BOLES QUITS AFTER HIS ‘ SOFT’ DEAL DIES
Emotional scenes as Tory tells MPs he can’t stay in party because of its ‘refusal to compromise’
A TORY MP sensationally quit the party after last night’s votes, blaming its hard line on Brexit.
His voice cracking with emotion, Nick Boles said he could no longer remain a Conservative because of the party’s refusal to give any ground.
The MP spoke after his motion calling for a soft Brexit was voted down in the Commons.
He had put forward a motion for a ‘Norway-Plus’ scheme – which would see Britain staying in the customs union and the single market – but it was defeated by 21 votes. He will now sit in Parliament as an ‘ Independent Progressive Conservative’.
The MP for Grantham and Stamford had already quit his local party branch after it threatened to deselect him over his proRemain stance.
Another Tory MP, former minister Alistair Burt, also hinted he was considering quitting the party after last night’s vote. Mr Boles’s motion failed, with 282 MPs voting against and 261 in favour.
After the result was announced, Mr Boles said his scheme – also called ‘Common Market 2.0’ – would have gone through had the Conservatives felt able to give some ground.
‘I have given everything to an attempt to find a compromise that can take this country out of the European Union while maintaining our economic strength and political cohesion,’ he said.
‘I accept I have failed. I have failed chiefly because my party refuses to compromise. I regret therefore to announce that I can no longer sit for this party.’
Another Tory MP, Huw Merriman, was heard to say: ‘Oh Nick, come on, don’t go, stay.’
MPs on Labour and SNP benches broke out in a round of applause, though clapping is forbidden in the Commons.
Anna Soubry, the former Conservative MP who now sits with the Independent Group, praised Mr Boles as a ‘fine champion for his community’. She added: ‘ He’s been right to do what he tried to achieve.’
Mr Burt, who resigned as a minister last week to help force the indicative votes on future Brexit policy, hinted he may also leave the party.
Asked if he would follow Mr Boles, he told Sky News: ‘I don’t know. These are extraordinary times.
‘In a way the fabric of our democracy is being tested to its absolute limits. We have the most difficult situation to try to resolve.’ He then clarified his position and added: ‘ I don’t believe moving in another direction is the right thing for me, I hope it is not the right thing for many Conservatives, but Nick’s frustration does reflect the concern that we do have to find an answer.
‘ If we can’t find an answer then we are going to be tested almost to destruction.’
Mr Boles later tweeted: ‘I am resigning the Conservative whip with immediate effect.
‘The Conservative Party has shown itself to be incapable of compromise so I will sit as an Independent Progressive Conservative.’
Pro-Remain Tory MP Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, said he was not tempted to join Mr Boles.
He said: ‘ I am very respectful of Nick and I am sorry he has decided to resign the whip and I am not sure I can comment further on that because I haven’t had a chance of speaking to him yet this evening about his reasons.’
‘I have given everything’