15 MINISTERS IN THREAT TO QUIT
As Corbyn U-turns on 2nd referendum, May set to rule out ‘No Deal’ and delay Brexit after secret Tory meeting ends in mass walk-out warning
THERESA May is ready to rule out leaving the EU with No Deal on March 29 after an extraordinary mass revolt by ministers, the Daily Mail can reveal. A group of 23 dissidents met secretly at the Commons last night to discuss how to stop Britain exiting without an agreement next month, with as many as 15 said to be ready to resign.
In an article for the Mail today, three of the ministers involved say they are prepared to back a Commons move by rebel MPs tomorrow to force the Prime Minister to seek a Brexit delay if her deal is voted down.
Industry minister Richard harrington, digital minister Margot James and energy minister Claire Perry ‘implore’ Mrs May to say that if there is no deal agreed by Parliament by March 13 then she must seek a way to extend Article 50.
If she fails to do so they warn bluntly they ‘will have no choice other than to join MPs of all parties and fellow ministers in acting in the national interest to prevent a disaster in less than five weeks that we may regret for ever’.
And in a dramatic development last night, it appeared the Prime Minister was preparing to bow to their demands and rule out a No Deal Brexit.
It came as Jeremy Corbyn performed a U-turn and backed a second referendum – breaking Labour’s manifesto
pledge. Allies of the Prime Minister revealed that the Cabinet will discuss proposals this morning that could see the UK request a short extension of Article 50 of around two months if the PM’s deal is voted down by MPs again, for a second time, on March 12.
If ministers back the plan Mrs May could float the idea in a statement to Parliament as early as this afternoon.
The idea is a desperate bid to stave off the mass rebellion by ministers and avert a looming Commons defeat tomorrow over the motion put forward by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin that would empower Parliament to force a Brexit delay on the Government.
As many as 15 ministers could resign and vote for the motion unless Mrs May provides assurances on No Deal today, including anti-Brexit Cabinet ministers Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark – and the authors of today’s Mail article, Mr Harrington, Miss James and Cabinet minister Mrs Perry.
Other Tories believed to be on the brink of resigning to stop No Deal include Scottish Secretary David Mundell, defence minister Tobias Ellwood, Solicitor General Robert Buckland and disabilities minister Sarah Newton. All are thought to have attended yesterday’s Commons meeting.
Up to 25 Tory backbenchers are also threatening to back the revolt.
It means around 40 rebels could vote against the Government which, with Opposition support, is more than enough to defeat Mrs May.
The developments came on an extraordinary day when Mr Corbyn stunned Westminster by indicating he was ready to back a second referendum. In a string of other Brexit developments:
The Labour leader was accused of a ‘cowardly’ betrayal of Labour’s promises to honour the referendum result, with one Labour MP telling him: ‘In the Midlands and North of England this decision today will stop you from being Prime Minister.’
The Mail saw leaked Whitehall papers suggesting that attempts by rebel MPs to delay Brexit posed a ‘clear and present danger’ to the Government.
Business leaders declared a No Deal Brexit could trigger a ‘full-blown economic crisis’ and food shortages.
A leading medical journal warned a deal is desperately needed to avoid disastrous consequences for the NHS.
Consumer experts said families face chaos and long delays at European airports, particularly in Spain, if the country leaves the EU without an agreement.
Ex-deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine called for a second referendum, arguing that many older voters who chose Leave in the 2016 referendum were now dead.
At the weekend, Miss Rudd, Mr Clark and Mr Gauke made clear in the Mail that they opposed a No Deal departure and Brexit must be delayed unless there was a breakthrough on Mrs May’s deal this week.
Tomorrow’s vote would empower Parliament to force a Brexit delay on the Government if Mrs May has failed to get a deal passed by March 13. The Prime Minister remains unconvinced that a delay to Brexit will help the process, warning yesterday that an extension of Article 50 ‘doesn’t deliver a decision in Parliament and it doesn’t deliver a deal.’
Speaking at an EU summit in Egypt where she held emergency Brexit talks with fellow leaders, Mrs May said progress was being made and a deal to take the UK out on March 29 remained ‘within our grasp’. But she refused to explicitly rule out a Brexit delay.
One ally of the PM said: ‘ It’s either accept the possibility of a delay or face a potentially heavy defeat in Parliament and have it forced on you anyway. It isn’t taking No Deal off the table – you still have to get a deal to do that.’
Another senior Tory said: ‘If 20 ministers have to resign to force this through then they will, but it would have a catastrophic impact on the Government.’ One leading Remainer said: ‘I don’t want to resign but if I don’t get the assurances I need from the PM I will.
‘The Government is not ready to leave without a deal next month. There are enough of us who feel that way to get the Cooper amendment through and everyone knows that.’ When a similar amendment was put forward last month it was defeated with a majority of just 23, meaning only a dozen MPs need to change sides tomorrow for the latest motion to be passed.
A BREXIT deal is necessary to avoid disastrous consequences for the NHS, The Lancet has warned.
An editorial in the respected medical journal says Brexit in any form would negatively impact the NHS – but that No Deal must be avoided at all costs. Brexit will leave hospitals struggling to fill jobs and provide medicine, it adds.
It also said that ‘UK politics is peering over the precipice into an abyss of deep uncertainty’. In a separate ten-page paper, academics at the universities of Oxford, Sheffield, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – among others – set out the ramifications of the different Brexit scenarios. The authors, who are leading experts in public health and law, warn that little evidence exists that the UK is prepared for any of the eventualities set out in their analysis.
The NHS ten-year plan, published last month, mentioned Brexit only twice in 136 pages – but in neither instance offered any detail about what it might mean, or how any threats would be addressed.