Theresa May’s Aides ‘Plotting’ General Election by November to ‘Save Brexit'
The claim, reported in The Sunday Times, comes after Mrs May was “humiliated” at the European Union (EU) summit in Austria last week, with Brussels bosses rejecting her Chequers plan for a ‘soft Brexit’.
The newspaper said that two senior members of Mrs May’s Downing Street political team began “wargaming” an autumn vote to win public backing for a new plan after the rejection in Salzburg.
After the EU’s rejection of Chequers, the aides reportedly want Mrs May to commit to a cleaner form of Brexit but believe the only way to win support for this in Parliament is to call the general election.
The aides say another general election is “the only way” to save Mrs May’s premiership.
The claims emerge as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says he plans to side with Tory Brexit rebels to force Mrs May into a general election as early as November.
'We cannot accept anything that threatens the integrity of our union': Defiant PM May blasts EU attitudes to Brexit after difficult Salzburg meeting https://t.co/ZSEeK8BjcR
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 21, 2018
On the idea of a second referendum, @jeremycorbyn says: “Let’s see what comes out of conference and then obviously I am bound by the democracy of our party.” #marr pic.twitter.com/xff2Nimw84
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 23, 2018
