On Monday, MPs failed to find a majority for a series of alternatives to Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the second round of so-called “indicative votes”. The options included another referendum, seeking a customs union, staying in the single market, and potentially cancelling Brexit altogether if no deal could be agreed. The customs union motion tabled by the former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke was rejected by a margin of only three votes, by 273 to 276, while a second Brexit referendum fell short of a majority by 12 votes.

The Norway-style “Common Market 2.0” Brexit deal by Nick Boles, who later resigned the Conservative party whip, was also rejected, by 261 votes to 282, despite Labour frontbench and SNP support.

More than 220 Conservative MPs voted against it both times it was put forward.

As Mrs May prepares to hold a five-hour Cabinet session, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier suggested this morning that a no deal Brexit is becoming more likely by the day.

The EU’s chief’s words and Mr Bole’s failure would have without a doubt been met with enthusiasm by left-wing veteran Tony Benn, who strongly campaigned for Britain to leave the EEC and its trading bloc in the 1975 referendum.

Mr Benn hated the Common Market, as he saw it as a “capitalist club” that would erode British democracy and destroy jobs.

In particular, during the campaign, the then Industry Minister blamed the bloc for the rise in food prices.

The No campaign, led by Mr Benn, warned in its leaflet “the price of butter has to be almost doubled by 1978 if we stay in”.

It claimed that the EEC, through the Common Agricultural Policy, forced Britain to buy food from other member states and banned the import of cheap butter from New Zealand.

Although the debate continued about whether the EEC was entirely to blame for that, the price of butter quadrupled by 1978, the BBC reported in 2016.

During a debate with fellow Labour MP Roy Jenkins before the referendum, Mr Benn argued that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was a “siege economy” designed to favour the French and harm Britain.

Mr Benn explained: “The Common Agricultural Policy is a siege economy for French farmers.

“Nobody argues that because French farmers are uncompetitive, there is overmanning and they should be laid off.

“Every country is losing people in the land but the fact is that the French agricultural system is a protected system and, if cheaper staff come in from the outside, its prices are raised to the level of French agricultural and then we pay the price.

“Now, that doesn’t happen with cars.

“We don’t have a car mountain and, as a Birmingham MP, it would be rather attractive I would have thought, but we don’t.”

Regarding the surge in food prices, he added: “We have butter mountains and beef mountains because the Common Agricultural Policy was developed to benefit the French and if you read [Charles] de Gaulle’s famous veto speech, he said the CAP would be a crashing burden on the British economy.

“He never thought that Mr Heath would go on his knees and accept it.”

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