Theresa May summons ministers to view mystery documents ahead of emergency cabinet meeting
Theresa May is fighting to stay in power in the face of a reported coup, as a government minister warned MPs of a potential general election.
Ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday morning, senior ministers spent the weekend attempting to oust the prime minister, who clung on to power following meetings with prominent Brexiteer backbenchers including Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis.
Ms May held “lengthy talks” with the MPs ahead of another crunch week in Westminster as the House of Commons tries to wrestle control of the Brexit process from the government.
Brexit secretary Steve Barclay warned the risk of a general election would increase if MPs took control of parliamentary proceedings and brought about a “constitutional collision”.
The House of Commons will tonight vote on an amendment which would force a series of indicative votes on alternatives to the prime minister’s Brexit deal.
Defeat for the government tonight would be a further humiliation for Ms May and would pave the way for MPs to effectively taking control of the Brexit process.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said “one way or another” MPs would be given the opportunity this week to decide what Parliament is in favour of, but did no confirm whether Tories would be given a free vote on the options.
Elsewhere, Mr Johnson claimed in The Telegraph the government had “chickened out” of delivering Brexit and told Ms May to set out “convincing proofs” of how the next phase of the negotiations will be different from the last to win support for her deal.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/brexit-news-live-theresa-may-080817244.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9yLnNlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20vX3lsdD1Bd3JDMUNpMnJwaGNxaFlBX1NqUXRETUQ7X3lsdT1YM29ETVRCeWJHWTNibXB2QkdOdmJHOERZbVl4QkhCdmN3TXlCSFowYVdRREJITmxZd056Y2ctLS9SVj0yL1JFPTE1NTM1Mzg4NzAvUk89MTAvUlU9aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZ1ay5uZXdzLnlhaG9vLmNvbSUyZmJyZXhpdC1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdGhlcmVzYS1tYXktMDgwODE3MjQ0Lmh0bWwvUks9Mi9SUz1qXzRBbXJVSXdCYnZXem5CYW9kVU85UXRGMGst&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABQ-mlz5t_o2_49i05OTVaPO0lxLpJA0MPytxVe3ToUlWI1gZ4FXweSvh6ZnB7H5UHQ0zHhwRxLBisOk2YMg-U4V2Dw8vBfpANcoEPkK925mXgfcOA76BQ7LJYTfVPEvNmE4MM67kDpxG66-X4dYHDvyubW_mJkfag5O7eVlmzcF