Theresa May's chief whip claims a soft Brexit was 'inevitable' after the 2017 election and says the PM's ministers are guilty of the 'worst example of ill-discipline in British political history'

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Theresa May's Commons enforcer has criticised the Government's approach to leaving the EU and said his party should have made it clear a 'softer Brexit' was 'inevitable' after the 2017 election.

In an extraordinary interview, Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip, also attacked Cabinet members over the 'worst example of ill-discipline in British political history'.

He said ministers have been 'sitting around the Cabinet table trying to destabilise her (Mrs May)', revealing the battle the Prime Minister has with both Brexiteer and remainers in her Cabinet.

It came as MPs are set to take back control of the Brexit agenda in a fresh attempt to find an alternative to Theresa May's deal that Parliament can support.

The Commons will stage a second round of 'indicative' votes on Monday on a series of rival proposals tabled by backbenchers to see if any can command a majority.

The move comes as Mrs May struggles to contain the rising tensions with her Cabinet as the clock counts down to the latest EU deadline on April 12.

If she were to give way to a softer Brexit, she would provoke a furious reaction from Brexiteers, with International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling among the ministers reportedly ready to resign.  

Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip,  has said Theresa May's government should have said that a softer Brexit was inevitable after it lost its majority in a 2017 election

Mr Smith spoke out to suggest ministers had pursued the wrong strategy after the Prime Minister lost the Conservatives' Commons majority in the 2017 snap election.

He said the result of the poll meant that Mrs May simply did not have enough MPs to back a harder version of Brexit.

The comments were published by the BBC amid speculation that Parliament may force the PM to seek membership of a customs union with Brussels in order to pass her deal, which would mean ripping up one of her key red lines.

'The thing that people forget is that the Conservative Party went to get a majority in order to deliver Brexit (and) failed to get a majority,' the chief whip said.

'The Government as a whole probably should just have been clearer on the consequences of that. The parliamentary arithmetic would mean that this would be inevitably a softer type of Brexit.'

While the strategy was apparently misjudged, Mr Smith said he was 'frustrated' by MPs who 'don't see the light as clearly as I do'. 

Mrs May's deal has now fallen three times in the Commons, with Tory MPs among those who voted against it on each occasion.

However Mr Smith highlighted that a lack of discipline extended all the way to the Cabinet, with ministers 'sitting around the Cabinet table ... trying to destabilise her (Mrs May)'.

'This is I think the worst example of ill-discipline in Cabinet in British political history,' he said.

Theresa May's official spokesman said that the Prime Minister continues to have full confidence in her Chief Whip.

The spokesman declined to discuss whether Mrs May had been informed in advance of Mr Smith's interview with the BBC.

The spokesman was asked at a regular Westminster media briefing whether the PM agreed with Mr Smith that the Government should have been clear after the 2017 election that a 'softer' Brexit was now inevitable.

He replied: 'In a number of speeches, the Prime Minister made it clear that there was a need to bring the country back together after the Brexit vote. That's what she's been working to achieve.'

Asked whether Mrs May shared Mr Smith's assessment that the current Cabinet was the 'worst example of ill-discipline in British political history', the spokesman replied: 'The Prime Minister has said on any number of occasions that this is a subject which brings out strong emotions in MPs on all sides of the debate.

'I think what's important is that everybody in Government continues to work towards the goal of delivering on the referendum verdict.'

He added: 'I will leave it to historians to make their judgments on history.'

MPs will launch a fresh attempt to force Theresa May into a soft Brexit tonight by holding votes on alternatives to her deal.

Ministers believe as many as 70 Tory MPs could back a proposal to remain in the EU customs union, which could lead to it winning over a majority of MPs.

Backbenchers led by Sir Oliver Letwin have taken control of the Commons timetable to stage a second round of indicative votes after none of the eight options put to MPs last week won enough support.

If a majority emerges for one of the alternatives tonight, the rebels plan to put down legislation on Wednesday that would force ministers to act.

Former Cabinet minister Ken Clarke, who drew up the customs union plan defeated by just six votes last week, has said he is 'reasonably confident' it will get over the line this time.

Meanwhile, supporters of a so-called 'Common Market 2.0' proposal that would keep Britain in the customs union and the single market have been seeking to win over DUP and SNP MPs who all abstained when it was voted on last week.

Theresa May (left) has been warned she will 'destroy' the Tory party if she caves in to calls for a soft Brexit while Boris Johnson (right) urged Conservative MPs to 'get brexit done'

Staying in the single market would involve continued freedom of movement and making contributions to the EU budget, while being in a customs union would prevent Britain from striking its own trade deals.

Nick Boles, the Tory ex-minister behind Common Market 2.0 – rejected by 283 votes to 188 last week – declared last night that it was 'alive and squawking'.

