JEERS TO CHEERS...
May sees off Tory rebels yet again
THERESA May appeared to have seen off the threat of a leadership challenge last night after Tory MPs put on a noisy show of support.
The Prime Minister was greeted by desk-banging and thumping on panelling – traditional indications of Tory approval – at the weekly gathering of the party’s powerful 1922 Committee at Westminster.
And while she faced a string of probing questions about her approach to the Brexit talks, an attempt to trigger a vote of no-confidence in her leadership failed to materialise.
Mrs May’s allies last night insisted she had “won the room” and hoped the recent spate of speculation about a coup plot had been laid to rest. But some critics complained the meeting had been “stage-managed” by whips.
Mrs May faced the meeting of the 1922 Committee – made up of all the party’s backbench MPs – after angry criticism of her concessions to the EU from Eurosceptics.
In a brief speech, she appealed to MPs to rally behind her during the final stages of the negotiations with Brussels. “It is always tough when you get to the end of a negotiation, especially when you are dealing with the EU,” she told them.
Mrs May then took 18 questions from MPs, with some testing points raised by leading Brexiteers including Andrew Bridgen, Steve Baker, Edward Leigh and Nadine Dorries.
Mr Bridgen, who has called for Mrs May to quit, asked her to list three concessions the EU had made during the talks, while Mr Baker raised rumours that a string of ministers are poised to quit in the event of a parliamentary vote on a no-deal Brexit.
Former home secretary Amber Rudd said Mrs May had spoken with “passion and emotion” and that she believed her job was safe. Tory MP Michael Fabricant described the meeting as a “love-in”. He said: “It wasn’t Daniella in the lions’ den, it was a petting zoo.”
But one sceptical Brexiteer said: “The Prime Minister has succeeded in uniting the party – at least for this evening.”
MPs expecting a vote of no confidence in Mrs May’s leadership were left disappointed.
One angry backbencher said: “There is a lot hypocrisy. There were MPs standing up and cheering who have claimed to have written letters calling for her to go.”
Earlier, European Council president Donald Tusk told MEPs in Strasbourg that Mrs May had raised the prospect of an extension to the 20-month post Brexit transition period at last week’s Brussels summit.
He added: “If the UK decided that such an extension would be helpful to reach a deal, I’m sure that the leaders would be ready to consider it positively.”
Mr Tusk also said he was ready to convene a special Brexit summit if negotiator Michel Barnier reported “decisive” progress had been made in talks – but this was not yet the case.