LONDON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- British former Brexit minister Steve Baker on Tuesday warned that at least 40 Conservative MPs are willing to vote against the prime minister's Brexit deal in Parliament.
The message was sent as Baker, a Brexiteer, told local media that originally 80 MPs were prepared to vote down the Chequers plan, but when it comes down to the vote, at least 40 MPs will still veto the document.
He said that this would happen even after "every possible technique" is used by the government to address concerns among politicians.
"The government are going to whip this vote extremely hard but ... whips would be doing incredibly well if they were to halve the numbers," the ex-minister said.
Baker said his estimation is that there are at least 40 colleagues who are not going to accept a half-in, half-out Chequers deal.
His warning came as Britain and the European Union's Brexit talk is in impasse.
"In the end, the EU is not entitled to split the UK and it is not entitled to constrain how we regulate the economy and how we govern ourselves after we leave," he said.
"If the UK faces either possibility then we must in the end be willing to say that it is a bad deal and no deal is better than a bad deal, it has been said before many times," he added.
Parliament is to vote on the terms of Brexit ahead of the country's March 29 exit.
MPs have been promised a "meaningful vote" this autumn on the terms of the Britain's exit from the EU as well as the framework of future economic relations with the bloc.
