Brexiteers plead with MPs: Send letters in to topple Theresa May

Brexiteers launched an all-out offensive today to topple Theresa May by pleading with fellow Tory MPs to write letters of no confidence in her.

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s European Research Group unleashed a co-ordinated move early this morning to rally Conservative MPs to put their names to the revolt.

But the ERG’s attempt to oust Mrs May plunged the party into a deeper civil war, with many MPs backing her to win any vote of confidence. As they returned to Westminster, more MPs were expected to deliver letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, demanding a confidence vote in the Prime Minister.

But the Brexiteers were locked in a fierce tug-of-war over Mrs May’s fate with government whips and ministers seeking to persuade MPs not to join the plot to oust her.

The ERG believes it has enough backing to get over the 48-letter line needed to trigger a vote but, crucially, only if MPs do not go back on earlier pledges. Simon Clarke, Tory MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, stepped up the attack on Mrs May, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Colleagues who have said they will act, I think now need to search their consciences and follow up on what they pledged to do.”

Calling for a confidence vote on the Prime Minister, he added: “It is quite clear to me that the captain is driving the ship at the rocks.” He told MPs “agonising” over whether to move against Mrs May that her deal, and therefore her government, was doomed as it would not get the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis compared Mrs May’s negotiating position with Brussels to a “nervous cat” and said it sounded that there were now more than 40 letters.

He would not reveal whether he was sending in a letter but told Bloomberg: “It seems to be teetering close to getting over the 48, the critical number.”

North Wiltshire MP James Gray would also not say whether he had written a letter, but added: “It seems to me, having spoken to lots of colleagues, that it is likely that there will be such a challenge and that the Prime Minister must change her approach to this proposed deal.”

Yeovil Tory MP Marcus Fysh said: “We need a leader, whoever that is, who is able to reset this process and lead us into a place where we do not sign this agreement.”

Twenty-five MPs have gone public that they have written letters, including Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, and a number more are believed to have done so privately. But a senior Tory MP said this morning: “The 48 names are not in so far — if they were the (1922) executive would be meeting.”

Even if a confidence vote is called, Mrs May could still get the backing of a majority of MPs. Environment minister Therese Coffey predicted she would “win it convincingly”, adding that it was an “unnecessary distraction”.

Children’s and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi urged Tory MPs to “examine” their conscience if they sought to block the proposed Brexit deal and warned that ousting Mrs May risked destabilising the economy.

Nicky Morgan, Conservative chairwoman of the Commons Treasury committee, added: “It looks like the 80 votes against the deal which were talked about on Thursday look wildly optimistic if these 48 letters have proved hard to come by. I think the Prime Minister would win it.” Letters of no confidence have to be delivered to Sir Graham, rather than texted or emailed, so MPs who were not at Westminster on Thursday or Friday may do so today. He does not publish the list, even if the 48 threshold is reached.