Deselection threat ‘forced Tory rebels to back down’
REBEL Tory MPs called off a threat to inflict a crushing Brexit defeat on Theresa May after they were warned they could be kicked out of the party, it was claimed last night.
In a series of bruising secret meetings, Chief Whip Julian Smith said there would be ‘severe consequences’ if they humiliated the Prime Minister.
According to one source, his comment was seen as a clear threat that the rebels, led by ex Ministers Dominic Grieve, Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry, could c be deselected as MPs.
In the event, the revolt was defused when the Government agreed to a compromise in last week’s Commons showdown over whether MPs have the power to prevent Mrs May quitting the EU with no deal if she fails to win good terms from Brussels.
It was decided Speaker John Bercow B would be able to force a ‘meaningful ‘ vote’ on the outcome of o the Brexit talks.
It meant Mrs May averted defeat, d though some of her own supporters s called it a ‘fudge’. It also a led to a split among Tory Remain R MPs: six of the 12 rebels including in Mr Grieve backed the Government G while six others including in Ms Soubry refused to back b off. Mrs May’s Commons EU Withdrawal W Bill victory by 16 votes came after heated talks between the Tories’ warring proand anti-Brexit factions in Mr Smith’s S Commons office.
The Brexit team consisted of anti-Brussels hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg, veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash and Right-wing MP Mark Francois.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal how they squared up to Brexit dissidents Mr Grieve, Ms Morgan and Stephen Hammond.
As the rebels warned a ‘hard Brexit’ would be a disaster, Mr Francois lashed out: ‘We’ve had as much of this as we can bear.
‘Don’t push us any further. You don’t have a monopoly of political principles.’
Mr Smith warned the rebels that defeat could bring down the Government: ‘We are in a very volatile situation.
‘It is difficult for the PM. There will be consequences if you go through with this.’
Mr Grieve accused Ministers of ‘picking a silly totemic spat’ by refusing to give MPs a ‘meaningful vote’ when the EU negotiations are over. He denied trying to destroy Mrs May: ‘I am not in the business of bringing down the Government. We want a sensible outcome.
‘I do not want to see Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street or the Conservative Party disintegrate.’
Mr Grieve was echoed by Ms Morgan who said Mr Smith’s attempt to buy off the rebels with a ‘neutral Commons motion’ at the end of the EU talks was ‘complete nonsense’. But Sir Bill Cash hit back: ‘This country is run by parliamentary government not government by Parliament. A sovereign Parliament transferred the decision on Brexit to the people: you Remainers can’t claim it back now.’
A Tory Remainer said: ‘The Brexiteers threatened Armageddon if the Government departed one iota from their ideological version of Brexit. The more I see of them, the more I think they’re mad. They are the ones threatening Mrs May, not the Remainers.’
A Conservative grandee said that despite the climbdown by Mr Grieve, Ms Morgan and other rebels, moves to ‘punish’ the dissidents were ‘inevitable’.
‘The Brexiteers’ grip is so strong that every Conservative who has decried Brexit can expect an attempt to purge them,’ said the MP. A source close to Mr Smith denied he had threatened rebel MPs with deselection. ‘He simply meant there would be consequences for all if the Government lost,’ said the source.
After the vote, anti-Brexit Tory MPs were accused of a ‘climbdown’ by pro-EU campaigners.
An anti-Brexit Conservative said: ‘We knew we would be accused of bottling out. But with the Government and the party inches from collapse, we had to act in the interest of the country. All the PM has done is bought more time: unless she shows more leadership there will be another seismic crisis further down the road.’
‘We are in a very volatile situation’