A former cabinet minister has accused Downing Street of issuing false briefings about MPs trying to block a no-deal Brexit.
David Gauke, the former justice secretary, said claims that MPs behind the so-called Benn Act had received help from foreign governments were “not true”.
He said that No 10 appeared to be pushing a narrative that anyone who disagreed with the Government’s position was “unpatriotic or betraying the country”.
The Mail On Sunday reported that Downing Street had launched a major investigation after receiving intelligence MPs had received help in drafting the legislation from members of the French government and the EU.
READ MORE: Britain has 'not got a prayer to unite' until Brexit is done, says Boris Johnson
It quoted a senior No 10 source as saying that “extensive” inquiries were underway into former Conservative ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and the senior Labour MP Hilary Benn.
Sir Oliver Letwin has been accused by No 10 sources of receiving help from foreign powers ((Dominic Lipinski/PA)
The source is quoted as saying: “We will demand the disclosure of all details of their personal communications with other states.
“The drafting of primary legislation in collusion with foreign powers must be fully investigated.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson faces court again over Brexit extension law
However, Mr Gauke, one of 21 MPs to have the Tory whip withdrawn after rebelling over Brexit and who was also involved with the bill, insisted the claim they received help from foreign powers was without foundation.
“It is not true.
“Here is a very good example of a No 10 briefing, using the word ‘collusion’, providing no evidence that there was anything supporting this statement of help with the drafting coming from foreign countries. It is not true,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
“Even if it were true, the use of the language of that sort is completely disproportionate, completely over the top, and feeds into this narrative that anyone who doesn’t agree with No 10’s position is somehow unpatriotic or betraying the country or wanting the country to surrender.”
Mr Gauke refused to be drawn on claims the so-called “rebel alliance” had drawn up plans for a second bill which would enable Commons Speaker John Bercow to bypass Boris Johnson and ask the EU for a further Brexit delay if the Prime Minister refused to do so.
He made clear however that the Benn Act was “effective” and warned Mr Johnson against any attempt to get circumvent it.
“I don’t want to get drawn into specific ideas. What I would say is the Benn Act is effective, it does what it is intended to do, and it should be abided by,” he said.
“There are lots of suggestions of loopholes and so on.
“As far as I can see, anything that has been suggested so far can be easily dealt with and if necessary the courts will ensure the will of Parliament and the law is complied with.
“The Prime Minister, to be fair, has been clear that he is going to abide by the law.
“To suggest otherwise, the sort of hints that ‘Oh, somehow we’re not going to do that’ is dangerous.
“It undermines the rule of law in this country.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel