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Ann Widdecombe says Brexit Party cannot be held responsible if Brexit goes wrong

Ann Widdecombe, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England, reacts as she leaves in a taxi from the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire.

Ann Widdecombe has claimed that the Brexit Party cannot be held responsible if Brexit goes wrong.

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The Brexit Party MEP said it was "all benefit" for young people as a result of Brexit.

She told the PA news agency: "The Brexit Party has freed Britain, what Britain does from now on is down to the government - we are not the government but we have made this possible.

"But already people are saying, 'supposing it all goes wrong?' Well, supposing it all goes right. Will people then apologise to the Brexit Party? I doubt it."

She said the Brexit Party would have to continue as a political entity for at least the next year.

"The negotiations are still going on and we need to make sure Boris doesn't get away with anything, that if he's giving stuff away, that the public know that.

"That is absolutely crucial. We've got to hold the government to account in as much as we can for the next year, after that, who knows?"

Widdecombe was also unsympathetic towards the outpouring of grief from Remain supporters.

"One side had to lose in that referendum, would they have cared if we were sad, would they have cared if we had lost? The answer is no."

She added: "I would have been very sad if we had lost. But that is democracy, that is what it means. Somebody wins, somebody loses."

She said she was also "tired of hearing nonsense" about the loss of young people's rights as a result of Brexit, claiming it was "all benefit".

"It's all benefit. It's going to bring us the ability to control our own laws, the ability to control our own trade deals and the resulting prosperity and freedom and what I hope will be the return of common sense in regulation - all that is going to benefit everybody.

"I am tired of hearing this nonsense being talked that young people are going to be deprived of their rights to travel and to study in other countries.

"I'm old enough to remember the days before we joined - we travelled, we studied, we lived, we worked in each other's countries all the time and that's how it will be again."

When asked if the Brexit Party would take any responsibility if Brexit had a negative impact on the economy, she said: