Robert Courts resigns as Foreign Office ministerial aide over Brexit

Theresa May faced a fresh blow to her premiership today after another junior ministerial aide resigned in fury over her Brexit plans. 

Robert Courts – who took David Cameron’s old seat of Witney in Oxfordshire – said he could not look himself in the mirror if he had stayed on in Government.

He is quitting as parliamentary private secretary in the Foreign Office so he can join Tory rebels backing a wrecking amendments designed to kill off her Chequers plan this week.

His shock departure comes as the PM is facing one of the toughest tests of her time in No10 this week as angry Tory Brexiteers are poised to revolt on two key Bills this week.

Led by arch Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, Eurosceptics are mobilising to defy their party whip and back changes to kill off her customs proposals.

If they are successful then Mrs May’s Brexit plans will be left in tatters and her authority as PM and Try leader would be dealt what may be a mortal blow.  

Mr Courts wrote on Twitter: ‘I have taken very difficult decision to resign position as PPS (parliamentary private secretary) to express discontent with  Chequers  in votes tomorrow. 

‘I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of WOxon that I support the proposals in their current form.’

Robert Courts declared his intention to defy Tory whips and vote against the Government on crunch trade votes in the Commons this week

The Prime Minister revealed the explosive private advice the US President gave her as they held private talks

Appearing on the BBC ‘s Andrew Marr show today, she was quizzed on what the private advice was which the President had dished out

His shock departure comes as Mrs May is set to be thrust into another tumultuous week in Westminster politics as she battles to cling on as leader.

Mutinous MPs have sharpened their knives for the PM and are have said they will oust her from No10 if she refuses to bow to their demands and ditch the Chequers plan.

And they are ready to make their first attack this week as they back a series of amendments to two Bills in an effort to force the PM’s to cave to their Brexit demands.

Mr Rees-Mogg has tabled an amendment to the The Taxation (cross-border trade) bill, being voted on tomorrow, which if passed would kill her Brexit plans by blocking moves to allow the UK to collect customs on behalf of the EU.

The vote is a crucial test of her premiership and defeat could spell the end of her Brexit plans – and even her time in No10.  

Labour in biggest poll lead since the election

An Opinium poll for The Observer newspaper found that Tory support has plummeted to 36 per cent – some six points lower than it was in June

Labour has opened up its biggest poll lead since the election – sparking warnings that backing the PM’s controversial Brexit plan will install Jeremy Corbyn in No10.

Support for the Conservatives has fallen sharply after the party have been gripped by chaos over its Brexit plans.  

Theresa May unveiled her controversial Chequers blueprint a week ago – sparking the shock resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis and Boris Johnson.

It plunged the Government into turmoil and left Mrs May battling for her political survival amid a mutiny from her MPs, who are threatening to topple her if she does not ditch the plan.

An Opinium poll for The Observer newspaper found that Tory support has plummeted to 36 per cent – some six points lower than it was in June. 

Although Brexiteers will stand little chance of success unless Labour decide to back them in the votes. 

Another amendment – which has the backing of the DUP which holds the balance of power in the Commons –  orders the government to commit itself in law not to allow a customs border down the Irish Sea.

Mr Courts’ resignation is a fresh blow to Mrs May who today has come out fighting – warning her mutinous MPs they can either back her plan or risk having no Brexit at all.

It comes after the PM today revealed that Donald Trump told her she should sue the EU in order to deliver Brexit.

The Prime Minister revealed the explosive private advice the US President gave her as they held private talks.

But she laughed off the proposals and said that instead she has engaged the EU with negotiations and come up with a Chequers deal which delivers on Brexit.

Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show today, she was quizzed on what the private advice was which the President had dished out.

She said: ‘He told me that I should sue the EU. Not go into negotiation, sue them. 

‘Actually no. We are going into negotiations with them.’ 

But the Prime Minister did not say how or on what grounds the US President thinks she can sue the Brussels club.

The remarks came as the PM launched her Brexit fightback as mutinous Tory Brexiteers rounded on her in a series of scathing interviews lashing her plans. 

Mr Trump sparked fury by storming into the Brexit row during his controversial visit to the UK this week.

