The PM must play hardball with Brussels
the negotiations. He needs to show some positivity,” one senior Tory MP said. Yet for all the anger at the Chancellor among Brexit enthusiasts at Westminster, many are reluctant to back Tory grandee Lord Lawson’s call for his sacking.
“Bringing in somebody else would just create uncertainty at this time and that’s the last thing we need. But he does need to shape up and get behind Brexit,” the senior MP added.
ON TOP of the divisions in her Cabinet, Tory plotters wanting to replace Mrs May are refusing to give up despite their recent attempt to gather support for a leadership challenge fizzling out. “This won’t go away. It may go quiet for a few weeks but calls for her to hand over to someone else will come back sooner rather than later,” said one backbench plotter.
The dangers for the Prime Ministers will intensify over the next two months with what is bound to be a difficult budget in November and another EU summit deadline shortly before Christmas. By then, she will face intense pressure from Tory Brexiteers to walk out of the Brussels talks if the EU remains intransigent. At the same time, she knows she will have no chance of the Commons backing a “no deal” outcome. It means her survival in office could well depend on her securing that agreement.
Allies say Mrs May is convinced she can get the deal she desires with Brussels but so did her illfated predecessor David Cameron. Being forced to wait around in Brussels next week may just be the start of her troubles.