Cabinet Brexiteers to deliver ultimatum
‘Gang of five’ will tell May their continued support depends on her going back to Brussels to renegotiate backstop terms
MICHAEL GOVE and four other Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers will try to force Theresa May into a last-minute change to the Brexit deal as the price for withdrawing their threats to resign.
The “Gang of Five” believes it is not too late for Mrs May to go back to Brussels and demand a unilateral exit mechanism from the so-called “backstop” arrangement over Northern Ireland.
The Environment Secretary, who stepped back from the brink of resignation yesterday, will meet Andrea Leadsom, Chris Grayling, Penny Mordaunt and Liam Fox over the next two days to agree the terms of their ultimatum.
Mr Gove, Ms Leadsom, Ms Mordaunt and Mr Grayling had all made it clear on Thursday that they were contemplating following Dominic Raab and Esther Mcvey out of the Cabinet in protest over the proposed deal, which could have sealed Mrs May’s fate.
Instead, they handed Mrs May a lifeline by agreeing to stay, but the Prime Minister has been left in no doubt that resignations will follow within a fortnight if their demands are not met.
The five ministers, who have all attended Ms Leadsom’s “pizza nights” to thrash out strategy, could also help Mrs May avoid a vote of no confidence from her MPS, as they are in a position to influence Leave supporters who might be contemplating calling for one.
After their meeting, which could come as soon as tomorrow evening, the five plan to confer with other members of the “pizza club” including Sajid Javid, Geoffrey Cox, Jeremy Hunt and Liz Truss, in an attempt to strengthen their bargaining hand.
A plan by Brexiteer Tory MPS to force a vote of no confidence lost momentum yesterday as the number of letters submitted to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, failed to reach the 48 needed to trigger a ballot. As of last night, 23 MPS had publicly declared “no confidence” in Mrs May, leaving the plotters 25 short, but Downing Street is braced for more letters on Monday after MPS were expected to use the weekend to gauge the mood in their constituencies.
Mrs May tried to seize back the initiative yesterday by appointing Amber Rudd, the former home secretary, as Ms Mcvey’s replacement as Work and Pensions Secretary, and promoting Stephen Barclay, the junior health minister, to Brexit Secretary.
Ms Rudd, a key ally of Mrs May, was deployed within moments of her appointment to appeal for calm in the party. She told the BBC: “This is not a time for changing our leader. This is a time for pulling together, for making sure we remember who we are here to serve, who we are here to help – the whole of the country.”
Mr Gove also said he had “absolute” confidence in the Prime Minister, while Dr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, said it was “in the national interest” to back her. Other ministers, including David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, joined in a campaign to shore up Mrs May’s authority, as he praised her resilience in carrying out an “absolutely back-breaking job”.
It emerged that Mr Barclay was her third choice for the job of Brexit Secretary, after it was turned down by Mr Gove and Mr Cox. Mr Barclay has been told he is only in charge of “domestic planning” for Brexit.
A source close to Michael Gove told The Daily Telegraph last night: “[Mr Gove] has decided to remain in Government to see if he can influence things from the inside. He thinks the deal can be fixed to make it sellable.”
Last night Mrs May said there was no chance of her opponents negotiating a “Canada plus” trade deal if they ousted her. “People say ‘If you could only just do something slightly different, have a Norway model or a Canada model, this backstop issue would go away’. It would not,” she told the Daily Mail.