Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May (pictured today at church in Maidenhead) called a General Election, a Mail on Sunday poll found
PM prepares for MASS resignations: Justice secretary warns he will lead remainder Cabinet walk out if May doesn’t back customs union this week – but Brexiteers will walk if she does
Theresa May is braced for mass resignations from her Cabinet whichever way she goes on Brexit, as her Justice Secretary today warned he would quit if the PM opts for No Deal.
David Gauke, a leading Remainer minister, said a customs union with the EU was not his preferred option but was better than No Deal, saying he would resign if Number 10 sought a cliff-edge Brexit.
But the PM faces resignations from Brexiteers such as Andrea Leadsom or Michael Gove if she gives into the Remain wing and chooses a soft Brexit.
Tonight Downing Street fired back at Mr Gauke, saying its Brexit plans ‘do not include membership of the customs union’. ADVERTISING
MPs are voting on their preferred alternatives to Brexit tomorrow night before Mrs May is expected to have one final go at passing her deal on Tuesday or Wednesday. Video playing bottom right…Click here to expand to full page
Mrs May must resolve Britain’s Brexit position in one direction or the other before an emergency EU summit on April 10 that will lock in either a No Deal or long delay.
After the PM’s deal was crushed three times by MPs, the Commons may back an alternative plan of a permanent UK-EU customs union tomorrow.
However, Brexiteer Cabinet ministers including Michael Gove and Penny Mordaunt signed a letter on Friday warning the PM against a soft Brexit.
The showdown comes as Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly admitted the party was engaged in ‘sensible and pragmatic planning’ for a snap general election, after the PM warned MPs darkly on Friday, when her deal was voted down for a third time: ‘I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this house.’
She has repeatedly sworn she will not negotiate for a Brexit which contradicts her 2017 election manifesto.
But with an opinion poll last night putting Labour up five points on 41 per cent and the Conservatives down seven to 36 per cent, the government chief whip Julian Smith said he was opposing plans for a snap poll with ‘every sinew in his body’.
Ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major warned Mrs May against calling an election to end the impasse and said the country may need a time-limited ‘national government’ including both Tory and Labour politicians.
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Mr Gauke said Mrs May (pictured today at church in Maidenhead) must consider tearing up the Tory party manifesto to get an orderly Brexit through Parliament if necessary
Amid the impasse – less than two weeks before Britain faces crashing out with No Deal – Mr Gauke told the BBC’s Andrew Marr ‘we would have to consider very closely what parliament decides to do’.
He said: ‘I would rather leave the customs union but we also have to recognise that my party does not have the votes to get the manifesto commitment through the Commons.
‘Sometimes you have to accept your second or third choice.’
Mr Gauke explicitly blamed Tory rebels, telling Marr Britain was in this situation because ‘too many colleagues’ were not backing the deal.