Tory chief whip hits out at cabinet for ‘ill-discipline’
Tory chief whip Julian Smith appears in a new BBC documentary. Photograph: BBC - Credit: Archant
Theresa May's Commons enforcer has criticised the government's approach to Brexit and attacked cabinet members over the 'worst example of ill-discipline in British political history'.
In a highly unusual move, Julian Smith, the Tory chief whip, spoke out to suggest ministers had pursued the wrong strategy after the prime minister lost the Conservatives' Commons majority in the 2017 snap election.
Smith said the result of the poll meant that May simply did not have enough MPs to back a harder version of Brexit.
The comments were published by the BBC amid speculation that parliament may force the PM to seek membership of a customs union with Brussels in order to pass her deal, which would mean ripping up one of her key red lines.
'The thing that people forget is that the Conservative Party went to get a majority in order to deliver Brexit (and) failed to get a majority,' the chief whip said.
You may also want to watch:
'The government as a whole probably should just have been clearer on the consequences of that. The parliamentary arithmetic would mean that this would be inevitably a softer type of Brexit.'
While the strategy was apparently misjudged, Smith said he was 'frustrated' by MPs who 'don't see the light as clearly as I do'.
Most Read
- 1 Minister terminates interview after suggesting public's age and weight to blame for UK's high death toll
- 2 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 3 Former Brexit Party MEP dies in diving accident in the Bahamas
- 4 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
- 5 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 6 The greatest failure of government in our lifetime
- 7 Progressive alliance could see Labour win 351 seats at next election, new analysis reveals
- 8 Boris Johnson blames seafood companies for post-Brexit sales slump
- 9 Picture of Boris Johnson on the phone to Joe Biden causes social media stir
- 10 The bigot we should have called out on day one
May's deal has now fallen three times in the Commons, with Tory MPs among those who voted against it on each occasion.
However Smith highlighted that a lack of discipline extended all the way to the Cabinet, with ministers 'sitting around the cabinet table ... trying to destabilise her (Mrs May)'.
'This is I think the worst example of ill-discipline in Cabinet in British political history,' he said.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
