Minister probed for anti-UK rant

source, officials said in the event there were food shortages in Britain they would send supplies from CAP surpluses to supply British food banks.

The Commission has declined to comment on the report but has not denied the plans were being put in place when contacted by the Sunday Express.

The revelation was greeted with astonishment by Brexiteer Tory MPs.

Wellingborough MP Peter Bone said: “This story underlines exactly why we want to leave the EU. What an incredibly patronising attitude from Brussels.

“Obviously, we won’t need their food and this is more Project Fear nonsense but it also shows how much waste there is with the Common Agricultural Policy which is one of the many reasons people in Britain want to leave.”

North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen said: “This really is the last throw of the Project Fear dice from the EU blackmailers.

“The only way there will be a food shortage in Britain is if the EU puts up illegal non-tariff barriers to stop food coming in. This, of course, would break World Trade Organisation rules so would be contrary to international law.

“It is clear the EU elite and their Remainer allies are convinced the British people can still be intimidated and bullied into changing their minds with

threats like this, but they are wrong.” Morley and Outwood MP Andrea Jenkyns pointed out that the eurozone is heading for a recession with three major economies already in recession.

She said: “The way the EU is going they will need that food aid to for people in their own countries who are already struggling to get jobs.”

The EU is under pressure to ensure that food continues to come into the UK after Brexit day on March 29.

Brexit could trigger a farming crisis in the EU if it becomes harder to export food and drink to the UK. There are fears in France that if Britain leaves without a deal its farming sector will be plunged into turmoil as it struggles with overproduction and falling prices.

France has an estimated annual trade surplus with the UK of 800 million euros for dairy products and 200 million euros for fruit. France’s wine and spirits sector had a surplus of more than 1 billion euros, and there are also concerns that apple producers will suffer if it become harder to sell into their biggest market. SWEDEN’S foreign minister faces a probe by her country’s constitutional watchdog over an attack she made on Britain for voting for Brexit, writes David Maddox.

Left-winger Margot Wallstrom, who is also acting deputy prime minister in the ruling Social Democratic Party, said last month she would

“never forgive” the UK for choosing to quit the EU.

She also claimed Brexit “is due to poor political leadership in the UK for a very long time”.

Lars Adaktusson, deputy chairman of the main opposition Christian Democrats, reported Ms Wallstrom, below, for her remarks.

He said: “What is remarkable is that this comes in a politically very complicated and sensitive situation, where the future relations with the UK will now be shaped after the decision on Brexit.

“Speaking out condescendingly in this way, against a democratic referendum that was nevertheless the result of a democratic process was, I consider, both inappropriate and also unwise in the current situation.

“I think it is important that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs reviews this.”

French cattle farmers are reportedly worried that Irish beef will be sent to the EU after Brexit, putting further pressure on profits.

Meanwhile, a report by the Brexiteer group Economists for Free Trade has attacked the “deceitful” economic modelling used by the Treasury which lies behind many of the projections about how Britain will suffer after Brexit.

The report attacks the Treasury and Bank’s assumptions that there will be: no gains from free trade, a border war with the EU and the UK would be disadvantaged by tariffs more than the EU.

Economists for Free Trade chairman Professor Patrick Minford said: “My message to Brits is: unlike these selfstyled experts, you got this issue right.

“Yes, you were right to ask for your democracy back, and yes, this is also good for the British economy, contrary to all that Project Fear.”

Tourism bosses have also said that Brexit is an opportunity to slash the cost of flights within the UK and VAT for the industry which the Government can do