Tory MP Andrew Bridgen DENIES being behind furious anonymous quotes saying May should ‘bring her own noose’ to her ‘show trial’
- Sunday newspapers were full of violent threats against the Prime Minister
- Leicestershire North West MP Andrew Bridgen focus of speculation as a source
- Bridgen denied responsibility today as Brexiteers distanced themselves from it
Andrew Bridgen today furiously denied being the Tory MP behind controversial and violent imagery-laden attacks on the Theresa May.
An unnamed backbencher told a Sunday newspaper that the PM would be ‘knifed’ and should ‘bring her own noose’ to a ‘show trial.
Mr Bridgen – a leading Brexiteer and critic of the PM – had been accused of being behind the anonymous briefings but denied responsibility today.
Andrew Bridgen (pictured outside Parliament) a leading Brexiteer and critic of the PM – had been accused of being behind the anonymous briefings
But speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme this morning, he said: ‘It is not me.’
He added: ‘I have no idea who it was. I don’t normally hide behind anonymous quotes.
‘I think these sorts of comments are unproductive.’
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The Leicestershire North-West MP, who submitted a letter of no confidence in Theresa May in July, said: ‘We either change the Prime Minister’s policy or we have to change the Prime Minister.’
An unnamed backbencher told a Sunday newspaper that the PM (pictured today on Horse Guards Parade) would be ‘knifed’ and should ‘bring her own noose’ to a ‘show trial
Mr Bridgen said he understood that, if 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady receives the 48 letters needed to trigger a confidence ballot, he would first call each of the MPs involved to check whether they wish to withdraw their letter.
He played down the prospect of Mrs May being toppled by the votes of fewer than 158 Tory MPs – 50 per cent of the total.
In the past, as few as 70-100 negative votes would be enough to force her to stand down, but a ‘new paradigm’ had been created by the survival of Jeremy Corbyn when many of his MPs have no confidence in him, said Mr Bridgen.
‘Toppling the Prime Minister isn’t the only solution,’ he added.
‘The Prime Minister could pivot away from the Chequers deal which is deeply unpopular in the country and doesn’t deliver the Brexit we promised.’
The anonymous politicians who launched the vitriolic attacks on the PM have faced a serious backlash amid claims they should be unmasked and kicked out of the party.
The lurid quotes, given anonymously to several Sunday papers, came from MPs and former ministers – several of whom were cited as allies of former Brexit Secretary David Davis.
The violent claims about Mrs May’s fate come just over two years after MP Jo Cox was assassinated on the streets of her Batley and Spen constituency and amid growing alarm at violent rhetoric in politics
The graphic metaphors also included Mrs May being told to ‘bring her own noose’ to a ‘show trial. A former minister is said to have warned the PM she faces being stabbed in the chest with a hot knife – that would then be twisted.
The violent claims about Mrs May’s fate come just over two years after MP Jo Cox was assassinated on the streets of her Batley and Spen constituency and amid growing alarm at violent rhetoric in politics.
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