Theresa May has pulled her key Brexit legislation from the House of Commons schedule, amid speculation over the prime minister’s future.
Downing Street had claimed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill ould go before MPs in the week beginning June 3, but it was not announced when the Government set out the forthcoming Commons agenda on Thursday.
Government whip Mark Spencer, outlining forthcoming business in the Commons on Thursday, said: “We will update the House on the publication and introduction of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on our return from the Whitsun recess.”
Spencer was deputising at business questions following the resignation of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom.
Leadsom acknowledged her resignation came on the eve of the European elections, but said she felt she could not announce the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in Thursday’s Business Statement containing “new elements that I fundamentally oppose”.
She wrote in a letter to the PM: “I fully respect the integrity, resolution and determination that you have shown during your time as prime minister.
“No-one has wanted you to succeed more than I have, but I do now urge you to make the right decisions in the interests of the country, this Government and our party.”
May’s fate as prime minister looks set to be sealed on Friday when she meets Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs.
Demands from Tory MPs for her to resign are continuing to surge following cabinet turmoil over her Brexit strategy.
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