No confidence vote in Theresa May set to go ahead as Conservative MPs send letters to 1922 Committee
A confidence vote in the Prime Minister is now reportedly likely, as the number of no confidence letters submitted by Conservatives have reached the limit required to trigger a vote.
The forty-eight letters required to force a confidence vote are now with the chairman of the 1922 Committee, according to Brexit Central, which cited an anonymous source.
Whips were told to cancel constituency engagements today and return to Number Ten, reported Sky News, citing an anonymous source.
Meanwhile Michael Gove has turned up for work as environment secretary, amid wide speculation that he will be the next minister to quit over May’s Brexit deal.
It comes as former Brexit secretary David Davis predicted that parliament would vote down May’s Brexit deal.
“The policy we have to deal with is going to be rejected I think by the House of Commons. Then the prime minister has to come up with an alternative,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
However, he would not speculate on the future of the Prime Minister.
May defended her deal on LBC radio this morning, but admitted that she harbours concerns over the agreement’s so-called Irish backstop, which ties the whole of the UK to EU rules until both sides agree the UK can leave.
The chief executive of Rolls-Royce also told the BBC this morning that the company is continuing with its plans for a no-deal Brexit this morning.
“There are a lot of steps to go between here and when we are done and we can’t guarantee anything out of this but I do have to be able to guarantee that we can continue doing our business after the 29th of March next year,” said Warren East.
“We are going to continue with our contingency plans and that includes buffer stocks so that we have all the logistical capacity that we need to carry on running our business.”