Out of the frying pan, into the fire? The European Research Group’s attempt to trigger a vote of no confidence in Theresa May looks to have fizzled out, with several members of the Brexiteer caucus deciding that discretion is the better part of valour. But the Conservatives’ nominal coalition partners, the Democratic Unionist Party, abstained last night on key finance bills, sending a message to May and to Tory MPs that supporting a Brexit end state that throws up further barriers between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom is a non-negotiable for them.
Regular Morning Call readers will be able to join in with the chorus at this point, but, of course, what really matters is not whether the ERG can muster 48 no confidence letters (turns out it can’t) but if it can chivvy up enough rebels to defeat the Brexit deal on the floor of the House of Commons. By any metric – the number of resignations from the front benches over the deal, the 25 who have publicly claimed to have written letters of no confidence – the answer to that is a resounding yes, even before you add in Conservative Remainers who are opposed to the deal or the ten DUP MPs.
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