Sacked Lord Heseltine says he has never met Theresa May
The Tory grandee, a Government adviser for six years, says he has not met the PM and explains why he rebelled over Brexit.
Wednesday 8 March 2017 12:36, UK
Lord Heseltine, who has been sacked as a Government adviser for rebelling against Theresa May over Brexit, has said he has never met the Prime Minister.
The Tory grandee and former deputy prime minister held five roles in advising the Government on a number of issues, including its industrial strategy.
But in an interview with Sky News, he said: "I don't think I've ever met Theresa May.
"We may have been in the same collegiate circumstance years ago, but I've certainly not met her over recent years."
He said he was mostly a "leftover" from the government of David Cameron, who brought him back to advise on several projects, though his work had continued and expanded under the current PM.
However, a spokesman for No 10 said: "My understanding is that the Prime Minister has met Lord Heseltine". The spokesman did not give any further details.
This week Lord Heseltine backed a demand in the House of Lords that the Prime Minister not be able to finalise a deal with the European Union without the approval of both Houses of Parliament.
The proposal - in an amendment to the bill to trigger Article 50 - was passed in a 366-268 vote and marked over the Brexit legislation.
After the vote, he was told that the from his roles as Government adviser.
An EU supporter who has spoken out against Brexit, Lord Heseltine defended his rebellion, saying "it was inevitable that I did what I believed to be right."
"There comes a time in life when party politics is secondary to your own deeply held convictions about the national interest," he added.
"The issue very simply in the House of Lords was about the sovereignty of Parliament," he said.
"Every single national parliament in the other 27 countries of the union are going to get a vote on the deal.
"Why if all these other national parliaments can be involved should ours not be?"
Speaking about his relationship - or lack thereof - with the Prime Minister, Lord Heseltine said he did not "in any way criticise her for this" because "she is very busy".
"She's got a man-size job," he added - a slip-up on International Women's Day that was quickly seized on by Sky News' Sarah-Jane Mee.
"It's a woman-size job now," she said.
He responded: "I realised it as I said it you wouldn't be able to resist that. I find myself chastised by you, and you're quite right."
The vote in the House marked another setback from the Government, though Mrs May is sticking to her planned timetable of triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - which begins the formal divorce procedures - by the end of the month.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said the vote in the House of Lords was "disappointing".
"Some in the Lords would seek to frustrate that process and it is the Government's intention to ensure that does not happen," he said.