• Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg are among a group meeting her later
• It is the second meeting between the ex-foreign secretary and PM in three days 
• Source tells Mail on Sunday: ‘Discussions about Prime Minister’s future ongoing’ 
• David Lidington said to be in ‘advanced stages’ of plot to force PM from office 
• But he publicly backs the PM today and says he does not want to replace her
• Amber Rudd and Jeremy Hunt also reportedly involved in coup to oust PM 

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Boris Johnson and a host of hardline Brexiteers will hold crunch talks with Theresa May today as Cabinet ministers orchestrate a coup to topple the beleaguered Prime Minister.

The former foreign secretary will join European Research Group chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg and ex-ministers Dominic Raab, David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith and Damian Green at her Buckinghamshire retreat this afternoon.

Sources said they were invited to meet with Theresa May, who is using the weekend to meet various groups with different views on Brexit, rather than demanding an audience.

All but Mr Green are bitter opponents of Theresa May’s handling of Brexit and are considered among the leading Brexiteer canidates to replace her if and when she steps down.ADVERTISING

It is also Mr Johnson’s second meeting with Mrs May in three days, after he visited her in Downing Street on Friday afternoon.

The presence of senior ERG figures like Mrs Rees-Mogg and Mr Duncan Smith will give Mrs May a chance to talk them around over her Brexit deal.

The votes of its members will be key to any chance Mrs May has of getting it through Parliament next week – if it is brought to a vote at all. 

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Boris Johnson seen entering Downing Street on Friday, where he had a meeting with Theresa May. He has been a vociferous critic of her Brexit deal

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ERG chairman Jacob Rees-Mogg is also among those believed to be attending Chequers this afternoon for a showdown with Theresa May

It came as Theresa May’s deputy David Lidington insisted today he does not want to replace her as Prime Minister as he found himself at the centre of a cabinet coup. 

The Cabinet Office minister spoke out ahead of crunch talks between the PM and hardline Brexiteers including Boris Johnson at Chequers this afternoon, as ministers plotted to topple her.

As senior cabinet figures complained that the Prime Minister’s judgement had reportedly gone ‘haywire’ in recent weeks Mr Lidington, her de-facto deputy Prime Minister, was named as a possible caretaker if she is forced out.

But Brexiteers who could not stomach the little-known Remainer being in charge at a crucial time for Brexit are plotting to get 2016 Leave mastermind and Environment Secretary Michael Gove installed instead.

One Cabinet Minister branded the plot ‘a f****** coup.’ 

Mr Lidington told reporters in his Aylesbury constituency today: ‘I don’t think that I’ve any wish to take over from the PM (who) I think is doing a fantastic job.

‘I tell you this: one thing that working closely with the Prime Minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task.

‘I have absolute admiration for the way she is going about it.’

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David Lidington, the Cabinet Office Minister and Mrs May’s de-facto deputy, said today: ‘I don’t think that I’ve any wish to take over from the PM’

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A senior Downing Street source told The Mail on Sunday last night that even Mrs May’s Chief Whip, Julian Smith, had advised her to set out her departure plans, with Environment Secretary Mr Gove emerging as the ‘consensus choice’ to succeed her.

Mr Gove is being championed by Cabinet Brexiteers who are furious about what they see as an attempted ‘coup’ by Remain-backing David Lidington, Mrs May’s de facto deputy.

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Last night Henry Newman, one of Michael Gove’s most loyal supporters and a former aide, said the Prime Minister’s ‘ill-judged’ speech blaming MPs for the Brexit crisis ‘united Labour and Tory critics against her’

A senior Government source said yesterday that there was now ‘complete unanimity’ in the Cabinet that Mrs May should step down as soon as possible.ADVERTISING

In a number of astonishing, fast-moving developments, coming just days before a series of historic Commons votes:

• No 10 warned Tory rebels that, if they didn’t back Mrs May’s deal, the Commons could revoke Article 50, effectively cancelling Brexit;
• Mrs May mounted a last-ditch effort to save the deal by pleading with Jacob Rees-Mogg to drop his opposition – as his European Research Group made plans to select their preferred leadership candidate;

The Cabinet’s move against Mrs May comes after a disastrous week in which she blamed MPs for the delay to Brexit in a live televised address, which left Mr Smith incandescent with rage. She was then humiliated by EU leaders at a summit which agreed that, if her deal is defeated again, then Parliament will have just two more weeks to find an alternative, or risk a no-deal Brexit on April 12.

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A senior Government source said yesterday that there was now ‘complete unanimity’ in the Cabinet that Prime Minister Theresa May should step down as soon as possible

A senior Government source said Mr Smith had ‘conveyed the message [that Mrs May’s Cabinet colleagues believe she should stand down] to the PM’.

