Ministers urge Theresa: You have to deliver us Brexit now

SENIOR ministers yesterday urged Theresa May to get on with delivering Brexit after she shelved vital legislation again in the face of continued opposition in Parliament.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Commons leader Andrea Leadsom voiced frustration at the Government’s failure to find a way to break the Brexit deadlock.

Downing Street had hoped to bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill next week in the hope of getting a version of Mrs May’s deal through Parliament in time to cancel the European Parliament elections on May 23.

But it was missing from yesterday’s list of legislation to be considered by Parliament next week. And Tory whips have privately told ministers the idea has been put on hold for at least a week while the Prime Minister tries to secure enough backing for it to pass.

Whitehall sources said the slow pace meant there was now almost no chance of avoiding the European elections, when the Tories are expected to take a pounding from Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party.

Mrs Leadsom told MPs she was ‘personally upset’ at the failure to deliver Brexit, urging Mrs May: ‘It is vital that we bring in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, to give the House the opportunity to make progress on delivering on the will of the people.’

Mr Hunt told a lunch for Westminster journalists: ‘It’s very straightforward. We have to leave, we have to leave quickly and we have to leave cleanly.’

But after talks with Labour stalled, Whitehall sources were gloomy about the prospects for an early breakthrough. Mrs May has even tried phoning Labour MPs in Leave-supporting seats to see if they might back her – only to be told they will not.

One ally of the PM said: ‘There is an understanding that there is a desperate need to... show we are delivering Brexit. But there is no point bringing in legislation if it is just going to be shot down at the first hurdle.’

Downing Street insisted it was still possible for the legislation to be brought in next week. But privately, officials are now targeting a breakthrough before June 30 – the day before the new European Parliament is due to sit for the first time.

Failure to deliver Brexit on time sparked fresh calls from Tory activists for her to go. Eurosceptic MP Peter Bone told MPs: ‘The UK would have left the EU either on March 29 or on April 12 except for the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister alone, going to Brussels and asking for an extension.’ The powerful 1922 Committee of Tory MPs this week called for Mrs May to set out a timetable for her departure.

But she ducked the issue yesterday while out campaigning for next week’s local elections, telling ITV News: ‘Of course I listen to the party. What many in the party say to me, which is what I hear from people on the doorstep, is they want us to focus on us delivering Brexit.’

The Brexit Party is planning to take on the Tories and Labour in the next General Election, Nigel Farage said yesterday. In an interview with The Sun, the leader said: ‘MPs will realise that if they carry on trying to stop Brexit, they’ll lose their seats. That’ll give them two choices – either they change and start to deliver Brexit, or we’ll replace them.’

‘We have to leave – and quickly’