medical royal college, our primary goal is to ensure the safe and reliable delivery of medical services to patients who need scans and non-surgical cancer treatment. This is why we are calling for further clarity and dialogue on the future supply of radioisotopes.”

The government has promised a statement on the issue later on Thursday.

Baker insisted that it was necessary to leave Euratom when leaving the EU, citing Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff, Martin Selmayr. He said: “The institutions are inseparable from the European commission, the council, and the court of justice of the European Union and that’s why we asked members of parliament to vote to leave Euratom at the same time as notifying withdrawal from the EU.”

Hilary Benn, the chair of the Commons Brexit select committee, urged the government to rethink its stance on Euratom.

Speaking to Today, he said: “If the [repeal] bill is going to say that under no circumstances can the European court of justice play any part in anything, a sensible outcome would be for Britain to remain in Euratom because that is the view of nuclear scientists [and] people concerned about the availability of radiotherapy treatment.

“You could remain in Euratom, but leave the EU, why don’t you just change your policy and agree to that?”

Benn also warned that Labour will not give the government a blank cheque over the repeal bill.

He said: “The fact that the Labour party did vote to trigger article 50 shows that we accepted the result of the referendum, but that is not the same as giving the government a blank cheque when it comes to this legislation.”