He said the Chequers Brexit blueprint killed off hopes of a trade deal and accused the PM of snubbing his advice on  how to negotiate.

The PM is under huge pressure over her controversial Brexit plans with mutinous Tory MPs plotting to oust her unless she abandons the plan.

But she launched her big fightback today by appearing for a rare live TV interview on to sell her plan. 

She said:  ‘I recognise there are many people watching this programme and the millions who voted Leave, who feel passionately about leaving the EU. There are many people who voted from the heart to leave the EU.

‘But my job as Prime Minister is to deliver for them but to be hard-headed and to deliver it in a way that protects the best interests of the UK.’ 

In a day of dramatic Brexit interventions:

• Theresa May fought back warning Tories to back her plan or risk having no Brexit
• Brexiteers turned the screw on the PM ahead of crunch trade votes this week
• David Davis accused her of astonishing dishonesty by claiming there is no Plan B
• Former Brexit minister Steve Baker hit out at a cloak and dagger anti Brexit plot 
• Jacob Rees-Mogg launched an astonishing personal attack on the Prime Minister
• Labour Brexiteer John Mann said he might vote for PM’s Chequers Brexit plan
• Opinium poll shows Tory Party’s ratings have tumbled in wake of Brexit civil war

She insisted her plan is a good deal for the UK – saying it protects jobs by delivering on a frictionless border.

And she stressed her Brexit red lines of leaving the customs union, ending free movement and freeing the UK from the meddling of EU judges will all be stuck to. 

Theresa May (pictured with Donald Trump at Chequers on Friday) laughed off his advice and said the UK had to negotiate with the EU

But she repeatedly refused to say when her ex Brexit Secretary David Davis was told about the details of the controversial blueprint. 

Ex Brexit Minister Steve Baker accuses May of leading cloak and dagger plot to thwart clean break with EU

Steve Baker – who dramatically quit as Brexit minister last week – lashed the Prime Minister over her hugely controversial Chequers plan (file pic)

Theresa May was in a year-long ‘cloak and dagger’ plot to thwart a clean Brexit, a former minister has claimed.

Steve Baker – who dramatically quit as Brexit minister last week – lashed the Prime Minister over her hugely controversial Chequers plan.

He said the plan amounted to a ‘Potemkin structure’ – a fake illusion intended to deceive –  to distract from what the Cabinet Office Europe unit was doing for the Prime Minister.

Talking to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Baker said: ‘It does appear to me that there has been a year’s worth of cloak and dagger to land us into the Chequers position. 

‘An establishment elite who never accepted the fundamental right of the public to choose democratically their institutions are working towards overturning them.

‘We’re back to what civil servants wanted a year ago, the advice they were giving then, of something like the EEA (European Economic Area membership) plus something like the customs union.

‘In terms of who ultimately holds the pen on the papers that go to Cabinet for collective decision, it has been the Cabinet Office’s Europe Unit, and they have clearly been operating to a different ultimate goal to the one what we were operating to.’ 

Mr Baker has also warned the PM that she risks handing the keys of No10 to Jeremy Corbyn if she sticks with the Chequers deal – as Brexit voters will punish the Tories for the betrayal. 

She said: ‘This is a deal that has benefits. our companies will abide by these rules anyway, keeping a frictionless border means that jobs will be protected, it protects the Northern Ireland order.

‘It is non negotiable that freedom of movement will end. 

‘It is non negotiable that we are coming out of the customs union.

‘It is non negotiable that we will end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.’

While today Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan told warring Tory MPs to unite or risk their party going ‘down the plug hole’.

He issues a stern warning to mutinous Tory rebels such as Mr Rees-Mogg.

He told the BBC’s Pienaar Politics that the Conservative party could ‘go down the plug hole’ if MPs don’t pull together. 

The PM’s remarks come after she warned Tory Eurosceptics that they must either back her Chequers plan or risk having no Brexit at all.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, she said: ‘My message to the country this weekend is simple: we need to keep our eyes on the prize. 

The Prime Minister is getting tough with her backbenchers after a a week of open Tory civil war over her plans for quitting the EU.

