LONDON,MAR 25:
British Prime Minister Theresa May was holding crisis talks with colleagues on Sunday in an effort to breathe life into her twice-defeated Brexit deal after reports that her cabinet was plotting to topple her.The United Kingdom`s exit from the European Union was already slipping from May`s weakened grasp as she struggled to increase support for her deal and parliament prepared to grab control of Brexit in the coming days.At one of the most important junctures for the country since World War Two, British politics was at fever pitch. Yet, nearly three years since the 2016 referendum, it remains unclear how, when or if Brexit will ever take place.With May humiliated and weakened, ministers publicly downplayed any immediate threat to her leadership, insisting that she is still in control and the best option is for parliament to ratify her Brexit divorce deal.
After hundreds of thousands of people marched across central London on Saturday to demand another Brexit referendum, May was the subject of what The Sunday Times said was a “coup” by senior ministers seeking to oust her.The newspaper cited 11 unidentified senior ministers and said they had agreed that the prime minister should stand down, warning that she has become a toxic and erratic figure whose judgment has “gone haywire”.
But two of the leading candidates as caretaker leaders – May`s de facto deputy David Lidington and Environment Secretary Michael Gove – backed May on Sunday.
“I don`t think that I have any wish to take over from the PM; I think (she) is doing a fantastic job,” Lidington told reporters outside his house.
“One thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task,” he quipped.
Gove also downplayed the possibility of a coup.
“I think it is not the time to change the captain of the ship. I think what we need to do is to chart the right course, and the prime minister has charted that right course by making sure that we have a deal that honours the referendum mandate,” he said.
