William Hague: 'Britain will get worse Brexit deal' as a result of general election

The former Conservative leader William Hague has criticised the campaign that his party ran in the snap general election earlier this year claiming that as a result, "Britain will get worse deal" in Brexit negotiations.

Lord Hague was speaking to Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 Live when he described the campaign ran by the Conservatives in May and June of this year as "pretty poor".

Theresa May ended up losing her House of Commons majority despite a healthy lead in the polls at the start of the campaign.

May was forced to enter an informal coalition with the DUP in order to pass the Queen's Speech in parliament.

Hague, who was party leader between 1997 and 2001, said the election result would weaken the hand of Britain as crunch talks with the EU continue in the coming months.

The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday, 29 August, that none of the proposals that Britain had submitted for negotiations were "satisfactory".

Theresa May's leadership has been under strain ever since the election and Hague has tipped an 'outsider' to replace her.

He said that "the most likely person hardly ever gets it".

Hague himself resigned as the Tory leader in 2001 after Labour trounced the party at a second consecutive general election.

Lord Hague who served as foreign secretary for four years under David Cameron, also warned about the threat from North Korea.

He said that the UK had to be "prepared for anything", but added that military action with North Korea was unlikely.

Tensions around the Korean peninsular have escalated sharply in recent months following a series of missile tests by the Ki regime including the most recent which was launched over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The former foreign secretary warned that a war with North Korea would be the "worst thing since the Second World War".

He also criticised US President Donald Trump for inflaming the stand-off with his rhetoric after Trump threatened North Korea with "fire and fury". Hague described these words as a "mistake".