FORTY Tory rebels are plotting with arch-Remainers Philip Hammond and David Gauke in a bid to stop a No Deal Brexit.
The desperate former chancellor and ex Justice Secretary have recruited an extra 19 senior Conservative MPs after writing a furious letter to Boris Johnson last week.
Hammond said the PM’s plans to abolish the backstop “set the bar so high that there is no realistic probability of a deal being done”, the Telegraph reports.
The size of the rebel group – known as the Gauke-ward Squad – could now heap pressure on Boris who has told Brussels Britain will be leaving the bloc “do or die” come October 31.
Last week, 21 senior Tories revealed they were fighting No Deal Brexit.
Former Cabinet ministers David Lidington, Greg Clark and Rory Stewart were among the group who wrote to Johnson explaining they were “alarmed” by the PM’s Brexit demands.
There are reportedly 10 more MPs set to back the group.
A source said: “It should not come as any surprise that Number 10 is trying to pick people off that group on the basis that the strategy is not to go to no-deal. There are lots of back channel conversations.”
Boris is said to have blasted Hammond for “gravely damaging” the national interest with his bids to frustrate Brexit.
It should not come as any surprise that Number 10 is trying to pick people off that group on the basis that the strategy is not to go to no-deal. There are lots of back channel conversations.
Tory source
In a letter seen by the Mail on Sunday, the PM said it was “plain as a pikestaff” that the EU “will simply not compromise as long as they believe there is the faintest possibility that Parliament can block Brexit on 31 October”.
Downing Street sources also accused Tory Remainers of “appalling dishonesty” for attempting to use the Brexit delay to “cancel the referendum”.
The comments come after Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay signed the “commencement order” that will trigger the end of the supremacy of EU law in the UK on October 31.
Hammond and Gauke’s plot to stop the will of the people comes as Boris head to to Paris and Berlin for talks with EU leaders, before a G7 summit where he’ll meet President Trump too.
The PM says he still wants to get a deal but he won’t re-start talks until Brussels agrees to drop the hated Northern Irish backstop.
Yesterday No10 lashed out at Remainer scare stories about a No Deal Brexit, saying they were deliberately leaked to discredit the Government.
And they claimed the reports – which included Project Fear stories about shortages of food in the event we leave without a deal – were old anyway.
100 MPs have demanded that Parliament be recalled to find a solution to the Brexit crisis.
Politicians aren’t due back in Westminster for another two weeks.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
