Nerves are jangling at the European Research Group. They have written a letter to the PM (see the BBC's report on it HERE) demanding full regulatory autonomy and various other things which would give us a Brexit as flinty hard as any swivel eyed Euro sceptic could wish for. Sixty Conservative MPs have signed the letter so now we have the full list of nutters.
I note it is marked "Private & Confidential" but is now over all the newspapers this morning and one of the lead items on the BBC website. A few weeks ago, Jacob Rees-Mogg was unwilling to tell us who the ERG membership was but now the letter has been leaked we all know. Some signatories may not be entirely happy.
Nicky Morgan has called it a ransom note (HERE) and I suppose it is in a way. Only 48 Conservative MPs are needed to initiate a leadership election and perhaps this letter is a warning shot that they seem to have the numbers if necessary. Unfortunately, it is nothing like a majority of Conservative MPs and it is they who will ultimately decide which candidates go to the membership and the ERG may well get a choice between remainers like Phillip Hammond and Amber Rudd.
Also, I am not sure the Conservatives could change the leader a second time without a general election which they may well lose. Some right wing newspapers seem to think a GE is coming up and have started a smear campaign against Corbyn by making fantastic suggestions he was a spy in the 1980s. It all looks like a bit of panic is setting in.
Incidentally, the signatories of the letter are:
Lucy Allan
Sir David Amess
Richard Bacon
Kemi Badenoch
Sir Henry Bellingham
Bob Blackman
Peter Bone
Andrew Bridgen
Sir Bill Cash
Simon Clarke
Colin Clark
David T C Davies
Phillip Davies
Leo Docherty
Nadine Dorries
Richard Drax
James Duddridge
Charlie Elphicke
Nigel Evans
Mark Francois
Marcus Fysh
James Gray
Chris Green
John Hayes
Gordon Henderson
Phillip Hollobone
Adam Holloway
Eddie Hughes
Alister Jack
Bernard Jenkin
Andrea Jenkyns
David Jones
Daniel Kawczynski
Stephen Kerr
Pauline Latham
Andrew Lewer
Dr Julian Lewis
Julia Lopez
Jack Lopresti
Tim Loughton
Rachel Maclean
Craig McKinlay
Nigel Mills
Annie-Marie Morris
Matthew Offord
Priti Patel
Owen Patterson
John Penrose
John Redwood
Andrew Rosindell
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Lee Rowley
Henry Smith
Ian Duncan-Smith
Bob Stewart
Sir Desmond Swayne
Derek Thomas
Michael Tomlinson
Anne Marie Trevelyan
Martin Vickers
Bill Wiggin
William Wragg
Not a brain cell among them.
