Tory Brexiteers 'like toddlers stamping their feet', says Conservative ex-cabinet minister

Theresa May urged to defy Eurosceptics accused of ‘holding her to ransom’ over Brexit

A former Conservative cabinet minister has said Brexiteers are acting like ”toddlers” who “stamp their feet” as splits deepen in Tory ranks over post-Brexit customs arrangements.

Nicky Morgan, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee, mounted an outspoken attack on Eurosceptic colleagues for issuing threats about leadership contests and failing to cooperate on parliamentary votes if Theresa May crosses their Brexit red lines.

The prime minister has enraged Brexiteers with her “customs partnership” proposal – under which the UK would collect import tariffs on behalf of Brussels – as they think it would keep Britain tied too closely to EU rules.

Ms May’s Brexit war cabinet is deadlocked over the plan and divisions were compounded when pro-EU business secretary Greg Clark argued that thousands of British jobs depend on frictionless trade with Europe, in what was seen as an attempt by Downing Street to revive the customs partnership model.

Writing on the ConservativeHome website, the pro-EU Tory said: “I think many of them [Tory Eurosceptics] are like toddlers who want their favourite toy, and stamp their feet with frustration.

“Based on conversations shared with long-term Brexiteers outside parliament over recent months, I think the reason for this is that they believe their Brexit will be taken away from them.”

The Loughborough MP warned it could hit the party’s future election chances as the prime minister is “constantly facing noises off from a minority” who are “prepared to turn a blind eye” to the impact of Brexit on the financial security of potential voters.

She added: “For over 20 years, some in my party have agitated and threatened and harried party leaders to adopt more Eurosceptic poses – to secure the referendum, to change the question, to get us to talk only and endlessly about the EU.

“Now they have decided to set some red lines accompanied by threats of leadership contests and withdrawing cooperation in parliamentary votes.

“And for too long the Conservative One Nation tradition has tried to accommodate these demands. Well, enough is enough.”

Former education secretary Justine Greening accused Brexiteers of acting like Russia at the UN by “vetoing things they don’t like”.

Tory veteran Nicholas Soames also called for the “holding to ransom of the PM” by the pro-Brexit European Research Group, an influential wing of Eurosceptic backbench MPs led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, to end.

The decision on the government’s preferred customs option has been postponed after senior ministers failed to reach agreement over whether to go for Ms May’s customs partnership or the so-called maximum facilitation model favoured by Eurosceptics, which relies on technology to minimise border checks.

The prime minister has risked Brexiteer anger by reportedly telling colleagues that they could be forced by parliament to accept a full customs union with the EU if they did not support her compromise plan.

Her ally Mr Clark, the business secretary, insisted the plan was still on the table in an appearance on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, where he warned that thousands of jobs could be put at risk at manufacturing firms such as car giant Toyota, if extra customs checks are brought in.

However Mr Rees-Mogg, a prominent Eurosceptic, dismissed the warnings as “Project Fear” and said that the customs partnership plan would amount to keeping the UK in the EU.

The Brexit war cabinet is due to meet on Thursday, while Ms May also faces a crucial Lords vote this week, where rebel Tories believe they have enough support for plans to effectively keep Britain in the single market.