'The only reason it scored fewer votes overall was that Labour didn't whip for it. Tomorrow that might change,' he said. Tory George Freeman, who backs the idea, said: 'Only Common Market 2.0 looks like winning support from all parties.'

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said his party's 35 MPs would not back Mr Clarke's plan as it would end freedom of movement, but signalled that they could back Common Market 2.0 because they want single-market membership.

It is thought that Labour will order its MPs to back the Boles plan this time, even though continued freedom of movement would go down badly with voters in the party's Leave-supporting constituencies.

The Conservatives are expected to repeat last week's tactic, when junior ministers and backbenchers were given a free vote but Mrs May and the 28 ministers who attend Cabinet abstained.

MPs have put forward eight options for tonight's vote – removing the Irish backstop in Mrs May's deal, No Deal on April 12, a permanent customs union, Common Market 2.0, revoking Article 50, single market membership and two variations on a second referendum.

This afternoon Speaker John Bercow is expected to select three or four alternatives to go on a ballot paper, with the votes scheduled to take place at 8pm.

Downing Street is considering offering a run-off between Mrs May's deal and the frontrunner from the indicative votes.

Despite three previous rejections, No10 believes her deal could still prevail because in the first round of the indicative votes on Friday it did better than any alternative.

In an article for Conservative Home, Tory ex-minister Greg Hands yesterday warned that staying in the customs union would be a 'serious mistake' and 'in the medium term be democratically unsustainable'.

Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May called a General Election, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found

A diagram showing Theresa May's options ahead of another chaotic week at Westminster 

Theresa could save Remainer Grieve from deselection as MP 

Theresa May could intervene to stop the deselection of Dominic Grieve MP, a minister suggested yesterday.

The former attorney general faces being removed as the Tory candidate in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, over his support for a second referendum.

At a meeting of his local constituency association on Friday, Mr Grieve was heckled by party members who called him 'liar', 'traitor' and 'disgusting'.

Dominic Grieve (pictured) faces removal as the Tory candidate in his constituency 

The association passed a motion of no-confidence in their MP by 182 votes to 131 after it was tabled by former Ukip member Jon Conway. But Home Office minister Victoria Atkins yesterday hinted the Prime Minister might step in to ensure the Remain MP keeps his seat. She told Pienaar's Politics on BBC 5 Live: 'The Prime Minister's been very clear about this. Dominic has given years and years of service to the parliamentary party, to the country ... It's not a binding motion, is my understanding.' She added: 'We are a broad church and we will not stand for that sort of behaviour. We want to, we have to, reflect the broad range of opinion across the country... Dominic is a very, very good MP and someone I am close to in the party. We want to treat colleagues with respect and courtesy and kindness.'

Since Friday's meeting, a number of senior party figures have rallied around Mr Grieve, including Boris Johnson who tweeted: 'We disagree about EU but he is a good man and a true Conservative.'

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Theresa May would 'destroy' the Tory party and put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10 if she gives in to demands to adopt a soft Brexit, senior ministers warned last night.

MPs are staging a vote tonight on whether to try to force the Prime Minister to shift to a customs union or Norway-style soft Brexit.

No10 is braced for a possible Cabinet walkout as early as tomorrow when ministers debate whether to accept Parliament's demands. 

More than 170 Tory MPs, including ten Cabinet ministers, have already signed a blunt, two-paragraph letter to Mrs May reminding her of the party's manifesto commitment to take Britain out of both the customs union and the single market. The letter urges her to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on April 12 if she cannot get her own deal through Parliament in the coming days.

And last night, two Cabinet ministers told the Daily Mail that shifting to a soft Brexit could lead to a collapse of the Government and usher in a Labour regime led by Mr Corbyn.

One said: 'If forced to choose I would favour a general election over a customs union, but it's like a choice between being stabbed in the left hand and stabbed in the right. Either one could take us to a Corbyn government.

'The Conservative Party cannot accept a customs union, and at least half the Cabinet won't accept it. It would destroy the party and it would lead to an election anyway, which we would then lose.

'The only route we can possibly survive is to go for No Deal. At least we would then enter an election in the right political place, having delivered Brexit.'

Another Cabinet minister said: 'We cannot go for a customs union – there would be no government left. And if we go for an election then Corbyn will be likely to win and we would end up with a customs union anyway.'

Justice Secretary David Gauke infuriated Eurosceptic MPs yesterday when he declared that Mrs May would have to 'look closely' at adopting a customs union if Parliament votes for it.

Mr Gauke and fellow Remainers Greg Clark, Amber Rudd, Philip Hammond and David Lidington are urging Mrs May to push for a softer Brexit if it avoids No Deal.

Last night, members of the group were privately encouraging Remainer Tories to back the option in tonight's vote.

