CUMBRIA MPs have reacted to the government publishing its withdrawal agreement and supporting papers for leaving the EU.

Tim Farron has described the Brexit deal as “the worst of all worlds” but said MPs now need to grow up.

The 585-page draft has sparked criticism from all angles in Parliament, with three MPs leaving before 10am yesterday.

Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has handed in a letter of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May.

Junior Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara, junior Brexit minister Suella Braverman have also stepped down.

Mr Farron said the government needs to be prepared to compromise.

He said: “The deal is damaging to the economy and it is bad for all people.

“I sympathise with Theresa May because she has an impossible task.

“The party have been unfair to her and her treatment has been awful.

He added: “The deal is the worst of all worlds and I believe we have to suspend Article 50 to give us more time to get this right.

“The Conservative party is in such a mess and there is not a lot of people who are determined to put the country first.

Mr Farron said the decision by Dominic Raab to resign as Brexit secretary as shabby.

Mr Raab said he quit the cabinet over “fatal flaws” in the draft agreement with the EU.

Mr Farron said: “He was a more hands-on Brexit secretary than David Davis was.

“But this is the man who was all over this document and deal.

“He signed up to it, but now he has looked at public opinion and for his own career he has resigned.

“There is so much self-interest with politicians with regards to Brexit and for him to resign is shabby.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness said it will be hard for the Prime Minister to command a majority in the House of Commons.

He said: “It is deeply worrying to see that the government has not yet been able to secure the continuation of key agreements.

“The most important thing is that no-one, not even the Prime Minister herself, is able to say that what is being put forward will be as good for prosperity and jobs as the arrangements we have now.

“No-one voted to make themselves worse off.

“They were told they would be taking back control and getting more money for the NHS.

Mr Woodcock added: “When it is finalised, if we believe the exit agreement would in fact make local families poorer and diminish Britain’s place in the world, the public deserves the chance to have the final say.”