Major backs anti-Brexit Tory rebels

FORMER prime minister Sir John Major has endorsed three anti-Brexit ex-Tory MPs running as independents against the party he once led.

In a major intervention designed to damage Boris Johnson, Sir John – a Remainer – backed former ministers David Gauke, Dominic Grieve and Anne Milton, who were kicked out of the Conservative Party after rebelling over Brexit.

Billed alongside Tony Blair at a rally calling for a second referendum yesterday, he described Brexit as the ‘worst foreign policy decision of my lifetime’.

The event, organised by the ‘Vote for a Final Say’ group, was seen as the final push by Remain backers to stop Mr Johnson ahead of next week’s election. But the Prime Minister hit back, dismissing Sir John’s views as ‘outdated’, ‘sad’ and ‘wrong’. Speaking about the rebels in a video message, Sir John said: ‘ Let me make one thing absolutely clear: none of them has left the Conservative Party, the Conservative Party has left them.

‘Without such talent on its benches, Parliament will be the poorer, which is why – if I were resident in any one of their constituencies – they would have my vote.’

In his message given at the Mermaid Theatre in London, Sir John said leaving the EU will affect ‘nearly every single aspect of our lives for many decades’.

He added: ‘ Don’t wake up on Friday December 13 and regret not making a choice.’

Mr Blair told the rally he would vote Labour but suggested the public should vote tactically. ‘If you look, constituency by constituency, you will know the best candidates to back. Back them,’ he said.