Carry on regardless, Shropshire MPs tell Theresa May

Mrs May has been warned she faces the sack if she threatens to “sell out” by backsliding on Brexit.

MPs have urged the Prime Minister to stick to the hardline principles she set out a year ago in a major speech for a clear break from Brussels.

Battle lines were drawn amid speculation that unhappy Tory MPs are poised to trigger a leadership election by tabling formal no-confidence protests in Mrs May.

Shrewsbury and Atcham's MP Daniel Kawczynski said that anybody who suggests a leadership challenge should have a re-think.

He said: "I think anybody who is suggesting a leadership contest really does need to have their head examined.

"We're in the middle of a historic unprecedented negotiation with the European Union we must all be focused on that and show a united front otherwise they will take advantage of splits.

"I have every confidence in Mrs May finalising these negotiations and then we can vote on them."

Also giving his backing to the Prime Minister was Glyn Davies, MP for Montgommeryshire, who said: "I think to talk about having a leadership contest is completely disloyal and utterly stupid, and the people looking to dislodge or upset things should be ashamed of themselves.

"I have got no time at all for anyone who is driving this, if there are many, and they should be ashamed."

Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire said: "There should definitely not be a leadership battle, the government should get on with the job it set out to do after the election."

Lucy Allan, MP for Telford, added: “The Prime Minister has shown great strength and resilience in carrying out an almost impossible job; she has my full support.

“There is no appetite in the party for a change in leader at this time – the majority of Conservative MPs support the Prime Minister, and want her and her team to get on with the job of governing. It is in the country’s interests for everyone to calm down and let the PM get on with the job she was elected to do.”

Meanwhile, Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard, said: "This is not the time for a leadership challenge although I do hope Number 10 will widen the Conservative message beyond Brexit whilst delivering a Brexit which works for everyone”

Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow, declined to comment.

PM faces growing pressure

Mrs May was today under mounting pressure over Brexit and her leadership as the European Union prepared to agree to negotiations on a transition period that has become a highly contentious issue in Westminster.

The Prime Minister is facing increasingly vocal complaints from Leavers that she is preparing to deliver a Brexit “in name only” because the UK will follow EU rules during the transition while several backbenchers broke cover over the weekend to criticise her lack of action on domestic issues.

Eurosceptic former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers said she was worried about a “dilution of Brexit” while Remainer Heidi Allen told the PM to “get a grip” because the Tories are “letting this country down”, and former minister Rob Halfon appeared to liken Mrs May to a “tortoise”.

A weekend of bloodletting, which raised fresh speculation about a potential leadership challenge, threatened to get worse after a WhatsApp message sent by energy minister Claire Perry was leaked in which she branded Brexiteers concerned about the £39 billion EU divorce bill as “swivel-eyed” elderly men with no mortgages or young children.

There were calls for Mrs May to sack Chancellor Philip Hammond, who enraged Brexiteers by saying trade relations with the EU would change only “very modestly” and that the UK should seek a “middle way”.

Intensifying infighting among the Conservatives will not go unnoticed in Brussels, where the EU General Affairs Council is expected to approve guidelines for chief negotiator Michel Barnier to follow during talks on a post-Brexit transition period.