The House of Lords would suffer "huge damage" if the Bill to trigger Article 50 was delayed, according to a Conservative peer.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said peers trying to force amendments on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill risked further fracturing a country already "cynical with politicians".

The Tory former Scottish Secretary told the Press Association: "The parties which are calling for more referenda - the SNP and the Lib Dems - are the parties that don't accept referenda... it's a sort of cynical exercise."

The Liberal Democrats want a second referendum on the final Brexit deal to be included as a provision in the Bill, which moves into its detailed committee stage on Monday.

Meanwhile, issues like guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens already legally settled in the UK will likely figure high in their demands.

Lord Forsyth added: "If you're Brussels and you know there's going to be a second referendum on the final deal you give the Brits, are you going to give them a good or bad deal?

"If Parliament were to overturn the referendum result it would cause huge damage to a country already very cynical with politicians.

"Margaret Thatcher once said to me referenda are the tools of dictators. Plebiscites can be used in that way, to get the result you want - but it's a long way from democracy."

In a speech on Tuesday, he attacked the 102 Liberal peers in the Lords as being like "beached whales noisily swimming against the democratic tide".

The former MP for Stirling, a prominent Brexit campaigner, said the Scottish independence and Brexit referenda had taken their toll on the country.

He said: "I confess having been involved in both quite closely I had no idea how divisive they are.

"They divide families, distract governments and all the rest, but on some issues... there's no other way of doing it."

The Tory grandee also waded into the controversy over Donald Trump's state visit and calls for the US president to be barred from the UK.

He said: "I'm old fashioned. As a youngster in the 1970s the Labour government invited Ceausescu, the Romanian dictator, to come here on a state visit.

"He stayed at Buckingham Palace and he was a monster. I even went to St James's Palace to do an address of welcome for him all dressed in my robes.

"Now, I didn't like his politics, didn't like the Communists and I didn't like what was happening in the Soviet Union but he was invited and I felt one should respect that.

"Trump is head of state, he's like the Queen."