About 50 Conservative lawmakers discuss ousting UK PM May

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of about 50 lawmakers in British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government who oppose her proposals for a post-Brexit deal with the European Union have met to discuss how and when they could force her out of her job, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The BBC said those at the Tuesday night meeting which did not include all the ERG’s senior figures had discussed possible scenarios depending on whether May was able to secure a deal with the EU based on her proposals.

Comments at the meeting were said to have included “everyone I know says she has to go” and “she’s a disaster”, the BBC reported. However, the BBC report said the ERG were unlikely to force a leadership election unless they were sure they had a candidate that could win.

The rift in May’s party deepened this week, with her former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who quit the cabinet over the Chequers proposal, comparing May’s plan in a newspaper column to putting a “suicide vest” on Britain’s constitution.

May’s spokesman said her so-called Chequers proposal is the only serious, credible and negotiable plan available.

However, the Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that May’s office was drawing up secret plans to ditch her Chequers blueprint if EU leaders reject it at a summit next week.