Remainer Tories face a stark choice

It’s astonishing to think that senior Tories who sat in the Cabinet roughly six weeks ago are now prepared to turn on the Prime Minister, walk away from their party and vote to stop a no-deal Brexit. But that’s what we’re likely to see happen this week. Tomorrow, when the Commons reconvenes, Remainer MPS, including several Conservatives, will try to take control of the order paper and vote to block a no-deal Brexit. This is madness: it’s why swathes of the public are now sick of this particular Parliament and its seemingly endless attempts to delay and therefore thwart Brexit.

MPS voted to trigger Article 50, true, but since then they have voted against every possible withdrawal deal, including Theresa May’s underwhelming agreement, which amounted to Brexit-in-name-only.

For an orderly Brexit to happen, Mr Johnson has now only one choice left, which is to reopen negotiations with the EU and seriously rewrite Mrs May’s agreement. MPS, especially within his own party, really should support him. But Mr Johnson can only get a proper new deal if he has the ability to walk away from the negotiating table – and Remainers want to seize control of House business tomorrow precisely to remove that option, effectively undermining talks with the EU. Why? Because their one, overriding goal all along has been to prevent Brexit itself.

Remainers who once served in Mrs May’s Cabinet would argue that, in fact, they tried to get Brexit completed by backing her deal. But the only Brexit they were willing to accept was one that kept us trapped in the EU’S orbit potentially forever, and now that Britain finally has a PM properly committed to leaving, they have openly joined the Remainer alliance.

If they succeed in the Commons then it’s possible that Mr Johnson will feel he has no choice left but to force a general election. In which case, what happens to the Remainer Tories? It will be an election they have precipitated by opposing their own Government’s policy – and the whip, presumably, will be removed from them. Thus we stand on the brink of a remarkable realignment in British politics that could see some MPS divorced from the party they have served in for years.

But be in no doubt: it is a choice of their own making, and all because they couldn’t accept the result of the referendum and its full implications for Britain.