'You want to force soft Brexit!' - Evan Davis rips into rebel Dominic Grieve after EU vote
BBC Newsnight host Evan Davis slammed Brexit rebel Dominic Grieve last night for forcing Theresa May to negotiate a “soft Brexit” with the EU.
His comments came after the Tory MP tabled an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill that saw the Government embarrassingly lose a vote in the House of Commons.
Mr Grieve’s amendment stated Parliament must have the final vote on whether to accept the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May and David Davis with Brussels.
Outlining the extent of the damage the former Attorney General had caused the Government Mr Davis accused the MP of going against the wish of the public and forcing a soft Brexit.
BBC
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He said: “You know that the Brexiteers and the Government think all of this is basically just a backdoor way of giving MPs the chance of a soft Brexit, something closer to Norway if the Government comes back with something closer to Canada.
“That is possible because you now have this veto power at a later stage in negotiations.”
Canada has a free trade deal with the EU that eliminates 98 per cent of the tariffs between Canada and the EU.
Meanwhile, the Norway deal includes much closer integration with the EU, including accepting the free movement of people.
Looking stunned at Mr Davis’s honest assessment of Brexit amendment, Mr Grieve attempted to defend his actions.
“The exact terms of Brexit are a matter for negotiation for the government, it’s right, and I’ve said this before on many occasions, that I will not have the closing down of options.”
The defensive speech confirmed that the formed legal man wanted to keep options open as possible, giving parliament the chance to reject a “harder” Brexit deal if it was negotiated by the Government.
Looking uncomfortable he added: “I think you may be misreading this.
“It is in the country’s interest that we keep a close relationship with the EU or we’re going to suffer serious economic consequences. So I would like a Brexit that minimises risk and maximises activity.”
BBC
Theresa May’s disgraceful loss came last night after 309 to 305 voted in favour of Mr Grieve’s amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Several rebel MPs from Mrs May’s Tory party helped push through the amendment, helped by all opposition parties.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn mocked Theresa May after the result, saying the defeat was "humiliating".
