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A DEFIANT Theresa May is staring down the mutineers in her party as she vowed to push ahead with plans to strike a Brexit deal, promising to “see this through.’’
Urging her party to unite behind the proposals, the Prime Minister fought on, despite the resignation of at least eight ministers throughout the day, and the influential Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg moving to bring on a vote of no-confidence against her.
If successful, this would clear the way for Mr Rees-Mogg’s ally Boris Johnson to launch a leadership bid.
Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara was the first to quit, followed by Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and then Sueller Braverman, Mr Raab’s deputy and undersecretary of state for Brexit. Work and Pensions Minister Esther McVey also tendered her resignation, as well as Parliamentary private secretary in the department of education, Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
Ranil Jaywardena also resigned as a Parliamentary Private Secretary and Rehman Chishti said he was quitting as vice-chairman of the Tories and trade envoy to Pakistan.
Today, I have resigned as Brexit Secretary. I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU. Here is my letter to the PM explaining my reasons, and my enduring respect for her. pic.twitter.com/tf5CUZnnUz
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 15, 2018
Attempting to gloss over the Tory civil war, Mrs May fronted the media at Downing Street last night and vowed to push on.
“Am I going to see this through? Yes,’’ she said.
But her proposals, which critics say would have tied the UK to the European Union indefinitely through a so-called backstop mechanism, seemed to have little support and it is hard to see how she would get the votes needed for it to be pbaded by Parliament.
And one of the resignations was her Brexit minister Dominic Raab, who said he could not in good conscience support the proposals.
Left without a Brexit minister, Mrs May found herself in the impossible position of having to sell a Brexit plan to the country that she couldn’t sell to her own Cabinet.
She had earlier endured a remarkable mauling in the House of Commons, being hit with more than 100 questions over three hours by furious MPs from all sides of politics.
In remarkable scenes, not one Conservative MP raised their hands in support of Brexit deal, and an hour of hostile questions pbaded before the first Tory backbencher made a supportive statement towards her.
Later, a still-defiant Mrs May emerged to answer yet more questions from the media, and urged people to put their partisan interests aside in support of the national interest.
Mrs May likened herself to the English cricketer Geoffrey Boycott, saying he got the runs on the board, as she said she would push on and bring the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement to a vote in the House of Commons.
“I believe with every fibre of my being that that the course I have set out is the right one,’’ she said.
“The British people just want us to get on with it.’’.
DOCUMENT: The Withdrawal Agreement
DOCUMENT: A Withdrawal Agreement explainer
Almost 24 hours after Cabinet reluctantly signed off on her proposals, Mrs May’s leadership now hangs by a thread, with hard Brexiteers led by Mr Rees-Mogg trying to rally the 48 letters required to bring on a leadership challenge.
It was not known if the 1922 Committee of backbenchers had received no-confidence letters from the required 15 per cent of Tory MPs – 48 letters – to trigger the no-confidence vote.
Unlike in Australia, such challenges can ultimately take weeks, but if Mrs May survives it, she is safe for another 12 months.
Mr Rees-Mogg, who favours a hard Brexit, denied he had leadership ambitions, but nominated a shortlist of others who he said would do a good job, leading with the ambitious former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, but also including David Davis, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Penny Mordaunt as possible replacements.
Mr Johnson kept an unusually low profile all day but was known to have attended a meeting of MPs plotting to send in no-confidence letters.
Another potential leadership contender, Michael Gove, also kept his head down.
The ructions caused the British pound to plummet, dropping 1.7 per cent against the US dollar and 1.6 per cent against the Euro.
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