Davis quits to plunge May’s future into doubt
THERESA MAY’S Government was in crisis last night after David Davis dramatically resigned as Brexit Secretary.
Mr Davis shocked the Prime Minister by telling her he could not support the Brexit plan agreed at Chequers on Friday, prompting speculation a wave of Cabinet resignations could follow.
Mr Davis had been on the brink of resigning more than once in recent weeks, but soldiered on because he did not want to risk bringing the Prime Minister down.
Other ministers in his department, including Steve Baker and Suella Braverman are said to have agreed a “you go, we go” pact with Mr Davis, suggesting Mrs May could find herself having to replace the entire Brexit department if she can cling on to power.
Friends of Mr Davis said that his decision was “sad but principled” and that he had decided he had to take a stand “in the national interest”.
One source said: “This is a principled and honest decision. He has argued against the policy and therefore cannot support it.”
Up to half a dozen backbench Tory MPS are said to be preparing to submit letters to the Party expressing a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister after she signed the Cabinet up to a “soft” Brexit plan, which could be enough to force a confidence vote in Mrs May.
The Prime Minister is due to address all Conservative MPS at a meeting tonight where she will plead for their backing for her Brexit deal.
She was expected to face a rough ride from Brexiteers as Jacob Reesmogg, the leader of a 60-strong group of Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, announces in today’s Telegraph that he
will vote against the Chequers Brexit plan.
But Mr Davis’s resignation could be a game-changer in deciding Mrs May’s future.
Mr Rees-mogg, who leads a 60-strong group of Tory Brexiteers, says that “if the proposals are as they currently appear, I will vote against them and others may well do the same”.
Mr Rees-mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group of backbench Tory Eurosceptics, says the Chequers deal is “the ultimate statement of managing decline”. He adds: “It focuses on avoiding risk, not on the world of opportunity outside the EU. Pragmatism has come to mean defeatism.”
His warning comes as Mrs May today prepares to address the parliamentary party to plead for support by saying they must set aside “once and for all” their differences over Europe.
But as many as six Tories who are dismayed by the “soft” Brexit she has proposed are reported to be preparing to submit letters to the party expressing a lack of faith in the Prime Minister. This could take the total past the 48 letters needed to trigger an automatic no-confidence vote.
The Chequers agreement has also proved unpopular with readers of The Daily Telegraph, whose letters in to- day’s newspaper will make uncomfortable reading for the Prime Minister.
Having persuaded her Cabinet to back her Brexit vision, Mrs May must win the support of her party, Parliament and Brussels, starting with tonight’s meeting of all 316 Tory MPS.
THERESA MAY’S husband is so excited about meeting Melania Trump that he has bought a new suit especially for the occasion, she has revealed.
Ahead of Donald Trump and his wife’s arrival in Britain on Thursday, the Prime Minister has revealed that Philip, her husband of 38 years, is “looking forward to meeting” the first lady and has been shopping in preparation for visit. Discussing Mr Trump’s first presidential trip to the UK, Mrs May said that her husband had been disappointed to have missed her at a recent summit but would now have the opportunity to make acquaintances when they meet on Friday.
“He’s looking forward to meeting Melania,” she told The Sunday Times, adding: “They were both at the G20 but because of timetables and so forth he wasn’t able to meet her there. He has been out and bought a new suit.”
It comes as Britain and European leaders brace for a tense meeting of Nato leaders in Brussels tomorrow, where Mr Trump is expected to threaten to pull out of the alliance unless other members commit to significant increases in defence spending.
Meanwhile, Gen Lord Robertson, the former Nato secretary, is urging Mrs May to remind people of Nato’s “historical purpose” and to tackle the “complacency, apathy and lazy criticism” that is becoming increasingly prevalent in some quarters.
He said: “It is vital that it continues to constitute a credible deterrent.”