Theresa May was tonight clinging desperately to power with mutinous Tory MPs baying for her political blood and demanding she quit as Conservative leader.
The beleaguered Prime Minister has arranged a showdown with backbench kingmaker Sir Graham Brady on Friday as ministers lined up to demand she drop her promise of a Commons vote on a second Brexit referendum.
The Prime Minister’s job is hanging by a thread after Cabinet members including Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, and David Mundell laid down a blunt ultimatum.
Rumours had swept Westminster that there could even be a dramatic announcement tonight if Mrs May cannot defuse the angry backlash – although No10 dismissed the idea.
But Sir Graham tonight told the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs that she had been given two more days with European election – in which the Tories are expected to receive a hiding – taking place tomorrow.
The so-called ‘Pizza Club’ of Eurosceptic ministers met earlier to consider their next move as the Tory infighting escalated.
A Cabinet source said there was a growing consensus that the Withdrawal Agreement Bill – known as WAB – should not be brought to the Commons. ‘The mood music in Cabinet is heading towards stopping it coming back,’ they told MailOnline.
Mr Javid has demanded a meeting with the PM to tell her the offer for MPs to get a vote on a second referendum must be dropped.
He is understood to be convinced that Mrs May went much further than was agreed by Cabinet when she made last night’s desperate speech designed to win support from Labour MPs.
Mr Hunt and Mr Mundell have also asked to see the premier – although she has yet to agree to meetings. The Scottish Secretary is furious that her referendum promise is a gift to the SNP, which is pushing for another independence ballot north of the border.
More junior ministers are also making clear they will not support the legislation if it does come to Parliament.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith joked that Mrs May had barricaded herself into No10. ‘The sofa is up against the door, she’s not leaving,’ he told reporters.
But Mrs May left Downing Street to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace – for their usual weekly meeting.
The Tory 1922 committee met this evening to consider changing party rules to allow an immediate confidence vote in her leadership.
Government chief whip Julian Smith joined the meeting deep inside Parliament for a few minutes – and emerged looking grim-faced.
But it later transpired that the committee’s executive, despite heavy pressure from Brexiteers, did not change its rules.
One Tory MP described the outcome of the 1922 Committee meeting as ‘the can kicked down until Friday’.
Another, Michael Fabricant, tweeted that there was ‘paralysis’, adding: ‘I wonder if there should be a vote of No Confidence in the 1922 Executive? Colleagues are growing impatient.’
A bleary-eyed Theresa May was driven away from Parliament after facing a brutal session of Brexit questions in the Commons chamber this afternoon
Key Brexiteers were glaringly absent from PMQs today amid claims ‘secret meetings’ are taking place to oust Mrs May
As Theresa May’s leadership implodes, the Conservatives have dropped another three points over the past week – while Nigel Farage’s new outfit have gone up by two
There were glum faces on the government front bench today as Mrs May vowed to press ahead with a vote on the Brexit Bill
The premier put on a show of defiance during a marathon appearance in the Commons this afternoon, insisting the text of her Brexit Bill would be published on Friday.
In a nod to the huge pressure she is under, Mrs May acknowledged that ‘in time another PM will stand at this despatch box’.
‘But while I am here I have a duty to be clear with the House about the facts. If we are going to deliver Brexit in this Parliament we are going to have to pass a Withdrawal Agreement Bill,’ she said.
‘Our job in this House is to take decisions, not duck them.’
However, key Brexiteers were glaringly absent from the chamber as she spoke. Ms Leadsom, Liz Truss and Liam Fox were nowhere to be seen initially, with the frontbench filled instead by loyalist Remainers. Mrs Leadsom arrived about 40 minutes into the session.
Mrs May’s position is looking increasingly untenable, with even her closest allies calling on her to pull the proposed Brexit vote in early June and resign.
One Cabinet source said they did not believe Mrs May would survive much longer.
‘There are a lot of meetings going on. People are considering their options,’ the source told MailOnline. ‘She might not make it another 24 hours, never mind until Monday.’
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have slumped to just seven per cent in a poll on the eve of the European elections – an astonishing 30 points behind Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. Many MPs fear the party will suffer an unprecedented wipeout tomorrow – losing all its MEPs.
