EX-BREXIT AIDE ON BREXIT: IT’S A CATASTROPHE
MPs must ‘push for a new vote’
BREXIT will be a “catastrophe” and must be stopped, a former senior Tory aide has warned.
James Chapman, who quit as chief of staff to Brexit Secretary David Davis, tweeted it will be “the biggest calamity for our country since WW2.”
His sensational outburst added that leaving the EU is set to “destroy lives” across Britain.
Mr Chapman said PM Theresa May’s plan for a hard Brexit is “deranged” and suggested prominent Brexiteer Boris Johnson should be “in jail” for the “falsehoods” told by the Leave campaign.
And he urged responsible MPs to create an anti-Brexit party to force a second EU referendum.
He wrote: “Past time for sensible MPs in all parties to admit Brexit is a catastrophe. He then urged they “come together in new party if need be, and reverse it.”
Mr Chapman spent a year in the Brexit department as Mr Davis’s top political aide, giving him access to the internal documents and negotiating plans of the Brexit team.
“He quit just before the general election and now works for a PR firm.
Laying bare some of the disasters in store, he warned “airlines won’t be able to sell 80% of flights from next March” as no post-Brexit deal on air travel has been done. He also said none of the thousands of new customs officials required have yet been hired. His tweetstorm added for good measure, that “all US broadcasters are moving out of London because of the PM’s deranged hard Brexit.” He also urged journalists on Brexit-supporting papers “to admit it is going to destroy the lives of many of their readers.” Another ex-Tory special adviser, Emily Poole tweeted that she “couldn’t agree more.” But former Ukip leader Nigel Farage demanded to know “which side was Mr Chapman working for in the department?” But he tweeted back: “Not yours. We are going to grind you and your appalling party into the dust.”