Tories prepare for a snap election as PM heads for fourth vote

Downing Street’s options narrow as Europhile MPS step up pressure for soft Brexit or customs union

CONSERVATIVE Party headquarters is engaged in “sensible and pragmatic” preparations for a snap election, the party’s deputy chairman has said, as Labour considers tabling a second vote of no confidence.

While the Prime Minister grapples with back-bench MPS attempting to replace her deal with a softer form of Brexit, James Cleverly yesterday admitted that contingency planning was under way in the event she is forced to go to the country early.

Mr Cleverly said that although the party was “not planning for a general election”, he acknowledged the challenges faced by Theresa May’s minority administration at a “turbulent time”.

There is growing speculation she could call an election rather than accept a customs union or soft alternative imposed upon her by Europhile MPS.

The prospect of a general election is believed to have divided opinion among Downing Street aides, with several said to be in favour should Mrs May try – and fail – to ratify her deal for a fourth time this week.

A Number 10 source last night dismissed the suggestion, claiming “the idea we should trigger a general election to get out of a political spot is for the birds”.

However, a source close to a senior Cabinet minister told The Daily Telegraph: “It does look like they might go for a general [election].”

They added that a snap election could allow Mrs May to cling on to power: “I can see the logic. It would be crazy to put somebody in who hasn’t been tested. If you are going into an election with a new leader with the Opposition with a five-point lead, then it looks like you’re almost guaranteeing a loss.”

Asked if planning was now under way, Mr Cleverly told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge: “I’ll be completely straight with you. We have got a minority government in a turbulent time. So just in terms of sensible pragmatic planning, but we are not seeking or preparing in that sort of sense that I think you mean, for a general election.”

Meanwhile, Labour insiders have revealed that Jeremy Corbyn is weighing up the possibility of a fresh no-confidence motion should MPS reject Mrs May’s deal for a fourth time.

One told this newspaper that the party was now “fully prepared for a general election” and that “anything could happen in the next 48 hours”.

“We’re ready for a general election. Candidates have been selected,” they continued, adding that Labour had been holding “regular discussions” with opposition parties for “all eventualities”.

Their comments were echoed by Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, who told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show that Mr Corbyn had put Labour on an “election footing” and conversations on the reselection of MPS were now under way.

While Mrs May survived an initial no-confidence motion by 325 votes to 306 in January, there are growing fears that hardline Brexiteers could now be prepared to back a second attempt in order to bring about her downfall.

However, talk of an election has triggered a wave of panic among ministers and moderate backbenchers, with several predicting electoral catastrophe at the polls.

They include Alistair Burt, who quit as foreign minister last week in order to vote on alternatives to Mrs May’s Brexit deal. He warned yesterday that an election would not “be helpful to the country”.

Asked if Mrs May should lead the party into one, he added: “No … the Prime Minister has already said that she is expecting to leave after we get the first stage of Brexit going through.” His comments were echoed by Sir John Major, the former prime minister, who said his advice to Mrs May would be “don’t – for a whole range of reasons”.

“I think a General Election is pretty much the very last thing that we need,” he told Andrew Marr.

He said: “The Prime Minister is blocked in on every side. I utterly can empathise with her frustration. But I think a General Election will solve nothing. We face enough difficulties.”