Boris Johnson and David Davis both quit her Cabinet in fury at the proposals – plunging her leadership and  Government into turmoil.

Their resignations came in hours of each others and reignited talk the PM would face a leadership challenge. 

While Tory Brexiteers sharpened their knives for the PM amid swirling rumours that they will oust her as leader unless she abandons her plans.

Mr Trump waded into the row in an incendiary intervention in which he warned that her Chequers plan kills off nay hope of a transatlantic trade deal.

Storming into domestic British politics – and throwing diplomatic norms out of the window – the US President claimed the PM had snubbed his advice to get tougher with Brussels.

His astonishing remarks were quickly seized upon by Brexiteers who said he was right. 

The intervention piled further pressure on Mrs May to abandon her plans.

And in a fresh blow to her authority, Brexiteers are out in force today demanding that she abandon the  Chequers blueprint. 

Mr Rees-Mogg – who is leader of the Eurosceptic group the European Research Group – accused the PM of trying to ‘gull’ Brexiteers.

In an astonishing and highly personal attack, he accused her of acting in an ‘untrusting’ way. 

He accused Mrs May of being so ‘oddly secretive’ in her ‘headlong retreat that even key Secretaries of State didn’t know’.

He added: ‘She always wanted a soft Brexit.

‘The Chequers U-turn, the failure of the Mansion House test and abandonment of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ has broken trust. 

‘It would have been more straightforward to admit that no real Brexit was the intention all along rather than trying to gull Brexiteers. 

‘Perhaps we ought to have realised earlier on that a Remainer would stick with Remain.’ 

Mr Rees-Mogg – who has earned a reputation as one of Parliament’s most polite MP – also took a swipe at the PM for drawing a distinction between ‘passionate’ Brexiteers and her need to make hard headed political decisions.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme today: ‘In the view of most Brexiteers, head and heart come together, I’m afraid the Prime minister doesn’t see that.

‘I think she’s a Remainer who has remained a Remainer.’

David Davis accuses May of lying by saying Chequers plan is the only option 

The ex Brexit Secretary – whose shock resignation last week plunged the Government into turmoil – accused No10 of being ‘astonishingly dishonest’.

David Davis has torn into Theresa May accusing her of lying by claiming that there is no alternative to her controversial Chequers plan.

The ex Brexit Secretary – whose shock resignation last week plunged the Government into turmoil – accused No10 of being ‘astonishingly dishonest’.

He said the UK had ‘blinked’ first in the crunch negotiations with Brussels and come up with a plan that will keep the country tied to Brussels.

And he poured scorn on the PM’s assertion that  Chequers is the only option on the table – insisting he had drawn up an alternative plan but the Government have kept it locked up.

Writing for The Sunday Times today, Mr Davis said the Cabinet had agreed ‘concessions to the EU that were so fundamental they risked undermining the whole Brexit process’.

He added: ‘None of this amounts to taking back control.

‘Some are saying that those on the other side of the argument have not worked out an alternative. This is an astonishingly dishonest claim.’

He said that under the controversial Chequers plan the UK would say tied to many of the EU’s rules – without having a voice in what they should be.

Mr Davis’ shock resignation sparked Boris Johnson’s departures as Foreign Secretary and could leave the PM’s Brexit plans in shreds.  

While Mr Davis also lashed her Brexit plan and accused No10 of ‘astonishing dishonesty’ in claiming there is no alternative to Chequers. 

Writing for The Sunday Times, he slammed the PM’s plans saying that her plan to stick to EU rules would leave Britain’s ‘fingers caught in this mangle’.

He said the Chequers third way proposal would mean the control of Parliament over UK law ‘more illusory than real’.

He accused the cabinet of having made ‘concessions to the EU that were so fundamental they risked undermining the whole Brexit process’. 

Mr Davis added: ‘None of this really amounts to taking back control.

‘Some are saying that those on the other side of the argument have not worked out an alternative. 

‘This is an astonishingly dishonest claim.’ 

And they had an unlikely ally in Tony Blair who today piled into Theresa May’s Brexit plan – branding it the ‘worst of all worlds’.

The former Labour leader joined Tory rebels in attacking the PM’s controversial Chequers plan and warned that it would leave Britain a rule taker not maker.

