Olive branch to 21 rebels who were kicked out of the party

BORIS Johnson last night offered an olive branch to the 21 Tory Brexit rebels as they were told they can appeal against their expulsions from the parliamentary party.

The chief whip wrote to the MPs who include ex-Chancellors Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke to set out how they can attempt to get the decision reversed.

A Tory source last night described it as a ‘chink of light’ for the rebels but played down their chances of being allowed back into the fold.

Cabinet ministers including Chancellor Sajid Javid have suggested there should be a way back for the MPs, but a decision to return the party whip would enrage hardline Eurosceptics.

The 21 MPs who include former justice secretary David Gauke and Sir Nicholas Soames, a grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, last week joined Labour and other Opposition parties in voting to seize control of the Commons agenda from the Government. This gave them the opportunity to put forward a Bill the next day to prevent a No Deal Brexit on October 31.

Downing Street reacted by removing the whip from the Tory backbenchers who supported the move, meaning they cannot stand as candidates for the party at the next election.

Chief whip Mark Spencer yesterday wrote to the MPs setting out the reasons why they had been expelled from the parliamentary party and explaining the appeals process.

One of the rebels said that the letter was ‘robust and firm’ but had been interpreted by some in the group as an ‘olive branch’.

Justifying the decision to remove the whip, Mr Spencer wrote: ‘For too long the Conservative party has been hampered by those that believe the normal rules of party politics do not apply to them.’ The rebels have been told that they can lodge a formal appeal with Mr Spencer. If it is rejected, they can then ask for an appeal to be heard by a three person panel that is comprised of Mr Spencer, a representative of the 1922 backbench committee and a member of the party board.

A Tory source said: ‘They had very clear conversations with the Chief Whip before they voted, they knew what the consequences would be. They can make that appeal but I am sure the point will be made that they knew what would happen and still went ahead. It is a chink of light but this is not going to be a straightforward route

back for anybody.’ One leading Cabinet Brexiteer said the door should be left open to the rebels but only if they are prepared to sign up to No Deal. ‘You couldn’t have a situation after the next election where we had a majority of ten and these MPs refused to vote with the government on Brexit,’ they said.

On Friday, Mr Johnson pledged to ‘reach out’ to the expelled rebels. He told Sky News: ‘I want to be very clear about this. It grieves me deeply... these are friends of mine and I’ve worked with them for many years.’ The Prime Minister stressed that ‘we have got to get Brexit done’ and not get ‘snarled up in Parliament’. But he went on: ‘Yes, of course I am going to reach out to those colleagues and have been reaching out to try to find ways of building bridges.

‘But I’ve got to be clear. We must get Brexit done and that’s my message to my colleagues: come together and get this thing over the line and unite out country and then get on with defeating the Labour Opposition.’