Now furious Brexiteers plot to force vote of no confidence
Tory Eurosceptics were last night plotting to force a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.
A source inside the European research Group said it was a case of ‘when, not if’ members would be encouraged to submit the necessary letters to party chiefs.
Some senior figures are pushing for a vote within days. others want to wait until next month, believing their best chance of ousting her will come if she loses a Commons vote on her withdrawal agreement with the EU.
Some Tory sources claimed the 48 letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence could be achieved as early as today, potentially triggering a contest tomorrow. The 80-strong ErG has been pushing May to adopt a much tougher stance on Brexit.
A handful of members, including Andrew Bridgen and Andrea Jenkyns, have submitted no confidence letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, which polices the Tory leadership rules. Until now, senior ErG figures, including chairman Jacob reesMogg, have urged restraint, even encouraging members to withdraw letters to prevent a contest.
But Mr rees-Mogg suggested he was now considering withdrawing his support after the PM’s agreement with Brussels, describing it as a ‘faillonger. ure’. Last night, Mr rees-Mogg released a letter he was sending to all Conservative MPs urging them to reject the draft plan. He gave four reasons: it would involve handing the EU £39billion with ‘little or nothing in return’; that it would treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK; that it would lock the UK into an EU customs union and EU laws; and it would contradict the 2017 Conservative manifesto.
Mr rees-Mogg, who has called for a change of policy, not leader, had told BBC’s Newsnight: ‘There comes a point at which the policy and the individual become so intimately connected that it would be very hard to carry on supporting the person who is promoting this policy.’ Asked if he would submit a no confidence letter, he said: ‘Not in the next 24 hours.’
Conor Burns, an ErG member and former aide to Boris Johnson, said: ‘We don’t want to change the PM, we want to change the policy of the PM. However, there comes a point where if the PM is insistent that she will not change the policy, then the only way to change the policy is to change the personnel.’
A senior ErG source said: ‘We have been holding people back from sending in letters, but not for much Unless the Cabinet blocks this deal, it is a question of when, not if there is a move against her. There is no point carrying this Prime Minister any more. She f***** up the election and she has sold out the country on Brexit.’ No10 tried to get Sir Graham onside yesterday by allowing him early sight of the Brexit deal.
Mrs May’s former deputy Damian Green warned that Brexiteers risked ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of their victory’ in the referendum.
He added: ‘Any negotiation requires compromise. If people start saying, I have not got 100 per cent of what I want, therefore I am going to pull the temple down, then we are not going to get anywhere.’
Tory Eurosceptic Peter Bone yesterday warned Mrs May that she was putting her own position in peril by pursuing an agreement that is anathema to many of her MPs. At Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: ‘If the media reports about the EU agreement are in any way accurate, you will not be delivering the Brexit people voted for and today you will lose the support of many Conservative MPs and millions of voters.’ She replied: ‘What we have been negotiating is a deal that does deliver on the vote of the British people.’
Under Tory leadership rules, a vote of no confidence is called if 48 MPs submit letters of no confidence in the PM to Sir Graham. The vote would be decided by a simple majority. If Mrs May lost, she would be forced to quit, sparking a leadership contest. But if she won, opponents would be unable to challenge her for another 12 months – a fact that is causing them to weigh up the best moment to launch a bid against her.
‘It would be hard to carry on the support’