Brexit: Ministers tipped to replace Theresa May rally round

Two senior ministers tipped to replace Theresa May in a cabinet coup have said they fully support her.

According to BBC, Environment Secretary Michael Gove told reporters it was “not the time to change the captain of the ship”.

And the PM’s de facto deputy David Lidington insisted he was “100% behind” Mrs May.

Meanwhile, the Brexit secretary said an election will become more likely if MPs vote this week for a Brexit option the government does not want.

MPs are expected to get the chance to hold a series of so-called indicative votes on possible alternatives to Mrs May’s withdrawal deal, but Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said they would “not be binding”.

It comes as Mrs May holds talks with colleagues and senior Brexiteers, including Boris Johnson, at Chequers, her country retreat.

 

‘Serious manoeuvring’

Newspapers claim cabinet ministers are plotting a coup against the prime minister, aiming to replace her with a caretaker leader until a proper leadership contest is held later in the year.

The suggestion is that Tory MPs might reluctantly back Mrs May’s Brexit deal if they know she will not be in charge of the next stage of negotiations with the EU, but there are differing accounts of who the preferred candidate to replace her is.

The Sunday Times reports that Mr Lidington, who voted Remain, is being lined up, while the Mail on Sunday said the Brexiteer Environment Secretary Mr Gove was the “consensus choice”.

The BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg says there is “serious manoeuvring” going on.

The prime minister has come under growing pressure to quit following a week in which she was forced to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50, and criticised for blaming the delay to Brexit on MPs.

The withdrawal deal she has negotiated with the EU has been overwhelmingly rejected in the Commons twice, and it remains unclear whether she will bring it back a third time next week after she wrote to MPs saying she would only do so if there was “sufficient support”.

One senior backbencher told the BBC’s Iain Watson that even standing aside would not be enough for her deal to be voted through, and that Mrs May might as well “dig in”.

Mr Gove said he was focused on getting the maximum amount of support for the prime minister and her Brexit deal.

And Mr Lidington insisted Mrs May was “doing a fantastic job” and he had no desire to take over from her.

Chancellor Philip Hammond told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday “changing prime ministers wouldn’t help, changing the party of government wouldn’t help.”

He denied reports he was hoping to parachute in Mr Lidington as caretaker, adding: “To be talking about changing the players on the board, frankly, is self indulgent at this time.”

Mr Hammond said he understood MPs were “very frustrated”, but “one way or another Parliament is going to have an opportunity this week to decide what it’s in favour of”.

Former Conservative leader and prominent Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC’s Andrew Marr the disloyalty some cabinet ministers were showing to her was “appalling”.

They should be censured, sacked, or at the very least “they should be apologising and they should shut up,” he added.

 

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