BORIS Johnson is determined to crush a rebellion by Tory MPs seeking to sabotage his Brexit plans in the Commons this week, senior Government sources said last night.
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Ahead of what is almost certain to be a decisive parliamentary clash over Brexit in the coming days, the Prime Minister yesterday instructed Tory whips to swiftly punish any rebels who join Jeremy Corbyn’s effort to block a no-deal Brexit by booting them out of the party. He also plans to rip up any legislation passed by the Commons to try to force the Government to ask Brussels for yet another Brexit delay. A Downing Street source said: “He wants MPs to understand it is their role to deliver Brexit and they need to face up to it.”
His defiant warning came as MPs in the cross-party “Remain alliance” finalised their strategy for a Commons assault tomorrow against his move to cut short the current parliamentary session and push ahead with leaving the EU with or without a deal on October 31.
Signalling his readiness to cause maximum parliamentary mayhem alongside encouraging more anti-Brexit protests on the streets, Mr Corbyn vowed to do “everything necessary” to frustrate the Prime Minister.
With MPs set to return to Westminster at the end of their summer break, Mr Johnson will on Monday deliver a blunt warning to Tory rebel ringleaders that their careers in the party will be over if they side with Labour.
As tensions grew among Tory MPs last night, the Prime Minister’s scheduled meeting with party rebels was scrapped.
Mr Johnson was due to meet 21 Tory MPs opposed to a no deal Brexit including former chancellor Phillip Hammond and former justice secretary David Gauke at Number 10 on Sunday.
But after Mr Gauke used a BBC interview yesterday to signal he was ready to lose the Tory whip by voting against the Government, Downing Street officials cancelled the summit and offered to meet Mr Hammond instead. They blamed “diary pressures” for the change.
The former chancellor, who was understood to be enraged by the snub to his colleagues, turned down the offer.
But the Prime Minister warned MPs last night that any parliamentary skulduggery risked undermining his last-ditch push for a revamped Withdrawal Agreement that would allow the UK to quit the EU with a deal.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Former Cabinet minister Philip Hammond
“Sometimes there is a point where you have to judge between your own personal interests and the national interest. And the national interest has to come first,” Mr Gauke said.
“But I hope it doesn’t come to that, and I hope cooler and calmer heads will look at this and think that trying to split the Conservative Party in this way is not a sensible way forward for the Conservative Party, or indeed for the country.”
Mr Johnson yesterday hosted a lunch for Tory whips at his Chequers grace-and-favour country retreat to discuss their strategy for enforcing party discipline ahead of a tumultuous week in the Commons.
A senior source from the whips office said: “The whips are telling Conservative MPs today a very simple message – if they fail to vote with the government on Tuesday they will be destroying the government’s negotiating position and handing control of Parliament to Jeremy Corbyn.
“Any Conservative MP who does this will have the whip withdrawn and will not stand as Conservative candidates in an election.
“There is a chance of a deal on October 17 only because Brussels realises the Prime Minister is totally committed to leaving on October 31.
“All MPs face a simple choice on Tuesday – to vote with the government and preserve the chance of a deal or vote with Corbyn and destroy any chance of a deal.”
In a bellicose speech on Monday, Mr Corbyn will step up his threat to do cause chaos to try to scupper any chance of a no-deal Brexit.
