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Tory MP quits Eurosceptic ERG for 'endangering Brexit' | Tory MP quits Eurosceptic ERG for 'endangering Brexit' |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Tory MP has quit the Eurosceptic European Research Group, claiming a "hardcore element of 'Unicorn' dreamers" were "endangering Brexit". | |
Daniel Kawczynski voted against Theresa May's Brexit deal twice, before deciding to back her withdrawal agreement last month. | Daniel Kawczynski voted against Theresa May's Brexit deal twice, before deciding to back her withdrawal agreement last month. |
The Shropshire MP accused the backbench Conservative group of preventing the deal from passing in the Commons. | The Shropshire MP accused the backbench Conservative group of preventing the deal from passing in the Commons. |
But the ERG's deputy chairman stood by their opposition to the PM's deal. | |
Mark Francois told BBC Newsnight: "The withdrawal agreement keeps us in the European Union, that's why we've always been so against it." | |
The ERG was founded in the early 1990s in opposition to former PM John Major's signing of the EU's Maastricht Treaty. | |
It has no official role in Parliament or within the Conservative Party, but it is seen as influential. | |
The group has led the criticism of the deal Mrs May negotiated with the EU and played a key part in it being voted down in the Commons. | |
Mr Kawczynski told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought the ERG was "part of the problem in actually getting the withdrawal agreement across the finishing line". | Mr Kawczynski told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought the ERG was "part of the problem in actually getting the withdrawal agreement across the finishing line". |
He said he was worried this could "lead to possibly no Brexit at all". | |
And he opposed a call from Mr Francois for Tory MPs to have an informal vote to show they had lost faith in Mrs May. | |
Under Tory party rules, another formal leadership challenge against Mrs May cannot take place until December, after she won a vote of confidence at the end of last year. | Under Tory party rules, another formal leadership challenge against Mrs May cannot take place until December, after she won a vote of confidence at the end of last year. |
"I do disagree with Mark Francois on that," he said. "I don't think the time has come for another leadership contest. I think we have to abide by the rules our party has set." | |
Responding to Mr Kawczynski's comments, Mr Francois said members of the group had been "called everything under the sun" by opponents during the Brexit process. | |
"Being called unicorns really is water off a duck's back", he added. |
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