Coup faltering as Tory chief hints MPs lied over no confidence letters

PLOTTERS struggling to oust Theresa May faced further embarrassment last night after suggestions some may have lied about sending in letters of no confidence.

Despite their boasts, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers confirmed he had not received the 48 letters from MPs needed to spark a leadership contest under party rules.

Sir Graham Brady suggested some may have made false claims about sending them in, saying it had been known to happen in the past.

He said: ‘Some years ago I had the experience of someone claiming publicly to have written a letter which they hadn’t, and them then saying they had withdrawn the letter which they had sent. This is not a new phenomenon.’

Yesterday two more backbenchers said they had sent in letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister, but it only brought the total to 25.

It comes as a poll of 500 Tory councillors found most wanted MPs to back Mrs May in a vote.

Sir Graham insisted he is the only person who knows how close the rebels are to the 48 letters required – with even his wife, who is also his parliamentary assistant, being kept in the dark.

Speaking on the North West edition of BBC1’s Sunday Politics programme, he said in any event it was ‘very likely’ Mrs May would win a vote if one was triggered.

He said: ‘It would be a simple majority, it would be very likely that the Prime Minister would win such a vote and if she did then there would be a 12-month period where this could not happen again, which would be a huge relief for me because people would have to stop asking me questions about numbers of letters for at least 12 months.

‘I can’t tell you how many times I get asked that question every day. I get asked it in the supermarket, I get asked it walking in the street... I have become nervous about counting or saying numbers in case people think I am referring to something I am not.’

Confirming he had not reached the crucial 48 number – 15 per cent of the party’s MPs – Sir Graham said Britain is entering the ‘end game’ of a crucial negotiation and it is not the right time for the Government to be ‘plunged into uncertainty’.

But he criticised Mrs May’s Brexit divorce deal, branding it ‘tricky’ and said he is ‘not happy’ about the backstop plans, warning it could leave Britain trapped in the EU customs union forever.

Other major Tory players urged MPs to call off their attempts to unseat Mrs May yesterday. Dominic Raab, who resigned as Brexit Secretary last week, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘It’s a total distraction from what we need to do, we need to get Brexit over the line, we need to support our Prime Minister.

‘I have worked very closely with her on Brexit and I think there is still the opportunity to get this right, support the PM – but she must also listen and change course on Brexit.’

Former first secretary of state Damian Green said: ‘We are at the absolute crunch point of the most important negotiations this country has had for decades. I think saying that what the coun- try now needs is a leadership election and a change of leadership is absurd.’

A Survation poll of 505 Tory councillors for the Mail on Sunday found they support Mrs May’s leadership by a big margin.

A clear majority (59 per cent) wanted MPs to back the Prime Minister against 33 per cent wanting them to oppose her.

The survey showed the councillors were more likely to oppose the draft Brexit agreement than support it, but that a larger number wanted MPs to vote the deal through than oppose it.

A ComRes poll found 47 per cent of voters say she should remain as Prime Minister at least until ‘Brexit Day’ on March 29.

The 25 MPs who say they have written letters of no-confidence are Steve Baker, Peter Bone, Ben Bradley, Andrew Bridgen, Sir Bill Cash, Maria Caulfield, Simon Clarke, Philip Davies, Nadine Dorries, James Duddridge, Mark Francois, Marcus Fysh, Zac Goldsmith, Chris Green, Adam Holloway, Andrea Jenkyns, David Jones, Anne-Marie Morris, Sheryll Murray, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Laurence Robertson, Lee Rowley, Henry Smith, Martin Vickers and John Whittingdale.

‘We are at crunch point’