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PMQs: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn ahead of confidence vote – politics live May could offer to stand down before election to win support in confidence vote – politics live
(35 minutes later)
The Conservative MP Simon Hart has described the decision by some of his colleagues t trigger a no confidence vote in Theresa May as “vengeful”. He said:
It looks self-indulgent, it looks vengeful and it doesn’t actually improve the chances of delivering the sort of Brexit that we’re all keen to deliver next March.
I think it’s a really strange time to be trying to depose somebody right at the final stages of the most complicated negotiations the country’s ever been involved with.
It seems to me the only people who will benefit from this are people we’re trying to negotiate with in Brussels who will see this as an opportunity to drop any pretence of cooperation.
A last-minute BBC News special has been announced for Wednesday evening on BBC One, with the result and reaction to the confidence vote in Theresa May. As the Press Association reports, the programme, titled May Leadership Challenge, will be hosted by Andrew Neil. It will air from 7.30pm until 9pm. The One Show, which is scheduled from 7pm to 8pm, will end early and the previously scheduled 8pm broadcast of Shop Well for Less will be replaced by the news programme.
Sir Graham Brady said earlier that the result would be released before 9pm. But journalists expect it well before then. The ballot closes at 8pm, and it does not take long to count 315 ballot papers.
Another question from a reader.
Hi Andrew and Ed. This is a good idea. I wish it hadn't met with so many facetious responses. Anyway, a question.
In the case that the Tories vote one of the hard brexiteers as leader, what probability would you give to Labour winning a vote of no confidence?
And what about in the alternative case that May survives?
If May survives, it will depend on whether she passes her Brexit deal, or whether we drift towards a no-deal Brexit. If her deal does go through, then the DUP has signalled it could pull the plug on the confidence and supply agreement. If the DUP and all the opposition parties vote against the Tories, the Tories lose.
With Boris Johnson as Tory leader pursuing a very hard Brexit, you imagine a handful of MPs quitting the party, and perhaps voting with Labour in a confidence motion. But Johnson is about the only likely leader who would split the party like that, and his chances of winning are probably over-rated.
And we are only talking about a handful of MPs anyway. To vote against your own party in a confidence motion would be a very, very big deal.
Overall, Labour winning a no confidence motion comes quite near the bottom of my list of likely Brexit eventualities.
The Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, who is on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child at the end of October, has tweeted her support for Theresa May, describing her as having “cojones of steel”.
The Prime Minister has cojones of steel and is putting in a punishing degree of effort to deliver for our country. She has my full support.
This is Davidson’s first intervention since her leave began: she has been a consistent supporter of the prime minister throughout the Brexit process, despite being a passionate remainer. In September, she told the Guardian of her “great sadness” that the Irish border question had not been better discussed during the EU referendum campaign.
Ruth Davidson: ‘We’re not as far along in the conversation about mental health as we think’
Here is more from the No 10 briefing. A Downing Street source told journalists:
[Theresa May] is fighting for every vote. We have seen support from across the parliamentary party this morning but there is a lot more to do this afternoon.
This vote isn’t about who leads the party into the next election, it is about whether it makes sense to change leader at this point in the Brexit process …
She has said on a number of occasions – in fact, she said immediately after the last election in 2017 – that she would serve as long as her colleagues want her to.
She believes it is her duty to serve as long as the party wants her to.
The source also said he was “not aware” of any plans by May to give Tory colleagues a date for her departure as PM or Conservative leader.
This is from my colleague Heather Stewart, who has been at the post-PMQs lobby briefing.
Heavy hint from Downing St source on how May will play today: “She does not believe that this vote, today is about who leads the Conservative party into the next election - it is about whether it is sensible to change the leader at this point in the Brexit process”.
(That rather backs up the point I was making a moment ago - see 1.01pm.)
