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BREAK: The government has told Conservative MPs they will withdraw the party whip and ban them from standing as Tory candidates at the next election if they vote with the opposition to block a no deal Brexit. The plan was agreed after the PM met with govt whips at Chequers today.
A senior source from the whips office said: “The whips are telling Conservative MPs today a very simple message - if they fail to vote with the government on Tuesday they will be destroying the government’s negotiating position and handing control of Parliament to Jeremy Corbyn.
”Any Conservative MP who does this will have the whip withdrawn and will not stand as Conservative candidates in an election. There is a chance of a deal on October 17 only because Brussels realises the Prime Minister is totally committed to leaving on October 31...
“All MPs face a simple choice on Tuesday: to vote with the government and preserve the chance of a deal or vote with Corbyn and destroy any chance of a deal.”
Tory rebels which include Philip Hammond have said "This is sheer hypocrisy. Almost a quarter of the current cabinet have voted against the party whip. This is about national interest and we've moved beyond the point where threats will persuade people to abandon their principles”
Asked if this was hypocritical, a senior No10 source told me no - “This is a very different situation. If we don’t deliver Brexit, there will be no Tory party left.”
Conservative MP @Sandbach tells me: “On his own criteria he (the PM) would not now be a member of the Conservative Party. As an MP who voted for the deal 3 times the fact the Conservatives is no longer a broad church is something the PM may live to regret in any future election.”
Interesting. An anti-no deal Tory MP tells me No10’s “tough chat isn't matched by what is happening in private, where there's been no efforts to bring people on side.” They say the govt wants to lose the vote on stopping no deal, “because politically it helps Cummings to do so.”