Before tonight’s meeting the secretary of the 1922 committee, Nigel Evans, said: ‘She has U-turned on absolutely everything. We cannot put up with this any longer’.
As pressure ratcheted up, senior Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat joined calls for Mrs May to quit – and said he wanted Mr Gove to take her place.
‘The moment has come when I’m afraid we need new leadership. It needs to be somebody who voted for Brexit, there are some excellent candidates out there,’ he told Sky News.
Another senior backbencher told MailOnline: ‘She needs to go and she needs to go soon – this week or next.’
A No10 source said Mrs May was not attending the 1922 meeting, and denied suggestions that she could make a resignation statement tonight.
Asked about gaps on the Tory benches at PMQs and statement, the source said: ‘The PM is working very hard with her colleagues on something that is important to people right across the Conservative Party which is delivering Brexit in line with our manifesto.’
Asked about resignation calls he said: ‘The Prime Minister is focused on the job in hand.’
Yesterday Mrs May took the gamble of offering MPs a binding vote on a second referendum – if they backed her withdrawal agreement at the fourth attempt.
But her speech was branded a ‘f***ing disaster’ by one minister with more than 65 Tory MPs set to vote against her deal next month – including u-turns from more than 30 who had voted for it last time – and Labour rebels also refusing to bail her out.
Many ministers are incandescent that Mrs May went further in her speech than what had been agreed by Cabinet, by suggesting the government would implement the legislation for a second referendum if MPs vote for one.
Today Environment Secretary Michael Gove avoided saying if the PM would be in post after next week and said the Cabinet will ‘reflect over next few days’ on whether the Brexit bill will definitely be voted on in the first week of June.
When asked if he could work with Boris Johnson – whom he fell out with in 2016 – he called the leadership favourite ‘a Conservative of flair, elan and intellect’ who ‘served as foreign secretary with distinction’.
With support for her deal collapsing Mrs May has made a final desperate attempt to get Labour support by writing to Jeremy Corbyn begging him to back her – but that also appears to have backfired.
The Labour leader’s Brexit negotiator Sir Keir Starmer said today: ‘The Prime Minister ought to now admit defeat and I think she would do well to just pull the vote and pause because this is going nowhere’.
Mrs May faced MPs after her latest Brexit deal offer was lambasted with several Brexiteer ministers deciding to stay away and meet privately instead
Michael Gove hinted that the vote on Mrs May’s deal could still be shelved and had warm words for leadership favourite Boris Johnson
Tim Loughton today tweeted a picture of his letter to Tory 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady calling for Mrs May to be sacked
Mr Gove refused to guarantee that the Withdrawal Agreement Bill would come to the Commons in the week beginning June 3, as had previously been promised.
‘We will reflect over the course of the next few days on how people look at the proposition that has been put forward,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘But there has to be a vote on a Withdrawal Agreement implementation bill.’
He added: ‘I think that, rather than saying anything precipitate, I think everyone should take an opportunity to reflect on what the PM will say later today and look at the Bill.’
Mr Gove told Today: ‘I think the most important thing we should do is reflect on all the options in front of us.
‘I can understand the strong feelings – I have strong feelings – on leaving the European Union that have been aired and articulated over the course of the last 24 hours.
‘I think it is also important that there is a period of reflection and a period of analysis as we look at what the Prime Minister has put forward.’
Asked about the 1922 Committee’s decisions on Mrs May’s future and whether she would still be Prime Minister next Tuesday, after the results of the European elections are clear, Mr Gove said: ‘I am a supporter of the Prime Minister, I voted for her in the last vote of confidence, I believe that she is working incredibly hard in a difficult situation in order to find a way through for this country, and she has my respect and support.
‘I think the Prime Minister will be Prime Minister next Tuesday, yes.’
In a letter to Mr Corbyn, Mrs May highlighted the tests he had set at the start of the failed process to reach a cross-party agreement, and insisted that the proposals would hold ‘for the remainder of this parliament’ – a reference to his concerns that her successor could unpick a deal.
She told him: ‘I have shown … that I am willing to compromise to deliver Brexit for the British people.
‘The WAB is our last chance to do so. I ask you to compromise too so that we can deliver what both our parties promised in our manifestos and restore faith in our politics.’
