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Brexit: Theresa May to meet Sir Graham Brady amid calls to resign | Brexit: Theresa May to meet Sir Graham Brady amid calls to resign |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Theresa May is to meet the chairman of an influential committee of backbench Tory MPs, Sir Graham Brady, amid calls for her to set a firm resignation date. | Theresa May is to meet the chairman of an influential committee of backbench Tory MPs, Sir Graham Brady, amid calls for her to set a firm resignation date. |
It follows a request from the 1922 committee for "clarity" on the issue. | It follows a request from the 1922 committee for "clarity" on the issue. |
No 10 insists the meeting is routine but BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Sir Graham is likely to press the prime minister for a timetable for her departure. | No 10 insists the meeting is routine but BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Sir Graham is likely to press the prime minister for a timetable for her departure. |
Meanwhile, cross-party talks to break the Brexit deadlock are due to resume. | Meanwhile, cross-party talks to break the Brexit deadlock are due to resume. |
In March, Mrs May pledged to stand down if and when Parliament ratified her Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU - but she has not made it clear how long she intends to stay if no deal is reached. | In March, Mrs May pledged to stand down if and when Parliament ratified her Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU - but she has not made it clear how long she intends to stay if no deal is reached. |
The UK had been due to leave the EU on 29 March, but the deadline was pushed back to 31 October after Parliament was unable to agree a way forward. | The UK had been due to leave the EU on 29 March, but the deadline was pushed back to 31 October after Parliament was unable to agree a way forward. |
The meeting comes amid growing pressure on Mrs May to step down as leader. | The meeting comes amid growing pressure on Mrs May to step down as leader. |
On Monday, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 committee - an elected body of MPs which represents backbenchers and also oversees leadership contests - told the BBC that Mrs May should announce a "road map" for her resignation after the European elections set for 23 May. | On Monday, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 committee - an elected body of MPs which represents backbenchers and also oversees leadership contests - told the BBC that Mrs May should announce a "road map" for her resignation after the European elections set for 23 May. |
Leading Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash also told the Press Association "the time has come" for her to resign. | Leading Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash also told the Press Association "the time has come" for her to resign. |
"She needs to be given a date. The sooner the better. But it needs to be done in an orderly manner," he said. | "She needs to be given a date. The sooner the better. But it needs to be done in an orderly manner," he said. |
But Education Secretary Damian Hinds said people should not "read too much" into the timing of the PM's meeting with Sir Graham. | |
"The prime minister has already been clear and straightforward that she will see through this first phase of Brexit," he told BBC Breakfast. | |
And senior Tory backbencher Sir Oliver Letwin said he believed the PM would remain "in situ" until any Brexit agreement was finally approved by MPs. | |
Mrs May, who will chair a cabinet meeting later, survived a vote of confidence of her MPs at the end of last year. Under party rules, another vote cannot be held until December 2019. | |
But local Conservative associations are pushing for a vote of confidence in her next month which, although it would not be binding, would increase the pressure on the PM after last week's local election drubbing. | |
The Conservatives lost 1,334 councillors in England, a performance which Mrs May blamed on the Brexit impasse. | |
The prime minister has urged Labour, which failed to make expected gains in the polls and instead lost 82 seats, to compromise to agree a deal. | |
However, tensions remain as talks between the government and Labour resume. | However, tensions remain as talks between the government and Labour resume. |
'Lack of trust' | |
Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said he does not trust the prime minister - after details from cross-party talks were leaked to the press - and accused her of having "blown the confidentiality" of the talks. | Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said he does not trust the prime minister - after details from cross-party talks were leaked to the press - and accused her of having "blown the confidentiality" of the talks. |
Reports emerged at the weekend that the prime minister was ready to offer a temporary customs arrangement with the EU that would last until the next general election. | Reports emerged at the weekend that the prime minister was ready to offer a temporary customs arrangement with the EU that would last until the next general election. |
Labour has previously said it wants a permanent customs union - an arrangement not to carry out checks or put tariffs (extra payments) on goods that move around an area. | |
A number of senior Tory Brexiteers have said they would not vote for a customs union, while two-thirds of Labour MPs say they will not back any agreement without a public vote. | |
The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said this meant the leadership of both parties would be wary of signing up to anything likely to "implode" when it reached Parliament. | |
Labour MP Mary Creagh said the PM's authority had been fatally damaged and suggested her party "needs to be wary of the embrace of a drowning woman". | |
She urged Jeremy Corbyn to recognise the results of last week's elections and "listen" to Labour members, who she said were overwhelmingly in favour of another referendum. | |
"The leadership will not get this through without a public vote attached," she BBC Radio 4's Today. "If we stand in the middle road on Brexit we get run over from both directions." |