Plot to purge the Remainers

A LEADING Tory MP was under fire last night after his constituency chairman called for Conservatives who oppose a ‘hard Brexit’ to be banned from standing in the Election.

Right-wing MP Steve Baker was urged to distance himself from the incendiary comments made by Garry Heath, who runs the party in his Wycombe constituency.

Mr Heath urged Tory chiefs to ‘seize this chance to purge our Party and deselect the Remainers’ and dismissed Tory MPs who opposed a ‘hard Brexit’ as ‘CINOs: Conservative In Name Only.’

The jibe is based on the attack on US Republicans opposed to Donald Trump, who were dubbed RINOs – Republican In Name Only.

In his controversial article, Mr Heath said: ‘The RINOs created the public frustration that brought Donald Trump to the White House. It got me thinking: do we have our own British equivalent: CINOs – Conservatives In Name Only and are they combining with others to deliver BINO – Brexit In Name Only?’

Mr Heath urged fellow local Tory chairmen to interrogate their candidates to make sure they could deliver ‘a new brave postBrexit’ message. If they couldn’t, he said they should be ‘left on the pavement’ and replaced with hardliners – like Mr Baker, he appeared to suggest.

His comments prompted an angry response from one Tory MP who declined to be named: ‘This is the kind of irresponsible statement that will drive voters towards other parties. Mr Baker should disown it. The idea that a witch-hunt of any MP who has criticised Brexit is going to make us more popular is insane. Remember it was Mrs May who said the Conservatives must not be seen as the nasty party.’

Leading ‘Remain’ MP Anna Soubry has been reselected as the Tories’ Broxtowe candidate.