Former PM attacks government’s Brexit strategy saying parliament has duty to consider ‘well-being of the people’

Former British prime minister John Major has called for a free vote in parliament on whether to hold a second EU referendum. He is the most senior Conservative yet to attack what he called the government’s “unrealistic” Brexit strategy.



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In a speech in London that comes at the lowest point so far in the 18-month withdrawal negotiations, Major argued parliament had a duty to consider the “wellbeing of the people”, as well as the will of the people in the first referendum.

“This must be a decisive vote, in which parliament can accept or reject the final outcome; or send the negotiators back to seek improvements; or order a referendum,” he was due to say according to an advance copy of the speech. “That is what parliamentary sovereignty means.”

“No one can truly know what ‘the will of the people’ may then be. So, let parliament decide. Or put the issue back to the people,” he said.

At the same time as calling for the country to have a final say on Brexit if the terms negotiated by the government were unacceptable to MPs, Major issued scathing criticism of the government’s strategy, which he described as lacking credibility.

“Every one of the Brexit promises is – to quote Henry Fielding – ‘a very wholesome and comfortable doctrine to which (there is) but one objection: namely, that it is not true’”, he said.

“I know of no precedent for any government enacting a policy that will make both our country and our people poorer. Once that is apparent, the government must change course.”

I know of no precedent for any ​​government enacting a policy that will make both our country and our people poorer

Major, who helped build the groundwork for peace in Northern Ireland, also hit out at recent calls to ignore the dangers of restoring border control. “We need a policy to protect the Good Friday agreement – and we need one urgently,” he said. “And it is our responsibility to find one – not the European Union.”

The former prime minister withheld his strongest criticism for Brexit ultras taking the Tory party away from its pro-business roots.

“Over many years, the Conservative party has understood the concerns of business. Not over Brexit, it seems,” he says. “This is not only grand folly. It’s also bad politics.

“Our self-imposed ‘red lines’ have boxed the government into a corner,” he added. “They are so tilted to ultra Brexit opinion, even the cabinet cannot agree them – and a majority in both houses of parliament oppose them. If maintained in full, it will be impossible to reach a favourable trade outcome.”

Warning that 125,000 jobs with Japanese companies could be lost in the UK, he said “none of it has yet been properly explained to the British people”.

“No one voted for higher prices and poorer public services, but that is what they may get,” said Major. “The emerging evidence suggests Brexit will hurt most those who have least ... This isn’t ‘Project Fear’ revisited, it is ‘Project Know Your History’.”

He delivered a veiled attack on fellow former Tory prime minister David Cameron, who recently suggested in Davos that Brexit may not be a total disaster.

“In recent weeks, the idea has gained ground that Brexit won’t be too bad; that we will all get through it; that we’re doing better than expected – and all will be well,” said Major. “Of course we will get through it: life as we know it won’t come to an end. We are too resourceful and talented a nation for that. But our nation is owed a frank assessment of what leaving Europe may mean – for now and the future.”

This, he said, is the “patriotic” argument to make, chastising those who argue he and other critics are letting the country down. “We are all urged to be ‘patriotic’ and get behind Brexit. But it is precisely because I am patriotic that I oppose it,” said Major.

“There must be respect for differing views that are honestly held. In this debate there are no ‘remoaners’, no ‘mutineers’, no ‘enemies of the people’ – just voices setting out what they believe is right for our country.”









