Margot James: Brexiteer MPs have betrayed the Leave vote
Margot James has accused Brexiteer MPs of betraying the Leave vote as she backed Jeremy Hunt to take Britain out of the EU.
The Stourbridge MP, who is backing Mr Hunt in the Tory leadership contest, said it was a "disgrace" that some MPs had repeatedly held up the UK's departure from the bloc by voting against Theresa May's deal.
She hit out at Boris Johnson, Mr Hunt's opponent in the race for Number 10, claiming he had no chance of renegotiating a Brexit deal due to his poor relationship with the EU.
Ms James described thrashing out a revised deal with the EU was a "long shot" for any Prime Minister, but insisted Mr Hunt had the best chance of doing it.
She also refused to rule out voting against the government to stop a 'no deal' Brexit "if things don't go to plan".
Race to Number 10:
Responding to claims from Mr Johnson that "dithering" over Brexit had had a dreadful impact for democracy, she said: "I think dithering over Brexit is not the way I would characterise it.
"The Prime Minister has put a deal before Parliament three times, I have backed it three times and many other Conservative MPs have done the same.
"A cadre of people who are opposed to the Irish backstop in any form have held it up for the rest of the country, and that is a disgrace.
"And I don't see that changing automatically unless whoever is elected can get some change to that backstop."
Long shot
Digital Minister Ms James, who backed Remain in the EU referendum, initially backed Matt Hancock in the leadership contest. When he dropped out she switched to Rory Stewart and then Mr Hunt.
Asked if she felt the new Prime Minister would be able to secure changes to the withdrawal agreement with the EU, she said: "I agree that it is a long shot, but I do firmly believe that if anybody has the chance of getting any change at all, it is most definitely Jeremy Hunt, our current Foreign Secretary, who has a good relationship with the commissioner and the rest of Europe.
"I'm afraid his predecessor Boris Johnson has none of those benefits and I don't see him getting anywhere with Europe."
She added: "There is the prospect of someone new garnering support [in the EU], but I just don't think Boris Johnson has got any chance of that.
"That's why I believe he is so gung-ho about leaving on October 31 with or without a deal. I think that's because deep down, he knows he is unlikely to get any movement from Europe so he's got to promote this 'deal of no deal' departure come what may."
Mr Hunt has claimed that he would leave without a deal, a move which Ms James would only happen "if the prospect of any kind of renegotiation is exhausted".
She said his comments that Britain may require a short extension to the October 31 deadline were logical as it would not be worth sticking to a particular date "if there was a deal in sight".
Asked if this represented a betrayal of the Brexit vote, she said: "I think the betrayal of the people who have been waiting for Brexit for three years lies solely with the people in Parliament who have held Brexit up.
"It is certainly not the fault of the Prime Minister or Jeremy Hunt. The fault lies clearly with the MPs who have voted down the deal each time."
Earlier this year Ms James threatened to quit the government in order to vote against a 'no deal' Brexit.
Asked if she would be prepared to join colleagues including Tobias Ellwood and Kenneth Clark in voting to stop 'no deal', she said: "I would hesitate in giving that commitment right now, because I do believe we have got the prospect of a good Prime Minister who is going to put his all into securing a decent, negotiated exit from the European Union, which is in line with the referendum, but also that can be managed in terms of the economic and security interests of the country.
"I want to give the fair chance it deserves before deciding what I might do if things don't go to plan."
She said she believed there were Conservatives that would vote 'no deal' down, "even if it meant the fall of the government".