Theresa May leaves Downing Street ahead of a bruising in the Commons with her future as Tory leader in serious peril
Mr Corbyn said: ‘We will, of course, look seriously at the details of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill when it is published.
‘But we won’t back a repackaged version of the same old deal – and it’s clear that this weak and disintegrating government is unable to deliver on its own commitments.’
Mrs May’s Brexit deal is hanging by a thread after furious Tory MPs savaged her decision to open the door to a second referendum.
She pleaded with Parliament to finally approve her plan so Britain could avoid ‘a nightmare future of permanently polarised politics’.
Desperate to win over Labour MPs, she also suggested the agreement could be amended to include a temporary customs union. The move followed a fractious three-hour Cabinet meeting, in which at least two ministers are said to have hinted they might resign in protest at the concessions.
Boris Johnson, who voted for Mrs May’s deal at the third attempt, led the attacks on her latest offer, saying: ‘Now we are being asked to vote for a customs union and a second referendum.
‘The Bill is directly against our manifesto – and I will not vote for it. We can and must do better – and deliver what the people voted for.’
Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, who is lining up against Mr Johnson to succeed the PM, said he could not support legislation ‘that would be the vehicle for a second referendum or customs union’.
Mark Francois led hardline Eurosceptic MPs in insisting Mrs May’s concessions were ‘dead on arrival’. Some Tory MPs even called on the PM to quit immediately
Jeremy Corbyn initially said Labour would ‘look seriously’ at the proposals. But he later warned: ‘Theresa May’s new Brexit deal is a rehash of her old bad deal and Labour cannot support it.’
The Prime Minister appeared to be on course for a crushing three-figure defeat as MPs from almost all sides rejected her proposals, with Brexiteers branding it a ‘direct insult’ and a ‘dog’s breakfast’, while Labour and key Remainers said it did not go far enough.
As the problems for the premier deepened, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the DUP and more moderate Tories publicly declared that they will vote against the Bill – putting it on track for a crushing defeat.
Richmond MP Zac Goldsmith called for the Prime Minister to ‘go’, saying: ‘I supported the PM’s rotten deal last time as I felt we could then draw a line and select a new PM to pick up the pieces.
‘But I cannot support this convoluted mess.’
MP for Dover and Deal, Charlie Elphicke, said: ‘I supported the Prime Minister in March as I thought it was our last chance to leave the EU.
‘That’s no longer the case and I’m afraid that this proposal is worse than before. This is not Brexit and I won’t be supporting it.’
Dominic Raab, a former Brexit secretary, who said: ‘I cannot support legislation that would be the vehicle for a second referendum or customs union. Either option would frustrate rather than deliver Brexit – and break our clear manifesto promises.’
In a string of social media messages and interviews, around two dozen of the Prime Minister’s backbenchers who had previously voted for her deal the last time, said they would no longer back her.
Even Tory loyalist Andrew Percy, who had led support for Mrs May’s deal on the backbenches, said he was no longer sure he could vote for it because of the promise to hold a vote on having a second referendum.
‘I’m frustrated,’ he told BBC News. ‘I voted for this deal three times, because I think it is the only way we will get out. I really am concerned about the proposed possibility of a second referendum.
‘People were told in the referendum, it was the final say on the matter for a generation – it would be implemented.’
However, several key Cabinet figures last night backed Mrs May’s offer.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said: ‘The Prime Minister is doing everything she can to ensure we leave the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union. I support her and urge colleagues to back the deal. Once passed, business investment and confidence will surge, building on strong national employment.’
Chancellor Philip Hammond said: ‘Britain needs a Brexit that feels like a compromise; one that everyone can live with. Theresa May’s new Brexit deal is a bold proposal and one I encourage all members of the House of Commons to get behind so we can settle this question once and for all.’
And International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said it was ‘crunch time.’
In the hastily-arranged address, Mrs May warned that this was the last chance to avoid ‘a nightmare future of permanently polarised politics’.
She said: ‘If MPs vote against the second reading of this Bill they are voting to stop Brexit.
‘If they do so the consequences could hardly be greater – reject this deal and leaving the EU with a negotiated deal any time soon will be dead in the water and what would we do then?’
