Brexit conservative MPs pledge support for Cameron in letter

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• published: 23 Jun 2016
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Boris Johnson and Zac Goldsmith are part of a group of 84 MPs who have pledged support for PM regardless of the outcome of the referendum. Don't go Dave! More than 80 of the Brexit Tory rebels - including Boris and Gove - write to the PM and ask him to stay on after the referendum More than 80 MPs including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove signed the letter calling for the PM to stay on as Tory leader Letter comes as Remain campaign appeared on course to win referendum The Conservative Party was split down the middle by the Brexit battle More than 80 Brexit rebels in David Cameron's Tory party tonight sent a letter to Downing Street urging him to stay on as PM. With Mr Cameron's Remain campaign appearing on course for victory in the referendum, the group led by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove reached out an olive branch. The intention of the letter - made public as soon as polls closed in the referendum - is to begin the process of healing wounds in the Tory Party. Some 84 Tories signed the letter to tell Mr Cameron: 'We believe whatever the British people decide you have both a mandate and a duty to continue leading the nation implementing our policies.' As well as Mr Johnson and Mr Gove, the signatories included Cabinet-level Brexit backers Chris Grayling and John Whittingdale, but not Iain Duncan Smith, who quit as work and pensions secretary shortly before the referendum. Tory MP Robert Syms said that two-thirds of Conservative MPs who broke with the PM to back Leave had signed the letter, but said it had not been possible to reach all of them to ask them to sign. Mr Grayling said it would be an 'absolute nonsense' for Mr Cameron to lose his job given that he won an election just over a year ago promising to hold a referendum. 'It would be an absolute nonsense if David Cameron felt, having given the country that choice, if they take the decision he couldn't carry on the job,' he told Sky News. 'We are completely behind him staying, we want him to stay and that letter is a statement of commitment to his leadership.' If Mr Cameron secures a comfortable win, he will be under less pressure to carry out an immediate 'reconciliation reshuffle' promoting leading Brexiteers. But even before the result was known, rebel MPs claimed they were close to gathering the 50 names needed to spark a formal vote of no confidence in the Tory leader. One MP, who signed such a letter dated today, said: 'If it's a vote to leave then the PM will have to resign immediately – there will be civil war if he tries to cling on, even for a day. But Labour's Jonathan Ashworth said that the letter could not 'unsay' the comments of Tory MPs who have spent the last few weeks attacking the PM. 'This letter exposes the reality that David Cameron and the Conservative Party are now utterly preoccupied with leadership infighting rather than the future of the country,' said Mr Ashworth. 'What's more this letter cannot unsay what senior Tory politicians have been telling us for weeks - that the British people simply cannot trust David Cameron. 'The truth is this is a desperately weak and divided Government unable to provide the leadership the country needs.' Mr Duncan Smith said he was sure the party would reunite despite the bruising contest. The former party leader, who dramatically quit as work and pensions secretary in March with a blast at Government welfare policy, said he made no apologies for the tone of the campaign. He told the BBC his suggestions Chancellor George Osborne lied to the public - by comparing him to Pinocchio - were 'a bit of fun'. 'Passions are high and I don't make any bones about it: when you are dealing with an issue as big as this - nothing matters more really at the end of the day - then it gets really tense. 'Families break apart for things like this for a while and they will take chunks out of each other but they come back together. 'The Conservative Party has an instinct ultimately I sense that once the argument is over they will want to be back. We are in government, we have to get on with government whatever happens.'