Brexit: Owen Paterson's call for leadership contest '˜disingenuous'

The prominent Brexiteer was one of 48 MPs who submitted letters to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady, triggering a leadership contest.

In his letter, Mr Paterson said Mrs May’s conduct of the Brexit negotiations “eroded trust in the government, to the point where I and many others can no longer take the prime minister at her word”.

The ex-Cabinet minister said Mrs May had become a “blockage” to a withdrawal agreement which Parliament and the country could support, and felt she had made a critical mistake by treating Brexit as “a problem to be solved rather than as an exciting opportunity to be grasped”.

But Upper Bann MLA Doug Beattie has slammed the move by Mr Paterson and other Tory MPs, describing the timing of the leadership contest as “stupid and ridiculous”.

While he did not fundamentally disagree with many of the points made by Mr Paterson in his letter, Mr Beattie added: “This is not in the best interests of the country at this juncture.”

Speaking to the News Letter ahead of the confidence vote, Mr Beattie said: “Mr Paterson has seen this coming for some time.

“He has seen how these negotiations have run over the last two years, so to wait until now to send this letter, when we are on the absolute cliff edge of trying to achieve a deal, is a little bit disingenuous.

“We knew about the backstop 12 months ago. It was bad then, and it is bad now. It will leave the people of NI with no representation in Europe whatsoever for a protracted period of time if we go into the backstop.

“And so while I don’t support the deal in its current form, this leadership contest isn’t going to help the situation.

“It is stupid and ridiculous timing to have this now when we are on the cusp of trying to get a deal.”

Mr Beattie said he hoped Mrs May would overcome the leadership challenge and use the victory to try and secure a better deal for the UK.

“A new prime minister is going to do one of two things; they are going to ask for more negotiating time, which means an extension of Article 50, or they will go for a no-deal to show themselves as being a strong leader.

“But that show of strength, that flag waving will not help NI.”

Arch-Brexiteer Boris Johnson is viewed as one of the potential leadership candidates should Mrs May be ousted, but Mr Beattie warned: “Having someone like Boris Johnson in charge is the last thing we need.

“He will come in and try to show his strength by flying the flag and going for a no-deal, and that is not going to be good for the country.

“So I hope Theresa May sees this challenge off. While I don’t agree with her deal, her strong personality, resilience and passion to stand up for what she believes in is commendable.”