May faces MPs’ anger over delay
THERESA May has returned to face the fury of Tory MPs after EU leaders agreed to delay Brexit to give her a final chance to get her deal through Parliament.
Following late-night talks in Brussels, the Prime Minister said the plan would enable the UK to leave in an “orderly manner” in little over eight weeks’ time.
But amid signs her authority is crumbling, there were open calls for her to quit as MPs voiced their anger that Brexit will not go ahead on March 29 as planned.
One backbencher warned next week would be a “defining moment” for her premiership and urged her to consider her position.
It followed reports that the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, visited her in No 10 on Monday to inform her of the discontent after being “bombarded” with texts calling for her to quit.
Meanwhile, pro-EU MPs have launched a fresh attempt to take control of the Commons business in a bid to secure a “softer” Norway-style Brexit.
Under the plan set out at the EU summit, leaders agreed to extend Brexit to May 22 if Mrs May can finally get MPs to back her deal in a third Commons “meaningful” vote.
However, if she fails the UK will have to set out an alternative way forward by April 12, which could mean a much longer delay – with the UK required to hold elections to the European Parliament – or leaving without a deal at all.
Following defeats by 230 votes in January and 149 votes last week, both pro-EU MPs and Brexiteers warned that she was heading for another heavy reverse.
Nigel Evans, the pro-Brexit executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, said she had made a “big error” in agreeing to a delay, adding pointedly, she needed to consider what would be her legacy if she failed to deliver Brexit. “It has become a bit of a farce,” he said. “When she leaves Downing Street – and a lot of people think it is not going to be long now before she does – what sort of legacy is she going to leave behind?”
Backbencher Steve Double said the Prime Minister was “isolated” and that there were “many people” in the party at Westminster who now wanted her to go.
“I think it is quite clear that she is not leading her party. She is isolated, sadly, from a majority of the parliamentary party now,” he said.
“We need to find a way forward and I think that requires new leadership.”
Meanwhile, a cross-party group of MPs, including Tory former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve, and the Labour MP Hilary Benn, have tabled another amendment to enable MPs to take control of the Commons order paper.
If MPs back the move in a vote on Monday, it would pave the way for the Commons to hold a series of “indicative votes” on the various alternatives to Mrs May’s plan on Wednesday.