The veteran Tory MP hit out at European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and insisted he is “wrong” to claim Britain cannot amend the Brexit deal. Speaking on talkRADIO, Mr Cash said: “I have a very very strong red line on leaving the European Union. I’ve said in the past that I would find it very satisfactory if we got to a certain point, we put the case to them and gave them a couple of weeks in order to assess whether or not they are prepared to come back and properly negotiate with us, which they never did in the past.

I think the whole of those negotiations were a complete travesty

Bill Cash

“I think the whole of those negotiations were a complete travesty. But then at that point after a couple of weeks, it was quite clear they weren’t prepared, as they had been saying repeatedly they are not going to reopen these negotiations.

“Then I would take the view, in those circumstances, we simply have to walk away.

“There is no point in wasting time if we are going to be faced with them continuously telling us that they are not going to negotiate any of these matters, they are not going to negotiate the backstop, they made it clear.

“Juncker only the other day made it absolutely clear, he said ‘this is a treaty and it has been made and we are not going to change it’.

“Actually, he is wrong because it isn’t a treaty. And by the way, we never signed it.”

Last week European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker claimed “there will be no renegotiations” on the final Brexit deal agreed between the EU and Theresa May.

Speaking at an event in Brussels, Mr Juncker said: “This is not a treaty between Theresa May and Juncker, this is a treaty between the United Kingdom and European Union.

“It has to be respected by whoever is the next British prime minister.”

But an EU insider claimed on Monday that EU negotiators have painted themselves into a corner over Brexit, specifically over the Irish border issue where even a small concession would be seen as a catastrophic betrayal.

The EU insider warned not re-opening Brexit negotiations was “an act of self-harm which could hurt for decades” – but that neither Boris Johnson nor any other candidate would be able to convince the EU to give ground.

Commenting specifically on fresh moves to find a technological solution to the Northern Irish border issue, the insider said: “Yielding on this point the risks damaging the EU for years to come.

“It will place at stake the integrity of the single market and decimate trust that the bloc will stick by its smaller members.”

But Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said it would be wrong to think a new British prime minister could renegotiate the Brexit deal.

He said: “Independently of the name of the new prime minister, the deal is on the table. It is to take or to leave.”

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