May losing grip as party is rocked by resignations

TWO members of the Government are resigning and a Cabinet minister is mulling whether to quit over Brexit this weekend as Theresa May’s administration appears to be disintegrating ahead of the most important vote of a generation.

Government whips have given Conservative MPs until lunchtime today to set out how they will vote on Mrs May’s Brexit deal, in a desperate bid to judge the scale of a rebellion that threatens to bring down her Government.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph,

Will Quince MP, a member of the Defence Secretary’s ministerial team, announces he is quitting his government role, saying he wants to “implore the Prime Minister to go back to the European Union and find another way”.

A second Parliamentary Private Secretary, who The Sunday Telegraph has been asked not to name at this stage, has also told whips that they will quit tomorrow, while a number of senior party figures were “wrestling with decisions to resign”.

More resignations are possible from the Cabinet, with leading Brexiteer Penny Mordaunt said to be deciding over the next 48 hours whether to back the deal or quit in what one minister described as “the week of unknowns”.

In a clear indication that Britain could be on the verge of a re-alignment of politics along Remain/Leave lines, as many as 100 MPs – including 35 Tory MPs – are prepared to publish a motion calling for a vote on the terms of the UK’s exit immediately after Mrs May’s deal is voted down on Tuesday.

The amendment, tabled by Tory MPs Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen, will be attached to any attempt by Mrs May to bring back her deal for a second vote in the House of Commons.

Mrs May’s leadership rivals are preparing to move quickly if she resigns next week, with Boris Johnson described as “focused” by friends and Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt plotting to run on a joint ticket.

Mrs May spent yesterday in her Maidenhead constituency followed by what Downing Street described as a private event at Chequers today.

No10 sources said she would be staying in touch by phone with ministers and MPs. No early Cabinet meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Officially, Downing Street continued to insist yesterday that the meaningful vote on Britain’s exit from the EU would go ahead on Tuesday, with one official saying they were “100per cent” certain that the vote will be held as scheduled.

Pressure was mounting on the Prime Minister, who has been unkindly referred to as “Theresa the Freezer”, after she failed to tell Cabinet at a crunch meeting last Thursday what her plans were if, as expected, MPs vote down her deal. One Tory MP said Mrs May

had to rediscover the passion she showed after being snubbed by EU leaders at the Salzburg summit, saying: “She needs to get out her Maggie Thatcher handbag and start using it.”

But a final ruling from the European Court of Justice is expected tomorrow to say that Britain will be allowed to delay Brexit from March 29 without asking for permission from the other member states.

Andrew Mitchell, a former government chief whip, became the 108th Conservative MP to oppose the deal, writing in The Sunday Telegraph that Mrs May’s strategy of going ahead with the vote “appears to have as its inspiration the Charge of the Light Brigade”.

However, behind the scenes friends of both Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, and Ms Mordaunt are urging the Prime Minister to delay the vote to stave off a crushing defeat and the prospect of more resignations.

One said: “Gavin takes the view that we should pull the vote, accept the fact of what the vote will be and … actually to really then think about what is it that needs to be changed to deliver it through the Commons.”

Mr Williamson is thought to back delaying any vote until the new year, after another special meeting of EU leaders, to try to agree a way for Britain to exit the backstop that is more acceptable to Tory Eurosceptics and DUP MPs.

Amber Rudd, the Remain-backing Work and Pensions Secretary, became the first Cabinet minister to discuss publicly the merits of a “Plan B” if Mrs May crashes to defeat, by backing a Norway-style solution to Brexit.

No10 privately admits that any solution to unlocking the impasse will be in Brussels. In the event of a defeat Mrs May is expected to use a Brussels summit on Thursday and Friday this week.

Government officials are concerned that Labour or the SNP will use Tuesday’s likely defeat to table a vote of no confidence.

A headcount of MPs who are allowed to vote has the Tories losing by a single MP if the DUP deserts them. This means the Tories will have 14 days to win a confidence vote, most probably under a new leader, or face a general election early in the new year.

Boris Johnson, David Davis and Priti Patel yesterday spoke to Conservative activists at the party’s National Conservative Convention in an effective “beauty parade” of future leaders.

One supporter of Mr Johnson said: “I have never seen him so focused.”

Another MP said Mr Johnson, who has lost weight in recent weeks, was like Aslan in CS Lewis’s Narnia books, saying: “The era of the ice queen is over. The thaw is coming.”

There was also claims that Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, could run on a joint ticket.

One minister said they had been approached by all three, saying: “They are all on some form of manoeuvres, wondering who I am going to support.”

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, appealed for Tory MPs to back Mrs May’s deal, saying: “We need to keep our eyes on the prize of delivering Brexit for the British people.”

‘She [Theresa May] needs to get out her Maggie Thatcher handbag and start using it’