General election speculation hit fever pitch today as Boris Johnson summoned his Cabinet for an emergency meeting ahead of a crunch Parliamentary showdown over No Deal.
The PM has upped the ante dramatically by making clear a vote set to be forced by Remainers tomorrow will be treated as a vote of confidence.
He has also threatened to remove the whip from rebel Tories who join the effort to stop the UK crashing out on October 31 – effectively ending their careers.
But the government still looks on track to lose the crunch vote – and by declaring it a matter of confidence Mr Johnson has paved the way for an election.
As tension mounts on a critical day for the country, Mr Johnson is meeting Tory MPs urging them to fall back into line.
However, the threat to eject them from the party has infuriated many, and there is little sign his pleas will be heeded.
Despite the developing drama, Mr Johnson also found time to meet Carry On actress Barbara Windsor, who is campaigning for better dementia support, in the No10 garden this afternoon.
The decision to call an emergency Cabinet meeting massively raises the stakes as Westminster braces for a Parliamentary showdown which will shape the UK’s immediate and long term future.
Opposition MPs will tomorrow try to seize control of proceedings in the Commons to try to crash through a law which would make it illegal for the PM to pursue a chaotic split from the EU.
It came as David Gauke claimed Mr Johnson wants to lose the crunch vote so that he can launch a ‘purge’ of Tory Remainer rebels and turn the Conservatives into the Brexit Party ahead of a snap general election.
As many as 21 Tory MPs are believed to be considering backing the ‘stop No Deal’ plan which is being orchestrated by Jeremy Corbyn.
They have been warned that if they fail to vote with the government this week they will be expelled from the Conservative Party and banned from standing at the next election as Tory candidates.
As Westminster descended into turmoil, Boris Johnson was meeting Carry On star Barbara Windsor in the garden at No10
Mr Johnson’s maverick Brexit chief Dominic Cummings (left) was in Downing Street today as tensions rose. Brexit minister Michael Gove (right) was also on hand as the drama developed
Mr Gauke, the former justice secretary and a likely Tory rebel, said this morning he believed Mr Johnson was ‘goading’ Conservative MPs to vote against him.
The former justice secretary said Number 10 had adopted a ‘particularly confrontational approach’ in the hope that the government will ‘lose this week and then seek a general election’.
He is one of a number of former ministers who are expected to side with opposition MPs when it comes to the crunch.
Mr Gauke said he was yet to be contacted by whips spelling out the consequences of what will happen if he votes in favour of stopping No Deal as he said Downing Street’s strategy was clear.
He told the BBC: ‘It’s obviously a particularly confrontational approach and, I think, designed, frankly, to realign the Conservative Party, to transform the Conservative Party very much in the direction of a Brexit party.
‘I don’t think there seems to be a huge effort to persuade people to support the Government this week. I think they seem to be quite prepared for there to be a rebellion then to purge those who support the rebellion from the party.
‘Normally there would be plenty of cajoling. One would have friends from the Cabinet phoning up and saying ‘Come on, why don’t you support the Government, give them a bit more time?’
‘None of that is happening. The usual operation isn’t particularly happening. It does seem to me they are almost goading people into voting against the Government.
‘Because I think the strategy, to be honest, is to lose this week and then seek a general election, having removed those of us who are not against Brexit, not against leaving the European Union, but believe we should do so with a deal.’
A Government source said: ‘The PM is hosting all Tory MPs at No10 this evening.
‘He is taking the opportunity to see cabinet as well. They will discuss Govt’s response to MPs seeking to take control of legislative agenda away from Govt and handing it to the opposition and Corbyn without the consent of the people.
‘The view is that tomorrow’s possible vote is an expression of confidence in Govt’s negotiating position to secure a deal and will be treated as such.’
A handful of would-be Tory rebels had been due to meet with Mr Johnson for ‘peace talks’ today but the PM subsequently pulled out, publicly blaming a diary clash but insiders said he felt there was no point speaking to them.
Instead of meeting the group of Remainer MPs, Mr Johnson had offered to hold a one-on-one meeting with Philip Hammond – but in a further dramatic development, sources said the former Chancellor would refuse to meet the PM due to the ‘discourteous’ manner in which the PM had acted.
Mr Johnson and his party whips agreed tough tactics yesterday which will see Tory MPs lose the whip if they fail to vote with the government.
