Iain Duncan Smith has been mocked for saying the Supreme Court Brexit challenge was “like watching paint dry”.
The former minister went on BBC News to provide a pro-Brexit take on the first day of the four-day hearing on whether MPs should be able to vote on Article 50.
When he was asked for what he thought the salient points of the day were, he said: “I didn’t watch it all. To be fair it’s a little bit like watching paint dry. You have to be sitting there for a long time before you hear anything move.”
The Lib Dem press office, which is fond of making funnies on Twitter, rose to the challenge to say the proceedings were “almost as tedious” as one of Duncan Smith’s speeches.
He said the Government had “made a strong case” that it had the prerogative to trigger Article 50 of its own.
He said parliament voting on Brexit would “not lead to any great discussion” and fighting for it to happen was a “lost cause”.
Duncan Smith was appearing opposite Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, who supported parliament being given a say in triggering Article 50, saying: “I don’t want Governments ever to be given blank cheques.
“I live in a representative democracy. I want my parliament to be making those decisions.
“I really think we’ve had a reprehensible attack on our judiciary... Our constitutional arrangements are great arrangements and we mustn’t see them being seized up by a Government who will do things behind closed doors. Parliament is the thing that holds Government accounts.”