With talk of a cabinet coup against Theresa May emerging overnight and top ministers booked to give interviews, this Sunday’s political shows were a must-see.
They also came after hundreds of thousands of people marched on parliament to demand a second Brexit referendum on Saturday, and there was also plenty of discussion about a so-called People’s Vote.
There was more detail on how MPs will get an opportunity to show their support for alternatives to the prime minister’s beleaguered Brexit deal this week, but a warning that a general election could be close.
So what happened?
Coup dies on arrival
Away from scheduled media appearances, May’s deputy David Lidington and then Environment Secretary Michael Gove were quick out of the traps to announce that they did not want to take over as PM despite being named as potential caretaker leaders in the Sunday papers.
In separate broadcast clips, Gove insisted “it’s not the time to change the captain of the ship”, while Lidington rather deliciously said he had been put off the job by watching May do it.
“I tell you this: one thing that working closely with the prime minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task,” he told reporters.
But earlier Chancellor Philip Hammond acknowledged that “people are very frustrated and people are desperate to find a way forward in the two weeks we’ve got to resolve this issue.”
He however warned that leadership plotting was “self indulgent”.
Hammond told Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: “This is not about the prime minister or any other individual, this is about the future of our country.
“And changing prime minister wouldn’t help us, changing party in government wouldn’t help us.
“We have got to address the question of what type of Brexit is acceptable to parliament.”
Senior Brexiteer backbencher Iain Duncan Smith was utterly scathing of the briefings 11 cabinet ministers gave to the Sunday Times calling for May to go.
He said there would be “real disgust” around the country at their conduct and told ministers to “shut up for god’s sake”.
Warning that the Tories would not accept the cabinet stitching up any leadership change instead of following party processes for an election involving members, he added on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I think that’s appalling, I think they should be censured and some of them should be sacked.
“And the idea of a cabal, a cabal that never wanted to leave the European Union, turning out to decide what should happen over our future would be unacceptable to my colleagues.”
Indicative votes could cause a general election
Hammond became the latest cabinet minister to confirm that MPs will “one way or another” have a chance to express their preferences for alternatives to May’s deal in indicative votes this week.
A soft Norway or Common Market 2.0-style Brexit, with membership of the single market and customs union, is likely to be on the table alongside a second referendum.
But shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer’s fears that May would simply ignore the outcome was realised almost immediately as Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the government would not necessarily implement the plan that wins indicative votes.
Barclay also set a hare running by suggesting May could call a general election rather than implement a softer Brexit because such a plan would run contrary to the Tories’ 2017 election manifesto.
“Ultimately at its logical conclusion the risk of a general election increases because you potentially have a situation where parliament is instructing the executive to do something that is counter to what it was elected to do,” he told Marr.
Sir Keir had just minutes earlier told the programme the critical question was ‘is this a serious exercise?’
He said: “My biggest fear about this is if the prime minister is going to let a process begin but she won’t own the outcome, she will collapse it if we find a majority and I think she may want then to try her vote on her meaningful vote again and that would make a bad situation even worse.”
Chancellor describes a second referendum as a ‘coherent’ proposal
Hammond also raised eyebrows by revealing he would be happy for a referendum pitting May’s deal against remaining in the EU to be on offer in indicative votes.
He insisted that leaving with no deal and revoking Article 50 to stop Brexit should be ruled out of as they would both have “very serious negative consequences” for the UK.
“It has to be a variant that’s deliverable, not some unicorn,” he said.
However in a major break with the PM’s position, the chancellor described the type of confirmatory referendum proposed by Labour’s Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, as “a perfectly coherent proposition” that “deserves to be considered along with the other proposals”, while suggesting it could not command a majority.
Sir Keir meanwhile confirmed Labour would either table its own amendment or back the Kyle-Wilson plan for a second referendum.
“I don’t think anybody can doubt my commitment to the Labour Party policy that we adopted at conference on a public vote,” he said.
But he could not guarantee there would be a referendum if Labour came into power.
“I would expect our manifesto to build on those commitments both in relation to the type of deal and a public vote,” he said.