The Government is investigating the Remain MPs responsible for the “Surrender Act” which seeks to force the Prime Minister to delay Brexit, over claims it was drafted with the help of foreign powers.
The decision to investigate was taken after Downing Street received information indicating that Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney-General, Oliver Letwin, the former Cabinet Office chief, and Hilary Benn, a senior Labour politician, hashed out the legislation in conjunction with the French government and EU officials.
“The Government is working on extensive investigations into Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, and Hilary Benn [who tabled the Bill] and their involvement with foreign powers and the funding of their activities,” a Downing Street source told the Mail on Sunday.
“Governments have proper rules for drafting legislation, but nobody knows what organisations are pulling these strings,” they added.
“We will demand the disclosure of all details of their personal communications with other states. The drafting of primary legislation in collusion with foreign powers must be fully investigated.”
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is also said to be implicated. Earlier in September, he was reported to have blurted out that he had received advice from EU Legal Services on anti-Brexit legislation, possibly while still in office, in a meeting with Prime Minister Johnson — although he “very quickly” corrected himself to say he had in fact received the advice from his own lawyers.
“[Hammond] explicitly mentioned EU Legal Services and their advice on this bill,” said a Government source at the time.
“The very clear implication from his comments was that his involvement in drafting the bill had been done in conjunction with the Commission”.
As senior politicians, Grieve, Letwin, Benn, and Hammond have all been elevated to Her Majesty’s Privy Council, where they serve a largely ceremonial function as advisers to the Queen.
How their alleged activities would square with their Privy Counsellors’ oaths to “assist and defend all Jurisdictions, Pre-eminences, and Authorities, granted to Her Majesty, and annexed to the Crown by Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, against all Foreign Princes, Persons, Prelates, States, or Potentates” is unclear.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.