MP wants Chequers plan ditched but May to remain as PM

The prime minister should stay on, Tory MP Nick Boles has said, despite his demand for her to change tack on Brexit.

Mr Boles said he backed Theresa May, but said her Chequers plan was almost certain to fail and should be replaced with his own.

He said he felt Boris Johnson’s attacks on the PM, challenging her leadership over Chequers, had been “unfair and a bit derogatory”.

The MP said: “This is not the time to start monkeying around changing leader. This is the first time I have broken with my prime minister but she is wrong on this.

“She has not succeeded, let’s be clear, but we have a prime minister and I want her to deliver a better Brexit – the kind of Brexit I have set out in my plan.”

Mr Boles wants the UK to ditch the current transition period with the EU and instead park in the Norway model before moving to a free trade deal.

The transition period would be replaced by temporary membership of the European Free Trade Association and the European Economic Area.

“We can’t get to Nirvana in one step,” he said. “I’m suggesting we reject the current withdrawal plan in its entirety.”

He added his was “a much superior option” to the Chequers plan, which he said now had a “close to zero” chance of winning support from Parliament.