He said that for two years minsters have been trying to ‘have their cake and eat it’ but the Brexit blueprint is an admission of defeat.

But he warned that by not cutting ties with Brussels completely and going for a full-throttled Brexit the PM was trying to push through a fudge which would never work. 

And he reiterated his call for a second referendum in the deal – saying this is the only way to settle the Tory Brexit civil war raging.

Writing on his website, Mr Blair said: ‘I fully accept the Prime Minister is putting forward the Government White Paper as a well-intentioned attempt to do Brexit whilst minimising the economic disruption to Britain. 

‘But this solution – half in/half out – won’t work, won’t end the argument and will simply mean a confused outcome in which we continue to abide by Europe’s rules whilst losing our say over them.

‘Parliament should reject this solution decisively.’ 

Mr Blair said the Chequers proposal will mean the UK will have to continue swallowing EU rules without having a say in them. 

Foreign Office minister warns Tory Party could go down the plughole unless MPs unite 

Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan (pictured on Sky today) slapped down mutinous backbenchers who are sharpening their knives for the Prime Minister.

The Tory Party could ‘go down the plughole’ unless warring MPs unite behind Theresa May and Brexit, a minister today said.

Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan slapped down mutinous backbenchers who are sharpening their knives for the Prime Minister.

He warned her Tory critics that they are ‘playing with fire’ and said now is the time for them to stop their carping from the sidelines and row in behind their leader. 

Sir Alan toured the television studios today to warn Tory MPs their plot could back fire and they should show Mrs May some loyalty.

He told the BBC’s Pienaar’s Politics the party will go ‘down the plughole’ if it fails to unite.

He added: ‘Jacob Rees-Mogg is not helping us stick together and we need to stick together.’ 

Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, he added: ‘We have to give the Prime Minister maximum support.

‘And I think that any of those who think that they can either criticise her, challenge her or anything like that must realise that they are playing with fire and that they will end up destroying themselves.’ 

If the Tory Brexit civil war continues to rage then it risks ‘very severely’ damaging the party for a ‘very long time, he warned.

He warned that Tory in-fighting could hand the keys of No10 to Jeremy Corbyn, and said his party colleagues should ‘just stop and think what would happen if Jeremy Corbyn were Prime Minister’.

Sir Alan added: ‘So I urge all my parliamentary colleagues to look strategically at the moment of history we’re in, the broader political agenda we believe in and of course the practicality of getting a Brexit deal which is and must be in the long term economic and political interests of the country.’  

He said: The Chequers Cabinet summit and the White Paper were the first serious attempt to choose and resolve the dilemma.

‘But in practice, under this proposal, we are staying in the Single Market for goods, whilst losing our voice in it.

‘Likewise, with the so-called ‘Customs Partnership’. 

‘This is effectively the Customs Union just renamed, with the possibility at some later time of getting agreement to some as yet undiscovered technological facilitation of trade which would allow us to have different tariffs on goods. 

‘This is pie in the sky.

‘In any event until the time the pie miraculously appears on earth, it will be impossible to do trade deals elsewhere, as President Trump has just confirmed. 

But Sir Alan toured the television studios to tell Tory MPs to stop sniping from the sidelines and back Mrs May

Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, he added: ‘We have to give the Prime Minister maximum support.

‘And I think that any of those who think that they can either criticise her, challenge her or anything like that must realise that they are playing with fire and that they will end up destroying themselves.’ 

If the Tory Brexit civil war continues to rage then it risks ‘very severely’ damaging the party for a ‘very long time, he warned.

He warned that Tory in-fighting could hand the keys of No10 to Jeremy Corbyn, and said his party colleagues should ‘just stop and think what would happen if Jeremy Corbyn were Prime Minister’.

Sir Alan added: ‘So I urge all my parliamentary colleagues to look strategically at the moment of history we’re in, the broader political agenda we believe in and of course the practicality of getting a Brexit deal which is and must be in the long term economic and political interests of the country.’ 

But there was more bad news for the PM today as Labour has opened up its biggest poll lead since the election – sparking warnings that backing the PM’s controversial Brexit plan will install Jeremy Corbyn in No10.  

