Outraged Tory activists refuse to campaign for local elections as Theresa May ‘betrays’ them over Brexit amid Corbyn talks
- In a letter penned to the PM, activists say they are struggling to get volunteers
- They added that donations had ‘dried up’ and there was anger among members
- It comes after Mrs May announced Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn last week
Outraged Tory activists are refusing to campaign for the local elections because they feel Theresa May has betrayed them over Brexit.
In a letter penned to the Prime Minister more than 100 current and prospective councillors said they are struggling to get enough volunteers to help them fight the upcoming May local elections.
It comes after Mrs May provoked fury in her own party last week by abandoning hopes of persuading hardline Brexiteers and the DUP to support her deal and instead offering talks with Jeremy Corbyn on delivering a softer Brexit.
A number of MPs are apoplectic with rage at the move, while some Conservative members took to social media to cut up their membership cards.
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave after attending a church service, near her Maidenhead constituency, this morning. Mrs May haw provoked the anger of her party after she announced talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last week
And now councillors have warned that donations are drying up and members feel ‘betrayed over Brexit.’
A excerpt of the letter sent to the Prime Minister, seen by the Sunday Telegraph said: ‘We are short of party members to come out and canvass because the belief in the party they joined is gone.
‘Many of us have knocked on the door of paid-up party members only to hear that they will no longer support Conservatives because they feel betrayed over Brexit. Donations have dried up.
‘We are extremely concerned that the Government’s breach of faith with the electorate on Brexit will result in long-serving Conservative councillors losing office through no fault of their own.
‘Democracy only works if you make manifesto promises you will intend to keep … Frankly, we have not witnessed anger and incomprehension like this.’
Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the Pill Millennium Centre, Newport, after Ruth Jones won the Newport West by-election last week. Mr Corbyn has been in discussions with Mrs May about Brexit
Mrs May could face further resignations this week if she does agree a softer Brexit with the Labour leader or agrees a further exit delay with the EU when she attends a summit on Wednesday.
It comes just days after livid Tory activists were cutting up their membership cards and sharing the results on social media, describing Theresa May’s announcement that she will hold Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn as the ‘final straw’.
Pub owner Adam Brooks, from Essex, was one of many to share a photo of his chopped up card.
Mr Brooks said the Labour leader ‘has no right to be involved’ in Brexit talks and Mrs May has ‘killed’ the Conservative Party.
Lawrence Gartshore, 16, said he cancelled his membership hours after the Prime Minister’s announcement from Downing Street on Tuesday evening.
‘The Conservative Party are not conservative any longer,’ the school student from Warwick said.
‘This emphatic capitulation by May was really the final straw.’
For fellow Brexit advocate Busta Miller, 24, this is the second time he has cut up a Conservative membership card in three weeks.
‘I was angry a few weeks ago and cut up my old conservative membership card,’ the 24-year-old from Ealing said.
‘I was hoping it would show the party how people like me felt.’
After his latest card cutting, Mr Miller said: ‘Asking to meet with Corbyn for a way forward on Brexit was the last straw for me.
‘As this incompetent leader has said numerous times, no deal is better than a bad deal. Well that was just another lie among the many and I’m done with it.’