Infamy, infamy.. they’ve all got it in for May
McDonnell They think it’s Julius Caesar.. it’s more comical
Senior Tories brazenly stepped up their bids for Theresa May’s job in the belief that her Premiership may be over within days.
Odds on the Prime Minister exiting Downing Street before the New Year have been slashed to just 2/1 as speculation mounted her European Union withdrawal bill is doomed.
Influential Tories have demanded that May walks in the event of any defeat.
There has even been speculation that she’ll try to postpone Tuesday’s Commons vote to avoid the inevitable humiliation. And as May tried to keep calm and carry on, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnel l seemed to suggest the situation was more like the 70s Car r y On- s t yle comedies about the Romans.
He said: “Some have said watching the Tories at the moment is a bit like Julius Caesar but it is really more like Up Pompeii, it is just bizarre.”
And he told the Sunday Mail he believes Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd’s backing for a plan B “Norway- plus” soft Brexit was a “disguised” punt for the top job.
Meanwhile, hard-line Brexiteers Boris Johnston, Dominic Raab and Jacob Rees-Mogg are understood to be deciding between themselves who will be the candidate from their faction to run.
They would likely advocate a clean break with the EU via no deal – a move economists believe could see markets go into freefall and wipe billions from the economy – unless the EU agreed to impossible demands.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid are also understood to be laying the groundwork for campaigns. During a visit to Scotland yesterday, McDonnell said: “I listened to Amber Rudd and I thought it was a disguised leadership bid. “Swearing fealty to Theresa May at the same time as of fer ing an alternative seemed to be completely undermining the Prime Minister.” Raab was yesterday the bookies’ favourite to replace May on odds of 9/2 with Paddy Power, closely followed by Javid on 5/1, and then Michael Gove and Johnson on 6/1. Hu n t , R e e s - Mogg and Rudd followed in order behind. Par t y sources bel ieve Rudd and Gove could form a team in a st rong position to woo the centre of the party. They are said to be in talks over a strategy involving backing an initial Norway-style relationship with the EU that would see the UK remaining in the European Economic Area (EEA) and a customs union.
They want to see a gradual movement after that towards an arrangement closer to Canada, which has struck a free trade deal that doesn’t involve direct membership of the single market or customs union.
The main threat to their play for the centre ground would likely come from Javid, who has called supporting a no deal Brexit “deluded”.
On the right of the party, that would leave Johnston, Rabb, Rees-Mogg and Hunt the main hard Brexit candidates.
Raab appears to be emerging as the front runner from this group with Johnson and Rees-Mogg increasingly viewed as out- of - touch toffs who simply wouldn’t be taken seriously by the public in a general election. But
I listened to Amber Rudd and I thought it was a disguised leadership bid
while Johnson and Rees- Mogg would be l ikely come to an agreement to allow Rabb through as the most probable winner, the hugely ambitious Hunt may refuse to step back in a move that could split the hard Brexit vote.
A party source said: “There is no question now that Theresa May is going to lose the vote on Tuesday and that is going to put her leadership under intense pressure.
“If her compromise plan isn’t going to be accepted, then it is looking increasingly likely that we are facing either a hard, no- deal Brexit or a much softer Brexit where we accept free movement and large parts of EU law in order to retain all the benefits of the single market and customs union.
“I think you have the main leadership hopefuls separating out into those two camps in the belief that is going to be the battle ground for Number 10. Whether that battle happens this side of New Year or next year is anyone’s guess. “May is not the personality type to just throw in the towel.
“If she goes, then it seems most likely it will be because she is pushed rather than that she jumps.
“Labour seem to be less keen than they were a couple of days ago to move for a no-confidence vote.
“They know there is a good chance May would win and that could push soft Brexiteers in their own party towards backing a revised deal with the chances of a general election even more remote.
“But the threat from the Tories’ own 1922 Committee is still there.
“Should enough letters be submitted, the Conservatives themselves will send the Prime Minister packing.
“The question is whether a heavy loss in the vote will be viewed as a signi f icant enough event to convince more Conservative MPs that May needs to go. One known truth is that unless Parliament takes specific action to stop it, on March 29 the UK will exit the EU and if no deal is agreed, it will leave without one.
“Ironically, that may be the very thing that keeps May in her job because there are a significant number of MPs who want nothing more than to see that happen.”
The Bank of England have warned the pound would crash, inflation soar, interest rates would have to rise and Britain’s growth would plummet in the event of a no-deal disorderly Brexit.
As the Tories prepare for the potentially catastrophic Commons vote on Tuesday, the SNP demanded Scotland’s voice be heard.
An overwhelming 62 per cent of Scots voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, which was lost overall by a narrow 51 per cent versus 49 per cent majority. Stephen Gethins MP, the SNP’s spokesperson on international affairs and Europe, said: “The penny has finally dropped, even among May’s Cabinet.
“The UK Government face a humiliating defeat over the PM’s bad deal Brexit on Tuesday.
“That’s why, at the 11th hour, they’re scrambling to f ind an alternative. And not before time.
“On Monday, we expect the decision of the European Court of Justice to establish as certainty that Brexit can be stopped altogether.
“So our first priority will be in seeking to keep Scotland within t he EU in l ine wit h our overwhelming vote to Remain.
“Failing that, and as we have argued for well over two years now, the least worst option would be to stay within Europe’s single market which is eight times the size of the UK alone. The UK Government have refused to engage over that option.”