THE Prime Minister was told to her face to quit by one of her own MPs in a series of brutal criticisms by hardline Brexiters in the Commons.
Andrew Bridgen said Theresa May “campaigned for remain and she voted for remain. Surely it is now in the national interest for her to leave, perhaps following a short transition period.”
Fellow Tory Sir Nicholas Soames told him: “Oh sit down, you disloyal twerp”.
Mrs May said every MP would have a decision to make on the final deal.
She said: “I believe it is important that we have a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people, which I believe the deal does, but in a way that protects jobs, people’s security and, of course, the integrity of our United Kingdom.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg borrowed a rhetorical device from Mark Antony’s ‘Friends, Romans countrymen’ speech in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, stressing the word honourable in “My Right Honourable Friend” to suggest she was quite the opposite.
The leader of the European Research Group said the Prime Minister was “unquestionably honourable”, then listed three promises on the customs union, the integrity of the UK, and the European Court of Justice contradicted by the draft withdrawal agreement.
He asked why he shouldn’t ask for a vote of no confidence in her, given “what my right honourable friend says, and what my right honourable friend does, no longer match”.
But arguably the most devastating intervention came from Mr Rees-Mogg’s deputy on the European Research Group, Mark Francois, who pleaded with the PM to face reality.
The Rayleigh & Wickford MP simply walked Mrs May through the parliamentary arithmetic against her deal, saying it was “mathematically impossible” and “dead on arrival”.
He told her the Commons “accepts that you have done your best” but Labour would vote against her plan, as would the SNP, LibDems and the DUP, “our key ally in this place”.
He said: “Over 80 Tory backbenchers will vote against it.
“It is therefore mathematically impossible to get this deal through the House of Commons.
“The stark reality, Prime Minister, is that it was dead on arrival... before you stood up, so I plead with you to accept the political reality of the situation you now face.”
Ms May said she respected his “very clear views”, and MPs would have a vote on the deal.
Arch Tory Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said the draft withdrawal agreement was “a testament to broken promises, failed negotiations and abject capitulation to the EU”.
He said its 585 pages “represent a list of failures- on Northern Ireland, on ECJ issues, on indefinite extension of time, on customs, on full independence of trade and of fisheries and, above all, on our truly leaving the EU, because it will control our laws”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here