Anti-EU ministers '˜should stop whinging' - Mandelson

The former European trade commissioner also hit out at the “thoroughly reckless” approach of London Mayor Boris Johnson, warning that a British exit from the EU would damage the economy.

Labour peer Lord Mandelson said Brexit would lead to rising prices in British shops and higher barriers for exporters as the UK would lose access not just to Europe’s single market but also the international trade deals signed by the EU.

At an event in the City of London he dismissed the concerns of pro-Brexit ministers over restrictions on access to official documents about the referendum.

In barbed comments about the row over the contents of “Chris Grayling’s in-tray”, he said: “We are faced in this country with the biggest choice of our generation, a choice which is going to have a huge impact on our jobs, our trade, our investment, our place in the world.

““Frankly, I think, these complaining ministers are lucky. Usually when members of a government go against ministerial collective responsibility and the will of the Cabinet, they receive one paper - and that’s their P45.

“So I think they have got off rather lightly and they should stop whinging.”

Lord Mandelson also singled out Mr Johnson for criticism following the Mayor’s comparison of himself to James Bond, standing up for Britain against the forces of Brussels.

“It would be thoroughly reckless for Britain to sacrifice the settled network of trade advantages and preferences that we have built up over decades through our membership of the EU, all for the thrill of a daredevil race around the international circuit in our own Aston Martin as Boris had it over the weekend.”

He added that the UK would “pay an economic price” for leaving the EU.

Leaders of EU countries and MEPs in the parliament would not make it easy to strike a trade deal with Brussels after a Brexit, he said.

“Why should those who have just divorced us give us back the keys to the marital home as if nothing has changed?