Pro-EU rebel Tories hatch plot to dilute May’s hard Brexit
TORIES who voted to stay in the European Union are planning to dilute Brexit by inflicting a series of damaging parliamentary defeats on their own Government.
The Sunday Telegraph has been told by influential Tory MPs that they plan to work with Labour backbenchers to force the Government to make changes over Brexit.
They will try to stop Theresa May proposing “no deal is better than a bad deal” as a viable option and make the Government prioritise protecting business over controlling EU migration.
“We don’t want the immigration tail wagging the Brexit dog,” said one MP.
The MPs also want to force ministers to pursue “transition” periods for phasing in Brexit changes that would last up to seven years – twice the length currently being sought.
The disclosure is the clearest evidence yet that pro-EU Tory MPs are prepared to use their increased influence in Parliament after the general election to water down Brexit.
“The numbers are there.... There is so much legislation that will have to go through, they will have to keep everyone solid,” said a former Tory minister.
The source added that Mrs May was no longer “master of her own ship” when it came to Brexit and would have to listen to others beyond the party’s Eurosceptics.
The Prime Minister is more exposed to critics in her own party after her early election not just failed to increase the Tories’ majority but saw it wiped out all together. Cabinet ministers, including Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, have already used the result to push for a softer Brexit.
Leading figures among the Tory proEU rebels said the plan was to use Opposition Day debates and backbench motions proposed by Labour to trigger votes on crucial Brexit topics.
This would force Tory whips to either demand MPs oppose the motions – something not normally done for backbench debates – or face damaging defeats.
The rebels say it is a copycat strategy to one they pursued over the last year as they attempted to hold the Government to account on Brexit. Mrs May only agreed to publish a detailed White Paper on her Brexit plan and give assurances on the status of EU citizens after pressure from her backbenchers.
Informal lines of communication are understood to have been opened up with a new soft Brexit group of Labour politicians that launched this week.
Fifty Labour MPs, MEPs and peers signed a promise to fight “unambiguously for membership of the single market” – in an apparent contradiction of the party’s election manifesto.
Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP for Streatham, who is often seen as a future leadership contender for the party’s moderate wing, and prominent MPs Stella Creasy and Chris Bryant are among the signatories.
Tory MPs said they would let the group propose the backbench debates and then row in behind the demands when they were forced to a vote.
The number of Tory rebels willing to act is unclear, though leading figures say up to 30 backbenchers are prepared to vote to soften Brexit.
Some are working with similarly minded Government ministers. “There are a lot of conversations with ministers,” said one Tory backbencher.
“You have to rely on people in the Cabinet knowing there is good support for the stance they have taken.”
They all believe Mrs May’s authority to face down her critics has been diminished after the election flop and intend to exploit it over the coming months.