This Government is not fit for purpose and we need a general election, claims Tory MP

THERESA MAY should call a general election in a matter of days because the Government is no longer “fit for purpose”, a senior Tory MP has said.

Charles Walker, the vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPS, said that the “country deserves more than this” and said that she will be forced to call an election.

He said: “We have ministers who operate with impunity, we have backbenchers at each other’s throats. This is mirrored on the opposition benches. The country deserves more than this.

“We cannot continue to behave like this as a Government. It is not fit for purpose. We are not doing what we need to do, which is govern the country properly and effectively. If we have to have an election then that is what we have to do.

“The Prime Minister could announce by the end of this week we need an election, the House would prorogue on Tuesday, the PM would fly to Brussels at the weekend and ask for an extension while we try to get some clarity.”

Cabinet ministers are also privately “war gaming” the prospect of another election. Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers yesterday pushed the Prime Minister to hold a third meaningful vote within days if she was defeated.

During Cabinet yesterday morning Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, suggested there should be a third meaningful vote tomorrow if the Prime Minister’s deal was voted down.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, said it would make more sense to have the vote tomorrow, after the votes on no deal and extending Article 50.

The Prime Minister did not rule out the prospect but told her Cabinet that she had wanted to focus on winning last night’s vote.

Mrs May yesterday made clear the stakes of her deal being defeated, warning MPS that it could divide the Conservative Party and put Brexit itself at risk.

‘We are not doing what we need to do, which is govern the country properly and effectively’