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Brexit

14th Sep 2020

All living former prime ministers have condemned Boris Johnson’s latest Brexit move

Firestarter David Cameron said he has 'misgivings' about the government's willingness to break international law

Oli Dugmore

A composite image of all living former prime ministers of the United Kingdom

Firestarter David Cameron says has ‘misgivings’ about the government’s willingness to break international law

David Cameron is the fifth and final living former prime minister to express concern about the Internal Market bill.

The Brexit legislation, which seeks to unilaterally change a couple of lines in the Withdrawal Agreement, will override a signed treaty and therefore break international law.

Dav Cam joins an illustrious pantheon of whingebags in condemning the move, John Major, Gordon Brown, Theresa May and Tony Blair – whose own disregard for global legal norms left the blood of half-a-million people on the sands of the Middle East.

Cameron said: “Passing an act of parliament and going on to break an international treaty obligation should be the very last thing you contemplate, an absolute last resort.

“So I have grave misgivings about what is being proposed but let’s be clear about what is happening. The governmentt has proposed a law that it might or might not act on depending on whether certain circumstances do or do not come to pass.

“And of course the bigger picture is that we are in a vital negotiation to get a deal with the EU. I think all of this needs to seen in that context. And that’s why I have said relatively little about this issue.”

Former prime ministers Theresa May, John Major, David Cameron, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown attend a Remembrance Sunday memorial.

Today MPs will debate and vote on the Internal Market bill in the House of Commons.

Sir John Major and Tony Blair called on MPs to reject the legislation, calling it “shaming” as well as “irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice,” writing in The Sunday Times.

“It raises questions that go far beyond the impact on Ireland, the peace process and negotiations for a trade deal – crucial though they are. It questions the very integrity of our nation.”

Cameron joins outraged former leaders from across the UK’s political parties in Major, Blair, Brown and May, although his criticism is markedly less dramatic than that of his peers.