Now May faces No Deal revolt
FOUR Cabinet ministers threaten rebellion ... and even Hammond won’t rule out joining quitters
THERESA May has been warned she faces a Cabinet revolt and an exodus of MPs if she tries to take Britain out of the EU without a deal.
Four Cabinet ministers were yesterday said to have confronted the Prime Minister and warned they are prepared to vote for a motion that would effectively prevent a No Deal departure.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday refused to rule out resigning over the issue, describing No Deal as an ‘extremely bad’ outcome he was working ‘all day, every day’ to prevent. And two former Tory ministers – Justine Greening and Dominic Grieve – issued public threats to quit the party altogether if Mrs May pursues a No Deal Brexit.
The Prime Minister is under pressure to get a withdrawal agreement passed in the Commons by next Wednesday or, if there is no pros- pect of an agreement being voted through, face a vote where MPs could force her to seek a delay to Brexit.
Last night it was claimed as many as 25 junior ministers could be ready to vote for an extension beyond the departure date of March 29, in what would be the most serious revolt of Mrs May’s premiership.
However, it was not clear whether those who did revolt would resign their Government posts, or if the PM would sack them.
On top of that, the leaders of the Brexit Delivery Group, which includes around 50 Tory MPs, last night wrote to the Chief Whip Julian Smith to warn that several of its members planned to back the rebel amendment that would delay Brexit.
The motion to block No Deal by seeking a Brexit delay is likely to be proposed by Tory MPs Nick Boles and Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour’s Yvette Cooper.
The four Cabinet ministers warning Mrs May against No Deal are said to be Justice Secretary David Gauke, Business Secretary Greg Clark, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd and Scottish Secretary David Mundell.
Mr Mundell did not deny this yesterday, saying: ‘I don’t comment on private conversations I’ve had with the Prime Minister, but what I’ve said to her repeatedly and what I’ve said to Cabinet is that a No Deal Brexit is a very bad outcome for Scotland and the UK and we must do everything we can to avoid that.’ Miss Greening and Mr Grieve yesterday both issued threats that they could quit the party altogether in the event of the Prime Minister taking the country toward No Deal.
Asked if she could follow the three Tory defectors, Miss Greening, a former education secretary, told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It is something that I have considered, but I have reached a different conclusion for the moment.
‘I don’t think I would be able to stay part of a party that was simply a Brexit party that had crashed us out of the European Union.’ Her warning came after former attorney general Mr Grieve said: ‘I would certainly cease to take the whip if I thought the Government was about to take us into a No Deal Brexit. I am absolutely clear about that.
‘I regard that as so disastrous for the country, I would have to use all opportunities I have to stop it.’
On Sunday, Mrs May will fly to Egypt for last-minute talks with EU leaders on the sidelines of a summit with Arab nations, which will include a bid to secure changes on the controversial Northern Ireland backstop.
Sarah Wollaston, one of the three Tory defectors, yesterday claimed up to a third of the Cabinet could walk out if Mrs May steers the country towards a No Deal.
‘I know that there are many colleagues on my side who will be watching carefully and expecting Theresa May to be certain that she is not going to take us out on a No Deal Brexit,’ Dr Wollaston told the BBC.
‘Certainly I think that a third of the Cabinet, I’m pretty clear, would walk if they were looking at a No Deal Brexit.’
Rail commuters into London could see services disrupted by freight trains in the event of No Deal causing logjams at the Channel Tunnel, it was reported last night. David Brown, of Go-Ahead, which runs some of the biggest rail and bus networks, said there was a risk some passenger services would have to give way to goods. He also said there could be a shortage of bus drivers, as the number of applications from Europe had dried up since the referendum in 2016.
‘Don’t think I would be able to stay part of the party’