TORIES FACE A BREXSPLIT
Senior figure in threat to quit party
THERESA May is facing chaos as a senior backbencher threatens to quit the party over Brexit.
Ex-Business Minister Anna Soubry said Britain is “staggering recklessly” to a hard break with Brussels and the Prime Minister must soften the stance.
Remainer Ms Soubry said: “Could I ever see myself joining like-minded people who want to save our country from such an appalling fate? And has that moment arrived yet? The answer to the first question is ‘it is not impossible’; the answer to the second is ‘no’.”
Last week, Tory aide James Chapman called for pro-European MPs in all parties to unite and stop Brexit.
Ms Soubry added: “I would be betraying my principles if I did not make it clear that country must always come before party.”
Bitter Cabinet rows mean there has been little progress in talks with the EU while Mrs May has been on holiday.
This week, the Government will set out its position on thorny issues like customs and the Irish border.
And yesterday, in a bid to show unity, Chancellor Philip Hammond and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox published a joint article agreeing on the need for a “time-limited” transition period after we leave the bloc in 2019.
However, behind the scenes, Mr Hammond and Mr Fox – who are seen respectively as among the most pro and anti-EU Cabinet ministers – have been squabbling for months.
#Unlike the independence referendum in Scotland, 16 and 17-year-olds were denied a say in the EU vote.
Many have now reached voting age, so now that we see the falsehoods of the Leave campaign coming to light and the shambles of the Brexit talks, there is a growing call for a second referendum.
I hope the Labour Party will join these calls and give those youngsters, and the country, a second opportunity to vote on their future. Ken Moreton, Dracott, Derbys
#What a load of rubbish talked by Tory aide James Chapman, who says leaving the EU will be a catastrophe (Mirror, Aug 10).
What about what the 17 millionplus people of this country who wanted Brexit believe?
This is not about US broadcasters pulling out of London or what London wants, but what the majority of people in the UK want. As usual, it’s becoming all about London and not the rest. D A Cudworth, Llanelli Carmarthenshire
#This Government is not fit to negotiate leaving the EU since none of them appear to have the skills. We must vote again as people who chose to leave believed the lies of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage. Not all pensioners voted Out – many thought of their children and grandchildren whom Brexit will affect most of all. My heart sank when I heard the result – I could have cried for their future. We need another vote and one not built on lies. P Davies, Stockton-on-Tees
#EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker has shown yet again why I voted to leave the EU.
I don’t care about free movement of people and the rest but I hate the contempt that the EU politicians hold for the “little people”.
The EU’s system is worse than our own corrupt parliamentary system. Nick Eve, Shefford, Beds
#A recent poll told us the over-65s predominantly voted for Brexit and that they are willing for there to be a “significant economic cost”.
Let that economic cost be a cut in public service pensions, a tax on private pensions and the removal of the triple lock on the state pension.
The money raised by these measures can then fund the Brexit divorce bill. Let those who voted for Brexit be the ones who pay for it. Peter Herridge, Bristol
#Many claim the older generation have let their children down by backing Brexit. We fought at great loss in the Second World War to be free and not to be told what we can and can’t do by other countries. My children and grandchildren also voted Out. M George, Biggleswade, Beds
#In reply to Ashley J Smith’s letter saying the soldiers who fought at Passchendaele did so for our freedom and independence (Madeuthink, August 7), we must remember Britain did not enter the war for our freedom. We entered it to protect a little country, Belgium, which was overrun by a big bully nation, Germany. In those days we stuck together to help each other. How times have changed. D Smith, Barnsley South Yorks