Labour claims Theresa May's government 'the most divided ever' as it releases dossier of over 100 Tory MPs criticising government or colleagues

80 per cent of Tory-on-Tory attacks in last year have been directed at prime minister or her government, Labour claims on eve of Conservatives' annual conference

Labour has accused Theresa May of leading “the most divided government ever” as it released a dossier claiming a third of Conservative MPs have publicly criticised either the government or a Tory colleague within the last year.

On the eve of the Conservatives’ annual conference, Labour said more than 100 Tory MPs have recently turned their fire on a colleague or on government policy.

The report said 80 per cent of the attacks were directed at Ms May or her government, with 83 MPs having criticised one of the two.

The dossier was released as a number of senior Conservatives spoke out against Ms May’s leadership and voiced fears about the prospects of the party.

Much of the criticism outlined in the Labour document relates to Ms May’s Chequers plan for Brexit, which has been widely condemned by both Eurosceptics and Remain supporters on the Tory benches.

It has been called “unworkable” by Justine Greening, the pro-European former education secretary, while former Brexit minister Steve Baker said it could lead to a “catastrophic split” in the Conservative Party.

Mike Penning, previously seen as an ally of Ms May, described the plan as “dead as a dodo”, and former cabinet minister Priti Patel said it would be “a disaster for our country”.

Ms May is facing mounting pressure to ditch the proposals, which are also highly unpopular with Tory members and have been rejected by EU leaders.

Further evidence of division in the dossier include blue-on-blue attacks by Tory MPs on Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary who resigned in protest at the Chequers plan. He has been called “the great charlatan” by the health select committee chair Sarah Wollaston, while Conservative grandee Ken Clarke said Mr Johnson’s criticism was an “irrelevant nuisance”.

Another section focuses on divisions within the cabinet, particularly between senior Brexiteers and pro-EU ministers such as Philip Hammond, the chancellor.

Labour claimed the document showed the Conservatives are unable to deliver a good Brexit deal.

Andrew Gwynne, the shadow communities and local government secretary, said: “Riven by backbiting and plotting, this Tory government is the most divided government ever.

“At a time when the country is in the midst of the most important negotiations in recent history, the Tories’ endless infighting and political posturing poses a very real danger to Britain’s future and to communities across the country. They are incapable of delivering a Brexit that protects jobs and the economy, and are incapable of delivering for workers.”

Labour released the dossier as Ms May faced criticism from a number of senior Tories on the eve of the party’s conference in Birmingham.

Mr Johnson used his latest newspaper article to repeat his criticism of the Chequers plan, saying the proposals were “a moral and intellectual humiliation for this country”.

Writing in The Telegraph, he said: “Overall, the Chequers proposals represent the intellectual error of believing that we can be half-in, half-out: that it is somehow safer and easier for large parts of our national life to remain governed by the EU even though we are no longer in the EU.”

Other Tory MPs also voiced concerns about the state of the party under Ms May’s leadership.

Former minister Robert Halfon said the Conservatives were failing to provide “a proper Tory vision for the future”.

Writing for ConservativeHome, he said: “We are stuck in the political rhetoric of the past, rather than providing a proper Tory vision for the future.

“It’s why even with ‘the most leftwing leader in the history of mankind etc’, Corbyn’s Labour remains pretty high in the polls.

“They are speaking to the problems faced by many. We too often speak only for the few.”

And Sam Gyimah, a business minister, said the Conservatives “have lost our way”.

Writing for The House magazine, he said: “We can’t out-Corbyn Corbyn, and if we try we risk offering a pale imitation that leaves people yearning for the real thing.

“When I look at how we on the centre-right have reacted to the perceived failing of capitalism, I can’t help thinking we have lost our way.”

Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman, a former head of Ms May’s policy unit, also spoke out, saying the Tories risked becoming a “rump party of nostalgic nationalists”.

He said: “A new generation of aspirational professional voters under 45 are rejecting the old model. Unless the Conservative Party reconnects with them, we risk becoming a rump party of nostalgic nationalists.”

The Conservative Party did not respond to request for comment.