12 TORY TURNCOATS
They promised to back PM on Chequers deal... then shamelessly ratted on her
TORY Remainer rebels last night faced accusations they ratted on a deal to back Theresa May over her Chequers blueprint.
An email leaked yesterday showed that MPs pledged to support the Prime Minister several weeks ago if she signed up to ‘close alignment’ with the EU.
But twelve MPs voted against the Government yesterday on the customs union, despite Mrs May making clear concessions in the Brexit white paper.
The email, published by the Guido Fawkes website yesterday afternoon, was written by Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, who led last night’s customs rebellion.
Sent to more than 20 pro-Remain MPs at the start of July, it made clear Remainers were backing away from a rebellion on customs in the EU Withdrawal Bill on the understanding they would wait to see Mrs May’s proposal on the future relationship.
But they would keep their powder dry only if Mrs May’s plan met with their approval. If they decided it was a ‘foolish Brexiteer scheme’, they would move to keep Britain in the customs union, he wrote.
Former transport minister Mr Hammond, whose South West London constituency voted heavily to Remain, was sacked as a Tory party vice chairman last year following a previous Commons rebellion over Brexit. In the leaked email, he wrote: ‘The PM has our support if the Cabinet resolves a proposal which not only allows continued economic alignment but that the Cabinet must also agree the backstop arrangement.
‘The proposal must be one that the EU will say shows progress and are likely to welcome. No more time nor political capital can be spent on foolish Brexiteer schemes.
‘If the Cabinet can’t agree this then we will force a solution in Trade Bill and the Customs Bill. The only reason a compromise was accepted on meaningful vote was because it delivered what we wanted and we wanted to give the PM the space she asked for – and that has now gone.’
Last night one senior Tory source said: ‘It’s what we’ve come to expect because you can’t trust these people as far as you can throw them’.
One Remainer rebel suggested he had been ready to back the Government, but changed his mind in fury at Mrs May’s concessions to Eurosceptic Tories on Monday night. Then the PM was forced to back down in the face of a potential rebellion from members of the European Research Group and accept four of their amendments to the Customs Bill. Speaking in the Commons yesterday Dr Phillip Lee revealed he had changed his mind over the PM’s decision on Monday night to bow to Eurosceptic sentiment.
He told MPs: ‘Yesterday was the worst experience I have had in my eight years in politics. I am sorry, but it changed everything. I started the week intending to support our Prime Minister in her plan and white paper. Yesterday changed that.’ The revelations sparked uproar among Eurosceptics who suggested the Government had briefed Remainer rebels in advance.
One senior Brexiteer told the Mail the email showed Remainers had been briefed on the Chequers agreement before it was announced late on July 6. ‘They knew what was coming, you can see that very clearly,’ the source said.
On the email chain were most of the 12 MPs who rebelled on customs last night as well as several
other Remain supporters including Tom Tugendhat, Jeremy Lefroy, Paul Masterton, Mark Pawsey and Oliver Heald.
Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, dubbed Ms U-turn, had been on Newsnight on Monday to profess loyalty to the PM, before voting against her yesterday. She told the programme: ‘People do not want there to be a leadership challenge.
The majority of the Parliamentary party have made it clear to colleagues that they absolutely do not want there to be any form of leadership contest.
They want the Prime Minister’s leadership to continue, they want there to be space to negotiate Chequers.’
And she accused hard Brexiteers of causing trouble for Tory leaders for the past 30 years. Last night she tweeted: ‘ I voted for the amendment with a heavy heart.’