Meanwhile, an Opinium poll for The Observer newspaper found that Tory support has plummeted to 36 per cent – some six points lower than it was in June. 

Meanwhile, Labour have stayed on 40 per cent, while Ukip – the Brexit backing party most commentators had written off – have surged to 8 per cent. 

Mr Baker said the poll shows that backing Chequers would effectively hand the keys to No10 to Mr Corbyn.

Jacob Rees-Mogg launches personal attack on may for duping Brexiteers 

The Tory MP – the de facto leader of the Brexiteers – said the Prime Minister had acted in an ‘untrusting way’ by flouting her previous red lines on leaving the EU

Jacob Rees-Mogg has launched an astonishing attack on Theresa May – accusing her of betraying Brexit and breaking the trust voters have put in her.

The Tory MP – the de facto leader of the Brexiteers –  said the Prime Minister had acted in an ‘untrusting way’ by flouting her previous red lines on leaving the EU.  

He accused Mrs May of being so ‘oddly secretive’ in her ‘headlong retreat that even key Secretaries of State didn’t know’.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme today: ‘In the view of most Brexiteers, head and heart come together, I’m afraid the Prime minister doesn’t see that.

‘I think she’s a Remainer who has remained a Remainer.’

And he told The Sunday Express:  ‘She always wanted a soft Brexit.

‘The Chequers U-turn, the failure of the Mansion House test and abandonment of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ has broken trust. 

‘It would have been more straightforward to admit that no real Brexit was the intention all along rather than trying to gull Brexiteers. Perhaps we ought to have realised earlier on that a Remainer would stick with Remain.’ 

Mr Rees-Mogg said the PM had wasted time and taxpayers’ money in stringing them along before abandoning her Brexit red lines. 

He added: ‘This is at best an untrusting way to behave and a more severe commentator would call it untrustworthy.’ 

He said the White Paper had not met any of the five tests Mrs May set out in her Mansion House speech on Brexit in March.

‘The common rule book is misnamed,’ he said.

‘It is not common, it is the European Union Rule book which we will have to follow or face penalties.’ 

He said: ‘It looks like Chequers means Corbyn. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

‘There’s still time to change course. Just.’

The poll also shows that Mrs May’s personal ratings have nosedived – plunging from -8 to -24.  

Letters of no confidence have already begun landing with Sir Graham Brady –  the chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers.

If 48 MPs send in letters then a leadership contest will be called – plunging the Tories, and the country, into yet more turmoil. 

Many Tory activists are seething at the Brexit proposals, which they see as flouting the PM’s previous commitments laid down in her red lines.

The next few days will be a crucial test of the PM amid warnings that she may not last the week without a leadership challenge.    

But in a boost for Mrs May, pro Brexit Labour MP John Mann said he may join Mrs May in the division lobbies and vote for her Chequers plan.

He drew a stark line between Labour Brexiteers and Tory Eurosceptics, and said he would support the plan rather than see the UK crash out of Brussels without a deal.

He said: ‘I’ll not be voting in the same lobby as those who vote to scupper Brexit. 

‘If they are in the lobbies with Jacob Rees-Mogg the public will be asking some big questions.’ 

Mr Mann is a leading Labour Brexiteer and No 10 are hoping they can get him and other red Eurosceptics to back their Chequers plan.

Mr Rees-Mogg has warned that the Conservative party could split if Mrs May ends up relying on Labour votes to get her Brexit proposals through Parliament.

And he has warned that the blame for the split will lie squarely with Downing Street. 

Some senior Conservative Party figures in local associations have resigned their posts in disgust at Mrs May’s Brexit plans. 

Among them was Peter Ward said he is quitting his post as Vice Chairman of the Wycombe Conservative Association as he called for the Prime Minster to step down.

He said on Twitter: ‘After careful consideration I have stepped down as Vice Chairman of the Wycombe Conservative Association. 

‘Democracy is not something that we can choose to ignore and expect no consequences. 

‘I urge all MPs to consider the irreparable damage this betrayal will bring. #MayMustGo’ 

Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn (pictured yesterday at the Durham miners gala) have remained steady on 40 per cent