FORMER International Development Secretary Priti Patel insisted it is now time Britain leaves the European Union on Friday with no treaty as she hit out at the Government’s attempts to “terrify” the public “bully” MPs out of supporting a no deal Brexit.

The Brexit-supporting MP said she objects the “national demoralisation campaign” run by the same Government which has spent billions of pounds preparing to leave without a deal. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the Tory MP for Witham said: “Preparing for no deal is absolutely the right thing to do because when Article 50 was triggered and when hundreds of Members of Parliament voted to trigger Article 50, the fact is that that was effectively saying ‘we are going to leave on March 29th with or without a deal’. So, it was absolutely right that the Government prepares for no deal, spending money to do that. “But trying to scare the country and terrify the country through what has become, you know, arranging psychological bombshells, national demoralisation, saying there will be food shortages, the army will be coming on the street, drugs will run out, is quite irresponsible.

“The Government needs to stop doing that and, in fact, one of my former ministerial colleagues Chris Heaton-Harris, who was the minister for no deal planning and preparation has categorically said the country is ready to leave. He would like to leave.

Ms Patel said while in Government she had the opportunity to see how well prepared Britain is to leave with no deal. 

She added: “ I think the question has to be ‘why are the Government still trying to demoralise the nation, say that it is going to be awful, if they have spent billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on planning and preparing?’ I do think it’s totally irresponsible.”

The Tory MP said the Government should do risk mitigation but warned it is not the right approach to “terrify the public” and then “trying to bully MPs” into backing the controversial Brexit deal.

The comments come as Prime Minister Theresa May battles to find an agreement on Brexit with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But Brexiteers have reacted with fury over fears Mrs May will agree to a new customs union in a bid to win over Labour and pass her Brexit deal through Parliament.

Tory MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip Boris Johnson writes in his Daily Telegraph column about the negative consequences of remaining in a form of customs union after Brexit.

In today’s paper, he wrote: “If we Tories have one duty it is to prevent this man getting anywhere near the levers of power. So it seems utterly incredible that he has now been invited into Downing Street to negotiate a Brexit deal.

“And it is doubly incredible that the Government is – so we are told – willing to accede to his terms. We are informed that there are now “no red lines” in the negotiations with Labour.

“That would mean that we had zero flexibility to do big or serious trade deals with anyone else. It would mean that Slovakia or Lithuania – to say nothing of France or Germany – would have more say over UK trade policy than London.”

The UK has until April 10 to come up with a new Brexit plan – or may face leaving the union without a deal two days later on April 12.

EU leaders are due to meet at a summit on April 10, where Mrs May will be expected to present her new deal. But last week, European Commission president Donald Tusk offered the UK a lengthy delay to Brexit, of up to one year.