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REPORTS: Tory Whips Summoned, No Confidence Vote ‘Likely’

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Media are reporting that sources have told them Conservative Party whips have been recalled from Friday constituency duties to Westminster and that a vote of no confidence could happen as early as next week.

UPDATES:

1:15 pm — Chris Green MP has submitted a letter to 1922 Committee

Mr Green confirmed that he has put in his letter to Sir Graham Brady MP, bringing the number of MPs who have publicly admitted to calling for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May to 21.

“My constituents want a clean break from the European Union, taking back control of our laws, our borders, our money and our trade. The withdrawal proposal from the Prime Minister will not help deliver that result,” he wrote.

 Earlier in the day, European Research Group member Steve Baker has said that 48 letters have been received — enough to trigger a vote — but not all MPs have gone public.

1:00 pm — May’s Deputy David Lidington says the Prime Minister would likely win a vote of no confidence

Lidlington told media that “If those letters were to go in, I think that she would win any such vote decisively, and she’d deserve to do so.”

“She is doing her best for the country. The national interest, I think, says that we should rally in her support,” he added.

11:39 am — Media sources claim the magic number — 48 letters — have been received by 1922 Committee  

Sources of both Guido Fawkes and Sky News have claimed that 48 letters have been sent to the 1922 Committee, with a screenshot from a Tory European Research Group WhatsApp message from Steve Baker MP reading, “My count is over 48 with about a dozen probables on top.”

Sky’s political correspondent Beth Rigby saying it was “confirmed” by an ERG source — “Took seconds to leak.”

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg added: “Steve Baker confirms his list does indeed suggest 48 letter threshold has been reached with maybe a dozen more – but he says impossible to know for sure because colleagues aren’t sometimes coy about what they have actually done.”

However, letters can be withdrawn and before the 1922 Committee chairman begins the process for a vote of no confidence, Sir Graham Brady will ask every signatory if he still backs his letter.

11:20 am — Ben Bradley becomes 20th Tory MP to publicly announce he submitted a letter to the 1922 Committee

10:50 am — Mark Francois submits a letter of no confidence

Member of the Conservative, eurosceptic European Research Group Mark Francois was the first MP on Friday to announce publically that he has submitted a letter of no confidence in party leader Theresa May, joining 18 others.

“Now that the details of the deal are available, we can see how truly awful it is,” he wrote in a letter headed “She just doesn’t listen.”

“Despite the Prime Minister assuring… that we would leave the Customs Union… Mrs May now envisages a situation in which we would remain in the Customs Union in perpetuity, only allowed to leave with the consent of the European Union,” he added.

Mr Francois said to Mrs May in the Commons Thursday that her agreement with the EU was “dead on arrival” and that 84 Tory MPs — and rising — were prepared to vote it down in Parliament.

Guido Fawkes news website has said that they have spoken to “half a dozen more MPs who have said they have put in a letter but refuse to go public.”

Read the original article by Breitbart London here:

Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby said Friday morning that “a source close to the whips’ office” have told her that they are heading back to London, with insiders saying that a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Theresa May was “likely.”

“Got to be close if not there already,” a source allegedly said of the number of letters, 48, needed to trigger the vote.

Reuters also reports that a source told news website BrexitCentral that the 48 letters have been submitted.

Sky News reported earlier that 18 MPs have publically said they have submitted letters.

If the number has been reached, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, will meet with each signatory to confirm that is there decision. If 48 confirm, Sir Graham will go to Downing Street.

The media outlet reports that that could mean a vote of no confidence as early as next week.

Constitutional historian Dr Andrew Blick explained on Sky News Friday that if Mrs May loses the vote — she loses the confidence of Tory MPs — she will lose the leadership of the Conservative Party.

However, he pointed out that the confidence vote in her as Prime Minister can only take place in the House of Commons, and everyone from all parties would vote on that.

That means that if she loses that vote of no confidence in the party, she still carries on as Prime Minister until the Tories find a leader to replace her who is also able to command the confidence of the House of Commons.

“In normal circumstances, if the government — ie, the Conservative Party — had an absolute majority in the House of Commons, that would be quite straightforward because that person would presumably be able to command a majority in the House of Commons,” as the party is dependent on the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in maintaining confidence, Dr Blick said.

Theresa May said Thursday that she would stick it out, with Number 10 signalling she would fight any votes of no confidence.

It is also believed that many Tory MPs believe May would survive such a vote, that half Conservative lawmakers — 158 — would vote to keep her head of the party.

This story is developing…

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