Brexiteer says nation 'would not forgive us' over trade deal

talkRADIO presenter Mark Dolan (L) and Brexiteer MP Andrew Bridgen - Credit: Twitter

A Brexiteer has said “the nation would never forgive us” if he and fellow Eurosceptic MPs voted in favour of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.

Tory backbencher and member of the hardline anti-EU group, the ERG, said he was not ready to sign a deal ‘just because’ of an impending deadline.

Appearing on talkRADIO, Bridgen said: “If we signed up to a deal that wasn’t what we thought it was, I don’t think the nation would ever forgive us.”

Bridgen’s remark comes as reports emerge of the UK and EU having agreed to a Brexit agreement.

Elements of the British media report Johnson and EU president Ursula von der Leyen sealed a deal Wednesday night and are now finalising it.

Johnson is expected to announce the agreement, which is rumoured to be some 2,000 pages long, in a press conference on Christmas Eve.

But Brexiteers like Bridgen say there is not enough time to scrutinise it.

“People need to remember that a long-term treaty like this isn’t just for Christmas and, if you legislate in haste, you’ll always regret it,” he warned.

“We must have the proper scrutiny.”

The Tory backbencher called for a four-week period to analyse the deal, asserting: “It is that important [we get] the time we need to genuinely analyse a 2,000 page treaty we’ve never seen before.”

Bridgen is understood to be among 20 Tory MPs expected to vote down a Brexit deal when it comes to the House of Commons next vote.

Allies of prime minister have calculated that a significant proportion of the backbenchers would vote against any deal, regardless of the content in the agreement.

Among the ERG ‘Spartans’ that Number 10 fears will vote against will include Mark Francois, former party leader Iain Duncan Smith and Peter Bone.