SCOTLAND’S Tory MEP has claimed her party’s talk of a ‘no deal’ Brexit is mere “rhetoric”.
Nosheena Mobarik – who sat in the House of Lords before taking up a position in the European Parliament two months ago – insisted there “will be an agreement”.
It comes as Brexit secretary David Davis said his department was preparing for every eventuality, adding it’s "not probable, but possible we will not get a deal".
Speaking to The Herald in Strasbourg last week, Lady Mobarik said: “I’m not really sure what ‘no deal’ means. I think people throw that phrase around, but I’m not quite sure what that actually means.
“At this stage I’m inclined to think it’s rhetoric. There will have to be something agreed at some stage, whatever that is.”
Prime Minister Theresa May has repeatedly argued “no deal is better than a bad deal”, while MPs have been told the UK will still leave the EU if they reject any Brexit deal.
But Lady Mobarick said people were “intelligent enough to know” that some sort of consensus needed to be reached, adding: “There might be some posturing occasionally, and there might be other issues that need to be thrashed out – but ultimately, I’m sure that everyone realises that it’s in the interests of both sides that we come to a really good agreement.”
Asked if the debate around a ‘no deal’ scenario was misleading the public, she said: “I don’t know if it’s intentionally misleading the public. That’s not the intention I’m sure.
“But I think it’s probably just – at this stage, we are examining all the options.
“Just looking at what all the different scenarios could possibly be, and which is the wise thing to do.
“Is it going to be version A or B or C, and then how do we react to that?”
Asked what she thought Theresa May and the Government mean when they say “no deal”, she said: “I really don’t think there’s any point labouring that one.
“There will be some agreement of sorts, because as I keep saying, it’s in the interests of all sides.
“It impacts negatively on German industry just as much as it would on the UK, if we just couldn’t come to some sort of an agreement.
“It might be slightly different terms to what we have just now, but I think everyone recognises that there has to be something.”
Lady Mobarik was previously chairman of business group CBI Scotland and was made a life peer in 2014, before becoming an MEP in September.
She was parachuted into the European Parliament after Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson reportedly vetoed the candidate who was ahead of her on the list, Belinda Don.
Despite voting to remain in the EU, Lady Mobarik insisted she can “understand both perspectives”, arguing the EU “has never worked in the way that I think was intended”.
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