HARDLINE Tory Brexiteers will leave Boris Johnson sweating until Saturday morning before deciding whether to vote for his Brexit deal.
After launching an intensive last-ditch whipping operation, the Government is confident it has won over the vast majority of the 28 so-called Spartans who voted down Theresa Mays deal on all three occasions.
It raised suspicions that the PM privately secured their backing before signing off on the deal today.
But the hardline group – known as the ERG – will only make their final decision which way to vote when they meet in two days ahead of the first Saturday sitting in Parliament since the Falklands War.
Last night the PM left open the option of removing the whip from Tory MPs who vote against the deal on Saturday.
Whips hope that the prospect of effectively being sacked from the party will crunch the number of rebels down further. They believe they have already cut the number of ERG down to single digits.
The PM also left the door open to restoring the whip to the 21 ex-Tory MPs he sacked last month for backing the Brexit-delaying Benn Act in another bid to boost his numbers.
Sir Nicholas Soames – one of the sacked rebels – said he would vote for the deal and told BBCs Newsnight: I think you can assume that the 21 will by and large vote for it.
‘SPARTANS WILL VOTE FOR IT’
Asked whether he would suspend the whip from Tory MPs who vote against him on Saturday, Mr Johnson told The Sun in a press conference in Brussels: Im not going to get into whipping.
“What I will say is I do think there is a very good case for voting for this deal on all sides of the House and we will certainly be taking that vote very seriously.
In positive signs for the PM some of the most hardline Brexiteers gave his deal a cautious backing.
Longstanding Eurosceptic Peter Bone – who opposed Theresa Mays deal on all three occasions – told The Sun: Its a bit like when the Chancellor makes his budget statement.
“It all looks very good on the day but youre mad to endorse it on the day because you havent seen the small print.
Until I see what it all says I wont make a decision. I probably wont make a decision until Saturday morning.
‘VASTLY BETTER THAN MAY’S’
There are certainly a number of people who are trying to work it all out. But everyone agrees this is vastly better than Theresa Mays deal.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, another Spartan, signalled he would vote for the deal.
He tweeted: Boris deal sounds far better than the WA. ECJ supremacy over UK law, backstop ditched, & can do free trade agreements.
“I want to read the detail before making up my mind, but well done Boris for getting this far & doing what others said was impossible.
And Andrea Jenkyns – one of the fiercest opponents of Mrs Mays deal – gave Mr Johnson hope by hailing his new deal as a damn sight better.
ERG deputy leader Mark Francois said the ERG will make a final decision on Saturday morning.
He told The Sun: At that meeting the officers of the ERG will make a clear recommendation to our colleagues on whether to support the deal or not.
Even arch-Eurosceptic Owen Paterson did not rule out voting for the deal – just two days after he described the PMs new Brexit proposals as unacceptable.
He tweeted: Following todays very interesting developments, I will be reading both the revised Northern Ireland protocol and Political Declaration in detail. I will discuss them widely ahead of Saturdays vote.
