Former education secretary Justine Greening has denounced Theresa May’s Brexit plans as the ‘worst of both worlds’ and has called for a referendum on the final say.
Writing in The Times Greening explains that the final decision needs to be taken out of the hands of ‘deadlocked politicians’, and given back to the people.
‘The only solution is to take the final Brexit decision out of the hands of deadlocked politicians, away from the backroom deals, and give it back to the people,’ she said.
She explained that the referendum should offer a first and second preference vote to ensure that a consensus can be reached.
In a Today programme interview this morning the Putney MP said that the prime minister’s plans were ‘a genuine clever attempt at a compromise’ but did not believe it could work.
‘In practice having looked through the detail now it just won’t and I cannot see how, going forward, the common rulebook will be workable in practice.
She added: ‘What we need is a clear route forward that settles this European question once and for all.’
Greening also said she believed that other senior Tories backed a fresh referendum.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson, in his first public intervention since his resignation last week, appealed for people to take a more positive view of Britain’s prospects outside the EU.
In sign that he was keeping his powder dry, he said in an article for The Daily Telegraph that he would resist ‘for now’ the temptation ‘to bang on about Brexit’.
‘It is time for all of us – at this critical moment in our constitutional development – to believe in ourselves, to believe in the British people and what they can do, and in our democracy,’ he wrote.
‘People around the world believe passionately in Britain. It’s time we shared their confidence.’
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