Ministers and MPs have started arriving arriving at Chequers in Buckinghamshire for Brexit discussions with Theresa May as she tried to find a way forward
They were among hardliners summoned to the Buckingham retreat on Sunday afternoon as the MP desperately searches for a way to break the current Brexit deadlock.
Former foreign secretary Mr Johnson and European Research Group chairman Mr Rees-Mogg - along with his son Peter - led a string of senior politicians including Brexiteer former ministers David David, Iain Duncan Smith, Dominic Raab and Steve Baker.
They were joined by serving ministers including Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Mrs May's de-facto deputy prime minister and Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington, and Tory Chief Whip Julian Smith.
As senior cabinet figures complained that the Prime Minister's judgement had reportedly gone 'haywire' in recent weeks Mr Lidington was named as a possible caretaker if she is forced out.
But Brexiteers who could not stomach the little-known Remainer being in charge at a crucial time for Brexit are plotting to get 2016 Leave mastermind and Environment Secretary Mr Gove installed instead.
However both men distanced themselves from any disloyalty today, with Mr Gove telling the BBC he 'absolutely' backed Mrs May, calling for 'cool heads'.
He said: 'It is not the time to change the captain of the ship, I think what we need to do is chart the right course.
'I think the Prime Minister has charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal which honours the referendum mandate and also allows us to leave in a way which means we can strengthen our economy and also take advantage of life outside the European Union.'
His comments came after Mr Lidington had told reporters in his Aylesbury constituency today: 'I don't think that I've any wish to take over from the PM (who) I think is doing a fantastic job.
Theresa May leaving church this morning. She is spending the weekend at Chequers planning her next move as her ministers also plot theirs - which includes replacing her
'I have absolute admiration for the way she is going about it.'
Mr Johnson, the former foreign secretary, is set to join Jacob Rees-Mogg and ex-Ministers Dominic Raab, David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith and Damian Green at her Buckinghamshire retreat this afternoon.
They will confront the Prime Minister as rival groups of current ministers battle to replace her as Brexit collapses into bitter Tory infighting.
Number 10 sources also confirmed that the Cabinet will meet at 10 Downing Street tomorrow ahead of what could be a pivotal set of votes by MPs as they attempt to seize control of Brexit.
Rumours have circulated for days that many MPs might support her Brexit deal if it is put to the vote a third time, were she to agree to step down.
Mr Lidington, a former Europe Minister, is reportedly backed by at least six ministers, said to include Remainers Philip Hammond, Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke.
But Chancellor Mr Hammond said today that those plotting to topple Mrs May were 'self indulgent'.
Asked on Sky's Ridge on Sunday if he was backing Mr Lidington, he said: 'That is not the case at all.
'Changing the prime minister won't help us. Changing the party in Government won't help us.'
He refused to be drawn on whether his colleagues had approached him asking him to make an intervention.
However, he acknowledged that 'people are very frustrated and people are desperate to find a way forward in the just over two weeks that we've got to resolved this issue'.
Last night Mrs May's former policy adviser MP George Freeman said it was 'all over for the PM', tweeting: 'She's done her best. But across the country you can see the anger.
'Everyone feels betrayed. Government's gridlocked. Trust in democracy collapsing. This can't go on. We need a new PM who can reach out (and) build some sort of coalition for a Plan B.'
Former May advisor George Freeman went public on Sunday night to suggest it was time for her to go.
The paper reported that officials concerned about the Prime Minister's health have drawn up 'protocols' on what to do if she collapses at the Dispatch Box following a gruelling schedule in recent weeks and months.
But while she regrouped in the Home Counties 11 Cabinet ministers said that they wanted her to go, with a plan to confront her when Cabinet meets week, according to the Sunday Times.
An online petition calling on the Government to cancel Brexit reached five million signatures today.
The Revoke Article 50 petition is the most popular ever submitted to the Parliament website, having leapt ahead of the 4.1 million signatures amassed by a 2016 petition calling for a second EU referendum.
The petition has had the highest rate of sign-ups on record, according to Parliament's official Petitions Committee, adding over two million signatures in 24 hours.
By contrast, a pro-Brexit petition on the Parliament website which urges the Government to leave the EU without a deal has received 455,000 signatures.
