Article 50 appeal: Cool Brexit rhetoric, says Shropshire MP Owen Paterson

He played down claims that pursuing a 'hard' Brexit could alienate core Conservative voters and cost the party the next General Election.

And he said the obsession in the debate between 'hard' and 'soft' Brexit was not helpful as Britain looks for a way out of the EU.

It comes as the Government goes to the Supreme Court in the latest stage of the legal battle over Brexit.

The highest court in the land was today being asked to overturn a High Court ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union.

In a decision that infuriated Brexiteers, three senior judges said Theresa May lacked the power to use the royal prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and start the two-year process of negotiating Brexit without the prior authority of Parliament. Supreme Court justices were today having their say regarding one of the most important constitutional cases in generations.

If the appeal is unsuccessful, and any potential further appeal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg also fails, the Government's plans for Brexit could be thrown into disarray.

The Supreme Court ruling is another complication in a process that some Tory MPs believe could be detrimental to the fortunes of the party.

A group of Tory MPs, which includes ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve, has said 'a moderate core' of Tory voters do not want the party to become 'Ukip-lite'. PM Theresa May must ensure she is not 'pushed' into a 'hard' Brexit, they said.

However, leading Euro-sceptic Mr Paterson today said the term 'hard' or 'soft' Brexit is only confusing people.

He said: "Our destiny is completely clear. We were completely clear in the Leave campaign with what we wanted so all this nonsense about 'hard' Brexit and 'soft' Brexit really is rubbish.

"We were absolutely clear that we wanted – to take back control of our laws, trade, borders, money."

Mr Paterson says it would be a mistake to overturn the will of the people in a landmark constitutional case

He added: "The people who cannot be disregarded are the 17.4 million and I think there would be catastrophic damage to the integrity of the whole political establishment, the media establishment and potentially the whole judicial establishment if those 17.4 million do not get back control.

"We were very clear. We wanted to get back control – make our own laws in parliament and get back control of our trade around the world. It was the largest vote in British history."

The jitters among some within the Conservative Party come after the Lib Dems overturned a 23,015 Conservative majority to win Thursday's Richmond Park by-election.

Ex-Tory MP Zac Goldsmith stood as an independent after leaving the Conservative Party, but Liberal Democrat Sarah Olney – who fought the campaign on the issue of Brexit – won by more than 1,800 votes.