Theresa May urged to withdraw Tory whip over "disloyal" Brexit comments

Prime Minister Theresa May is being pressured by Brexit supporters to withdraw Conservative whip from Michael Heseltine over his "disloyal comments" suggesting that a Jeremy Corbyn government would be better than Brexit.

Former cabinet minister Norman Tebbit questioned his former colleague's loyalty to the country, calling for him to be banned from the Tory benches in the House of Lords.

"I think it is unprecedented for a man in receipt of the Conservative whip to suggest that a Corbyn government would be preferable to a British government governing the UK, given that the alternative he is advocating is Brussels," he said.

Another Brexiter, Tory MP Nigel Evans told The Sun: "Only a Euro fanatic of the pedigree of Michael Heseltine could believe that a Venezuela-loving Corbyn government would be preferable to leaving his beloved EU."

He was also on the receiving end of criticism from the Bow Group think-tank, whose Chair, Ben Harris-Quinney said: "Heseltine has made clear it is his aim to prevent Brexit at all costs, including the sabotage of his own party and nation, the Conservative Party must therefore withdraw the whip and end the inevitable continuation of his sniping from inside the tent."

Harris-Quinney added: "Michael Heseltine is best known for bringing down the Thatcher Government, his career is a litany of traitorous and self-serving practices, that he is able to continue to do such things in senility only draws attention to the weakness of the Government and embarrasses it at home and abroad."

Triggering the backlash, Heseltine had said that a Labour government led by Corbyn could be less damaging than Brexit. He later pointed out that he still believed that the Labour government would have negative impacts on the UK, but that it would be less harmful than Brexit in the long-term.

He also suggested that Labour would turn against Brexit, leaving the Conservatives in a rut given the growing unpopularity of leaving the EU.

"If you look at the polls there is probably a bigger majority against Brexit than the referendum secured, but that, I think, will continue to happen and it will become more and more unpopular as people realise what it’s all about," he said.