Unelected peers in House of Lords plot to block Brexit and force a second EU referendum
This could put a spanner in the works if the Government has to go to Parliament for authorisation before triggering Article 50
UNELECTED peers in the House of Lords are threatening to block Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
Tory peer Baroness Patience Wheatcroft said she felt it was "imperative that we don't press the button on Article 50".
And the former editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal Europe and editor of the Sunday Telegraph said she hoped delays in the Lords of any potential Brexit legislation would lead to a second referendum.
She is part of a group of several dozen peers talking about options to block, delay or "revisit" the referendum result.
A legal challenge on whether the Government can trigger Article 50 – and so begin the formal process of leaving the EU - without the prior authorisation of Parliament is set to be heard in the High Court in the autumn.
Baroness Wheatcroft said she did not want the Lords to stand in the way of Brexit at the moment, but told The Times: "However, if it comes to a Bill, I think the Lords might actually delay things. I think there's a majority in the Lords for remaining."
Asked whether she would support peers delaying Brexit legislation she said: "Yes I would. And I would hope, while we delayed things, that there would be sufficient movement in the EU to justify putting it to the electorate, either through a general election or a second referendum.
"There is an argument that at some stage people ought to be given an opportunity to think again."
She added: “If you look at the make-up of the Lords, the party whip on the Conservative side, even if it was applied, would certainly not guarantee getting anything through.
“I think on this people feel sufficiently strongly that they’d defy the whip anyhow. I would.”
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A former Tory minister in the Lords, who did not want to be named, said they hoped that peers "will and can" delay Article 50.
They said plans are underway to try and launch an inquiry by a Lords select committee into the Leave and Remain campaigns in order "to compile evidence of what was put before people".
The peer added: "The first step is to establish the public weren't given the correct information, show they were led to believe things that weren't true.
"Leave won on only 51.9 per cent of the vote, on facts presented that are patently wrong or misleading ... It's absolutely astonishing that everyone is rolling over and saying 'well that's all done and dusted'.
“There are Tory ministers who are really unhappy about it all."
Last month Baroness King of Bow, a Labour peer, called for a second referendum on the final Brexit deal.