British cabinet close to collapse

May to be warned her government faces collapse following a call between Brexiteer ministers.

Two leading constitutional experts have warned that the government has the right to ask the Queento block a soft Brexit deal by refusing to give royal assent. Picture: AFP

Theresa May will be warned today that her government faces total collapse unless she passes her Brexit deal — as the Prime Minister’s aides were at loggerheads over whether to accept a soft Brexit or call a general election this week.

In an emergency conference call overnight Brexiteer cabinet ministers agreed they would resign if May accepted a customs union or got Tory MPs to vote for the UK to take part in European elections in May. They will deliver their threat when the Prime Minister consults her cabinet later today. More than half her Commons party, 170 MPs and ministers, have signed a letter telling May to pursue a no-deal departure from the EU rather than accept a soft Brexit. It also demands that she resign by May 22.

Next three days will decide UK’s future

But May will face resignations from at least six cabinet ministers on the party’s remain wing if she backs no-deal. In a leaked email, the immigration minister Caroline Nokes, who attends cabinet, told a constituent May’s “deal is dead” and said she would prefer “no Brexit rather than crashing out”.

MPs will seek to hijack the Commons agenda on Monday to try to agree on permanent membership of the customs union, a Norway-style deal inside the single market, or a second EU referendum. If May does not accept the outcome, they have threatened to pass legislation to force her to do so.

But two leading constitutional experts have warned that the government has the right to ask Queen Elizabeth to block a soft Brexit deal by refusing to give royal assent to any bill forced on the government by backbenchers.

A paper that was passed to Downing Street on Saturday warns that attempts by backbenchers to seize power from the government will “provoke damaging institutional conflict” and “may prompt the government to respond with countermeasures”.

The document, written by Sir Stephen Laws QC, a former first parliamentary counsel — the government’s most senior lawyer on constitutional matters — and Professor Richard Ekins, head of the think tank Policy Exchange’s judicial power project, reads: “The process of royal assent has become a formality, but if legislation would otherwise be passed by an abuse of constitutional process … the government might plausibly decide to advise Her Majesty not to assent to the bill” — though it would be preferable for MPs not to force the matter.

Senior government sources said such a nuclear option would be difficult since the Queen is supposed to be above politics. But May’s advisers acknowledged that she is facing an almost impossible situation this week.

The Prime Minister’s team want to put her Brexit deal before MPs for a fourth time on Tuesday. If it fails again, her spin doctor, Robbie Gibb, and political aide Stephen Parkinson are pushing for a general election — a stance that has provoked heated exchanges with the chief whip, Julian Smith, who wants to prioritise her deal.

One Brexiteer cabinet minister described a general election as “an act of ultimate self-harm” and said a customs union was “not Brexit” and would lead to Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister. “Neither option is something that I could accept. The PM now needs to take sides.”

The minister accused remainers of “the ultimate act of betrayal” for seeking to push the country towards a customs union. “What they are doing is an absolute betrayal of the referendum result and of this country. I cannot understand how any of them can describe a customs union as any kind of Brexit. You may as well revoke article 50.”

Another cabinet minister said: “We have got to stick by our manifesto commitment not to join a customs union. It would be deeply damaging to hold EU elections. If they are going to happen, Labour MPs will have to vote for them.”

However, May’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, and deputy, David Lidington, are pressing for a soft Brexit deal and a growing number of Conservative MPs are set to back a new referendum.

At least six have indicated they are prepared to back the so-called Kyle-Wilson amendment by which any final Brexit deal approved by MPs should be approved by voters too. They include Richard Harrington and Steve Brine, who resigned as ministers earlier this month, as well backbenchers Mark Garnier and Ed Vaizey.

Bim Afolami, the MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, said: “We now need to come up with a stable alternative to the Prime Minister’s deal and I think a confirmatory referendum has to be considered.”

Labour MPs backing a soft Brexit compromise are expected to travel to Brussels soon to thrash out the details with European Commission officials, negotiating behind the back of ministers.

MPs reacted with fury to the prospect of an election, saying they would vote for one only if the Prime Minister stood aside and let someone else lead the party into the campaign. Two-thirds of the Commons would have to back the plan to trigger an election.

They said dozens of Tory association chairmen are writing to Conservative campaign headquarters warning that there cannot be an election because the Tories would face a “wipeout”.

Tory whips have also told MPs to expect parliament to sit through the planned Easter recess, a move that has angered MPs. One former minister said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that those who run parliament either have grown-up children, no children or hate their family. Not all of us are rich and can afford to cancel plans at the last minute.”

Brexiteers see an election as an attempt by May to cling to power. They also believe that even if there is no election, she and her party chairman, Brandon Lewis, want her to stay until the autumn, delivering a farewell address to the Conservative conference in October — in what they see as a conspiracy to keep Boris Johnson out of Downing Street.

A leading Eurosceptic said: “Brandon is telling people she is going to play it long in order to thwart the Brexiteers. They want time for the current passions to fade so the Establishment candidates have a chance to get a hearing.”

But even if May gets her deal through, supporters of several leadership candidates called on her to leave Downing Street in the next few weeks. “There’s no way she can stay for even a couple of months,” said one remainer cabinet source.

The former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan called for a government of national unity, bringing together

Tory and Labour moderates to pass a soft Brexit.

A leading Labour MP said a soft Brexit was also a headache for Corbyn. John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, warned the Labour leader on Sunday that the working class will turn its back on the party after ignoring their support for Brexit.

Writing for The Sunday Times online, Mann claims that Labour is “on the verge of saying to the working class that your opinion does not matter” or saying that their “vote does not matter” after the party whipped against May’s withdrawal agreement.

The Labour MP, who supported that agreement, writes: “The consequence of Labour choosing to ignore the votes of our working-class bedrock of support is that the working class will turn its back on Labour.”

The Sunday Times