Comment: Lest we forget that 17.5 million voted for Brexit in a legitimate democratic vote, not some online petition which doesn't require verification of any kind.
As many as one million people marched through London yesterday to demand a second Brexit referendum
Mrs May has put in some long shifts in the Commons in recent weeks trying to get a Brexit deal past MPs, but to no avail so far
Commons officials concerned about Theresa May's health have reportedly drawn up contingency plans to whisk her out of the Commons if she collapses.
The Prime Minister has faced a punishing routine of meetings and travel both here and to Europe as she battled to get a Brexit deal across the line.
She has also put in a large number of hours in the Commons trying to win MPs over to backing her deal.
Concerns about the health of the 62-year-old Prime Minister, who has type 1 diabetes, have led officials to develop a 'protocol' in case she becomes ill at the Dispatch Box, the Sunday Times reported.
The signs of the toll that Brexit has been taking showed on March 12 as she lost her voice and struggled to speak as she put her deal to the Commons and lost by 149 votes.
The Prime Minister brought back memories of her 2017 Conservative Party Conference speech as she was reduced to a croak as she addressed MPs in the Commons.
After a red-eye trip to Strasbourg to meet Jean-Claude Juncker the previous night she was noticeably hoarse as she introduced the motion for her doomed second meaningful vote.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith hit out at the Cabinet plotting, saying that a leadership change now would make the UK 'a laughing stock in the world'.
He blasted Remainer minister for briefing newspapers while enjoying the privileges of government, telling the BBC's Marr Show: 'I think that's appalling, I think they should be censured and some of them should be sacked.
'And the idea of a cabal, a cabal that never wanted to leave the European Union, turning out to decide what should happen over our future would be unacceptable to my colleagues.'
Describing the last week as 'as close to a national humiliation as I think I've seen', he added: If the answer is a caretaker, whether it is David Lidington or anyone else... what the hell was the question?'
Pro-EU former education secretary Nicky Morgan - who has worked on Brexit compromise plans with hardline Brexiteers in recent weeks, told the Sunday Telegraph that Cabinet ministers should tell Mrs May 'it's time to go'.
She said: 'Unfortunately, I think that what started off as qualities that people admired are the ones that now mean she's not the flexible leader to find a way through this.
'I understand that it is difficult to say to someone that it's time to go. But there are enough people around the Cabinet table who can step up ... and she's got to listen.'
Other Tory backbenchers also lined up to call time on Mrs May's leadership.
Steve Baker, a former Brexit minister, told the same paper that potential leadership contenders in the Government should make their move, saying: 'If they will not act now, when are they ever going to be seen to step forward and how could they possibly persuade the country that they're the great statesmen to take us forward?'
And Anne-Marie Trevelyan wrote in the same paper: 'We now need a leader who believes in our country and wants to take her on the next stage of her journey.'
Conservative peer Lord Gadhia, a former member of David Cameron's inner circle, said the upcoming days in Parliament may be 'very dramatic' and could see the end of Mrs May's time as premier.
It came after an estimated one million people joined a march on Parliament yesterday demanding a final say for the public over Brexit.
The Commons is expected to be given the third chance to vote on her Withdrawal Agreement this week after EU leaders gave her as little as three weeks to create order from the Brexit chaos.
But on Friday night Mrs May wrote to parliamentarians warning if there is insufficient support for her Withdrawal Agreement in the coming days that she could seek an extension to Britain's EU membership beyond the European Parliament elections.
At the EU Council in Brussels leaders offered to extend Article 50 until May 22 if MPs vote for a deal in Parliament next week.
But without a deal the Prime Minister she was given a fortnight 'flextension' to decide her next move.
MPs are expected to make moves to take control of Brexit this week, which could lead to a second referendum or a longer extension to Article 50 keeping us in the EU for as long as two years.
Cabinet coup: Theresa May is told she must go as ministers plot to install Michael Gove in No 10 to save Brexit
Theresa May could be ousted from No 10 within days after her Cabinet plotted to replace her with Michael Gove as a caretaker Prime Minister.
A senior Downing Street source told The Mail on Sunday last night that even Mrs May's Chief Whip, Julian Smith, had advised her to set out her departure plans, with Environment Secretary Mr Gove emerging as the 'consensus choice' to succeed her.
