House of Lords warned EU will punish UK if it votes for Brexit

The United Kingdom's House of Lords Select Committee, which scrutinises British EU policy, held meetings in Brussels on 13 January 2016 with the European Commission's Brexit chief negotiator Jonathan Faull and first vice-president Frans Timmermans, as well as with other European politicians, as part of its inquiry into the referendum on EU membership.

The peers were told during these meetings that Britain would be made an example of by the European Union, if it voted to quit the bloc in the planned referendum. The assumption was that other member states would force a draconian Brexit deal on the UK in a bid to deter other countries from leaving.

• Primary Source

Politico, 13.01.16: Timmermans’ vanishing act in Brexit hearing http://www.politico.eu/article/timmerman-vanishing-act-brexit-hearing-britain-parliament-faull-house-of-lords-eu-select-committee/

ESO: Background information: European Council Conclusions on the United Kingdom (17 December 2015) http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-european-council-conclusions-on-the-united-kingdom-17-december-2015/

ESO: Background information: Cameron: Brexit ‘is not the right answer’ http://www.europeansources.info/record/cameron-brexit-is-not-the-right-answer/

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

EurActiv, 13.01.16: Commission's Brexit boss 'bans' press from UK parliamentary hearing http://www.euractiv.com/sections/uk-europe/commissions-brexit-boss-bans-press-uk-parliamentary-hearing-320907

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