The PM has pledged to bat on, saying: 'I believe with every fibre in my body that the course I have set out is the right one'
THERESA May vowed to dig in like cricket legend Geoff Boycott as she found herself on a sticky wicket.
Two key ministers were among seven to quit over her Brexit agreement.
But the PM pledged to bat on, saying: “I believe with every fibre in my body that the course I have set out is the right one.”
Asked if she could “deliver the runs” for Britain, Mrs May said: “Can I just say that you might recall from previous comments I have made about cricket that one of my heroes was always Geoffrey Boycott.
“And what did you know about Geoffrey Boycott? He stuck to it and got the runs in the end.”
Yorkshire ace Boycs scored over 8,000 Test runs for England from 1964-82.
But Mrs May’s innings at No10 looked doomed last night as her soft Brexit deal faced collapse and a Tory leadership contest loomed.
The chaos unfolded after Dominic Raab quit as Brexit Secretary and Esther McVey resigned the Pensions post and accused Mrs May of giving into “blackmail” by the EU. Their departures were followed by five lower-ranking aides.
And on a day of high drama:
An hour after Mr Raab and Ms McVey announced their exits, Mrs May made a statement in the Commons where she was mauled by MPs on all sides.
Mr Rees-Mogg declared war by announcing he had written to the powerful Tory 1922 committee demanding a no-confidence vote.
Mr Gove then seemingly turned down the chance to take over as Brexit Secretary with sources saying he would take it only if he could renegotiate the current withdrawal deal.
But the PM defiantly pledged to carry on in the national interest even if the compromises involved were not comfortable.
She said: “The choice is clear. We can choose to leave with no deal.
“We can have no Brexit at all. Or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated.
“I choose to deliver for the British people. I choose to do what is in the national interest.”
The chaos sent the Pound plunging as markets took fright at the chances of a Brexit deal receding.
Rocked by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s bid to replace her with a prominent Leave campaigner, the PM vowed to cling to power even when Tory MPs do manage to trigger a confidence vote in her as party leader.
A threshold of 48 letters demanding one could be reached as early as Friday, with the pivotal vote of all 316 Tory MPs expected on Monday or Tuesday next week.
Even impartial Tories predicted the result could be very tight, with as many as 120 to 130 MPs voting against Mrs May or abstaining - making it nigh on impossible for her to carry on.
But the PM signalled last night that she will stay on even if she wins the vote by a margin of just ONE.
When asked that by The Sun, she insisted: “Am I going to see this through? Yes.
“Leadership is about taking the right decisions, not the easy ones.”
Meanwhile the depth of the crisis that has gripped the Tories became clear when it emerged grandees fear the party will now split apart.
The Sun can reveal that emergency planning has already begun for life after Mrs May.
Some ministers have initiated secret talks with moderate Labour MPs for a ‘Government of National Unity’ behind No10’s backs as the only hope of ending the Brexit deadlock in the Commons.
One mid-ranking minister involved in the clandestine talks told The Sun: “We are speaking to sensible Labour people to see what might be possible.
“It’s early days, but we may well end up needing to govern with them when Theresa goes. "It really is that bad in my view.”
Caretaker PMs to take over are also being considered by Tory grandees, with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Mrs May’s de facto deputy David Lidington and ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis all in the frame.
Friends say Mr Davis is ready to take on the job if it comes this side of Christmas.
The PM said she was “sorry” so many ministers had decided to go, and admitted some decisions she has had to take to strike an agreement with Brussels were “difficult and sometimes uncomfortable”.
But she remained unrepentant about her controversial Brexit deal, which Brexiteers argue leaves Britain tied to EU rules for years after we leave.
THERESA May’s deal has many flaws. One is fatal — and she must fix it.
Let us first say, though, that we cannot help but admire the extraordinary resilience and even good humour she showed for hours on end yesterday as her Government, party and plan fell apart.
But there is no point in just doubling down and hoping for the best.
Britain must retain the power to leave the Customs Union when WE say. Not when Brussels grants us permission — which it has no intention ever of doing.
This is fundamental to Brexit, to reclaiming our sovereignty, including the crucial right to make our own trade deals and open up our markets to the wider world.
That has always been central to The Sun’s outward-looking vision of Brexit.
Yes, this paper wants our Government to control immigration, just like all non-EU nations, but we DO want skilled migrants coming here to boost our economy and better their lives. And, unlike some, we are entirely relaxed about new blue British passports being printed in
France.
Our Brexit priority is to trade independently beyond the Brussels club. Locked inside its customs union we cannot. And the PM’s “backstop” agreement would give us LESS power to leave this central institution of the EU than ever before. No one can call that taking back control.
