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35 Tory MPs expected to reject May’s Brexit plan

AT least 35 Tory MPs are expected to reject Theresa May’s Brexit plan if she brings it back to the Commons for a fourth vote.

Pro-Brexit Tory Richard Drax told MPs today that he regrets voting for Ms May’s Withdrawal Agreement on Friday after having previously opposed it.

During points of order in the Commons, he said: “The Withdrawal Agreement as it stands must never see the light of day again.”

A total of 75 Tory MPs voted against her plan at the second meaningful vote on March 12, which saw it defeated by a majority of 58 votes.

On Friday — the original Brexit date before it was pushed back to April 12 — 34 Tory MPs voted against the agreement after Ms May separated it from the Political Declaration in an attempt to circumvent parliamentary rules to bring it for a third vote.

Mr Drax’s reversion brings the number of Tory opponents to 35.

The DUP is still opposed to Ms May’s agreement over the Irish border backstop, so she would have to seek votes of Labour back-bench MPs — five of who voted in her favour on Friday.

Today, MPs were set to engage in a second round of indicative votes on Brexit after the Star went to print.

Ms May had given Tory MPs a free vote but Cabinet ministers were told to abstain, a Downing Street source said.

The government was expected to whip against the motion enabling the indicative votes process to go ahead.

Labour said it would vote in support of the Common Market 2.0 option, as well as other options which the party backed in the first round of indicative votes last week.

A Labour spokesman said: “In line with our policy, we’re supporting motions to keep options on the table to prevent a damaging Tory deal or no deal, build consensus across the House to break the deadlock and deliver an outcome that can work for the whole country.”

Also known as the Norway-plus proposal, the option was defeated by 94 MPs in the first indicative votes last week. Labour MPs were “encouraged” to support it but the SNP abstained.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said his party would be backing the motion tabled by Conservative Nick Boles.

It was expected that if all 35 SNP MPs vote for it that it would win a majority unless eight or more Labour MPs defy their party’s whip.

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