Theresa May’s government looks to be in its weakest position since losing its majority in the 2017 snap election, with cabinet members on the verge of revolt and backbench Conservative MPs turning up the rhetoric to increasingly violent levels.
Tory MPs from far-right firebrands to centrist moderates have reportedly submitted letters of no confidence in Theresa May to Graha Brady, Chairman of the 1922 Committee, as the prime minister struggles to find a compromise over Brexit.
The prime minister has just 158 days to find a compromise that she can sell to both sings of her party and the European Union, but she is yet to find a deal on the Irish border that can satisfy both wings of her own party let alone the European Union or the British public, and tempers are getting frayed.
The PM attempted to shore up support from within her cabinet in a 90-minute-long conference call over the weekend, but the result of the call appears to be louder calls for her resignation. The Telegraph reports Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey was “devastated” by plans to extend the transition period Home Secretary Sajid Javid is believed to have warned May to reaffirm a time limit on the period to allay concerns it could leave Britain indefinitely tied to Brussels.
Outside the cabinet, tensions within the Tory party have reached fever pitch, with chatter of ‘assassination’ and ‘killing fields’. One unnamed Tory backbencher quoted in the Sunday Times as calling on the PM to “bring her own noose” to a meeting next week and: “The moment is coming when the knife gets heated, stuck in her front and twisted. She’ll be dead soon.”
Outside the Conservative party, 71 percent of the general public say the government is handling Brexit badly, with 65 percent of Leave voters in agreement, according to a recent YouGov poll.
