Tories tell PM: You resign and we’ll clinch agreement
SENIOR Tory MPs went public last night to urge Theresa May to pledge to fall on her sword as a way of getting her Brexit deal through the Commons.
They urged the Prime Minister to promise to resign if the agreement passes and allow a new Tory leader to conduct the next phase of the negotiations.
Former Cabinet minister John Whittingdale said he would ‘gain confidence’ from a new leader negotiating the future trading relationship with the EU.
Similar interventions were made by the former trade minister Greg Hands and George Freeman, Mrs May’s former policy chief, but Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd backed Mrs May – and urged Conservative MPs to get behind her.
Miss Rudd said: ‘I think the Prime Minister is doing the right thing, thinking about the national interest, about this country and trying to end this chaos by getting this agreement through.’
The comments came as Boris Johnson appeared to leave open the door to backing the deal if the Prime Minister promises to leave.
In an article for The Daily Telegraph, he wrote: ‘If she really wants her deal to go through Parliament, the PM could still set out convincing proofs of how the next phase of the negotiations – when all the key questions are to be settled – will be different from the first.
‘How will we be able to take back control of our laws? Will we really do free-trade deals? And can we really go on with a negotiating team that has so resoundingly failed?’ The comments were seen as suggesting he might abandon his longstanding opposition to the deal if it meant she was prepared to go – a suggestion rejected by Mr Johnson’s aides.
Mr Whittingdale, who was Culture Secretary under David Cameron, told Sky News: ‘One of the things I dislike most is the political declaration, which is the way forward even if the Withdrawal Agreement gets through.
‘If we had the confidence of a
‘Put the national interest first’
new leader taking us into the next stage, someone committed to achieving a clean break and getting the benefits of Brexit, that would give me confidence.
‘I would be more inclined to support the Government if I had the confidence there was going to be a new leader taking us into those negotiations.’
Mr Hands said: ‘If the Prime Minister leaving gets the Withdrawal Agreement across the line, then I think she ought to put the national interest first and go.’
Mr Freeman said the Prime Minister had ‘reached the end of the road’. He added: ‘If she can get the deal through I think a grateful nation will thank her for doing the most impossible job. A lot of us in the Conservative Party are looking at the Cabinet with despair. What happened to collective responsibility?’
Mrs May is understood to be concerned about setting out a departure date unless it becomes clear that doing so will be enough to get her deal passed. A source said: ‘It’s a bit of chicken and egg. She does not want to come out and say, “OK, I will do it” and then it not go through. She needs to know the numbers are there.’
Downing Street had hoped to hold a third vote on her deal as early as today but this plan was abandoned when it became clear Mrs May did not have the support of the DUP.