Theresa May’s allies launch bid to keep her in power as 20 Tory MPs ‘prepare to rebel on Brexit’ over EU ‘sell-out’
The PM could face the wrath of 20 Eurosceptic party members after 'selling out' the UK in Brussels with her 'soft' Brexit plans
THERESA May’s allies launched a frantic bid to shore up her premiership yesterday as furious Tory Eurosceptics threatened open rebellion over her “soft” Brexit plans.
Panicked party chiefs rang grassroots activists and Tory members livid with the PM for “selling out” the UK in Brussels.
And Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan pleaded with Eurosceptics to unite behind No10 or watch the Tory party “go down the plughole”.
At least 20 Eurosceptic Tory MPs said they were ready to flout Downing Street and back four “rebel” amendments to the Government’s Customs Bill in the Commons today.
And in his most savage attack yet, hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg branded the PM a “Remainer who has remained a Remainer”.
Ex-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was said to be weighing up whether to pile on pressure with a dramatic resignation speech on Wednesday. Last night he called on Britain to “believe in itself after Brexit” in his first public comments since resigning.
He wrote in the Telegraph that the nation should “rediscover the spirit of dynamism” from the Victorian era.
Meanwhile, one backbencher claimed there was an outside chance the necessary 48 letters would be tabled by Tory MPs this week to trigger a no- confidence vote in Mrs May.
A furious MP said: “Theresa May had the chance to be the Prime Minister who delivered Brexit. Now she’s the Prime Minister who f***** it up.”
But pro-EU Tories renewed calls for an even softer Brexit.
The scale of anger was laid bare by claims ex-minister Steve Baker had set up a “party within a party” to coordinate opposition to frustrate the PM’s plans.
The group contains more than 100 Tory MPs on WhatsApp. At least 20 were last night threatening to back amendments tabled by Mr Rees-Mogg in a “symbolic show of force”.
Insiders claimed the Government may concede three of them. These would force it to commit in law to having a separate VAT policy, ruling out a virtual border in the Irish Sea and to new legislation if it wants to remain in the customs union.
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The Brexiteers would then withdraw the most controversial demand — that the UK should only collect customs duties on behalf of the EU at the UK border if the EU does the same.
In a sign of the deepening chaos, ex-minister Justine Greening demanded a second referendum — vehemently opposed by the PM — to “break the deadlock”.
She said it would offer the public the choice of backing Mrs May’s deal, a clean break or staying in the EU.
The Institute of Economic Affairs claimed the PM could boost GDP by 7 per cent by ripping up her Brexit vision and demanding regulatory freedom.
‘½m more’ immigrants
IMMIGRATION from the EU may have been under-counted by 500,000 since 2004, think-tank Migration Watch claims.
Office for National Statistics immigration figures suggest EU net migration rose by 1.7million from 2004 to 2016.
But population figures show a 2.21 million rise from 2005 to 2017.
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