But Downing Street slapped down Mr Gauke, saying Mrs May was committed to delivering a Brexit deal 'which does not include membership of the custom union'. However, a pro-Remain Cabinet source said Mrs May would have to accept the will of Parliament, adding: 'Something is going to have to give this week – she is finally going to have to pick a side, and that is going to leave one half of the Cabinet very unhappy. But if the majority in Parliament comes out for a customs union then that will be very hard to resist.'

Ahead of another dramatic week:

• Government sources said Mrs May would try to bring her deal back to the Commons for a fourth time this week, despite hopes fading that the DUP will ever support it.
• European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said: 'We have had a lot of patience with our British friends over Brexit but patience runs out.'
• Former Tory prime minister Sir John Major called for a 'government of national unity' to push through a soft Brexit or second referendum.
• Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly warned that Mrs May could lead the party into a snap general election if the Brexit deadlock continues, despite opposition from Tory MPs and a poll putting Labour five points ahead.
• Work and Pensions Secretary Mrs Rudd set up a new group of moderate Tories designed to block hard Brexiteers such as Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson succeeding Mrs May as PM.
• Labour shifted decisively behind a second referendum, with Tom Watson saying it was 'inconceivable' the party would not back the idea and Emily Thornberry declaring: 'In my heart I want to stay.'
• Former Middle East minister Alistair Burt said the Brexit deadlock was putting the UK 'in peril', adding: 'I've spent enough time in conflict areas over the last few years to know how fragile peace and security is.'
• Whitehall sources said Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill had convinced Mrs May to drop the idea of leaving the EU without a deal after warning her it would lead to the break-up of the UK.

Parliament will hold a second round of 'indicative votes' tonight in a process led by Tory grandee Sir Oliver Letwin designed to identify a soft Brexit alternative to Mrs May's deal.

A customs union option was narrowly defeated last week and last night there were indications that Mr Corbyn could order his MPs to back a super-soft 'Common Market 2.0' option, which would keep the UK in the single market and make it impossible to end free movement.

Privately, some allies of Mrs May believe Sir Oliver could do her a favour by crystallising the choice for Eurosceptic MPs into a risk that her deal might lead to a customs union against the certainty of being locked in one.

Rival 'soft exit' groups tussling for a chance to beat May's deal 

Rebel MPs will launch a fresh attempt to force Theresa May into a soft Brexit tonight by holding votes on alternatives to her deal.

Ministers believe as many as 70 Tory MPs could back a proposal to remain in the EU customs union, which could lead to it winning over a majority of MPs.

Backbenchers led by Sir Oliver Letwin have taken control of the Commons timetable to stage a second round of indicative votes after none of the eight options put to MPs last week won enough support.

If a majority emerges for one of the alternatives tonight, the rebels plan to put down legislation on Wednesday that would force ministers to act.

Former Cabinet minister Ken Clarke, who drew up the customs union plan defeated by just six votes last week, has said he is 'reasonably confident' it will get over the line this time.

Meanwhile, supporters of a so-called 'Common Market 2.0' proposal that would keep Britain in the customs union and the single market have been seeking to win over DUP and SNP MPs who all abstained when it was voted on last week.

Staying in the single market would involve continued freedom of movement and making contributions to the EU budget, while being in a customs union would prevent Britain from striking its own trade deals.

Rebel MPs will launch a fresh attempt to force Theresa May (pictured) into a soft Brexit tonight by holding votes on alternatives to her deal

Nick Boles, the Tory ex-minister behind Common Market 2.0 – rejected by 283 votes to 188 last week – declared last night that it was 'alive and squawking'.

'The only reason it scored fewer votes overall was that Labour didn't whip for it. Tomorrow that might change,' he said. Tory George Freeman, who backs the idea, said: 'Only Common Market 2.0 looks like winning support from all parties.'

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said his party's 35 MPs would not back Mr Clarke's plan as it would end freedom of movement, but signalled that they could back Common Market 2.0 because they want single-market membership.

It is thought that Labour will order its MPs to back the Boles plan this time, even though continued freedom of movement would go down badly with voters in the party's Leave-supporting constituencies.

The Conservatives are expected to repeat last week's tactic, when junior ministers and backbenchers were given a free vote but Mrs May and the 28 ministers who attend Cabinet abstained.

MPs have put forward eight options for tonight's vote – removing the Irish backstop in Mrs May's deal, No Deal on April 12, a permanent customs union, Common Market 2.0, revoking Article 50, single market membership and two variations on a second referendum.

This afternoon Speaker John Bercow is expected to select three or four alternatives to go on a ballot paper, with the votes scheduled to take place at 8pm.

Downing Street is considering offering a run-off between Mrs May's deal and the frontrunner from the indicative votes.

Despite three previous rejections, No10 believes her deal could still prevail because in the first round of the indicative votes on Friday it did better than any alternative.

In an article for Conservative Home, Tory ex-minister Greg Hands yesterday warned that staying in the customs union would be a 'serious mistake' and 'in the medium term be democratically unsustainable'.

 

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