Tory grandee Michael Heseltine blasts Theresa May over Brexit speech
2 min read
Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine has thrown a grenade amid recent Tory unity as he blasted Theresa May over her latest big Brexit speech.
The former deputy prime minister said the major address on Friday amounted to more “phrases, generalisations and platitudes” and would not help make a Brexit deal more likely.
The Prime Minister called on the European Union to "get on with" negotiating a Brexit deal and admitted that failing to reach an agreement would be bad for the UK.
Most Conservative figures have praised the speech - creating a short window of peace in the party after weeks of bitter infighting over the Government's direction on quitting the EU.
But pro-EU peer Lord Heseltine told the Observer: “The speech just moves us further down the cherry-picking road.
“It set out the cherries that Britain wants to pick but that approach completely ignores the fact that the EU has said, ‘sorry there is no cherry picking’.”
And he added: “Why is it that after 18 months since the referendum we have not got any closer with these issues? The answer is simple: because no one has got any answer about how to do it.”
In an appearance on the Andrew Marr show today Mrs May will say the speech offered “a vision that was ambitious” but “practically based and therefore credible”.
RED TAPE 'FIXES'
Meanwhile the Sunday Telegraph reports that a cross-party group of Remain and Leave supporters are drawing up a list of 50 red tape “fixes” for after Brexit.
The proposals, put forward by a group of business, trade union and regulator representatives, cover house building, state aid rules and the hiring of apprentices.
The group is being chaired by Oliver Letwin - a former policy chief to ex-PM David Cameron.
He told the paper: “There are problems that we can easily cure, and we are recommending changes that would cure them after Brexit.
“One could imagine all 50 coming into effect the day after the end of the transition period.”
It comes as a poll by YouGov for the pro-EU group Best for Britain found some 64% of voters - including 47% of Tory voters - thought the Government was bungling the Brexit process.
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