Threshold reached to trigger no confidence vote in PM May - BBC
LONDON (Reuters) - Enough letters have been submitted by Conservative lawmakers to trigger a vote of no confidence in British Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership, the BBC reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources who believe the tally of 48 has been reached.
The chairman of the Conservative lawmakers’ 1922 committee, Graham Brady, has asked to see May on Wednesday after her weekly question session in parliament, the BBC’s Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg wrote on Twitter, adding that confirmation was unlikely until Wednesday.
May’s lawmakers could vote on a no confidence motion in her leadership as soon as Wednesday night, said a Conservative lawmaker who has long been critical of May.
“We will have a confidence motion so Conservative MPs (members of parliament) will vote whether they have confidence or not in a secret ballot at the first opportunity which I think could be tomorrow night,” Andrew Bridgen told Sky News.
An attempt to oust PM May gathered pace on Tuesday, a day after her decision to delay a vote in parliament on her Brexit deal for fear of a rout angered many in her Conservative Party.
With May on a tour of European capitals to try to secure “reassurances” to calm the crisis at home, the BBC and other media cited sources as saying the required number of letters from Conservative lawmakers calling for a no-confidence vote in her leadership of the party had been met.
Only one member of the party knows how many lawmakers have submitted their letters - but her position looked more precarious than ever.
With less than four months left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, May’s premiership and her deal to stave off a disorderly departure or a bid to stop Brexit are hanging by a thread.
If she is toppled — and it is far from certain that she would lose a vote among all the party’s members of parliament — — could further complicate Brexit.
The BBC cited multiple sources as saying the required 48 letters had been reached.
Acknowledging that she faced “significant losses” if she asked parliament to vote on Tuesday, May had said she would try to ease lawmakers’ concerns, particularly over the so-called Northern Irish “backstop.”
Her former Brexit minister, David Davis, wrote in the Telegraph newspaper that “the prime minister’s latest ploy of looking for more fudge with which to buy off the House of Commons will not work.”
He instead urged a change of strategy - rip up her deal and pursue a free trade deal similar to one that the EU has with Canada.
“So now is the moment to seize control and deliver our own destiny,” he wrote. “We are crying out for leadership and direction. Kicking the can down the road is not a strategy, it’s a delaying tactic.”
The message from the EU was also clear: It could give legally-binding assurances about how it interprets the exit treaty, but would not countenance reopening the text itself.
Donald Tusk, who will chair an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, tweeted after talking to May: “Clear that EU 27 wants to help. The question is how.”
European Commission head JeanClaude Juncker said: “The deal we achieved is the best possible. It’s the only deal possible. There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation. But of course there is room enough to give further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the withdrawal agreement.”