Labour MPs who helped Theresa May see off a challenge to her Brexit plans last night were threatened with deselection by party supporters.
The Prime Minister was saved from a humiliating defeat on the customs union with the votes of four Labour Brexiteers.
Frank Field, Kate Hoey, John Mann and Graham Stringer – along with independent Kelvin Hopkins – voted with the Government. Mr Hopkins is currently suspended from the party over harassment claims.
The five faced an immediate backlash from Labour supporters amid claims the Government could have been forced to call a general election if it had been defeated.
Labour MP Frank Field voted with Theresa May’s Government angering his own party members
Frank Field, Kate Hoey, John Mann and Graham Stringer – along with independent Kelvin Hopkins – voted with the Government. Mr Hopkins is currently suspended from the party over harassment claims. Pictured: Mr Mann (left) and Mr Hopkins (right)
Pro-EU Labour MP Chuka Umunna said: ‘It’s very disappointing and our communities will question why Labour MPs are jeopardising jobs.’ All of the Labour rebels had previously backed an amendment on medicine regulation on which the Government had been defeated, except for Miss Hoey who did not vote.
Labour supporters on Twitter called for the group to face deselection. One wrote: ‘Labour MPs keeping a Tory government in power should be automatically deselected.’
Another added: ‘Those people are finished.’
In the general election campaign, Kate Hoey (left) accused Liberal Democrats of attempting to ‘demonise’ her after they plastered her constituency with 20,000 posters showing her face merged with Nigel Farage. Pictured right: Graham Stringer
Ahead of last year’s general election, Miss Hoey accused the Liberal Democrats of attempting to ‘demonise’ her after they plastered her constituency with 20,000 posters showing her face merged with Nigel Farage and the slogan ‘Hoey Out!’.
The Brexit supporter, who has been the Labour MP in Vauxhall since 1989, faced a fierce campaign to oust her because of her vocal role in the EU referendum. She also faced a backlash from some Labour members who refused to canvass for her in the constituency where it is estimated 78 per cent of people voted Remain.
A no deal Brexit would seriously damage the UK banking industry, Mark Carney said yesterday.
The Bank of England governor said that while our financial institutions would survive a disorderly exit, deals could dry up and households would be worse off.
His comments came as parliamentary turmoil made the no-deal scenario look ever more likely.
Theresa May’s government was saved by a handful of Labour Eurosceptics as they joined forces to defeat a vote to keep Britain tied to the EU
The 53-year-old Canadian had warned a vote to leave the EU could push the economy into a recession and later admitted growth had been stronger than expected.
Speaking to a committee of MPs meeting at the Farnborough Air Show, he said it was too early to judge the impact of the Prime Ministers Chequers plan.
And he warned that if Britain fell back on World Trade Organisation rules alone it would harm the financial sector. ‘It would be a material event,’ he added.
‘Speaking very narrowly about the financial services side, in the event of a no-deal scenario there would be big economic consequences.
‘We might have a lot of idle bankers as there is not a lot of demand for their services.’
Mr Carney has frequently warned that as much as £27trillion of derivatives contracts would be unenforceable in the event of a hard Brexit. This would mean consumers would be potentially unable to make insurance claims and companies left without cover for big moves in currencies or borrowing costs.
Theresa May is out of jail: In unprecedented Commons scenes, PM survives vital Brexit trade vote thanks to five Labour MPs
Theresa May’s government was saved by a handful of Labour Eurosceptics as they joined forces to defeat a vote to keep Britain tied to the EU.
Amid dramatic scenes in the Commons, a dozen Tory Remainers defied warnings they would collapse the Government by siding with Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to preserve the customs union with Brussels.
The rebellion came despite desperate warnings from Tory chief whip Julian Smith that defeat on the issue would prompt him to call a vote of confidence in Mrs May, followed by a possible general election.
Tory insiders said another 10 Eurosceptic MPs would have sent in letters of no confidence in Mrs May if she had lost the vote – potentially pushing the total over the 48 needed to spark a leadership challenge.
‘Had we not won we would have been looking at even more letters,’ one said.
Rebels inflicted an early defeat on the Government when they voted to keep Britain tied into the European Medicines Agency after Brexit by 305 votes to 301.
But, minutes later, the tables were reversed as MPs voted by 307 to 301 to reject an amendment to the Trade Bill that would have forced the Prime Minister to pursue a customs union with the EU – something she has ruled out repeatedly, including in last year’s Tory manifesto.
The move is a major boost for Mrs May in her negotiations with Brussels, which had been repeatedly assured by Remainers that there was a majority in Parliament to keep Britain in the customs union.