Tory MPs: May must go – and tell us when

THERESA May must set out a ‘roadmap’ for her departure after the European elections later this month, a senior Tory demanded last night.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said Mrs May had to go – regardless of whether she can negotiate a Brexit deal.

Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 chairman, will meet Mrs May today to discuss her exit plan. It has been suggested that he will demand a timetable for her departure.

Sir Geoffrey yesterday told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are now having to face the prospect of European elections which none of us wanted to face. They are going to happen.

‘And I would have thought that fairly soon after that would be time for her to think about setting a schedule to find her successor. That is regardless of whether there is a deal on offer or not. We should move on as Conservatives.’

His remarks came as Sir John Redwood warned Mrs May that her current Brexit strategy will cost her her job. The veteran Tory said she would be ultimately ousted as Prime Minister if she kept presenting her withdrawal agreement to MPs ‘with new threats attached’ to try to get it through.

Mrs May has said she will step down if her withdrawal agreement is ratified. But with the deadline for Brexit extended to the end of October, she has not made clear how long she intends to stay if No Deal is reached.

Reports that Mrs May is poised to propose a temporary customs arrangement with the EU as part of the talks with Labour was also criticised by Sir Geoffrey.

He said: ‘It is unlikely that I will vote for a deal containing a customs union.’

Mrs May’s opponents have threatened that if she fails to name the date she will go, they will revive their attempt to re-write party rules so they can remove her.

After the botched leadership challenge last December, Mrs May is immune to removal for 12 months.

A group of Tory MPs, led by 1922 secretary Nigel Evans, want to change the rules so they can trigger another confidence vote in Mrs May.

Mr Evans told Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics: ‘The conversation will continue if we’ve not been given a clear lead by the Prime Minister through Sir Graham as to the timetable for her departure.’