THERESA May is facing rebellion on a new front today after the government announced plans to bring the start of recess forward.
After caving in to the hardline Brexiteers yesterday over her Chequers proposal for a softer Brexit, the Prime Minister has come under attack for her decision to start MPs' summer holiday on Thursday this week, instead of Tuesday next week.
An earlier break will buy May some much-needed breathing space, as would-be plotters will be sent away from Westminster.
READ: Nicola Sturgeon slams May's 'desperate' attempt to start recess early
But the suggestion that MPs take extra time off during one of the most critical - and busiest - periods in recent parliamentary history has gone down badly.
Some Tory backbenchers said they will vote against the motion including former Pro-EU Tory Phillip Lee, who quit as a minister over Brexit.
Lee condemned any thought of an earlier break as “shameful” at a “crucial time”.
He tweeted: “I can’t possibly go along with that and I don’t see how anyone else could at this critical time with the clock ticking on #Brexit; it would be shameful even to consider it.”
The Remain-backing Tory chair of the Health Select Committee, Sarah Wollaston, also said she was opposed to an early recess - adding that her committee would be sitting as usual next Tuesday.
Opposition parties also hit out.
Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, spoke of today's news that the Brexit campaign group Vote Leave had been fined £61,000 and referred to the police after an Electoral Commission probe said it broke electoral law.
He tweeted:: "What price our democracy? The powers that the electoral commission have need to be addressed. This fine is inconsequential to the breaking of electoral laws. Our democracy has been undermined, parliament needs to address this, not take an early holiday.
Labour's Angela Rayner called the motion "pathetic" and said the Tories were frightened of their own MPs.
And after seeing off a rebellion from the Brexiteers, the Prime Minister will today face a stand-off with the Remain wing of her party.
The Pro-EU side led by Stephen Hammond and Nicky Morgan will be pushing a new amendment to the government's Trade Bill, which will make it a negotiating objective to "participate after exit day in a customs union with the EU", in the event that a deal on frictionless trade cannot be secured by January.
Morgan has already trailed the amendment with a letter written to fellow MPs arguing that the benefits of post-Brexit free trade deals would be outweighed by the impact of leaving the Single Market and customs union.
abour whips are scrutinising the amendment to determine which way MPs will be told to vote but if they give it their backing, the government could face another close run after two amendments to the customs bill passed yesterday with just three votes.
READ: Nicola Sturgeon slams May's 'desperate' attempt to start recess early
Amid the drama of yesterday's events in the Commons the May was also hit by a further resignation from her Government.
Defence minister Guto Bebb voted against the Government on the Customs Bill, effectively quitting his frontbench role.
He is the tenth in a series of MPs, ranging from big names to minor players, to have quit since the Chequers' agreement on Brexit, though the first Remainer to go.
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