[...] “The Commons could decide that it isn’t what the people were told to expect and so the people should be asked: ‘Are you prepared to settle for this? Is it OK, or shall we stay?” he said.
Lord Kerr, an architect of the EU’s Lisbon treaty and author of its Article 50 governing exit from the bloc, said Labour might move toward backing another vote in the autumn and insisted other EU members would welcome a UK U-turn.
“If we were to ask for an Article 50 extension in order to conduct a referendum, there is absolutely no doubt that we would get it,” he said, adding that legally under Article 50 the UK would be able to remain a member on its current terms.
“If the prodigal son turns up, the fatted calf is killed,” he said. “I think the People’s Vote campaign is worth your consideration and perhaps your support.” [...]
In his speech, Lord Kerr denounced the UK government for what he said was a breach of the principle of devolution in attempting to take control of some policy areas repatriated from Brussels that have been formally devolved to Scotland since 1999. [...]
“I think we are very close to a constitutional crisis,” Lord Kerr said. “I have no idea how it is going to play out, it just feels to me very serious.”
But he said Scotland’s governing Scottish National party had undermined efforts to improve the withdrawal bill in the House of Lords through its refusal to nominate members to the unelected second chamber.
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