No 10’s ‘no confidence’ trick

THE European Research Group’s attempt to unseat Theresa May via a motion of no confidence ended in humiliation. But I understand Downing Street was contemplating a dramatic counterstroke in the event the 48 names necessary for the contest had been reached.

‘The whole point of the no-confidence system is it’s conducted in secret,’ a Downing Street insider explained to me, ‘but the ERG were encouraging members to put their letters on the internet to boast about how many names they had. So all we would have needed to do was remove the whip from them, they would no longer have technically been Tory MPs, and their letters would have become invalid.’

One senior Brexit rebel claimed they were alive to No 10’s plans, and had prepared their own response. ‘We’d have gone to court and argued the letters were valid because they were put in by MPs who held the Tory whip at the time they were submitted. And we’re pretty sure we’d have won.’ If Theresa May loses next week’s vote, she really could end up in the dock.