Mr Gove is being championed by Cabinet Brexiteers who are furious about what they see as an attempted 'coup' by Remain-backing David Lidington, Mrs May's de facto deputy.
At least six ministers are supportive of installing Lidington, the de facto deputy prime minister, as a caretaker in No 10 to deliver Brexit and then make way for a full leadership contest in the autumn.
Lidington's supporters include cabinet remainers Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke. The chancellor, Philip Hammond, also believes Lidington should take over if May refuses this week to seek a new consensus deal on Brexit.
A senior Government source said yesterday that there was now 'complete unanimity' in the Cabinet that Mrs May should step down as soon as possible.
In a number of astonishing, fast-moving developments, coming just days before a series of historic Commons votes:
- No 10 warned Tory rebels that, if they didn't back Mrs May's deal, the Commons could revoke Article 50, effectively cancelling Brexit;
- Mrs May mounted a last-ditch effort to save the deal by pleading with Jacob Rees-Mogg to drop his opposition - as his European Research Group made plans to select their preferred leadership candidate;
- A tearful Tory whip accused Mrs May of 'betraying Brexit' and 'destroying our party';
- Boris Johnson demanded to the Prime Minister's face that she rule out leading the party into an Election, while her aides wargamed what would happen if Mrs May went to the country if the Commons rejected her Brexit deal again;
- No 10 scheduled the crunch votes for Wednesday and Thursday, with MPs voting on Mrs May's deal and alternative options such as membership of a customs union;
- Chancellor Philip Hammond refused demands by Cabinet colleagues to 'wield the knife' and tell the Prime Minister that she had to resign;
- Tory MP Nigel Evans said that, if Mrs May agreed to resign, then the party's Brexiteers would support her deal;
- Central London was brought to a standstill as anti-Brexit protesters staged a major march calling for another EU referendum.
A senior Government source said Mr Smith had 'conveyed the message [that Mrs May's Cabinet colleagues believe she should stand down] to the PM'.
A Downing Street spokesman said that they did not comment on private conversations.
The collapse in the Prime Minister's authority has triggered rival Cabinet plots by Remainers and Brexiteers to seize power.
Pro-Remain Cabinet Ministers, led by Mr Hammond and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, have been backing Cabinet Office Minister Mr Lidington to take over as temporary Prime Minister.
But when pro-Brexit Cabinet Ministers, led by Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, found out that Mr Lidington was holding talks with Labour MPs about votes on 'soft' Brexit measures they moved quickly to stifle the plot by backing Mr Gove instead.
Under the plan, Mr Gove would see through Brexit as PM, before a full leadership contest in the summer.
One senior Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday: 'The public will never forgive us if in a time of historical crisis our answer is David Lidington. This is where it is going to get very scary, whatever you think about it'.
Last night Henry Newman, one of Michael Gove's most loyal supporters and a former aide, said the Prime Minister's 'ill-judged' speech blaming MPs for the Brexit crisis 'united Labour and Tory critics against her'. He added: ' I think she will have to offer to step down to get her deal through.'
A series of so-called 'indicative votes' will be held next week to test which alternatives to Mrs May's deal are likely to pass the Commons, including a Norway-style customs union or even cancelling Brexit.
One senior Minister warned rebel Tory MPs that, if they continued to vote down Mrs May's deal, then they would be on 'a conveyor belt to Norway - possibly with Jeremy Corbyn leading the way'.
The Minister added: 'If we do not deliver Brexit we are so unbelievably f****d, not just as a party or a Government, but in a national way. Now is the time to be bold, a customs union is a cop-out - it's the easiest solution for Parliament but the worst solution for the country.
'It has to be Mrs May's deal, or no deal. We cannot be allowed to drift into the worst position, but that is what David Lidington is manoeuvring us to - and there is no upside to it'.
Another Minister said that it was 'a matter of arithmetic' that Mrs May should set out her departure date: 'Just look at the numbers of people saying they would back the deal if she sets out a timetable for her departure and add them up. Say no more.'
A series of senior Conservative figures warned Mrs May last week that she has lost the confidence of her party.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservatives' 1922 Committee, visited the Prime Minister on Monday, where he told her that the number of colleagues calling for her to go was growing.
