Food prices will soar, warns Clegg

NICK Clegg was accused of reigniting Project Fear yesterday after he warned leaving the EU single market would lead Britain ‘off a cliff towards higher food prices’.

The former deputy prime minister said the furore over Marmite being taken off the shelves was the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as chocolate, cheese and wine all face punishing tariffs.

In a doom-mongering speech in central London, he warned of economic disaster if Britain leaves the single market – and claimed the availability of chocolate would be put ‘in some danger’.

His claims were immediately torpedoed by a new report suggesting Brexit will cut food prices by freeing British farmers from the dead hand of Brussels rules.

The study, by the free market Institute for Economic Affairs, found it was ‘unlikely that the benefits of the current regulatory burden outweigh the costs’. The study concluded that Brexit ‘offers unrivalled opportunity to halt potential food price rises’, as the UK would now avoid new farming regulations coming down the track that could add up to £7.5billion to food bills.

The row came as Remain campaigners made fresh efforts to frustrate Brexit, including:

A senior Labour MP said Brexit was proving a ‘monstrous disaster’ and demanded a second referendum. Geraint Davies told MPs voters had made ‘a terrible mistake’ and should be given the chance to think again.

The Speaker of the House of Lords said unelected peers would be free to hijack Brexit legislation. Remain-supporting Tory Lord Fowler said peers could amend the Great Repeal Bill, adding: ‘Where we end up is anyone’s guess.’

Attorney-General Jeremy Wright spent another day at the High Court defending the Government from legal claims that MPs have a right to block Britain’s exit from the EU. Mr Wright told the court the Government was determined to deliver ‘the will of the people’.

But Mr Clegg and Ed Miliband faced a setback in their attempt to force a parliamentary vote on Britain’s exit after Jeremy Corbyn indicated he would not support it.

Former skills minister Nick Boles has urged Mr Clegg to end his ‘ludicrous’ scaremongering about Brexit. ‘The European Union was a means to an end – but it imposed constraints that ultimately chafed too much,’ he said.

‘Now the British people have rejected it, we must find other, better ways to achieve our goals for the people we serve.’