The Conservatives’ former leader in the European Parliament has launched a stinging attack on Brexit rebels
The Conservatives' former top man in the European Parliament has issued a warning against peers interfering with the Article 50 Bill just one day after former Conservative minister Lord Heseltine vowed to fight for amendments.
Lord Callanan, the former chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in Brussels, has issued a stinging rebuke to peers, who have spent much of today debating potential amendments to the Bill.
Interviewed by arch-Brexiteer MP Steve Baker, Callanan said: “The House of Lords is the epitome of the establishment, full of ex-foreign office luminaries and people who think that their view is much more important than that of common oiks in the House of Commons or the public as a whole.”
Callanan said that he expected peers to succeed in adding at least two amendments to the Bill, though he added these would be rejected by the House of Commons.
“At that stage its time [for peers] to pull back and let the bill go through,” Callanan said.
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The Tory peer also warned of a fundamentalist approach against Brexit in Brussels, adding that national governments will be more amenable in negotiations with UK officials.
"The ayatollahs, the fundamentalists in the European Commission think the UK should be punished to encourage any others not to want to leave the EU,” he said.
“Member states are less ideological, they're interested in free trade, they're interested in commerce, their interested in their economies performing well,” Callanan added, citing the example of Germany, which he said “just wants to get a good outcome for both sides.”
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It comes as new research revealed public perceptions of parliament, with only one in four Britons expressing trust in the House of Lords.
Of more than 1,000 adults surveyed by Ipsos Mori earlier this month, just 27 per cent said they trusted peers either “a great deal” or “a fair amount”, with MPs scoring a marginally better 33 per cent.
When asked whose interests peers served, more than 70 per cent said that peers prioritised either themselves or their party, while 80 per cent said the same of MPs.
Only six per cent said MPs put the country's interests first, while 15 per cent said the same of peers.
The figures also showed voters to be resolute in their choices in last summer's referendum – just four per cent said they would change their vote given the choice, with the same proportion appearing amongst both Remainers and Brexiteers.