STOURBRIDGE Conservatives have been urged to support a pause in the Brexit process by a former Tory minister who is leading a campaign for the public to have a final say on plans to leave the EU.

Former Conservative minister and chairman of Right to Vote, Dr Phillip Lee MP, has sent a letter to the chairmen of Tory party associations across all 650 UK constituencies, including Stourbridge, to say the country needs more time to consider its next steps ahead of one of the biggest decisions taken in generations.

Dr Lee, MP for Bracknell, Berkshire, who was the first Government minister to resign over Brexit, said: “The problem is, we can't deliver the 2016 Brexit. That's what the government can't sort out. What better way than to go back to the public with the information?"

In his letter to Tory party associations he said: “We are now effectively faced with the stark reality between a no deal, for which the country has not had time to prepare, and a compromise which virtually no-one on any side of the argument is happy with.

“We are asking you for your support in our call to the Government to take some time out and to pause the Brexit process. Because the truth is that, whichever way we voted in 2016, none of the current ways forward measures up to the promises made to us. That’s why Parliament has reached this deadlock.

“We should fully consider our next steps on one of the biggest decisions our country will take in a generation. We must not have a bad deal foisted on us due to a tight deadline when other options clearly exist. One outcome of this might be an additional vote, a final say by the public."

According to analysis commissioned by Best for Britain, based on most recent polling by YouGov, 54.1 per cent of voters in Stourbridge support a Final Say.

And the UK Trade Policy Observatory (a collaboration between Chatham House and the University of Sussex) has predicted 450 jobs will be lost in the constituency in the event of a no-deal Brexit - and 740,850 across Great Britain should the government fail to strike a deal with the EU.

Dr Lee’s letter added: “Everyone can now see that we are not ready to leave on March 29. It’s not just businesses but families too that are now are being impacted by the uncertainty. This is not Project Fear, it is Operation Reality. As the Prime Minister has said repeatedly, we do not want a ‘disorderly’ Brexit. We should not be inflicting one on our country.

“Given all of this, we are urging the Government to take a breath, to take a minute and give us all time to consider whether this proposed deal, or however it is adjusted, is really in our best interests. This is not just about dotting the Is or crossing the Ts, this is about giving the nation time to consider what is a monumental decision for us all.

“Before we sign on the dotted line, we need to pause and think about what the implications of this deal could be - as any of us would with any other major decision in our lives.