Mrs May also delivered a stark message to Brexiteers that their hardline demands risked keeping the UK in the EU.
‘Some suggest leaving without a deal,’ she said.
‘But whatever you think of that outcome – Parliament has been clear it will do all it can to stop it.
‘If not no deal, then it would have to be a General Election or a second referendum that could lead to revocation – and no Brexit at all.’
But MailOnline understands she was forced to water down her offer after a ferocious Cabinet revolt over the idea of giving MPs a free vote on a referendum – something that would have made it much more likely to pass.
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling apparently threatened to quit during a fraught two-hour session in Downing Street on Tuesday morning. No10 said whipping arrangements for the vote have yet to be decided.
But while Mrs May was still talking her own MPs were rejecting her deal. Tory Middlesbrough MP Simon Clarke said: ‘I supported the PM at MV3, to try to get us out on 29 March.
‘But this speech from the PM means there is no way I will support the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.’
Labour demands for a second referendum crashed efforts to get a cross-party compromise on Brexit last week.
Trying to win over Remainer MPs to her point of view, Mrs May said: ‘I recognise the genuine and sincere strength of feeling across the House on this important issue.
‘The Government will therefore include in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at introduction a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum and this must take place before the Withdrawal Agreement can be ratified.’
But Mrs May’s suggestion was dismissed as a ‘con trick’ by Labour MPs. The last time a whipped vote was held on a referendum, it was overwhelmingly defeated by 334 to 85 – and supporters do not believe the result would be different.
During the fraught Cabinet meeting earlier, MailOnline understands that chief whip Julian Smith warned the PM that she is staring down the barrel of defeat.
But she was prevented from making deeper concessions by objections from key Brexiteer ministers.
Mrs May told her team: ‘The Withdrawal Agreement is the vehicle which gets the UK out the EU and it is vital to find a way to get it over the line.’
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘Cabinet discussed the new deal which the Government will put before Parliament in order to seek to secure the UK’s exit from the EU.
‘The discussion included alternative arrangements, workers rights, environmental protections and further assurances, in particular the integrity of the UK in the unlikely event the backstop is required.’
Boris Johnson scrambles to ease Tory fears about his hard Brexit plans amid claims allies could SUE MPs if they block him from leadership battle
Boris Johnson (pictured campaigning in London last week) is scrambling to ease Tory moderate fears about his hard Brexit plans
Boris Johnson is scrambling to ease Tory moderate fears about his hard Brexit plans as the battle to succeed Theresa May heats up.
The former foreign secretary hailed a set of ‘One Nation Conservative’ principles drawn up by dozens of moderate MPs, insisting on Twitter: ‘Agree with all of this.’
The intervention comes as a ‘Stop Boris’ campaign gathers pace in the Parliamentary party, with many MPs concerned that he would shift the Tories dramatically to the right.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd – a key Remainer in the Cabinet – fuelled talk of a ‘dream ticket’ alliance with Mr Johnson by liking his tweet.
A source in the One Nation Tory bloc told the BBC’s Newsnight: ‘We want candidates to work with us to shape policy moving forward. Not just on Brexit but on everything.
‘The whole contest will be a big test for Boris to prove he actually can unite the party in the way he says he can.’
Boris Johnson hailed a set of ‘One Nation Conservative’ principles drawn up by dozens of moderate MPs, insisting on Twitter: ‘Agree with all of this.’
Mr Johnson prospects could also have been boosted by a poll of Labour activists suggesting he is the opponent they most fear at the next election
Mr Johnson prospects could also have been boosted by a poll of Labour activists suggesting he is the opponent they most fear at the next election.
However, the rising Tory tensions were underlined by claims that allies of Mr Johnson are ready to launch a legal challenge if MPs block him from the final ballot.
Under the contest’s rules, MPs whittle the candidates down to two, with activists choosing the winner.
But an ally of Mr Johnson told the Sun: ‘We have legal advice that was drawn up for Boris that proves if members want a chance to vote on him in big numbers, MPs and CCHQ cannot stop that.’
Aides to Mr Johnson denied any knowledge of the legal advice, saying it was ‘total nonsense’.
Around 60 Tory MPs have signed up to the One Nation principles, which were drawn up by Mrs May’s former policy chief George Freeman.