The battle is over & the right-wing anti-EU awkward squad has won...
»»Rebel MPs quit over May’s reign »»Brexit, welfare cuts behind move »»PM is target of blistering attack
BY BEN GLAZE Deputy Political Editor THE three Tory MPs who quit last night launched a scathing attack on Theresa May’s leadership as their defection plunged the party into crisis.
Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston accused the weak PM of caving in to hard-right Brexiteers, breaking her vow to protect society’s most vulnerable and inflicting misery on millions with cruel, ideological welfare cuts.
Allen even vowed to “destroy” the Tory Party after she joined the centrist Independent Group, launched on Monday by seven MPs who quit Labour. Up to 20 others from different parties were rumoured to be ready to join.
As May braced herself for a further exodus of MPs, former business minister Soubry said: “The truth is the battle is over and the other side has won.
“The right-wing, the hardline, anti-EU, awkward squad that have destroyed every leader for the last 40 years are now running the Conservative Party from top to toe. They are the Conservative Party. Brexit now defines and shapes the Conservative Party.”
Soubry urged other Remainer Tories to join the group to block a no-deal Brexit in next week’s vote. She said: “It will give them the courage to do what, frankly, some of them should have done a long time ago and be true to what they believe, and if they need to leave government and vote against the party line on Brexit, they have got to do it.”
Rebel backbencher Allen, who dubbed the trio the “three amigos”, blasted May over the welfare cuts that have plunged millions into poverty.
Asked if she would ever return to the party, she replied: “I can’t imagine it, not least because, if we do our jobs right, there won’t be a Tory Party to go back to.”
Commons Health Committee chair Dr Wollaston added: “I am afraid the Prime Minister simply hasn’t delivered on the pledge she made on the steps of Downing Street to tackle the burning injustices in our society. I think that what we now see is the party marching us to the cliff edge of a no-deal Brexit.
“We do expect people to really stand up for what they know is right for this country and not to allow no-deal to go ahead.”
The three rebel Tories, all demanding a second EU referendum, were supported by the seven Labour MPs who formed the Independent Group, led by Chuka Umunna, as they ripped into May and the right.
Joan Ryan, who quit Jeremy Corbyn’s party on Tuesday, was also by their side.
Other Tories who could join the group include former Education Secretary Justine Greening and ex-minister Nick Boles. He said: “I agree with so much of what my good friends say.”
The defecting MPs revealed neither May nor Government whips had tried to stop any of them leaving, despite knowing for weeks they were plotting to go.
The PM said she was “saddened” by their departures.