Former MI6 chief blasts PM’s Brexit deal as ‘disastrous’

A former head of MI6 has said a no-deal Brexit puts Britain in a stronger position than Theresa May’s deal.

In a stinging attack, Sir Richard Dearlove called the Prime Minister’s deal ‘disastrous’, adding it offers ‘no tangible benefits’ for Britain and will lead to ‘no control over EU migration’.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, Sir Richard – alongside 33 other signatories including leading businessmen and academics – urges MPs to reject Mrs May’s deal and vote for Britain to exit the EU without a deal on March 29.

It states: ‘The Withdrawal Agreement is disastrous. It ties us to European Union rules without any say in drawing them up or any possibility of independent arbitration.

‘New trade agreements would be restricted. We would continue to pay £10billion a year. There would be no control over EU migration. 

Sir Richard said the deal from Theresa May (pictured at Buckingham Palace yesterday) offers ‘no tangible benefits’ for Britain and will lead to ‘no control over EU migration’

‘There would be no tangible benefits to show from Brexit…it is not a solution: it is a prolongation of the agony.’

It goes on to say that a no-deal Brexit, in stark contrast, will ‘allow us to cut unnecessary tariffs, reduce costly regulation, save on budget contributions and sign beneficial trade deals’.

It is not the first time Sir Richard, 74, a prominent Leave supporter who headed the MI6 from 1999 to 2004, has fiercely criticised the Prime Minister’s deal.

In January, he signed a letter to Conservative associations saying it would ‘place control of aspects of our national security in foreign hands’.