Brexit news: Theresa May facing grassroots no-confidence vote as Farage's new Brexit Party takes commanding poll lead
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Theresa May could face an unprecedented no-confidence vote among grassroots Tories, as the prospect of a crushing defeat in European elections looms.
Local party chairs have been circulating a petition that is on course to force the National Conservative Convention to hold an extraordinary general meeting where members could pressure the prime minister to resign.
The plot emerged as a poll showed Nigel Farage‘s new Brexit Party had stormed into the lead ahead of EU parliament elections next month.
A YouGov poll, commissioned by the People’s Vote campaign, puts the Brexit Party on 27 per cent, ahead of Labour on 22 per cent with the Conservatives trailing on 15 per cent.
It follows the burst of publicity the Brexit Party received with the launch last week of its election campaign, when it was announced that Annunziata Rees-Mogg – the sister of the leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg – would be among its candidates.
It will reinforce fears among ministers the Conservatives are heading for a crushing defeat if the poll on 23 May goes ahead as planned – a result which would almost certainly see fresh calls for Ms May to quit.
The prime minister has said she is determined to get a Brexit deal through Parliament before that date, which would mean voting would be cancelled.
However, that not only means winning a “meaningful vote” on a deal – which has already been rejected three times by the Commons – but also then passing a bill formally ratifying the agreement in law.
Much is likely to depend on whether cross-party talks with Labour can agree a common way forward – with the two sides expected to take stock of progress when MPs return to Westminster after the Easter recess.
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Conservative and Labour supporters are so polarised Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will struggle to break the Brexit impasse without tearing their parties apart, a new poll suggests.
The vast majority of Tory voters want to leave the EU and are in favour of exiting without a deal, while Labour supporters feel the exact opposite by an almost identical margin, a YouGov survey for Hope Not Hate shows.
If there were another EU referendum today, 73.3% of 2017 Conservative voters would vote to leave, whereas 72.5% of Labour voters would opt to Remain, the poll found.
On virtually every Brexit issue Conservative and Labour voters are equally divided.
Two-thirds of Labour voters (67%) would be opposed to leaving the EU without a deal, while 64% of Conservative voters would support such a move.
Two-thirds of Labour voters want parliament to vote to stay in the EU, while 71% of Conservatives oppose the idea.
Nick Lowles, Hope Not Hate's chief executive, said: "With such polarised views it is hard to see how either political party can sell any Brexit deal that goes against the views of its supporters.
"Brexit is fundamentally changing the political landscape and causing huge upheaval in both political parties."
Nancy Pelosi, who today warned the seamless border in Ireland must not be imperilled by Brexit, is reported to have clashed with pro-Brexit Tory MPs earlier this week.
The US House of Representatives speaker had a terse exchange with members of the European Research Group (ERG) over their view of the Northern Irish border, according to the Huffington Post.
“Don’t condescend to me or to us,” she reportedly told leading ERG member Mark Francois, after Tory MPs told the US delegation Remainers had "concocted" concerns about the border.
Francois insisted there was no clash, telling the website: "In fact Speaker Pelosi kindly said, twice in fact, ‘you guys are the most consistent of anyone we have spoken to over here about this whole thing’."
Pelosi gave her support to Ireland in a speech in Dublin earlier, telling parliament: "If the Brexit deal undermines the Good Friday accords there will be no chance of a UK-US trade agreement."
Tory MP Crispin Blunt has said he intends to table a Commons early day motion (EDM) expressing no confidence in speaker John Bercow because of his "bias" over Brexit.
Mr Blunt, a strong supporter of the decision to leave the EU, said the speaker's impartiality was an "indispensable condition" of the effective working of Parliament.
He said he was writing to all MPs seeking their support for the EDM which he intends to table on Tuesday when MPs return from their Easter break.
His decision follows a series of controversial interventions by Mr Bercow which were seen to favour Remain supporters.
"Even his most partisan supporters for the positive changes he has delivered as Speaker do not now seriously dispute his bias in the conduct of our affairs," Mr Blunt said.
EDMs - which are not allocated time in the parliamentary timetable - are rarely debated or voted on, but are seen as a vehicle for MPs to express their views on a particular issue.
A technological solution to the Northern Ireland border issue caused by Brexit could be more than a decade away, Sky News reports, citing a Home Office document.
Tory MP Crispin Blunt has confirmed he has written to all MPs seeking their support for his early day motion (EDM) expression no confidence in speaker John Bercow.
In his email, he said he hoped to get a "minimum" of 100 MPs to sign to make it a "substantial motion" and to provide "cover" for others who wished to join them.
In a statement, Mr Blunt acknowledged they were in "totally unprecedented territory", but said the impartiality of the Speaker was an "indispensable condition" for workings of the House.
"Even his most partisan supporters for the positive changes he has delivered as Speaker do not now seriously dispute his bias in the conduct of our affairs," he said.
"But it now goes way beyond the Brexit debate. The public should never underestimate how far reaching the implications of these powers are for our democracy.
"The holder of this great office decides which MPs can speak in the House of Commons Chamber during debates and selects the amendments that MPs vote on, giving the Speaker the effective power to shape legislation.
"If colleagues are too cowed or too content with the direction of his bias to state their view on Speaker Bercow's obvious partiality, then not only will he feel able to continue, as is being reported in the media, but also feel able to do so exercising the power of his office wholly inappropriately.
"MPs will have failed to stand up for our most basic standards and have no one to blame but ourselves."
Irish President Michael D Higgins held a meeting with Ms Pelosi during which they discussed Irish-US bilateral relations and the implications of Brexit.
President Higgins and members of the US Congressional delegation also discussed the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process underpinned by it.
A statement from the Aras an Uachtarain said: "They discussed migration, the experiences of migrants and the undocumented, and the possibility of new E3 visa legislation.
"The discussions also centred on the importance of close co-operation between Dublin and Washington on such issues as the global challenges related to climate change and sustainable development.
"President Higgins stressed the importance of linking economic security and sustainable development to greater social cohesion and solidarity within and between countries."
Britain should use the next few months to "cool down and rethink" its decision to leave the European Union, the socialist candidate to head the next European Commission, Frans Timmermans, has said.
"I absolutely hope that the UK might stay in the EU," Mr Timmermans, now the Commission's first vice president, said in a television debate with his main rival, Manfred Weber of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).
"I hope this period of extension will be used for Britain to calm down and rethink things a bit, perhaps for politicians to be more responsible with the promises they make, and then look at the issue again later this year," the Dutchman said.
"Who knows what might change in the meantime?"
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