Mr Johnson also repeatedly challenged Mrs May to rule out leading the party into a General Election this year - which she has refused to do.
It is understood that all but one member of the Tory whips office think that her 'time is up'. One, Paul Maynard, was in tears recently when he told the Prime Minister: 'I've heard enough. When I was told that we would have to come over and talk to you I began to cry. I said I don't want to go over and talk to that woman any more. She's betrayed Brexit, destroying our party. I want her gone.'
Mrs May replied: 'I'm sorry you feel that way.'
Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi warned yesterday of a 'political meltdown' if Mrs May's deal is rejected again.
'It's a f****** coup': Cabinet war over plot to replace Theresa May with her No 2 leaves Michael Gove favourite to be caretaker Prime Minister
By Glen Owen and Harry Cole for The Mail on SundayAfter a torturous 14 hours at the EU Council, the Prime Minister returned to the British residency in Brussels in the early hours of Friday morning and demanded a large whisky.
But back in Westminster, her closest Cabinet colleagues were preparing to hand Theresa May a revolver to go with it.
Senior Cabinet Ministers and allies are privately urging Mrs May to set a departure date to help get her beleaguered Brexit deal over the line as 'a matter of arithmetic'.
But others have simply decided her time is up and have spent the last three days plotting how to oust her.
A senior Downing Street source told this newspaper: 'Discussions about the Prime Minister's future are ongoing.'
On Friday evening, David Lidington, the pro-EU Cabinet Office boss and de facto deputy PM, was said to be in the 'advanced stages' of a plot to force Mrs May from office and herald a long Brexit extension as an interim leader who could build a cross-party Brexit deal.
But as news of the plan leaked, it sparked a furious Cabinet backlash that saw Michael Gove emerge as a 'consensus' candidate who could bring the crucial backing of both Remainers and Brexiteers.
Cabinet sources have told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Lidington was initially 'reluctant' to step into the role of 'caretaker' but was told it would be a 'four-month job with a three-pronged mandate: to negotiate a long extension, to oversee testing of what Parliament wants and to ensure a fair Tory leadership contest.'
A source said: 'David is 60. It would be his last job in politics and what a way to go out. The key players are on board. It's just a matter of when.'
The Mail on Sunday has learnt that Cabinet big beasts including Amber Rudd and Jeremy Hunt have urged Mr Lidington to 'knock on the door and call time' on Mrs May's premiership.
In the febrile atmosphere in Westminster, there were even claims Michael Gove had initially supported Mr Lidington acting as caretaker, with one source claiming the plot was 'far less factional than Brexit lines'.
However, as word of Mr Lidington's manoeuvrings ripped through Westminster on Friday evening, Brexiteer Ministers were quick to brand the Cabinet politicking a 'Remainer coup', with former Vote Leave boss Mr Gove touted by Ministers and MPs for the job instead.
One senior Cabinet Minister told The Mail on Sunday: 'The British public will never forgive us if, in a time of historical crisis, our answer is David Lidington.
'This is where it is going to get very scary, whatever you think about it.
'If we do not deliver Brexit, we are so unbelievably f*****, not just as a party or a government, but in a national way. Now is the time to be bold. A customs union is a cop out - it's the easiest solution for Parliament but the worst solution for the country.
'It has to be her deal, or no deal. We cannot be allowed to drift into the worst position and that is what David Lidington is manoeuvring us to - there is no upside to it.'
And another Cabinet Minister branded the plot 'a f****** coup.'
...And if he gets into No 10, will old foe Boris ever get him out?
Bookies last night slashed Michael Gove's odds of being the next Prime Minister.
The Environment Secretary is now 5/1 joint favourite with his rival Boris Johnson to take the Tory crown.
Should Mr Gove secure the keys to No 10, it would be a remarkable turnaround after he stabbed Mr Johnson in the back during in the 2016 Tory leadership battle, when he withdrew his support for his fellow Brexit campaigner at the last minute so he could stand himself.
Having initially been sacked by the victorious Theresa May, Mr Gove was subsequently brought back into the Cabinet fold and has spent the last year being studiously loyal to the Prime Minister in public, as he sought to repair his reputation among the Tory grassroots. Although Mr Gove was touted as a 'consensus caretaker' last night, Mr Johnson will be wary of letting his nemesis become Tory leader without a fight.
