Sir Winston Churchill's grandson has claimed a no-deal Brexit would be the "most serious crisis" Britain has faced since the Second World War.
Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames, a staunch pro-European who was a minister under John Major, also claimed Margaret Thatcher would not have taken the UK out of the EU.
Attacking Boris Johnson's pro-Brexit government, he said: "What they want to do is to leave on October 31, regardless it seems of the consequences. I think that is a highly foolish thing to do."
And in an obvious reference to his grandfather, the wartime leader, he said: "It's really the most serious crisis to face this country since 1940."
Sir Nicholas's typically forthright and outspoken comments came in an interview with broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Asked about comparisons between Mr Johnson and Winston Churchill, he said: "I don't buy the theory that Boris is masquerading as Churchill.
"I think he admires my grandfather greatly and that he sees the great lessons to be learned from Churchill's life.
