TWO rebel Tory MEPs who voted to block moves towards trade talks between the UK and European Union have been stripped of the party whip.
South West MEP Julie Girling and South East MEP Richard Ashworth, pictured above, were suspended from the party after supporting a resolution in Strasbourg declaring that “sufficient progress” had not been made in the Brexit talks to move on to discussions on the future UK-EU relationship.
The decision to remove the whip was backed by Downing Street in a sign that Theresa May is preparing to get tough with her party over Brexit as the talks move into a crucial phase. The Prime Minister’s attempt to assert her authority comes after her car-crash conference speech and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson setting out his own “red lines” for the Brexit talks.
The whip was removed from the two senior MEPs after consultation between European Parliament chief whip Dan Dalton and Downing Street. Former group leader Ashworth and former chief whip Girling backed the non-binding motion, which was passed by 557 votes to 92, with 29 abstentions.
In his letter to the pair, Dalton said: “The resolution by the European Parliament sought to delay progress in the negotiations between the UK and the EU by holding back talks on the future relationship. It also proposed that one part of the UK, Northern Ireland, could remain in the single market and customs union, while the rest of the UK departs – which is not acceptable.
“Given the seriousness of this issue, and your failure to discuss your intention to vote against the agreed position of the Conservative delegation in advance, I am therefore writing to inform you that I am suspending the Conservative whip from you until further notice.”
A government source said Downing Street backed the move because the rebel MEPs had behaved “totally irresponsibly”.
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