Back Theresa May or risk Jeremy Corbyn being PM, Tory rebels warned
TORY rebels planning to defy the whip by backing a series of key Brexit amendments this week risk handing Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn the keys to number 10, two backbenchers from opposite wings of the Conservative Party have warned.
For Conservatives of every outlook, giving our full support to the Government this week should be a no-brainer
Remainer Amber Rudd, who left her post as home secretary last month in the wake of the Windrush scandal, and arch-Brexiteer former party leader Ian Duncan Smith, joined forces in an article written for the Sunday Telegraph to appeal to colleagues to get behind Prime Minister Theresa May.
Ministers are facing the task of defeating or replacing 14 House of Lords amendments to the Withdrawal Bill on issues ranging from customs to a meaningful vote for parliament on the final Brexit deal.
And in advance of a crunch week for Mrs May’ Brexit strategy, Ms Rudd and Mr Duncan Smith issued a rallying cry.
The pair wrote: “For Conservatives of every outlook, giving our full support to the Government this week should be a no-brainer.
“The House of Commons backed the Withdrawal Bill at Third Reading with a clear majority.
“Not a single Conservative voted against it.”
Arguments for supporting the Government in restoring the Withdrawal Bill were “compelling”, they continued.
They added: “Any Conservative MP who is considering walking through the voting lobbies with Labour and the SNP this week should think carefully about something else too.
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”We have seen first-hand how we rescued the economy.
“We cannot allow ourselves to become divided.
“We must keep our eyes fixed on the future and the positive difference that a Conservative Government can make to Britain.”
The closest votes on the Withdrawal Bill are likely to be over a Lords amendment by Viscount Hailsham.
This would allow the Commons to decide the course of action the Government would take if Parliament rejects the deal brokered between the UK and Brussels.
Ministers fear the amendment this could remove the threat of the UK simply walking away from a bad deal.
Speaking at the G7 in Canada, Mrs May claimed some of the Lords amendments were supported by peers intent on “stopping Brexit or trying to tie the Government’s hands in the negotiations”.