PMQs - Snap verdict: Some of the most famous footage of Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons is from the speech she gave in the no confidence vote as she was stepping down. (It was the one where Dennis Skinner suggested she should be be governor of the European Central Bank, and Thatcher said at one point: “I’m enjoying this.”) It was a virtuoso performance, loudly cheered by Tory MPs – the same Tory MPs who had just voted her out of office (by not backing her in large enough numbers). Theresa May’s performance today wasn’t quite in the same league, but there were some similarities: a slightly swaggering performance at the despatch box, enthusiastic cheering from the government benches, and a striking disconnect between the public performance and the actual reality. (At least when Labour MPs were trying to boot Jeremy Corbyn out, they were honest enough not to cheer him in the House of Commons; they can’t match the Tories in duplicity.) It was a good performance from May, which will help her with the only audience that really matters today (the 315 Tory MPs voting tonight), although not one for the history books. Corbyn would have done better if he had focused on some difficult, “wedge” questions that would have caused problems for May with Tory MPs still weighing up how to vote. Like, ‘Are you 100% committed to lead your party into the next general election?’ There was one question of this kind, when Corbyn asked May to rule out a no-deal Brexit, but it wouldn’t have been hard to produce more. (The question about Priti Patel from Jim McMahon was another good example; that provoked an answer that will annoy the ERG.) Corbyn seemed more angry than usual, and the points he made about how outrageous it is that May will not even put her Brexit deal to a vote were entirely reasonable. But it felt like an argument for another day.
The BBC’s Andrew Neil says BBC research shows that more than 158 Tory MPs – the threshold – have said they will vote for Theresa May.The BBC’s Andrew Neil says BBC research shows that more than 158 Tory MPs – the threshold – have said they will vote for Theresa May.
But he points out that just because MPs says they will vote for May, that does not necessarily mean they will.But he points out that just because MPs says they will vote for May, that does not necessarily mean they will.
Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, asks what is worse: a no confidence motion tabled by Corbyn, or one tabled by her MPs?Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, asks what is worse: a no confidence motion tabled by Corbyn, or one tabled by her MPs?
May says what matters is to get a good deal.May says what matters is to get a good deal.
And that’s it.And that’s it.
Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, says the Times today argues that a people’s vote is May’s only chance of saving her deal. What is May afraid of?Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, says the Times today argues that a people’s vote is May’s only chance of saving her deal. What is May afraid of?
May says people voted for Brexit. The Commons needs to deliver on it.May says people voted for Brexit. The Commons needs to deliver on it.
Labour’s Rachael Maskell says the recent fall in the value of the pound has cost the country the equivalent of funding for the NHS for six weeks.
May says the government is putting more money into the NHS.
Jim McMahon asks May to condemn any suggestion that the threat of food shortages in Ireland should be used as a negotiating strategy in the Brexit talks.
This is a reference to a comment from the Tory Brexiter Priti Patel.
May agrees. She says that will not be a government tactic.
Sir David Evennett, a Conservative, asks if May is affected by the rising cost of Crossrail. He blames TfL and the Labour mayor of London.
May says she is concerned. Her Maidenhead constituency is affected. Sadiq Khan “needs to get his finger out”, she says.
Labour’s Colleen Fletcher asks about a teenager killed in a knife attack on her constituency. Does May think we have enough police on the streets.
May extend her condolences to the family. There is a concern about the rise in violent crime, she says
Maggie Throup, a Conservative, says the real threat to the country is Labour. May agrees.
Sir Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative former chairman, says no one questioned the result of the referendum on Welsh devolution in 1997 even though winning margin was very narrow.
May says that is an important point.
Labour’s Mary Creagh says the economy is stalling and business investment is falling. She says we have the “grotesque spectacle” of Tory MPs putting party interest ahead of the national interest. If May wins the vote tonight, will she rule out no deal?
May says the way to avoid no deal is to agree a deal.
Employment is at a record high, and we have had the longest consecutive period of growth in the G7, she says.
Labour’s Siobhain McDonagh asks about a constituent who had to queue outside A&E because it was full.
May says this is a worrying story. She reminds McDonagh that they sat on Merton council together.
Ken Clarke, the former Tory chancellor, asks if May can think of anything more unhelpful to the country at a time of crisis than for the Conservative party to embark on a leadership contest lasting weeks.
May says Clarke has raised an important point. She says a new leader would have to either delay or stop Brexit.
Catherine West, the Labour MP, asks which is worse: no deal or no Brexit.
May says it is important to deliver on Brexit. She wants a deal, she says. The worse thing for the country would be a Labour government, she says.