Major 'faces leadership challenge in November'
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John Major yesterday flew to Canada for the G7 summit of industrial countries, leaving behind the Tory party seething with threats of a challenge to his leadership.
Right-wing Tory MPs openly warned the Prime Minister that the threat of a leadership challenge in the autumn was now real, after his refusal to bow to the demands of the Euro-sceptics.
"We are entering the end game," one Euro-rebel, Tony Marlow, said. "A challenge will happen in November."
One minister told the Independent that morale was now so low that some backbenchers were ready to reject offers of ministerial posts. "I know of at least two colleagues who said being a minister is no longer worth it. They are looking after themselves," he said.
The civil war in the party deepened after Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, accused the Euro-sceptics of "right-wing xenophobia" after their mauling of the Prime Minister at a private meeting this week. "I am extremely sorry some of them appeared to behave very badly," Mr Clarke said.
The threat to Mr Major came not just from the anti-European wing but from "all segments of the party" where MPs were fearful of losing their seats at the general election, Bill Walker, a leading Euro-sceptic, said.
"It is because of that I judge that the likelihood of a leadership challenge is more real now than it has ever been," he added. "If the Prime Minister is to survive a leadership challenge, he will need the support of people who were at Tuesday's meeting."
Thatcherite right-wingers privately said they would not vote for Michael Heseltine, the President of the Board of Trade, because they refused to believe he would bow to their demands on Europe. But some MPs were saying that the Prime Minister's authority had sunk too low to avoid a challenge, which Mr Heseltine remains the favourite to win if Mr Major is forced out.
Tory MPs held a brief meeting of the 1922 Committee last night, but there was no call for unity from the officers. "It would be counter-productive," one ministerial aide said.
The Chancellor, who later went by scheduled flight to the Canadian summit after the Prime Minister's private flight had departed, spent the day reinforcing his message to the City, that he would not risk sustainable recovery with a boom leading to bust. Mr Clarke defended the Prime Minister's stand to leave open the option of joining a single European currency, but his tone was at odds with Jonathan Aitken, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, when they faced questions in the Commons.
Mr Clarke also rejected Baroness Thatcher's demands for a reversal of the cuts in Mortgage Interest Relief at Source (Miras). "I don't think gimmickry or right-wing xenophobia will win us any election," he said.
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