British PM tells mutinous colleagues replacing her will not make Brexit easier

British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday told rebellious politicians in her Conservative Party that ousting her would not help Brexit negotiations.

After the most tumultuous week of her premiership so far, in which several senior ministers quit over a draft deal struck with the EU, Mrs May said she would travel to Brussels for talks on Britain’s “future relationship” with Europe.

The prime minister also insisted that the UK would leave the EU on March 29 next year.

“A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations any easier and it isn’t going to change the parliamentary arithmetic,” she warned those who had called publicly for her removal.

By yesterday afternoon, 25 MPs had revealed that they sent no-confidence letters to the chairman of the party’s influential 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. Forty-eight are needed to trigger a vote.

Mr Brady said if the threshold were reached, he would act immediately to ensure a no-confidence vote took place.

The Conservative politician, who supported Britain’s push to leave the EU, said he had not submitted a letter of no confidence because he believed it was not the right time to challenge Mrs May.

“We are coming to the endgame of a very serious, very difficult negotiation, and for the government to be plunged into uncertainty would have implications for that,” he said.

Mr Brady said it was unlikely that the draft deal, which was published on Wednesday, would secure enough parliamentary support in a crunch vote set for next month.

Several Conservative Brexiteers have already said they will not support the deal, as have some pro-European MPs.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he did not believe the text met the needs of the country, while the Democratic Unionist Party, which is supporting the Conservative Party minority government through a confidence and supply agreement, has vowed to vote down the EU draft deal.