Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
It’s lame duck for Christmas
HER GOOSE IS COOKED... Wounded May fends off rebels only by promising to quit Brexit deal hangs by thread as second referendum looms
BATTERED Theresa May survived a confidence vote – only by promising not to fight the next election.
With her Brexit plan set to be rejected by MPS, a second referendum or a no-deal are becoming more likely.
THERESA May last night won the fight to keep her job, but the taste of victory was bittersweet after the vote revealed onethird of her own MPS have no faith in her.
The weakened PM managed to cling to power by promising her mutinous colleagues she would quit before the next election.
And although she bought off the majority of Tory MPS with that pledge, she was left in no doubt that many of her backbenchers wanted her out over her disastrous Brexit deal, denting her authority.
As a lame duck PM, Mrs May flies to Brussels today in a vain bid to get concessions for her EU withdrawal plans, Labour could launch its own motion of no confidence in her.
The vote result leaves the prospect of the PM’S deal being accepted, a second referendum or a no deal as the possible choices facing Britain.
And despite winning last night’s vote of no confidence in her leadership by 200 votes to 117, Tory Jacob Rees-mogg still called for her to quit. The arch-brexiteer said: “It’s a terrible result for the Prime Minister, it really is. Of course I accept this result. But the Prime Minister must realise that under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the Queen urgently and resign.” The result of the vote means another bid to topple her by her own MPS cannot be brought against her for another year. Tory MPS were also embroiled in a row after the party restored the whip to two suspended MPS just in time to help save Mrs May’s job.
They were former business minister Andrew Griffiths, suspended six months ago over 2,000 sex texts he sent to two barmaids, and Brexiteer Charlie Elphicke, who was quizzed by police earlier this year over alleged sex offences and has always maintained his innocence.
While Mrs May praised loyal colleagues for sticking by her, the result was put in context by the no confidence motion against Margaret
Thatcher. She beat Michael Heseltine by 204 votes to 152 in a leadership contest in November 1990. She quit because the majority was four short of the 56 needed to stay.
Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd was at the meeting where Mrs May promised to step down before the next election to secure her position.
She said: “She did say she wouldn’t be fighting the next general election. It was quite emotional the way she put it, she said in my heart I wanted to do that but now I recognise that I am not going to.” Tory party deputy chair James Cleverly added: “She recognises a lot of people are not comfortable with her leading us into a future general election.”
One critic of the PM said: “Some of her ministers were crying in there. It was bad.” But Cabinet minister present at the meeting denied the report. Mr Rees-mogg feared Mrs May’s wording of her promise to quit left the door open for a U-turn. The MP, who was one of at least 48 who submitted a letter of no confidence in his boss to trigger the vote, said she “didn’t quite” say she was going to go.
He added: “Intention is one of those politicians’ dangerous words that one should never rely on,” Mrs May’s decision to quit before
It’s a terrible result for the Prime Minister. She ought to see the Queen and resign JACOB REES-MOGG BREXITEER MP ON LAST NIGHT’S NO CONFIDENCE VOTE
the next election in exchange for more time in power is in stark contrast to her pledge in January when she said on a trip to China: “I’m not a quitter.”
Speaking outside No 10 after the result, the PM admitted it had been a “long and challenging” day but she was “pleased” to have won. She added: “Whilst I’m grateful for their support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me and I’ve listened to what they said.
“Following this ballot we now need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit for the British people and delivering a better future for this country.”
But her EU withdrawal plans still face defeat in the Commons when she finally allows the vote she ducked out of this week to go ahead. She tried to buy off Tory critics by telling them she was seeking “legally binding” changes to the Irish border backstop to keep it temporary.
Downing Street insiders revealed she was pressing Brussels for a letter confirming the plan would avoid a hard border.
But Mrs May was set for more humiliation after EU chiefs again ruled out the withdrawal agreement being renegotiated.
A frantic tour of EU leaders earlier this week had already ended in disappointment after they rejected her calls for more concessions. And Jeremy Corbyn insisted the result made no difference to the lives of ordinary people.
Mr Corbyn told the Commons earlier: “The Prime Minister has lost her majority in Parliament, her government is in chaos and she is unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country and puts jobs and the economy first.
“She must now bring her dismal deal back to the House of Commons next week so Parliament can take back control.”
DESPITE surviving last night’s bid to oust her, Theresa May faces a huge battle to rescue her Brexit deal... making a second referendum more likely.
She travels to Brussels today to beg EU chiefs for concessions so she can win support in Parliament for her withdrawal agreement.
Mrs May faces a crushing Commons defeat on the deal unless bloc leaders agree a substantial change on the Irish backstop.
EU leaders have already ruled out any amendments on this or any other part of the agreement.
Bookies have slashed the odds on a second referendum from 11/8 to evens. The PM is preparing to warn hardline Brexiteers that derailing her withdrawal plan risks torpedoing Brexit altogether.
