THE former leader of the Liberal Democrats and first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Sir David Steel, says he 'cannot recall a time of greater chaos in government'.

The 80-year-old former politician, who lives in Selkirk, will address the House of Lords tonight during a debate over Brexit.

And in a hard-hitting attack on the Tory government, Lord Steel will call for a second referendum.

He states: "I was first elected to parliament in 1965.

"I cannot recall a time of greater chaos in government than we see today.

"I do not blame the Prime Minister who has been trying her best – indeed I feel rather sorry for her, though I do find her reiteration of the phrase “national interest” rather grating as she appears to conflate it with her own.

"Most sane people regard the prospect of crashing out of the EU without a deal as devastatingly damaging, which leaves us with this defective deal where we remain substantially under EU rules at great expense but without any say over its policies as we shall have left. "That does not seem to me an attractive proposition. "Until recently I considered a second referendum to be a forlorn hope.

"But it now seems to me to have gathered support – not just because of the march in London, nor the growing number of voices for it, but for another reason so far not mentioned.

"We have this month seen a remarkable number of ceremonies commemorating the centenary of the end of the first world war.

"People have seen the German President lay a wreath at our cenotaph. "They have watched the handshake of Macron and Merkel leading France and Germany, and they have therefore been reminded why the nations of Europe decided to form a cohesive alliance – something that was never referred to during our referendum when all that seemed to matter was the duplicitous slogan on the side of a bus.

"Last month the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Selkirk – the small town where I live – celebrated 20 years of its twinning with the small German town of Plattling close to the Austrian border. "I went for the first time with about fifty others and at the official dinner sat with the Bavarian minister who was representing their government.

"Both towns lost men fighting in both wars, but Plattling suffered something we in Selkirk did not – the loss of over 400 civilian lives in one night in an allied bombing raid on its railway station. The minister pleaded with me that we should not pursue Brexit.

"Yes the EU is not perfect.

"Yes it needs to be less bureaucratic and more accountable. Yes we made a bad deal on fisheries when we joined. "But these are all matters we should stay to sort out and which we cannot alter if we just walk away.

"That is why I now believe a second referendum is necessary."