Pressure on May to resign will ‘increase dramatically’, says David Davis
Pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign will “increase dramatically” following a Halloween Brexit extension secured last night, David Davis has said.
“I think what is likely to happen is the pressure for her to go will go up,” the former Brexit secretary told the BBC’s Today programme. “Whether it will come to anything – who knows?”
Read more: EU leaders offer May a Halloween Brexit extension
The comments came after EU leaders granted an extension to the Brexit deadline until 31 October, meaning the UK will avoid crashing out of the bloc on Friday.
But Davis, who resigned in protest at May’s Chequers plan last year and is tipped as a candidate in the Tory leadership race, said the Prime Minister will face growing opposition from within her own party in the coming months.
Asked if he thought May will still be in power at the time of the Tory party conference in the autumn, he replied: “I think it's going to be difficult because by that time we will still have had a European election which will become a plebiscite, really, on Brexit.”
“And I suspect you will see a very successful rise of a, sort of, Brexit movement, the Nigel Farage thing, and so on. So, that will be quite difficult. I think it will be very difficult for her,” he added.
Last night it emerged Tory MPs have hatched a new plan to oust the Prime Minister by gathering 10,000 signatures on a petition to change the party’s constitution.
Read more: Tusk warns UK: 'Don't waste' Halloween Brexit delay
A group of unnamed MPs is looking to change a rule stating a Prime Minister cannot be ousted within a year of winning a no confidence vote, the Telegraph reported.
Meanwhile, European Council president Donald Tusk has warned the UK “not to waste” the Brexit extension, which was secured after five hours of gruelling talks in Brussels.