This is too valuable a prize to barter away. It is vital for our future prosperity and the EU knows it — which is why it was so desperate to prevent it.
Michel Barnier now knows this agreement he has extracted from No10 and wants the EU to sign off faces a heavy defeat here. Mrs May should go back to him, as her ex-Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab suggests, and try again.
Fix that sticking point and her deal might just have a prayer.
Mrs May insisted: “I believe with every fibre of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country”.
But she also issued a thinly veiled warning that funding for schools and hospitals could be slashed if MPs reject her deal and the UK spins out without one, saying the UK then faces “a path of deep and grave uncertainty”.
The crisis was sparked when Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab revealed he had resigned at 8.50am yesterday – the second Brexit Secretary to go on five months.
Furious at the level of dictation that the UK will be forced to take from Brussels under the plan, Mr Raab told The Sun: “I don’t want to submit to the blackmail of my country”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, junior Brexit minister Suella Braverman and Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara all also quit before 10am.
There were also three resignations in the lower ranks, with Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Ranil Jayawardena quitting as PPSs at the Department of Education and the Ministry of Justice, and Rehman Christi quit as a Tory vice chair.
Then at 1pm, hardline Brexiteer leader Mr Rees-Mogg struck, revealing he had handed in his letter of no-confidence in Mrs May to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee.
A series of other members of the European Research Group faction that he chairs are followed suit, as Mr Rees-Mogg declared: “What we need is a leader who will stand up to the European Union”.
But he argued: “Coup is the wrong word. This is entirely constitutional, by the rules of the Conservative Party”.
He said he himself would not stand to replace her, but named four potential candidates – Boris Johnson, David Davis, Dominic Raab, and Penny Mordaunt.
ERG bosses told The Sun they are unsure they have the numbers to succeed, but still believe a powerful show of force from Brexiteers will sink Mrs May.
The PM’s refusal to dump her Brexit deal during tense exchanges in the Commons pushed the MPs over the edge, they said.
During an electric three hour-long grilling of Mrs May, ERG vice chair Mark Francois told the PM her deal was “deal on arrival in St Tommys” and pleaded with her “to accept the political reality you face”.
Mr Francois claimed 84 Tory MPs will now vote against her deal, as well as Labour, the DUP, the Lib Dems and the SNP, adding: “It is mathematically impossible to get this deal through the House of Commons”.
In another bitter attack on her, DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds told the PM her deal is “a vote for a vassal state to break up the United Kingdom”, and said there was no point in saying more, as “she doesn’t listen”.
The Brexiteers’ leadership challenge sparked bitter recriminations from Tory loyalists, and exploded a full-blown civil war in the party.
Chief Whip Julian Smith hit back to say Mrs May “will not be bullied”.
Foreign office minister Sir Alan Duncan raged: “This is foolhardy, self-indulgent, and wrecking. What’s their alternative?
“They risk bringing down the Government, destroying the party’s prospects and quite possibly breaking it altogether”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell branded Mr Raab “a carpetbagger”, adding of him: “I’m sure this is more about manoeuvring and leadership."
Prisons minister Rory Stewart attacked Mr Rees-Mogg and the ERG as “pompous people producing medieval fantasies”.
And senior backbencher Bob O’Neill added: “It’s total self-indulgence by my colleagues, they should be ashamed of themselves”.
Another senior Tory minister added: “I am now extremely worried about the start of our party. It is being stretched to widely and it is going to break.”
Mrs May was Thursday night struggling to replace Mr Raab as his job as well as Ms McVey’s went unfilled overnight.
She will be forced to carry out a significant reshuffle on Friday.
Explaining the failing, the PM said: “I have had rather a busy day”.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Ms Mordaunt both held tough conversations with Mrs May yesterday over their futures, and No10 aides fear they too could also still resign.
The Development Secretary again asked the PM to give all Tory MPs a free vote on her deal when it reaches the Commons.
Friends say the PM is considering her request overnight.
THERESA May could face a confidence vote as early as Monday if 48 Tory MPs submit letters declaring they no longer support her.
They will be collected by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee.
He has to notify Downing Street within 24 hours of receiving the 48th letter.
He would call a simple yes/no ballot of all 315 Conservative MPs asking whether the leader should stay.
The Sun knew of at least 33 letters of no confidence from Tories with more expected today.
A ballot could be held on Monday if the 48 figure is reached by then. A leadership contest would be held if the PM fails to win a majority — with the target being 158.
Candidates looking to replace Mrs May are likely to include Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson.
