May’s new crisis over ex-Minister’s threat to join Brexit mutiny
THERESA MAY faced a new t hreat l ast ni ght af t er it emerged that former Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell is threatening to join the Tory Brexit mutiny.
Mr Mitchell has told friends he believes the Prime Minister’s decision to set a fixed date for Britain’s exit from the European Union on March 29, 2019, is ‘ ill- judged and counter-productive’.
He was poised to join the Conservative rebellion in the Commons last week until the Government partially backed down over on the status of EU human rights in Britain post-Brexit.
Fifteen Tory MPs – including ex-Chancellor Kenneth Clarke and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve – are set to attempt to block the fixed exit date proposal in a crunch vote next month. Defeat would be a crushing blow to Mrs May and revive talk of Tory MPs removing her from No 10.
Mr Mitchell’s threat to join the rebels comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed in July that he had declared the Prime Minister ‘dead in the water’ following the General Election i n June when the Conservatives lost their overall majority.
It was followed by reports that he was backing a plot led by former party chairman Grant Shapps to challenge Mrs May’s leadership.
The prospect of Mr Mitchell teaming up with the Tory dissidents is all the more alarming
‘Painful process of national mutilation’
for Mrs May due to his close ties with Brexit Secretary David Davis. Furthermore, as former Chief Whip, Mr Mitchell’s inside knowledge of parliamentary guerrilla tactics – and how the Government tries to keep its MPs in line – would be a vital asset to the dissidents.
He backed Remain in the EU referendum and, as David Cameron’s International Development Secretary, fiercely defended the controversial decision to spend 0.7 per cent of Britain’s GDP on overseas aid. He was forced to resign as Chief Whip in 2012 after calling a Downing Street policeman a ‘f****** pleb’ but has won respect by rebuilding his political career.
Brexit rebel leader Mr Grieve has said he will vote against the Government’s plan to set a fixed EU exit date regardless of ‘blood-curdling threats’ and‘ arm-twisting’ from Tory whips.
The rebels were furious at being called ‘mutineers’ by the Daily Telegraph for opposing key parts of the European Union Withdrawal Bill, which seeks to transpose EU statute into UK law after Brexit.
Mr Grieve said Brexit was an ‘ extraordinarily painful process of national self-mutilation’ and said he would not be ordered to vote against his conscience. He is backed by Mr Clarke and fellow Tory Remainers, Nicky Morgan, Bob Neill and Anna Soubry.
They vowed to oppose several issues – from the use of so-called ‘Henry VIII powers’ to securing a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal – unless Mrs May made concessions.
The Tory rebels say that the fixed EU exit proposal was a ‘ meaningless sop’ to Brexit hardliners and could make it harder for Britain to secure a good deal in talks with Brussels.
Mr Grieve called it ‘mad’ and said it had been made ‘without any collective decision-making within government’.
However, Ministers believe that despite the Tories’ precarious position in the Commons, they can win the vote with the help of a handful of pro-Brexit Labour MPs.
Mr Mitchell’s criticism of the Government comes amid growing optimism in No 10 that despite the Tory revolt, they are edging closer to a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations with Brussels.
One Tory Brexit rebel said: ‘Andrew is a formidable politician and his backing shows opposition to the fatuous idea of a fixed date for departing the EU, right down to the minute and second, is growing on our backbenches despite crude intimidation by the whips.’
‘Opposition growing despite intimidation’