Jacob Rees-Mogg told Theresa May he had lost confidence in her today because the Brexit deal fails to deliver on the referendum vote.
The Brexiteer ringleader gave the PM a chance to convince him he should not send a letter demanding a no confidence vote to the powerful 1922 Committee.
Mr Rees-Mogg’s intervention dramatically raises the stakes for Mrs May who could be ousted within hours as Brexiteers furiously reject her deal.
If 48 MPs send a letter to the committee – which represents backbench Tory MPs – its chairman Sir Graham Brady will call a vote as soon as possible. If Mrs May loses, she is out as PM.
Mrs May’s deal has been greeted with horror on all sides and Brexiteers appear determined to remove her.
In dramatic scenes in the Commons, Mr Rees-Mogg said what Mrs May says and does are different things and questioned ‘should I not write’ to Sir Graham.
Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured today in Westminster) chairman of the powerful ERG group of backbench Tory Brexiteers, said he is getting ‘very close’ to losing confidence in his leader
Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured on ITV’s Peston show last night) accused the PM of breaking her Brexit promises amid growing speculation that she will face a vote of no confidence by her MPS
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the powerful ERG group of backbench Tory Brexiteers, said he is getting ‘very close’ to losing confidence in his leader.
He told ITV’s Peston Show last night: ‘No Conservative ever wishes to be disloyal to the leader of the party. The conservative Party is strongest when it is loyal.
‘And the case I have made is I disagree with the policy not the individual.
‘There comes a point at which the individual and the policy are so inextricably linked that that argument ceases to have any validity. I think we are coming very close to that point.
‘Let’s see what the Prime Minister says in her statement tomorrow.
‘It is very hard at his stage to separate the Prime Minister from the policy, much as I would love to do so.’
He accused the Mrs May of breaking her promises to leave the customs union and make sure Northern Ireland is not treated any differently to the rest of the UK.
The Tory MP for North East Somerset said: ‘When I first heard about the document it was gossip, rumour and leaks.
‘Now the document is available unfortunately it is worse than the gossip and the rumour and leaks.
‘And it fails the Prime Minister’s own promises and that is the most concerning thing – because the Prime Minister must not promise one thing and do another.’
One senior Tory MP warned Mrs May appeared to be sacrificing the support of the DUP in a bid to push through a ‘nightmare’ Brexit deal.
They said Jeremy Corbyn would exploit the split with the Northern Ireland party to force his way into power.
They said: ‘We cannot survive without the DUP,’ they told MailOnline. ‘And this deal cannot get through unless sufficient Labour MPs vote for it.
‘Corbyn smells defeat and I’m sure he will not throw her a lifeline.’
Tory MP and Brexiteer Nadine Dorries said she ‘absolutely’ believes Graham Brad, chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tories, will have the letters by lunchtime today.
She said: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already in.
‘There’s going to be more than 48, I’m sure of that, just by the number of people I’ve spoken to tonight. I think we will have the vote of confidence.
The PM (pictured outside Downing St last night) is facing all out revolt over her under-fire plan after Dominic Raab dramatically quit as Brexit Secretary this morning.