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REBEL Tories have lied about sending in letters calling for Theresa May to go, it was claimed last night.

Backbench boss Graham Brady - the only man who knows how many letters are in - said some MPs say they've called for a confidence vote when they haven't.

 Graham Brady is chief of the Tory backbenchers
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Graham Brady is chief of the Tory backbenchersCredit: PA:Press Association

And he mocked colleagues who make a song and dance about putting letters in and taking them out again but are actually making the whole thing up.

Sir Graham is chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee and would be in charge of overseeing a leadership contest.

If he receives 48 letters from MPs calling on Mrs May to be kicked out, he must hold a vote of confidence.

Yesterday he confirmed he hasn't yet received enough letters to trigger a vote.

 Theresa May could face a confidence vote today
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Theresa May could face a confidence vote todayCredit: Reuters

Asked if Tory MPs claimed to have sent him a letter when they actually haven't, he told the BBC: “Yes. This isn’t a new phenomenon.

"I have been doing this job for eight years and some years ago I certainly had the experience of seeing somebody claiming publicly to have written me a letter when they hadn't and then again seeing them in public on the media saying they had withdrawn the letter that they hadn't written in the first place."

And quizzed on whether that means his colleagues are untrustworthy, Sir Graham quipped: "Only in this one regard.

"Obviously all of my colleagues are entirely trustworthy in every other regard."

 Jacob Rees-Mogg is leading the rebellion against the PM
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Jacob Rees-Mogg is leading the rebellion against the PMCredit: AFP

Brexiteers have insisted they are close to crossing the crucial 48 threshold.

25 Tory MPs have publicly called for the PM to go, and The Sun knows of another 11 who have privately put a letter in.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, says five more are putting their letters in today - bringing the total to 41.

Mr Rees-Mogg's deputy Steve Baker last night blasted MPs who lie to him about putting letters in.

He told The Sun: “If everyone does what they’ve told me, the line will be crossed by a big margin on Monday evening.

“However, it has become very very clear that not everyone does what they’ve said they’re going to do."

Tory MP Anne Marie Morris insists that 48 letters of no confidence will be reached this week


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