Speaking outside No10 last night, she said: “I have heard what the Commons said about the Northern Ireland backstop and when I go to the European Council tomorrow I will be seeking legal and political assurances that will assuage the concerns that members of parliament have on that issue.”
The PM is desperate to secure a guarantee from EU chiefs that the backstop – designed to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic – would not last indefinitely.
Mrs May needs movement on the backstop to win over Tory rebels and the Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 MPS prop up the Government.
After yesterday’s vote DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: “The message from tonight is very clear. The backstop must go.”
Mrs May met DUP leader Arlene Foster in Parliament for about 45 minutes yesterday.
Mrs Foster said: “We emphasised that tinkering around the edges would not work.
“We were not seeking assurances or promises. We wanted fundamental legal text changes.
“We have been consistent, which is why it is so frustrating that our warnings about the backstop have not been heeded.”
Mrs May held on to power last night but the Tory civil war is far from over.
Plotters in the European Research Group – the cabal of hard Brexiteers determined to get her out of No10 – will step up attempts to force her out and replace her with one of their own.
Chancellor Philip Hammond attacked “extremists” in his party “who are trying to advance an agenda which would really not be in the interests of the British people or the British economy”. Meanwhile, Labour could table a no-confidence motion in the Government as early as today. Mrs May’s authority suffered a humiliating blow on Monday when she shelved plans for a vote on her Brexit blueprint to avoid a massive defeat.
But, if the UK is to avoid a potentially disastrous no-deal departure, that
bill must come back before MPS. The vote will take place before January 21, according to No10 – and it could be before Christmas.
The PM’S challenge in Brussels to win concessions has been made clear by EU leaders.
Her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar and European Commission President Jean-claude Juncker repeated their warnings the withdrawal agreement cannot be renegotiated.
It is potentially another hammer blow to her hopes.
It is expected that the ERG will go on sniping from the sidelines, what little remains of the PM’S shattered authority.
Members will have their first chance on Monday when the Prime Minister gives a statement to Parliament on the outcome of the EU summit.
Unless she brings back something game-changing, few Tory Brexiteers will be won over.
And if she loses that vote on her withdrawal plan she will face even more pressure to quit.
When she delivered her first speech as PM outside No10 in July 2016, her 629-word statement included just one mention of “European Union”, one of “referendum” and none of “Brexit”.
Yet Europe was always going to define her premiership.
This summer, Cabinet minisundermining ters arrived at Chequers, the PM’S rural retreat in Buckinghamshire, and were presented with her Brexit blueprint, which they all apparently agreed to.
But the next day, Brexit Secretary David Davis quit, and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson left too.
The PM had seemingly failed to understand that compromises for some Brexiteers would be easier if they could be made earlier – before the stakes became so high. But, because she was too fearful to take them, she left the reckoning too late.
The final deal with Brussels enraged the DUP, which all but abandoned its confidence-andsupply pact with the Tories.
Mrs May pressed on, claiming she could win Commons backing.
But when it became clear she could not, she pulled the vote – triggering fresh fury among MPS.
For some, that was the last straw and they began writing letters starting “Dear Sir Graham”.
We said that tinkering would not work. We wanted fundamental legal changes DUP’S ARLENE FOSTER ON HER DEMANDS TO PM YESTERDAY
There should be no cheering in Downing Street at last night’s victory. This was not a vote of endorsement in the Prime Minister.
Faced with a choice between an enfeebled leader or the carnage of a leadership contest, MPS went for the least-damaging option.
Mrs May remains on borrowed time.
She only staved off defeat by signalling she would not fight another general election.
By making this pitiful offer – the equivalent of signing your own death warrant – she sacrificed yet more of her political capital.
The clouds on the horizon remain as dark as ever for this weakened Prime Minister.
This is a crisis postponed rather than a crisis resolved. Her party is now proven beyond doubt to be split fundamentally.
WARFARE
Her Brexit plan remains unloved and will almost certainly be voted down by the Commons. The country remains as divided as ever over Europe.
So it is all the more shameful that at the moment when we are engaged in the most important negotiations this country has faced in more than four decades, the Tories descend into internecine warfare.
The Prime Minister deserves no sympathy. Any Tory leader with a grasp of history would know you cannot pander to the Tory right without reaping the consequences.
Yet she did just that by promising a hard Brexit she was incapable of delivering.
The people who deserve sympathy are those let down by the Conservatives.
While the Tories are busy bloodletting, there are people unable to get a GP appointment, schools having to beg cash from parents and the elderly unable to find a care home.
There are people sleeping rough on streets, those forced into debt because of the Universal Credit and those having to turn to foodbanks to eat this Christmas.
They deserve better than an impotent Prime Minister and a Conservative Party which puts its self-interest ahead of that of the country.