Rees-Mogg rebels
100 Brexiteers to sink EU deal as Tory HQ hits out at members
JACOB REES-MOGG has warned Theresa May that Brexiteer MPs have “not gone soft over Christmas” and will vote down her Withdrawal Agreement.
His comments come as the Prime Minister is facing a grassroots revolt over her proposed deal with the EU.
With MPs returning to Westminster tomorrow, Mrs May is facing a double challenge to her authority – despite surviving a leadership vote of confidence – amid allegations that the party is run by a “Remainer mafia”.
The Sunday Express has learned that Tory activists are going on strike and refusing to campaign or raise cash.
Meanwhile, a legal fund is being set up to protect constituency associations from being suspended by Conservative Central Office if they try to deselect Remainer MPs.
Mr Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group, has made it clear that the expected rebellion by more than 100 Tory MPs will go ahead against the agreement, with DUP MPs also opposing it. It means Mrs May is on track to lose the meaningful vote in the week of January 14.
He also warned that the party should not threaten its members and urged them to speak out against the agreement.
The North East Somerset MP made it clear that he and other Brexiteers will not be pushed into voting for it.
He said: “During the recess I read reports that I could be open to supporting the agreement and that I was even ‘a work in progress’. It was at this time that it was reported that MPs, when outside the Westminster bubble, could be persuaded to back the deal.
“This never seemed likely and in my own case was wishful thinking – the backstop on its own is an intolerable failure of the negotiations.”
Former Brexit minister David Jones, another leading opponent of Mrs May’s deal, also warned that there would be no retreat by Brexiteers.
He said: “It has been clear that the EU is unwilling to offer anything new of significance. So there has been no softening among opponents of the deal. We will not back it.”
Senior Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said that as things stand the agreement would put the Conservatives in an impossible position.
He said: “We have the most Leftwing leader of the Labour Party [Jeremy Corbyn] in our lifetimes and the challenge for Conservatives will be to defend free trade.
“To defend free trade we need to be able to make deals but we won’t be able to do that if we back this agreement.”
However, Downing Street last night remained defiant that the agreement is the best way to leave the EU and, if it fails, Britain may even end up staying in the EU.
A spokeswoman said: “In the event the meaningful vote is defeated we will be in uncharted territory. There are many ways in which Parliament can impose its will, such as amending legislation and motions calling for a second referendum. The only way to guarantee we leave in March with a good deal is to vote for the deal.”
But senior grassroots figures have warned that members are rebelling against the party’s Brexit line.
The legal fund to protect associations follows allegations that Conservative Central Office suspended Portsmouth South association because the pro-Brexit group had not wanted to reselect MP Flick Drummond.
She was a former Remainer who described Ukip voters as “racists”. Former Portsmouth South chairman Leonardo Ciccarone said: “The problems began because we did not want a former MP, who lost the seat after she described Leave supporters as racists, to stand again in a Leave constituency.
“I am from Italy and people talk about the Italian mafia but Conservative Campaign HQ is the worst mafia I have ever experienced. It’s a Remainer mafia in a Leave party.
“This was a pro-Brexit association and we were put into special measures by a collection of Remain supporters.”
Councillor Robert Perry, chairman of Hornchurch and Upminster Association, east London, has already claimed that he received a threat to have the association suspended after he had publicly criticised Mrs May’s deal.
Mr Perry said members are disillusioned: “They have expressed their anger at the PM’s failure to deliver the Brexit the country voted for and a number have resigned in protest.
“I am concerned that the number of active campaigners will dwindle as a result of this Brexit policy.”
There have also been claims that pressure was put on South Cambridgeshire and Broxtowe associations to not deselect Remainer rebels Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry.
And it was also claimed that Central Office intervened to block former Ukip member Peter Harris becoming chairman of Dagenham and Rainham Association, which he had helped revive in a Tory target seat.
A Conservative spokesman last night described all the allegations as “completely untrue” and said that the Portsmouth South case was “unrelated to Brexit.” WHAT terrors will arise on the morning of March 30 if the UK does not accept the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement and nothing else is on offer?
The term “crashing out” is designed to make the flesh creep, in the hope of bullying people into accepting a bad deal – one that is expensive and ineffective, as the backstop could leave us shackled to the EU for a generation.
The Government hoped that as those fears fructified so MPs who opposed the proposal would soften under the influence of local party members. Fortunately, Conservative Association members are made of sterner stuff. The party in the country at large is not especially ideological and is usually loyal to its leader. This sense of duty makes them sympathetic to Theresa May but not slavish to her agreement.
Indeed, a recent survey of
‘Most members think fears are exaggerated’’
members shows that 57 per cent prefer no deal to 23 per cent for the Withdrawal Agreement and 15 per cent who still want to Remain. This is in spite of all the dire warnings.
Most members must either think that these fears are exaggerated or are a price worth paying.
It also shows a fundamental belief in democracy, after voters decided to leave and not subject themselves to a half-way house that would leave us a vassal state.
This strength of feeling ought to be responded to by the leadership, not stamped upon. Reports that Conservative Central Office has threatened some associations with special measures and is trying to stop Brexiteers becoming candidates are troubling, for it is improper for the party to try to impose ideological uniformity.
Tories believe in individual responsibility and effort – not central planning and control.
We are fortunate to have the membership we have.
MPs are elected because of their efforts and countless councils are run by such noble spirits. They accept the democratic norms but, in return, deserve to be listened to.
Even the thought they are being pressured to change their minds would be counter-productive. They are pillars of their communities who cannot be pushed around.
Fifty-seven per cent have shown that they have titanium-plated backbones.