Brexit: Theresa May government in meltdown as coup plot thickens

Theresa May’s government faces meltdown after a House of Commons official helped rebel MPs plotting to derail Brexit.

British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street on Friday. Picture: AP.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government was facing meltdown last night after it was revealed how a senior House of Commons official helped rebel MPs who are plotting to derail Brexit.

Leaked emails show former ­attorney-general Dominic Grieve has been in secret communi­cations with Colin Lee, the clerk of bills, with the explicit intention of suspending Britain’s departure from the EU.

Mr Lee drew up three versions of the plan for Mr Grieve — each of which would overturn centuries of parliamentary precedent — and then swore him to secrecy.

MPs will tomorrow unveil their plan to hijack the agenda of the House of Commons to suspend ­article 50, the mechanism by which Britain is leaving the EU.

The revelations came amid the disclosure of Mrs May’s plan B to salvage her Brexit deal. She wants to offer a bilateral treaty to Ireland that would remove the hated “backstop” from the withdrawal deal and prevent a hard border by other means. Aides think that would “decontaminate” her deal so it could be supported by the Democratic Unionist Party, which gives Mrs May a majority in the Commons, and Tory Eurosceptics.

Mrs May could visit Brussels later this week. A source said: “She’s going to try to separate the deal from the backstop. They’re talking about a separate treaty for Ireland and then go to Brussels and say: ‘This is what we need.’

“You decontaminate the rest of the treaty. If the DUP signal that they are OK with it, that provides the conditions to succeed.”

However, a senior Irish source said the plan was “not a runner”.

Mrs May’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, has told two cabinet ministers that if it falters, the Prime Minister might offer to stand down in May in a bid to drum up more support for her deal. With her future hanging by a thread, a senior civil servant warned yesterday: “The government could collapse. She has nowhere left to go.”

Mrs May will tomorrow table a “neutral motion” and give a written and an oral statement to the Commons about her next moves. Two different groups of rebels will then table amendments, to be debated on January 29, that will seek to allow backbench MPs to seize control of Commons business and force through their own legislation, a device seen by Mrs May’s team as a constitutional “coup”.

One group, led by Tory MP Nick Boles and Labour’s Yvette Cooper, will attempt to outlaw a no-deal Brexit. Another group of more than 20 plotters, led by Mr Grieve, wants to go further by suspending article 50.

Their plan would need the support of 300 MPs — less than a majority — as long as they came from five different parties. Only 10 Tories would have to approve, making it all but impossible for Mrs May’s team to thwart the plot.

Emphasising their communications should remain secret, Mr Lee emailed Mr Grieve on Wednesday: “What follows is just for you and you will understand the terms.”

His wording makes explicit the goal of pausing Brexit. “We have been thinking that legislation is needed, but it occurs to me that the substantive motion, say calling for article 50 extension, could be made,” he writes.

The next day, he sent Mr Grieve three “options” on how the ambush could be mounted — effectively a Commons official drawing up plans to overturn the normal rules of parliament.

It is usual for MPs to get help in drafting amendments and legislation, but MPs suggested Mr Lee went further. Steve Baker, vice-chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteers, said: “Of course clerks are there to assist members but Dominic is now working to overturn the normal procedures of parliament and to overturn them in the cause of overturning a referendum result. I’m appalled.”

Downing Street said yesterday the plot for parliament to seize control was “extremely concerning”. “The British public voted to leave the EU and it is vital elected politicians deliver upon that verdict,” a spokeswoman said. “Any attempt to remove government power to meet the legal conditions of an orderly exit at this moment of historic significance is extremely concerning.”

Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned of a “political tsunami” if MPs fail to deliver on the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU.

He also slammed people calling for Mrs May to rule out a no-deal, saying the “most stupid thing possible” in a negotiation is to “give away your strongest card”.

“Failure to deliver Brexit would produce a yawning gap between parliament and the people, a schism in our political system with unknowable consequences,” he wrote in The Sunday Telegraph. “It is time for MPs to deliver on the promises they made. It is a matter of honour and a matter of duty.”

The Sunday Times, AFP