Now furious Brexiteers plot to force vote of no confidence
Tory Eurosceptics were last night plotting to force a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.
A source inside the European research Group said it was now a case of ‘when, not if’ members would be encouraged to submit the necessary letters to party chiefs.
Some senior figures are pushing for a vote within days. others want to wait until next month, believing their best chance of ousting her will come if she loses a Commons vote on her withdrawal agreement with the EU.
Some Tory sources claimed the 48 letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence could be achieved as early as today, potentially forcing a contest tomorrow.
The 80-strong ErG has been pushing the Prime Minister to adopt a much tougher stance on Brexit.
A handful of members, including Andrew Bridgen and Andrea Jenkyns, are known to have submitted no confidence letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, which polices the Tory leader-
‘It deserves a fair hearing’
ship rules. Until now, senior ErG figures, including chairman Jacob rees-Mogg, have urged restraint, even encouraging members to withdraw letters in order to prevent a contest.
But Mr rees-Mogg suggested he was now considering withdrawing his support in the wake of the PM’s agreement with Brussels, which he described as a ‘failure’.
Last night Mr rees-Mogg released a letter he was sending to all Conservative MPs urging them to reject the draft plan.
He gave four reasons: it would involve handing the EU £39billion with ‘little or nothing in return’; that it would treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK; it would lock the UK into an EU customs union and EU laws; and it would contradict the 2017 Conservative manifesto.
Mr rees-Mogg, who has called for a change of policy, not leader, had told BBC’s Newsnight: ‘There comes a point at which the policy and the individual become so intimately connected that it would be very hard to carry on supporting the person who is promoting this policy.’
Asked whether he would submit a letter of no confidence, he said: ‘Not in the next 24 hours.’
Conor Burns, an ErG member and former aide to Boris Johnson, said: ‘We don’t want to change the PM, we want to change the policy of the PM.
‘However there comes a point where if the PM is insistent that she will not change the policy, then the only way to change the policy is to change the personnel.’
A senior ErG source said: ‘We have been holding people back from sending in letters, but not for much longer. Unless the Cabinet blocks this deal it is a question of when, not if there is a move against her.
‘There is no point carrying this Prime Minister any more. She f ***** up the election and she has sold out the country on Brexit.’
Downing Street tried to get Sir Graham onside yesterday by allowing him early sight of the Brexit deal – a privilege extended to members of the Cabinet only.
Mrs May’s former deputy Damian Green warned that Brexiteers risked ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of their victory’ in the referendum.
He added: ‘Any negotiation requires compromise. If people start saying, I have not got 100 per cent of what I want, therefore I am going to pull the temple down, then we are not going to get anywhere.’
Pro-remain MP Bob Neill accused Eurosceptics of jumping the gun, saying: ‘Pontificating about the draft deal Theresa May has secured before they have even read the text does not do justice to the seriousness of the issues at stake. Any proposals deserve a fair hearing.’
Tory Eurosceptic Peter Bone yesterday warned Mrs May that she was putting her own position in peril by pursuing an agreement that is anathema to many of her own MPs.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, he said: ‘If the media reports about the EU agreement are in any way accurate you will not be delivering the Brexit people voted for and today you will lose the support of many Conservative MPs and millions of voters.’
Mrs May responded: ‘What we have been negotiating is a deal that does deliver on the vote of the British people’.
The PM said she had negotiated an agreement that ‘takes back control of our money, law and borders; and that ensures that we leave the common fisheries policy, we leave the customs union and we leave the common agricultural policy, but we protect jobs, we protect security and we protect the integrity of the United Kingdom’.
Under Tory leadership rules, a vote of no confidence is called if 48 MPs submit letters of no confidence in the PM to Sir Graham.
The vote would be decided by a simple majority. If Mrs May lost she would be forced to quit, sparking an immediate leadership contest.
But if she won, opponents would be unable to challenge her for another 12 months – a fact that is causing them to weigh up the best moment to launch a bid against her.
MEANWHILE, zealous Brexiteers and Labour opportunists are not the only MPs threatening to scupper the deal.
The Scottish Tories are worried about its implications for the pivotal fishing industry, while the Democratic Unionists voice fears that it may loosen the ties between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.
Both have legitimate concerns that deserve proper scrutiny and, however complicated, amicable solutions.
Scotland’s 13 Tory MPs must, however, be wary of precipitating a General election that could hand office to a hard-Left Labour government, open to the idea of another disastrous independence vote and viscerally opposed to everything they stand for.
As for the DUP, are its ten MPs seriously prepared to risk propelling Mr Corbyn and John McDonnell – avowed IRA sympathisers – into Downing Street?
If they don’t trust Mrs May to uphold their interests, despite her unwavering support for the Union, they should wait until those two firm believers in a united Ireland get their hands on the levers of power. Only then will they learn the true meaning of a sell-out. AS a passionate campaigner against ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines, the Mail welcomes the decision to reverse a planned six-month delay in cutting the maximum stake from £100 to £2. A vital part of the art of government is knowing when to listen and back down. There is no shame in a U-turn if, like this one, it will spare human misery and save lives.