Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski hits out at Lords over Brexit vote

Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski has hit out at "unelected, unaccountable, privileged" peers who voted to defeat the Government on its Brexit legislation.

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Daniel Kawczynski

He accused members of the House of Lords of "insulting the electorate's intelligence" by saying that people did not realise they were voting to leave the EU customs union when they voted for Brexit.

Mr Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, spoke after attending Wednesday night's crunch vote in the House of Lords on the Government's Brexit bill.

The Lords passed two amendments, the first one requiring the Government to explain what it has done to pursue remaining in a customs union, and the second limiting the power of the Government to cut red tape without parliamentary approval.

The customs union amendment was tabled by cross-bench peer Lord Kerr, but was supported by a number of senior Conservatives, including former cabinet heavyweights Lord Heseltine and Lord Patten.

The Government said it was disappointed by the vote on the customs union amendment.

"The fundamental purpose of this bill is to prepare our statute book for exit day, it is not about the terms of our exit," said a spokesman.

He said the amendment would not alter the course of the negotiations, and did not commit Britain to remain in the customs union. It merely required the Government to make a statement in parliament, he said.

But Mr Kawczynski said the amendments would have a major impact.

"They will make a huge difference," he said.

"They will give a huge amount of succour to the minority of MPs in the House of Commons who also wish to overturn the decision of the electorate.

"It will give them greater opportunity to campaign against a proper, clean Brexit, against the wishes of the people who voted for it."

Prevent

Mr Kawczynski said if Britain remained in a customs union with the EU, it would prevent it from negotiating trade deals with other countries which would bring cheaper food, clothing and shoes to the UK.

"Who spends the most on food, clothing and footwear as a proportion of their income? It is those on the lowest incomes," he said.

"Those Lords with their privileged lifestyles, I don't think they really understand the impact this protectionism is having on the costs of these things.

"These unelected, unaccountable peers are playing with fire, they are dealing a huge blow to people's confidence in Westminster.

"Their behaviour is deeply troubling and undemocratic. It's an insult to the British people's intelligence to say they didn't realise that part of Brexit would involve leaving the customs union and the single market."

During the debate, Lord Kerr said looking to trade with other countries was worth doing.

But he added: "It will be very hard not to see a fall in overall exports if our trade with the EU is made more complicated, and it will be much more complicated if we leave the customs union.

"We must try to limit the damage of our nearest, because closest, market,” he said.