Mr Gauke, Mr Hammond and Rory Stewart are three of the 21 Tory MPs believed to be considering supporting the anti-No Deal law which could leave the PM’s ‘do or die’ departure promise in tatters.
Meanwhile, Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, today became the second Cabinet minister after Michael Gove to suggest that the government could ignore any anti-No Deal legislation passed by MPs this week.
Opposition MPs and Tory rebels will this week try to pass a law which will stop a chaotic split from the EU on October 31 but Michael Gove and Gavin Williamson, pictured today in Westminster, have suggested the government could ignore the legislation
Dominic Raab (left) was spotted in Whitehall as the political manoeuvring raged. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (right) arrived at Number 10 as the Tory Party appeared to be on the verge of a meltdown
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn held a shadow cabinet meeting in Manchester today as he finalised tactics for the Brexit clash
Sources in the rebel camp said Mr Johnson’s decision to cancel talks suggested no progress had been made with Brussels.
‘People were going in seeking proof of genuine attempts to get a deal,’ they said.
‘The fact it has been cancelled at short notice suggests there isn’t a proper negotiation going on. The next point of engagement will be in the voting lobbies.’
A source in the Tory whips office last night confirmed that the order had gone out that MPs who rebel would be expelled from the parliamentary party.
The insider said: ‘The whips are telling Conservative MPs today a very simple message – if they fail to vote with the Government on Tuesday they will be destroying the Government’s negotiating position and handing control of Parliament to Jeremy Corbyn.
‘Any Conservative MP who does this will have the whip withdrawn and will not stand as a Conservative candidate in an election.’
Allies of Mr Johnson believe the prospect of immediate expulsion could persuade many of the rebels to back down.
However a source in the rebel camp said Mr Johnson’s deselection threat smacked of ‘sheer hypocrisy’.
The source added: ‘This is about the national interest, and we’ve moved beyond the point where threats will persuade people to abandon their principles.’
Mr Gove sparked outrage yesterday after he suggested the government could ignore an any anti-No Deal law.
He told the BBC: ‘Let’s see what the legislation says.
‘You’re asking me about a pig in a poke. And I will wait to see what legislation the opposition may try to bring forward.’
Mr Williamson became the second Cabinet minister to hint that such a law could be disregarded as he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme this morning: ‘It’s quite normal for government to take the time to look at the legislation and see how it impacts in terms of the negotiations.
‘Every government adheres to the law.’
Mr Williamson, a former chief whip, also insisted that sacking Tory rebels was the right approach to take.
‘Anyone who is voting against the government is in a position where they are voting to undermine the prime minister’s negotiating hand,’ he said.
‘They should think very seriously about that and the consequences.
‘I think that if they (the government) take the view that it is serious enough, that it is undermining the nation’s position and the prime minister’s position, if that is their decision it would be the right decision. If that is what is necessary.’
Downing Street said Mr Williamson was correct in saying that ‘every government adheres to the law’ but against stressed the need to see the legislation.
There are fears in the government that the rebels could draft a defective piece of legislation which does not actually achieve their stated goals.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘We haven’t seen what has been put forward yet. The people who are promoting it have not been willing to share that.’
Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Nick Boles today claimed the Tory party is dead, with the ‘hard right’ taking over.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if the party was finished, the independent MP said: ‘Yes. The hard right has taken over the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has fallen prey to an almost religious obsession with the hardest form of Brexit.’
Mr Boles said Brexit is ‘not necessarily’ a hard-right move but that ‘foisting’ a No Deal departure on the UK is.
He said efforts to legislate to prevent such a departure was not an attempt to ‘sneak’ a second referendum and took aim at Conservatives who have backed down on their former warnings about a No Deal to get jobs in Mr Johnson’s government.
‘We’ve seen that there are some people in the Conservative Party who are willing to sell their principles at a pretty low price in exchange for a job in the Cabinet despite what they’ve said previously about a no-deal Brexit,’ he said.
Mr Johnson has warned his MPs they face a ‘fundamental choice’ between his ambitious agenda, including pumping billions of pounds into public services, or the hard-left Labour leader.
As the rhetoric ramped up, Mr Johnson told the Sunday Times: ‘I just say to everybody in the country, including everyone in parliament, the fundamental choice is this: are you going to side with Jeremy Corbyn and those who want to cancel the referendum?’
‘Are you going to side with those who want to scrub the democratic verdict of the people – and plunge this country into chaos.’