Tories reheat their anger at ‘chicken ding’ Commons’ Brexit delay
Furious Brexiteers warned the EU it will face “perfidious Albion on speed” if the British people are “held captive against their will”.
At a meeting of the antieurope Bruges Group, Conservative MPS called for Theresa May’s resignation, railed against a “chicken ding parliament” that reheats laws handed down from the EU, and described themselves a “Spartan phalanx” ready to wreck the EU’S agenda.
Speaking from behind a lectern bearing a photograph of Margaret Thatcher, Mark Francois, the vice-chairman of the European Research Group of pro-brexit MPS, said there should be a general election so a new parliament can deliver Brexit - even if it means the Tories losing their majority.
Mr Francois said he wanted EU leaders to know MPS like him would never vote for the Brexit deal so there was “no point” in an extension to Article 50.
He said: “If however, you attempt to hold us in the EU against the democratically expressed will of the British people then in return we will become a Trojan horse within the EU, which will utterly derail all your attempts to pursue a more federal project.
“A new Conservative government led by someone like Boris or Dominic Raab might well vote down your projects, veto your attempts at greater military integration and generally make it impossible for you to bring about the more federal project in which
you so desperately believe.” There was laughter as Mr Francois read the whole of Alfred Tennyson’s poem Ulysses. But anger also boiled over, with audience members shouting “f*** government” and repeatedly yelling “traitor!” at the mention of Mrs May.
“If you now try to hold us in against our will you will be facing perfidious Albion on speed,” Mr Francois added.
Tory colleague Andrew Bridgen said it was “hard to believe we used to run a quarter of the globe from Westminster”. He claimed parliament “usedtohaveafive-starmichelin restaurant,” although the maximum number of stars in the celebrated guide is three. “Now we accept our laws prepacked from Brussels, ready to go in the microwave. We’ve become a chicken ding Parliament with chicken ding politicians.”
Calling for an election, Mr Bridgen added: “I think we will probably lose some colleagues... and our majority. [But] we will never get Brexit through that Parliament”.