Tory rebels, including Dominic Grieve, 'received death threats after humiliating Brexit vote'

Tory rebels who helped inflict the first major Brexit defeat on Theresa May said they received death threats following the vote.

Dominic Grieve, who led the rebellion, said he had been forced to report the most serious threats to the police after leading a rebellion forcing the Prime Minister to give Tory MPs a "meaningful vote" over the final withdrawal bill.

The former attorney general told the Guardian: "The thing which continues to cause me concern is not that people will disagree vigorously with the positions we take but that the atmosphere is so febrile that it leads firstly to people not listening to what the debate is about, secondly suggests that any questions around Brexit amount to an intention to sabotage and thirdly result in some people expressing themselves in terms that at times include death threats."

Antoinette Sandbach, who also joined Labour, Lib Dem and SNP lawmakers to vote in Amendment 7, which guarantees Parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal, said she had received "oblique" threats including the comment: "You'll get what's coming to you."

The threats came after images emerged of four of 11 rebels in the Commons tearoom appearing to sit around a table containing bottles of wine.

Shared online after the vote, it fuelled accusations that the rebels celebrated their victory with champagne.

Anna Soubry angrily denied the heckles in the Commons, saying: "Nobody drank champagne, not on these benches, so let's just nail that one."

No champagne is visible in the image and it isn't clear exactly when it was taken.

Wednesday's shock result has sparked anger among some Tory MPs who branded the rebels "treacherous".

Nadine Dorries MP wrote on Twitter: "The Tory rebels have put a spring in Labours step, given them a taste of winning, guaranteed the party a weekend of bad press, undermined the PM and devalued her impact in Brussels. They should be deselected and never allowed to stand as a Tory MP, ever again."

Cabinet ministers meanwhile sought to calm tensions. Michael Gove endorsed the "wise words" of Nick Boles, who voted with the Government but said: "I respect their position and deplore the accusations of treachery and calls for deselection. Nothing could be less British."