The latest headlines in your inbox
The latest headlines in your inbox
Theresa May faced a fresh call from a high-ranking Conservative to resign today for failing to be “strong enough” in Brexit negotiations.
Pauline Latham, an executive member of the backbench 1922 Committee, broke cover to say: “I would like Theresa May to go. I would like us to have a new leader who could have another look at this whole process and actually negotiate with Brussels.”
She is the second Tory MP on the executive to demand publicly that Mrs May resigns, following a call by fellow right-winger Nigel Evans for the PM to go after an expected Tory rout in the European elections on May 23.
In key developments:
- Labour signalled it is losing patience with cross-party talks after Mrs May showed no signs of giving way on a customs union. Shadow housing minister John Healey called on the Government to “take these discussions with us seriously” and told that “a decent deal” was possible “but only if the Government is willing to move”.
- Chancellor Philip Hammond told MPs that Brexit uncertainty is holding back business investment and diverting 400 Treasury staff from major issues like the productivity challenge.
- ConservativeHome, the Tory grassroots website, said its monthly survey of readers showed Mrs May the “most unpopular Conservative minister ever” with a negative satisfaction rating of -73, down from -51 in March.
- Former Conservative leadership contender Ann Widdecombe defected to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party with a withering attack on Mrs May’s handling of Brexit and a call for a “seismic shock” vote in the Euro-elections against Labour and the Tories.
- Officers of the 1922 Committee were taking soundings ahead of a further meeting in private at Westminster this evening to debate calls for a change in party rules to allow a fresh vote of confidence in the PM. The group failed to reach a conclusion last night.
“I don’t think Theresa May has been strong enough,” Ms Latham told Talk Radio.
“She hasn’t been strong enough for, not just the Conservative party, but for the rest of the Commons.” In another blow to Mrs May, Amber Valley MP Nigel Mills told the Standard that there is “no confidence left that the Prime Minister can deliver Brexit and in reality the Government can’t command a majority in Parliament, it’s time for change as soon as possible”.
Ms Widdecombe, a former shadow home secretary, told Good Morning Britain: “Britain is an international laughing stock, Parliament is a parody … What needs to happen in these European elections is for us to send a seismic shock to both major parties … saying just get it done and over.”
Former business minister Richard Harrington, who is campaigning against Brexit, said a leadership election would be “disastrous” because it would be hijacked by right-wingers seeking to crash out of the EU on no-deal terms. “It wouldn’t be a leadership election, it would be a mini-referendum within the Conservative party,” he told Today.
Supporters of Boris Johnson want the former foreign secretary to lead Britain out without an deal in October unless the EU offers a new withdrawal agreement. Rivals for the leadership are trying to delay any contest to buy time to reduce Mr Johnson’s early lead.
