Chopper's Brexit Podcast Episode 35 - Theresa May should be prepared to create 200 more peers to force Brexit Bill through Parliament, says Jacob Rees-Mogg

Theresa May should be prepared to create as many as 200 new peers to force the Brexit Bill through the House of Lords, the new leader of the Conservative group of Eurosceptic MPs has said.

Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, the new chairman of the influential European Reform Group, warned that the House of Lords would not want to be left "in the position of peers against the people" because "the people always win".

Peers are due to start debating the EU Withdrawal Bill - which cleared its final stages in the House of Commons - in coming weeks.

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Mr Rees-Mogg is now the most influential Conservative Eurosceptic backbencher after he was elected unopposed as the chairman of the ERG - which has around 60 Tory MPs as members - this week.

Mrs May is expected to appoint 10 more Tory peers in the next few weeks. But Mr Rees-Mogg said she should go further.

He told Chopper’s Brexit Podcast on the Telegraph's website: "She should keep up her sleeve the ability to appoint enough peers to get business through. If the House of Lords wont play by the constitutional rule book then the Prime Minister has to use the extra measures which are available constitutionally.

"Now I would appoint ten to 20. The Conservatives are under-represented. That would be a reasonable number to create.

"If the Lords tries to block Brexit then you have the excuse to create as many as you like. And as many as you need to get your business through."

Asked if he meant 40 or 50 new peers, he said: "It could be more, yes. It could be  a couple of 100. There is no point in going off half-cock. 

"If the Lords wants to have a battled with the Commons and the British people, you then have to win that battle and you do that by appointing lots of peers."

He said: "The message to the House of Lords is that their constitutional position is clear  - they are there as a revising chamber to make technical amendments and ensure there are not errors in legislation. They are not there to challenge the democratic will."

He added: "They have been occasions in the past when peers have said they will die in the ditch. They have then looked in the ditch and decided that dying is not such fun afterall."

Mr Rees-Mogg also said that Mrs May should appoint a formal “minister for no deal” to show Brussels that Britain will leave EU without a trade deal if talks do not progress sufficiently.

He said: “It would be sensible to have a minister with the formal title of minister for no deal – and it is an essential part of the Government’s preparations and indeed credibility of its negotiating strategy.

"You cannot negotiate credibly and have any bottom lines unless you are in a position to say ‘when push comes to shove we don’t want any deal at all’. It is therefore crucial not only to show that you are ready but to be ready [to leave]."

Other guests on Chopper's Brexit Podcast, which is available on The Telegraph's website from 6am on Friday, included Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society for Motor Manufacturing and Traders, and Warwick Cairns, from the British Weights and Measures Association.