PM FACES ‘SHOW TRIAL’ BY TORY MPS
And one senior plotter shockingly tells her ‘bring your own noose’
THERESA MAY will this week face a last-ditch fight to save her leadership as rebel Tory MPs demand she attend a high-stakes ‘show trial’.
The Prime Minister has been urged to confront disgruntled backbenchers at a crisis meeting – but was given the chilling warning that she should ‘bring her own noose’ to the show- down as rivals step up their campaigns to succeed her in No 10.
Rank-and-file MPs last night told Mrs May that she was in the ‘last chance saloon’ and called on her to face them at their 1922 Committee meeting on Wednesday.
And they threatened that if she didn’t put in an ‘uncharacteristically powerful, persuasive and coherent’ performance, she could face a vote of no confidence within days.
Critics on all sides of her party have demanded that Mrs May should justify her flailing Brexit strategy – and say that, if she tries to dodge the meeting, letters undermining her
position ‘would go in even faster’. It is thought that the chairman of the 1922 Committee is close to receiving the 48 letters from MPs needed to trigger a no-confidence vote.
Party sources claim that more than 100 Tory MPs, including some members of the Cabinet, would fail to back Mrs May in that subsequent ballot – short of the 159 required to automatically trigger a leadership contest, but enough, they argue, to deal a fatal blow.
Former Brexit Secretary David Davis today cements his status as the early frontrunner to succeed Mrs May by publishing in The Mail on Sunday what will be seen as his manifesto for No 10.
His rallying cry over Brexit includes a thinly veiled threat to ban European airliners from British airspace in the case of a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU.
Amid an i ncreasingly febrile atmosphere at Westminster:
No 10 aides were this weekend ringing Cabinet Ministers in a fresh attempt to ‘sell’ the idea of a longer post-Brexit transition period;
Allies of Mr Davis said that discussions had started with his main rival, Boris Johnson, about whether to go head-to-head in a contest or negotiate a joint ticket
Members of the 1922 Committee privately discussed shortening any l eadership contest from three months to just four weeks to limit the impact on Brexit negotiations;
Mrs May’s former deputy, Damian Green, said he was ‘filled with foreboding’ about the Tory plots;
Brexiteers accused Speaker John Bercow of ‘plotting to foil Brexit’ during tennis matches with Labour MP Chris Leslie, an arch-Remainer;
Up to 700,000 protesters calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal marched in London, as civil servants started to ‘war game’ a second referendum;
Ordinary citizens were warned to start making their own preparations for a no-deal Brexit.
Mrs May caused dismay across her party last week by proposing to extend the Brexit transition period by a year, with even archRemainers condemning the plan.
Critics claimed the ‘betrayal’ has triggered a fresh wave of Tory MPs sending no-confidence letters to 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady.
Downing Street held conference calls with Cabinet Ministers yesterday, making what one source described as ‘ another attempt to explain why we should sign up to an extended transition’.
The source said: ‘ It is another Olly Robbins idea [the Prime Minister’s civil service Brexit adviser] which doesn’t fly. People are not happy. It raises more questions than it answers.’
Even some May loyalists are now desperately worried that a leadership contest will be triggered. Opponents believe that, if she flops at the 1922 Committee ‘show trial’, or fails to turn up, her fate will be sealed.
One senior Brexiteer said: ‘She should bring her own noose to the ’22. Short of an uncharacteristically powerful, persuasive and coherent performance, then I think her time will be up.’
Last night, D owning Street refused to confirm whether or not Mrs May would appear at the crunch meeting, saying that she would have ‘plenty of chances to answer questions in the Commons next week’.
Another Tory MP, a former Cabinet Minister, likened Mrs May to a ‘lame cockroach’ who ‘keeps going’ in an ‘irradiated’ environment.
Meanwhile, in his MoS article, Mr Davis says that Brexit is being treated as a problem when it is really a ‘golden opportunity’.
Pro-Brexit Cabinet Ministers, led by Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, pulled back from resigning
‘How bad does it get before we act?’
after meeting at a so-called ‘pizza summit’ last week, but continue to harbour concerns that the Government is being boxed into a ‘soft’ deal by Mr Robbins.
Last night, Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns, who believes that Mrs May should stand aside, said: ‘This is a moment for action, the right time to select a brave leader. How bad does it get before we act?
‘Betraying Leave voters will have catastrophic consequences for our party and democracy, handing power to Jeremy Corbyn. Voters will not forgive us’. And fellow May critic Andrew Bridgen said: ‘This week Theresa May will find that she is drinking in the last chance saloon and the bad news for her is that the bar is already dry.
‘If she doesn’t turn up to the ’22 that will only make the letters go in even faster’.
Separately, Tory Brexiteers accused Commons Speaker John Bercow – who has admitted voting Remain in the referendum – of secretly plotting with anti-Brexit MPs to thwart the process.
The Speaker will potentially play a key role in the crucial Commons debate on whether to accept a final Brexit deal, with critics fearing he will allow Remain MPs to vote to force Mrs May back to the negotiating table – or even postpone Brexit all together.
Tory MPs have accused keen tennis player Mr Bercow of plotting the moves during matches with f ormer Labour Minister Chris Leslie.
Mr Leslie was unavailable for comment last night but friends denied he had been conspiring with the Speaker.
Mr Bercow also denied any plot with Mr Leslie.
A spokesman said: ‘The Speaker has an open door to MPs from all parties and all sides of the Brexit divide. He remains scrupulously fair and even-handed in all Commons debates.’