How the treacherous Tories can unite behind Theresa

THIS weekend, the Tory Party is suffering one of its occasional — yet often calamitous — bouts of ill-discipline.

The cause, of course, is Theresa May’s leadership.

Her hold on power has never been weaker. Even those closest to her say she offers little sign of giving strong direction. Above all, the Conservatives are split over a hard or soft Brexit.

That said, there is no justification for so many disloyal Tory MPs to be behaving so pathetically.

For example, Phillip Lee — a man unheard of by 99.9 per cent of the population — said there was a ‘serious question’ as to whether Brexit could ‘legitimately’ go ahead. Any employee of a firm who expressed similar public disloyalty to their boss would, I’m sure, have been sacked. Yet Lee was merely rebuked by the Chief Whip.

In turn, Tory backbencher Anna Soubry (a serial critic of Mrs May) expressed outrage about Lee’s treatment and went on, outrageously, to say that No.10 should have disciplined a minister who claimed there was a plot to ‘undermine’ Britain’s exit from the EU.

Next, it was reported that Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, had received numerous letters calling for Mrs May to step down — although there was absolutely no evidence. Meanwhile, the febrile mood was further stoked by rumours that an unnamed senior minister was on the verge of resigning, although no one could identify him.

WHATon earth is going on? Are the Tories preparing to commit suicide? True, only 300 days remain until the date Britain is due to leave the EU and it is not clear what kind of Brexit Mrs May wants.

Is she negotiating for the UK to stay in the Single Market (as is the wish of her Remain-voting Chancellor Philip Hammond)? Or is her emphasis on stronger free trade agreements with countries outside the EU?

In line with her cautious character, the Prime Minister is reluctant to show what she wants just yet.

Is this because she’s playing a brilliant poker hand, with her cards close to her chest? Or is she herself struggling for the answer? None of us know for certain. But what we do know is that Mrs May — who has the nightmare task of having to keep the two warring sides of her Cabinet from tearing the party to pieces — is still suffering the effects of two self-imposed wounds.

First, her failure to secure a decent Commons majority after she called a surprise general election last summer. As a result of an inept campaign, the Tories are now humiliatingly dependent on minority parties.

Second was her flawed Cabinet reshuffle. It was intended to help give her Government a renewed sense of direction and impose order in the ranks.

Instead, it demonstrated weakness because several ministers defied her authority and refused to change posts. It also created dissent and anger on her backbenches.

One indication of the PM’s weakness is her decision to cancel a speech she was due to give next week outlining her road-map for Brexit. According to one report, she was afraid of offending Mr Hammond. If so, this suggests a shocking weakness.

History tells us that prime ministers don’t usually recover from this kind of trouble.

In fairness, Mrs May has not been a lucky general. David Cameron made a multitude of mistakes but had a way of falling on his feet. Not so his successor.

This weekend, even her supporters, of which I have long been one, must feel queasy about the future. Brexit negotiations apart, the clock is ticking down to another impending problem; local elections to be held on May 3.

There are growing fears these could be disastrous for the Tories. Defeat in traditionally Torysupporting areas such as the London borough of Wandsworth — which is a strong possibility — could trigger a leadership challenge to Mrs May.

All this is horribly reminiscent of the early 1990s.

At the time, I had just begun my first job as a political reporter.

The Tories were in the middle of one of these periods when the party was being torn to shreds. As now, the cause was Europe.

At times, the John Major government came very close to falling.

In the end, it staggered on until 1997, when Tony Blair’s New Labour won by a landslide.

The Tories were out of power for 13 years and did not get a majority government for another five.

Mrs May, who was first elected to Parliament in that 1997 general election, will be acutely aware of the lessons of history and the dangers of handing power to Labour again. Particularly, to a Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn and his hard- Left supporters.

It is vital that her Tory colleagues learnt this lesson, too.

FORthe fact is that, for all her faults, Theresa May commands more public respect than any of her Cabinet colleagues.

I can only see one way that the Tories can pull back from the brink.

It is time for the PM’s three most important Cabinet colleagues — Chancellor Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson — to sit down in a room together, thrash out a final strategy for Brexit and announce it together in public.

Such a discussion may take some time. Armed guards might need to be positioned to block all exits until a deal is done.

Joking apart, I am convinced this is Mrs May’s only salvation.

Otherwise, the Tories are doomed to chaos, civil war and the ultimate catastrophe — a Corbyn government.

Last night, there was evidence that the Tory high command is seeing sense. I am told that Boris Johnson, despite a track record for defying Mrs May’s leadership, has honourably decided to postpone a speech he was due to make next week on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Rudd and Hammond should follow suit and show solidarity with the Prime Minister.

By doing so, they would help reunite the Conservative Party and stop power being handed on a plate to Jeremy Corbyn.