Michael Fabricant: Confidence vote in PM is the last thing we need
Michael Fabricant has revealed he will vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal in Parliament – but says he is against plans to try and oust the Prime Minister from office.
Furious Brexiteers are determined to force a Tory leadership election over Mrs May's draft agreement with the EU, which they say will result in 'Brexit in name only'.
Dozens of them, including Stone MP Sir Bill Cash, have already submitted letters of no confidence to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady. Forty-eight are needed for a vote.
But Lichfield MP Mr Fabricant says he has no plans to join his Staffordshire colleague and fellow Eurosceptic in attempting to trigger a vote on Mrs May's leadership – providing she goes for a 'no deal' Brexit.
Mr Fabricant said: "I vehemently oppose the current iteration of the Chequers agreement negotiated by the Prime Minister with the EU.
"And I will vote against the Government if this version is presented to Parliament.
"But what I will not be doing is writing to Sir Graham Brady saying I have lost confidence in Theresa May.
"As a Brexiteer since before the word was invented, the last thing we need right now is a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister."
Mr Fabricant says he opposes Chequers because it leaves the UK tied to the EU through a customs union, meaning 'we will have to abide by the EU’s rules without having any influence in the making of them'.
He said Britain would be 'forbidden from making free trade agreements with other nations, we’ll still not have control over our borders, and have to pay around £18 billion a year for that doubtful privilege'.
"It’s not that I don’t trust Mrs May. She undoubtedly tried to get the best deal she could. It’s that I don’t trust the EU," he said.
He insists a 'no deal' Brexit would not be 'chaotic', as the vast majority of the terms of how the UK will cooperate with the EU after Brexit have already been agreed.
Explaining why he will not write to Sir Graham, Mr Fabricant says he believes Mrs May would win any confidence vote 'convincingly', which would 'strengthen the hand' of Remainer MPs.
He added: "Mrs May, like all leaders, has her faults. But her sense of duty and meticulous understanding of detail cannot be doubted.
"I believe that if the current Chequers plan was rejected, she would apply her talents to delivering a Brexit which would work in the national interest while not binding us to Brussels.
"And if she is not prepared to pivot and work for a no-deal Brexit, then – and only then – will I be free to write my letter to Sir Graham."
