Tory Remainer rebels admit they could 'collapse the Government' by voting against Theresa May's Brexit deal

Tory rebels have admitted they could “collapse the Government” if they vote against Theresa May’s final Brexit deal.

Dominic Grieve, the leading Conservative Remainer, admitted he and his pro-European colleagues could end Mrs May’s premiership as a row over Parliament’s role in Brexit negotiations continued to intensify.

Mr Grieve said the potential consequences of the stand-off with the Prime Minister over a demand to allow MPs to dictate the terms of Brexit negotiations if a deal with Brussels is rejected made him “wake up at 2am in a cold sweat”.

The Remainer rebels last week pulled an amendment to the Government’s flagship Brexit legislation which would bolster the so-called “meaningful vote” and hand MPs more power because they believed they had done a compromise deal with Mrs May to secure something similar.

But the Government said it had agreed to no such thing prompting fury and accusations that Mrs May had reneged on the deal.

She set out an alternative plan which would give MPs a non-binding say on what should happen in the event Parliament rejected the Brexit deal but it does not offer ability to control negotiations.

However, Mrs May insisted on Sunday that she had not broken her word and had “done exactly” what she told rebels she would do.

Peers are expected to reinstate the Tory rebels’ amendment on Monday as the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill returns to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, likely setting up a showdown in the House of Commons between Mrs May and the rebels later in the week.

Mr Grieve said the group of Tory Remainers is “quite determined that the meaningful vote pledge which was given to us has got to be fulfilled” as he put himself on a collision course with the Prime Minister.

Mr Grieve admitted that he and his colleagues could cause the Government to fall if they voted against Mrs May’s final Brexit deal.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme: “We could collapse the Government and I can assure you I wake up at 2am in a cold sweat thinking about the problems that we have put on our shoulders.

“The difficulty is that the Brexit process is inherently risky. Really risky. Risky to our economic well being, to our international relationships and ultimately to our national security.”

But the former attorney general remained adamant that MPs must be given a say on what happens in the event of the deal being rejected.

“I can’t save the Government from getting into a situation where Parliament might disagree with it,” he said.

“The alternative is we have all got to sign up to a slavery clause now saying whatever the Government does, when it comes to January, however potentially catastrophic it might be for my constituents and my country, I am signing in blood now that I will follow over the edge of the cliff.

“That, I can tell you, I am not prepared to do.”

Mrs May met with a group of Tory Remain-backing MPs just minutes before a potential vote on the “meaningful vote” amendment last week and convinced them not to proceed.

But those same MPs were left furious at the alternative amendment which was subsequently brought forward by the Government.

Mrs May was asked if she was a “woman of her word” on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show and she replied: “Yes, I am, Andrew. I suspect I know what the second question is going to be.”

She insisted she had not reneged on the deal she made with the rebels.

She said: “I did indeed meet a group of my fellow MPs, I listened to their concerns and I undertook to consider their concerns and the next day I stood up in Prime Minister’s Questions and said I would put an amendment down in the House of Lords.

“I have done exactly that.”

Eurosceptics fear handing Parliament the power to dictate negotiations with Brussels in the event that a deal is rejected would result in Brexit being thwarted.

Robert Buckland, the Solicitor General who has played a key role in the shuttle diplomacy between the Government and Tory backbenchers, said the Government was standing by its position on the issue.

He said: “That is where we are. I am looking forward to the Lords’ debate tomorrow. As Dominic knows the original amendment that he tabled in the Commons has been retabled by a member of the House of Lords and let’s see what comes out.

“It is too early to say. The Lords could issue further amendments tomorrow so I am not going to predict what is going to happen but I want to see what comes out in the wash.”