REBELLION: PM Vote of No Confidence May Be Triggered 'This Week'

A Tory Brexiteer MP has said a vote to oust the Prime Minister could be close, with nearly the required number of MPs submitting letters of no confidence, as 50 Tories join a campaign to stop Theresa May’s Brexit plan.

Andrew Bridgen, the representative of North West Leicestershire, also claimed Number 10 could have been behind “violent” quotes appearing in the media over the weekend, calling for May to “bring her own noose” and to be “knifed”.

“It was not me and I have thought about it and the only people that suited those sort of comments, which were very unhelpful, bad politics, and I have got a lot a lot of sympathy for the Prime Minister, is No.10,” he told Sky News.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if No.10 didn’t put those words out themselves knowing exactly the way the press and the public would react.”

The remarks come hours ahead of a crunch meeting between Mrs May and the Tory backbench 1922 Committee when she will face her fiercest Brexit critics, and after Brexiteer Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns becomes the latest to publicly attack her plan.

“I no longer have confidence in the Prime Minister’s ability to lead the country and to guide us through the remaining stages of the Brexit process,” Mrs Jenkyns blasted.

On ousting Mrs May as leader, Mr Bridgen claimed a contest could begin as early as this week.

“I think we are very close to 48 letters [required to trigger a vote on no confidence],” he claimed, adding: “I think we are heading there this week.”

On how to proceed with Brexit, he demanded an end to Mrs. May’s Chequers plan for a soft exit, with the UK still tied to many of the bloc’s rules and regulations.

“I’m of the opinion we either chuck Chequers or we are not going to get Brexit,” Mr Bridgen said.

“It’s clear I think to colleagues now that the Prime Minister is determined to push through Chequers in the face of huge opposition from her own benches, and so I put a letter of no confidence in some time ago.”

Meanwhile, 50 Tory MPs have now backed the ‘Stand Up 4 Brexit’ campaign, which aims to oppose the Chequers plan and see it voted down it in Parliament.

On Tuesday, a slew of MPs publicly gave their support to the challenge to Mrs May’s plan, including Philip Hollobone, Laurence Robertson, Pauline Latham, Bill Wiggin, Sir Christopher Chope, and Sir Edward Leigh.