Last night, a Ladbrokes spokesman said: 'Money for Michael Gove in the past few days has left the firm with no choice but to cut his odds of becoming the next PM. Mr Gove continues to attract punters' cash.'
Outside of the Cabinet, one Minister furiously rejected Mr Lidington stepping in, saying: 'You might as well put the permanent secretaries in charge.'
They added: 'This is a pipe dream for the bland brigade, who must be deluded if they think replacing uncertainty with more uncertainty is going to fix anything.'
The backlash also broke on to the airwaves and social media, as Tory MPs began openly discussing Mrs May standing down.
After it emerged Mr Lidington had discussed soft-Brexit plans with Labour MPs, Tory Brexiteer Michael Fabricant compared his pro-EU stance to that of Britain's appeasing of Hitler in the 1930s.
The outspoken backbencher hit out: 'With the PM acting like Chamberlain, we now have David Lidington freelancing and acting like Lord Halifax hoping to come to an accommodation with Labour. Enough is enough!' Asked if the PM would still be in post by next month, fellow Tory Marcus Fysh told BBC2's Newsnight: 'I don't know.'
'We are starting to get to the stage where it really would have been good to have better negotiations going on,' he added. And fellow Leaver James Duddridge, tweeted '#Resign'.
Tory peer Lord Gadhia said: 'She may not survive to the end of the week.' He added: 'It is quite possible that she herself may decide 'actually, look, I am an obstacle to a resolution of this process'. So we may have a very dramatic week.'
Leadership speculation is gripping all corners of the parliamentary Conservative party, with other Ministers privately accepting that a General Election under a new leader would be needed to achieve a fresh mandate from the public ahead of Round Two of EU negotiations over a trade deal.
And Brexiteer hardliners in the European Research Group are determined not to repeat their disastrous implosion during the 2016 leadership battle which allowed Mrs May, who had campaigned to Remain, to come through the divided Brexiteers.
Senior MPs in the ERG plan to hold their own leadership contest to unite around one candidate. They point out a Brexiteer only needs to come second, with 105 MPs behind them, to proceed to the final round - a vote of the overwhelmingly Eurosceptic party membership.
Last night a source close to Mr Lidington said the claims from his Cabinet colleagues were 'nonsense', adding: 'David has not discussed anything of the sort. His focus is on getting the PM's deal agreed'.
Philip Hammond says MPs should discuss second referendum 'proposition' next week
Philip Hammond said Mrs May's Brexit deal was his 'preferred way forward' but admitted: 'I'm realistic that we may not be able to get a majority'
Philip Hammond has said a second EU referendum is a 'perfectly coherent proposition' as he urged MPs to decide on a 'compromise' Brexit deal if they cannot back Theresa May.
The Chancellor said that 'one way or another' Parliament would this week be able to show what it wanted from Brexit, rather than constantly showing what it does not want.
Mr Hammond told Sky's Ridge on Sunday that Mrs May's Brexit deal - already defeated twice by MPs - was his 'preferred way forward' but admitted: 'I'm realistic that we may not be able to get a majority'.
'One way or another Parliament is going to have the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favour of, and I hope that it will take that opportunity - if it can't get behind the Prime Minister's deal - to say clearly and unambiguously what it can get behind,' he added.
But he warned that any alternative deal must be 'a variant that is deliverable, not some unicorn'.
The Chancellor said Parliament would be given the chance to hold indicative votes on alternatives to Mrs May's Brexit deal this week.
Tomorrow Parliament debates an amendable Government motion on the Brexit deal, which gives MPs a chance to put their favoured outcomes to a vote.
And the day after an estimated one million people marched through London demanding a second referendum, Mr Hammond added: 'I'm not sure that there's a majority in Parliament for a second referendum but it's a perfectly coherent proposition.
'Many people will be strongly opposed to it, but it's a coherent proposition and it deserves to be considered along with the other proposals.'
Comment: Bloomberg reports who the Conservatives are considering for her temporary replacement: See also:
- Still Confused About Brexit? It's Actually Pretty Simple...
- Brexit: A Political Farce Based on a Public Lie
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