PRIME MINISTER MAY FACING PARTY REVOLT
Brexiteers round on May as Scottish Government insist UK is facing a crisis
THERESA May is in danger of being bumped out of office by Tory enemies after being told by her own side the “window is closing” on her leadership over her handling of Brexit and lack of purpose.
Fresh doubts were cast on the future of the Prime Minister yesterday as complaints from Tory MPs came amid warnings from the SNP that Britain is already facing a constitutional crisis over Brexit.
After a weekend of savage criticism from Tory Leave and Remain camps even May’s former close adviser Nick Timothy said the Government were lacking “purpose and direction”.
Johnny Mercer, a Conservative MP tipped as a possible leader, summed up the mood on the Tory benches, saying he would not support bringing the Prime Minister down but felt a change of leadership was inevitable.
He added: “How long has the Prime Minister got? I am of the view that any sort of change in leadership is not helpful at the moment and I don’t support that but I do think the window is closing because politics can be quite a brutal game.”
Arch Brexiteers rounded on May yesterday as the EU Ministers meeting in Brussels rubber-stamped the firm line that the UK would have to abide by Brussels rules in the transition period after Brexit.
In the Commons, furious Brexit supporting backbencher Sir Bill Cash urged May to “reject the notion put forward in this document that during the transition period European Union law will continue to apply to the UK with direct effect and primacy”.
But his concerns were not shared by all of the Tory backbenches.
Remain-backing MP Anna Soubry asked: “When are the Government going to stand up against the hard Brexiteers who mainly inhabit these benches – there’s only about 35 of them – see them off, and make sure we get a sensible Brexit?
“Because if we don’t, we will sleepwalk into a disastrous Brexit for generations to come.”
The country is already in a constitutional crisis which will deepen as the EU Withdrawal Bill heads for the House of Lords, according to a senior Scottish Government Minister.
Mike Russell MSP, the SNP’s Brexit Secretary, said Britain is racing to a cliff edge without agreement between the Scottish Government and UK Government on devolved powers returning from Brussels under Brexit.
Russell said that without agreement on the controversial clause 11 of the Brexit Bill to automatically grant EU powers to devolved parliaments, it would fail in the Lords and would not be approved by Holyrood.
Either scenario would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis, said Russell.
He added: “I think we have been on one for some considerable time but it’s deepening.”
Russell said the Scottish Government have still to see the wording of an amendment to clause 11, which Scottish Secretary David Mundell failed to produce in time for a Commons vote, despite his promise to do so. The Lords Constitution committee have already damned the Brexit bill as unfit and it faces a turbulent passage through the Lords while the Tory party draw up battle lines for another civil war over accepting a hard or soft Brexit.
Russell said: “The Tories can’t agree what type of Brexit they want, meanwhile they’re going into the second difficult phase of negotiations.
“It is a damaging shambles in terms of what it will cost us and it is the ultimate in irresponsibility from an elected government.”
When are the Government going to stand up to hard Brexiteers ANNA SOUBRY