Rees-Mogg puts May in firing line

A PAEDOPHILE police officer has been found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

Ian Naude, 30, who was working for Cheshire Police at the time of the assault in October 2017, was found guilty of rape and sexual assault, as well as four charges of attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence and one charge of arranging a child sex offence, relating to five complainants aged between 12 and 15 at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday. Naude, of Market Drayton, Shropshire, will be sentenced on December 13. diesel by up to 3p per litre. The measure was implemented by Asda yesterday, will be by Morrisons today and Sainsbury’s tomorrow.

It is Asda’s third petrol price reduction in less than three weeks. LEADING Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has submitted a letter of no confidence in Theresa May, as the Prime Minister reels from the loss of four ministers – including two from her Cabinet – in protest at her Brexit plans.

Mr Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tories, said he expected the threshold of 48 MPs’ letters to be passed, triggering a vote on Mrs May’s future. But he denied mounting a coup and said he was not putting himself forward as her successor.

Mrs May held a press conference last night to quell any rumours of her resignation.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey sensationally walked out of the Government the morning after Cabinet agreed a draft EU withdrawal agreement in a stormy fivehour meeting.

Two more junior ministers – Suella Braverman at the Brexit Department and Shailesh Vara at Northern Ireland – also quit along with two parliamentary aides.

In a letter to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, Mr Rees-Mogg said Mrs May’s deal ‘has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the Prime Minister, either on her own account or on behalf of us all in the Conservative Party manifesto.’

His move is expected to be matched by other members of the ERG, hugely increasing the chances of Mrs May facing a vote of no confidence in her leadership. It is not known how many letters Sir Graham has received so far. Mrs May’s deal came under a hail of criticism in the House of Commons, where only a handful of Tories spoke in favour of an agreement thrashed out in 19 months of intensive negotiations.

There was laughter from opposition benches when the PM said her deal would allow the UK to leave the EU ‘in a smooth and orderly way’ on March 29.

Mrs May insisted the deal was in the national interest and offered a future relationship with ‘a breadth and depth of cooperation beyond anything the EU has agreed with any other country.’

In a swipe at her Brexit-backing critics, she said the EU would never accept any agreement which did not involve a ‘backstop’ arrangement to ensure the Irish border remains open.

Mrs May said it would be ‘entirely irresponsible’ for the Government to have simply torn up the backstop.

‘The Brexit talks are about acting in the national interest and that means making what I believe are the right choices, not the easy choices,’ she said.

‘We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all, or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated.’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on her to ‘withdraw this half-baked deal.’

But chief whip Julian Smith later told reporters Mrs May would not be budged.