You’re wrong! PM slaps down ‘Three Amigos’ extremism claim
CLAIMS that the Conservative Party is in the grip of Brexiteers were dismissed by Theresa May yesterday as she responded to the three MPs who defected to join a new group with eight former Labour MPs.
In a robust defence of her leadership, the Prime Minister told Sarah Wollaston, Anna Soubry and Heidi Allen she ‘did not accept’ their view the party had shifted to the Right.
In a letter to the self- styled ‘ Three Amigos’, Mrs May said she was ‘saddened’ by their decision to leave.
But, pointedly failing to urge them to rejoin the Tories, she said the Government had to respect the result of the 2016 referendum and deliver the Brexit people voted for. The Prime Minister also refuted suggestions she had given up on her promises to deliver a fairer society.
She added: ‘I know you will not have come to your decision lightly, but I must say that I do not accept the picture you paint of our party.
‘Indeed, in each of the areas you highlight, our record in government shows that we are the moderate, open-hearted Conservative Party in the One Nation tradition you speak of.’
Mrs May acknowledged in her letter that the party’s approach to the EU had changed, but said they had to respect the result of the referendum.
She wrote: ‘In my time in government and politics I have seen the consequences of people in power not giving a voice to those without one, or ignoring people when they speak. I believe we must not make that mistake by failing to deliver on the result of the referendum.’
Mrs May also rejected their comparisons with the way the Labour Party had been taken over by the grassroots Momentum group.
She wrote: ‘I was sorry to read, and do not accept, the parallel you draw with the way Jeremy Corbyn and the hard Left have warped a once-proud Labour Party and allowed the poison of anti-Semitism to go unchecked.
‘I am determined that under my leadership the party will always offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve.’
As they quit to join the newlyformed Independent Group on Wednesday, the trio hit out at Mrs May, claiming in their joint resignation letter the party had been infiltrated by former Ukip members.
Ministers rallied round Mrs May yesterday. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it is ‘very sad when you lose respected colleagues’ but said the defections would not stop the Brexit deal getting passed.
Speaking on a trip to Slovenia, he said: ‘The three individuals who left didn’t vote for the Government when we had the Brady amendment (on the Irish backstop) and we were still able to secure a majority so I don’t think it will affect our ability to secure a majority for the deal that we seek to secure.’
Chancellor Philip Hammond offered a conciliatory view over the trio, telling Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I hope that, over time, they will feel able to rejoin the party and help to maintain it as that broad church that has been so successful over so many decades.’
Mrs May yesterday appeared to step up efforts to prevent further defections from the Tory ranks by meeting two prominent supporters of a second referendum.
Former education secretary Justine Greening, who yesterday threatened to quit the party if there was a No Deal Brexit, was called into No 10 for a meeting thought to have lasted 45 minutes.
Phillip Lee, who quit as a justice minister over Brexit and was named by Mrs Allen as a potential future defector, was also seen visiting Downing Street yesterday.
The Right to Vote group, which is led by Dr Lee, said he had ‘open’ talks over the campaign’s calls for a pause in the Brexit process and a possible second referendum.