Former Defence Minister and Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb has made a major intervention in the Tory Brexit wars by making the case for a new referendum.

Mr Bebb wants the Brexit deal that Prime Minister Theresa May will negotiate with the European Union to be put to the country in a referendum.

The public vote would give the electorate the chance to endorse Mrs May’s deal or stick with the status quo.

He argues that a referendum is the “only way to ensure that whatever form Brexit takes will not be dictated by a very small group of ideological, obsessed, no-deal Brexiteers”.

Mr Bebb fears that ardent eurosceptics are “hellbent on holding the Prime Minister to ransom” and is convinced that leaving the EU without a deal would be “disastrous” for the Welsh economy.

He said: “I have been throughout this process of the view that we should respect the referendum result and we should support the Prime Minister in trying to ensure that we have as good a deal as possible... I do think we have reached the point now where the final decision would have to be one made by the people and I think that decision would have to be a choice between the status quo and whatever deal the Prime Minister brings back, whether that deal is endorsed or not by Parliament.”

His intervention comes amid speculation that the Prime Minister may face a vote of no confidence.

He described his concerns about the influence of “a very narrow band of Brexit purists who simply appear to care not an iota about the future prosperity of this country”.

Mr Bebb, who had previously served in the Wales Office, quit as a Defence Minister in July so he could vote against concessions on the Customs Bill the Government made to Brexiteers.

In particular, Mr Bebb is dismayed by the way some Brexiteers have rejected the concerns of leading figures in the business community.

He said he could not with a clear conscience “point the finger at Corbynistas as being a danger to the economy of the United Kingdom” while within the Conservative party there was “a group of individuals who have decided that they are ideologically correct and therefore any evidence to the contrary must be seen in some way a traitorous intervention”.

Mr Bebb said: “I find it truly astonishing and inexplicable that Conservative colleagues in Wales are willing to attack businesses in such a manner.”

Mr Bebb is adamant that he is not advocating a rerun of the 2016 vote.

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He said: “We now know what Leave looks like and we now know what Remain looks like... We have senior figures who supported Leave for very honourable reasons who said that a trade deal with the European Union would be easy...

“All that of that has been shown to be the drivel that it was back in 2016...

“In view of the failure to achieve what was promised I think it’s very clear that we now have a potential for a well-informed debate which is not based upon people’s hopes and aspirations but actually on reality.”

Mr Bebb said he would not put his “head above the parapet” if he did not think there was the genuine potential for a public vote.

He had words of warning for anyone considering using the upcoming Conservative conference to try and bring Mrs May’s premiership to an end.

He said: “My support for the Prime Minister is very clear and I think that any effort to engage in leadership shenanigans at this point in time would be treated with the contempt it deserves by our members.

"I think anybody who think that the members want to topple the Prime Minister seven months before we are supposed to leave the European Union is making a significant miscalculation and I sincerely hope that the Conservative conference will show once again that despite what people think, they will still see the need to ensure that the Prime Minister can go and speak to our counterparts in Europe with confidence and with a clear message that she has the support of the parliamentary party and also the membership of the Conservative party.”

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Arguing that Brexiteers should support the PM’s effort to forge a deal with Brussels, he said: “If you genuinely believe that Brexit is the right thing to do, then you should be encouraging the Prime Minister to achieve a Brexit agreement which protects jobs, which protects business, protects our ability to export to our largest markets.

"That’s what you should be doing if you believe in Brexit – not wrecking and undermining the Prime Minister at every single opportunity.”

When asked if he had experienced intimidation since his resignation, he said: “It’s not been the most comfortable six weeks. I’ll leave it at that.”

While he is convinced he did the “right thing” to stand down, he does not hide his sadness.

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He said: “I have a huge regret that I have given up a job which I only did for seven months but a job which I found fascinating, challenging – and the opportunity to work with the armed services and the defence establishment was something I had never envisaged.

“It was nothing other than a pleasure from day one, despite all the challenges, and I have a huge regret that I’m no longer doing that job but I don’t regret the decision I made. So I have huge regret at what I lost but I still think I did the right thing.”