... and is the ‘pizza club’ going a little stale too?

THE ‘pizza club’ of Brexiteer ministers have abandoned plans to issue a fresh ultimatum to Theresa May this week.

The group of five – Andrea Leadsom, Liam Fox, Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt and Chris Grayling – were due to meet for breakfast yesterday.

They planned to draw up a list of demands to put to the Prime Minister before she agrees a final deal with Brussels, with sources suggesting some or all could resign unless Mrs May agreed to secure a unilateral exit from the controversial Irish ‘backstop’, which could keep the UK locked in a temporary customs union indefinitely.

But the meeting was postponed amid splits over tactics. Mrs Leadsom was said to be keen to maintain the pressure on Mrs May ahead of her expected trip to Brussels to sign off a deal next Sunday.

However, sources close to Mr Gove said he was now more interested in drawing up contingency plans for a revised Brexit deal as he believes MPs will vote down Mrs May’s proposals next month. Miss Mordaunt also indicated she was cooling on the idea of joining a radical Brexit splinter group, telling reporters: ‘I’ll be working with the whole of the Cabinet to get the best deal possible for the UK.’

And Dr Fox publicly backed the PM, saying she ‘deserves no less than our support to make her case to the EU and bring it back to Parliament for approval’.