A Downing Street spokesman said that they did not comment on private conversations.

The collapse in the Prime Minister’s authority has triggered rival Cabinet plots by Remainers and Brexiteers to seize power.

Pro-Remain Cabinet Ministers, led by Mr Hammond and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, have been backing Cabinet Office Minister Mr Lidington to take over as temporary Prime Minister.

But when pro-Brexit Cabinet Ministers, led by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, found out that Mr Lidington was holding talks with Labour MPs about votes on ‘soft’ Brexit measures they moved quickly to stifle the plot by backing Mr Gove instead.

Under the plan, Mr Gove would see through Brexit as PM, before a full leadership contest in the summer.

One senior Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The public will never forgive us if in a time of historical crisis our answer is David Lidington. This is where it is going to get very scary, whatever you think about it’.

Last night Henry Newman, one of Michael Gove’s most loyal supporters and a former aide, said the Prime Minister’s ‘ill-judged’ speech blaming MPs for the Brexit crisis ‘united Labour and Tory critics against her’. He added: ‘ I think she will have to offer to step down to get her deal through.’

A series of so-called ‘indicative votes’ will be held next week to test which alternatives to Mrs May’s deal are likely to pass the Commons, including a Norway-style customs union or even cancelling Brexit.

One senior Minister warned rebel Tory MPs that, if they continued to vote down Mrs May’s deal, then they would be on ‘a conveyor belt to Norway – possibly with Jeremy Corbyn leading the way’.

The Minister added: ‘If we do not deliver Brexit we are so unbelievably f****d, not just as a party or a Government, but in a national way. Now is the time to be bold, a customs union is a cop-out – it’s the easiest solution for Parliament but the worst solution for the country.

‘It has to be Mrs May’s deal, or no deal. We cannot be allowed to drift into the worst position, but that is what David Lidington is manoeuvring us to – and there is no upside to it’.

Another Minister said that it was ‘a matter of arithmetic’ that Mrs May should set out her departure date: ‘Just look at the numbers of people saying they would back the deal if she sets out a timetable for her departure and add them up. Say no more.’

A series of senior Conservative figures warned Mrs May last week that she has lost the confidence of her party.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee, visited the Prime Minister on Monday, where he told her that the number of colleagues calling for her to go was growing.

Mr Johnson also repeatedly challenged Mrs May to rule out leading the party into a General Election this year – which she has refused to do.

It is understood that all but one member of the Tory whips office think that her ‘time is up’. One, Paul Maynard, was in tears recently when he told the Prime Minister: ‘I’ve heard enough. When I was told that we would have to come over and talk to you I began to cry. I said I don’t want to go over and talk to that woman any more. She’s betrayed Brexit, destroying our party. I want her gone.’

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The ‘coup’ could see the government stripped of control over business in Parliament – paralysing the PM and potentially allowing MPs to prevent the UK crashing out without a deal.

The move – which No10 believes is being orchestrated by former ministers Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve – could happen within hours of Mrs May’s Brexit plan being heavily defeated on Tuesday, as seems inevitable.

The manoeuvring was only uncovered by Chief Whip Julian Smith when he overheard conspirators in the MPs’ cloakroom.

Ministers have been warned success for the plotters could make it impossible for the government to cling on.

There are claims Speaker John Bercow is ready to help the backbench uprising, after he secretly met Mr Grieve last week. 

The high-stakes battle emerged as Mrs May launched another desperate effort to salvage the package she has thrashed out with Brussels.

Mrs May said failing to deliver on the verdict of the referendum would be ‘unforgivable’ and a ‘catastrophe’ for democracy. 

At the start of an historic week in Parliament that could make or break Brexit:

• Former PM Sir John Major has joined calls for Article 50 to be revoked to give the UK more time, reiterating his support for a second referendum. 
• Mrs May is still thought to be on track for a huge defeat on her Brexit deal, with speculation it could be the biggest ever suffered by a government. 
• Cabinet ministers have warned of a ‘Brexit bunfight’ between supporters of alternative policies if Mrs May’s package is killed off.
• Hopes are fading of significant concessions from the EU before the crunch Parliamentary clash. 
• Jeremy Corbyn hinted Labour is preparing to force a no-confidence vote this week if the premier loses the Commons showdown. 
• Fourteen military planners are said to have have been deployed to Whitehall departments to help with preparations for border chaos if the UK crashes out. 

Hardline Remainers and Brexiteers have been mobilising in a bid to thwart her plans.  

Downing Street said it was ‘extremely concerned’ about a backbench plot to change Commons rules to enable backbench motions to take precedence over Government business, warning it was a ‘real threat’ to its ability to function. 

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