‘Tory Party could split over Brexit divisions’

A FORMER minister fears for the future of the Conservative Party after divisions caused by Brexit.

Tory MP Dominic Grieve said there is a risk the party will split and “cannot continue in its current form”, despite colleagues being able to agree on non-Brexit issues.

Mr Grieve, who is pro-Europe and has rebelled against the Government over Brexit in the Commons, played down the idea of Tory members establishing a new party but expressed concern over the future.

Elsewhere, Brexit minister Kwasi Kwarteng predicted a couple of Tory MPs might leave but rejected talk of a split.

Asked how difficult it will be for the Conservatives to get back together after the negotiations, Mr Grieve told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “It is difficult to say.

“There is a risk the party will split and cannot continue in its current form.

“But there’s also an irony behind this that if you get Brexiteer and Remainer Conservative MPs together in a room and you can avoid Brexit you’ll immediately realise that they agree on a very large number of things.

“I don’t see members of the Conservative Party going off and setting up some new party.”

Pressed on his view of a potential split, Mr Grieve said: “It’s very difficult to say.

“But I can see that this is of such a fundamental character this issue that it may be the end of the Conservative Party in its current form, and that bothers me very much because one of the products of Brexit has been total paralysis on virtually every other area of policy.

“Meanwhile out there there are lots of things that need to be tackled, which I as a Conservative would like to see tackled, and actually can co-operate with friends and colleagues who are Leavers if we were able to find the time and space to do it.

“Brexit is absorbing all our energy and slowly sort of paralysing us, and it applies to Labour as well.”

Mr Grieve said he believes former foreign secretary Boris Johnson would be a “disastrous leader” for the Conservatives, adding he would find it “very difficult in those circumstances to take the Conservative whip”.

Mr Grieve added: “That’s perhaps got less to do with issues around Brexit than, I’m afraid, my own assessment of his competence.”

Pressed about former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey’s leadership ambitions, Mr Grieve said: “There all sorts of people who may wish to throw their hat into the ring.”