on 7 March, Heseltine led a rebellion of thirteen Conservative peers to pass a second amendment demanding a ‘meaningful’ parliamentary vote on the deal. During the debate – the best attended in the Lords since 1831 – the former deputy prime minister announced that he had been sacked ‘from the five jobs with which I have been helping the government’, including a post promoting regional growth. He insisted, ‘It’s the duty of Parliament to assert its sovereignty in determining the legacy we leave to new generations of young people.’ One senior government source claimed that Heseltine ‘cried’ when
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