Conservatives would be 'mad' to oust Theresa May over Brexit deal, warns New Forest MP

A LOCAL Conservative MP has said the party would be “mad” to oust Theresa May as leader but two others have refused to say if they are among the plotters trying to bring her down over the EU withdrawal agreement.

Sir Desmond Swayne, of New Forest West, said it was “difficult to imagine” how he could vote for the proposed deal – but came out firmly against any attempt to oust the Prime Minister.

Christchurch member Sir Chris Chope revealed his constituency association had authorised him to send a letter of no-confidence in Mrs May to the backbench 1922 Committee but he would only confirm that he would vote against the withdrawal agreement if it comes to the House of Commons.

Julian Lewis, of New Forest East, was also keeping tight-lipped about Mrs May’s future but did state he would join those set to block the deal in its present form.

A minimum of 48 letters of no confidence must be submitted to spark a leadership contest and in another frenetic week at Westminster, on Wednesday Mrs May repeated her warning to the Commons that voting down the withdrawal agreement “could risk no Brexit at all”.

The three local parliamentarians backed Brexit in the 2016 referendum, as did their constituencies. Two large-scale national polls this year have since shown a weakening of support locally but still with a majority in favour of Leave.

Sir Desmond told the A&T: “My direction of travel is towards a rejection of the deal. The more I read the more hostile I am to it. But I will not make a final decision until the debate.”

But he said triggering a leadership election would be “mad”, adding: “I have certainly not put in a letter and I am not going to. Those people who have are clearly working on an assumption of a change in the leadership. But she would win and they would have shot themselves in the foot.

“Of course, we could have negotiated these things in a much better way, but we are where we are.

“My preferred outcome would be that we would effectively leave on 29th March without a transition period.

“There would undoubtedly need to be a series of mini-agreements to make sure that there was not short-term chaos in aspects of our commercial relationships. But I do not accept a cataclysm argument.” He predicted no-deal would cause only “a measure of inconvenience”.

Sir Chris said he objected to paying the EU £39bn as a condition of the so-called divorce settlement, and said: “I shall definitely vote against the withdrawal agreement as currently drafted.

“There will be no problem in leaving the EU on 29th March without a deal. It is much to be regretted, however, that the UK government has played down its line that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’. What is on offer is clearly a bad deal.

“To remain in the European Union would be a breach of faith with the British people who voted leave. Another referendum would be an affront to democracy.”

He revealed Christchurch Conservative Association’s executive had voted by more than 80% in support of him sending a no-confidence letter – but had left to him to make the final decision.

Dr Lewis warned if the withdrawal agreement went though, the Conservative Party “will be annihilated at the next election”, in an online video for StandUp4Brexit, a self-proclaimed Conservative grassroots campaign.

He told the A&T: “I am totally dissatisfied with the agreement. It’s not what we voted for and I will vote to reject it because I believe we need to leave the EU decisively on 29th March.

“Only at that point will all the posturing and politicking of this fall away and both sides will sit down and negotiate a free trade deal.”

He described as “Project Fear Mark 2” the warnings against a no-deal Brexit, which some businesses have said could lead to queues at ports, goods running out, and labour shortages.

He added: “It’s the job of a responsible government to make preparations to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible.”

Asked if he had submitted a no-confidence letter, he said: “I am not going to make any statement about that at this time. If it’s necessary to make a public comment about that, the A&T will be the first to know.”

Last Thursday when the deal was announced by Mrs May in the House of Commons, Dr Lewis and Sir Chris both took their leader to task.

Dr Lewis asked how the UK could ever leave the EU under what he called a “Hotel California Brexit deal”.

Mrs May pledged the UK would leave the EU on 29th March next year and her settlement would “deliver on the vote of the British people in the referendum”.

Sir Chris demanded an assurance that the withdrawal agreement would be linked by law to the implementation and agreement of a future legal relationship between the UK and EU.

On the same day, Sir Desmond wrote on his website that he had received 200 letters on the subject within 24 hours. He has previously advised anxious constituents to calm down by going into their garden at night to “contemplate the Milky Way”.