Former Conservative Cabinet minister Lord Heseltine has been sacked as a Government adviser after rebelling over Brexit.
The Tory grandee backed demands for a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal after warning that quitting the EU was the “most momentous peacetime decision of our time”.
The Lords motion was carried by 366 votes to 268 prompting anger from Government ministers.
He was later told Theresa May was firing him from his roles advising the Government.
The peer insisted it was Parliament’s duty to protect the country’s legacy.
He said: “I have just been told by the Chief Whip in the Lords that No 10 is to sack me from the five jobs with which I have been helping the Government following my vote in the House of Lords earlier today.
“This is entirely the right of the Prime Minister and I’m sorry that the expertise which I have put at the Government’s disposal over the last six years has now come to an end.
“However, in the last resort, I believe…the future of this country is inextricably interwoven with our European friends.
The peer had been asked to help the Government with plans to restore deprived estates under David Cameron and he also worked with George Osborne on plans for east London.
He advised on plans for a Swansea city deal and has been working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Lord Heseltine was also a national infrastructure commissioner.
