Mystery surrounds why a Tory MP was forced to quit the government to launch bid to protect citizens’ rights under a no-deal Brexit - when Theresa May backed his cause just hours later.
Downing Street announced that Alberto Costa had resigned from his unpaid role as a ministerial aide in the Scotland Office on Wednesday morning.
The South Leicestershire MP had launched a cross-party bid to make changes to the prime minister’s Brexit plan.
He had tabled an amendment to a government motion that if backed by enough MPs would have protected the rights of UK citizens in the EU as well as EU citizens living in the UK.
It would have ring-fenced citizens’ rights with a UK-EU treaty even if Britain left the EU on March 29 with no deal.
A senior Number 10 source told reporters that it was “convention” that members of the administration do not try to make changes to government motions.
But confusion reigned when it emerged that May’s government had performed a U-turn and does not, in fact, oppose Costa’s proposals - prompting questions over why he needed to quit in the first place.
A Tory source told HuffPost that Costa was asked to drop the amendment.
“Alberto has been sacked but under the guise of a resignation,” the source said. “He has been under huge pressure to drop this amendment for the past week and obviously he hasn’t done that.
“He was then forced to resign as a result. He had a meeting with the PM after PMQs in which the PM agreed to accept his amendment in its entirety, but said that his sacking needed to be seen publicly as a resignation.”
They added: “Obviously, it seems pretty ridiculous that a PPS is sacked on a technical breach of collective responsibility when there are cabinet ministers openly breaching collective responsibility [by threatening to resign over a no-deal Brexit writing] in the Daily Mail.”
Confirmation of May’s position also followed a bizarre incident earlier in the day involving Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
Javid appeared caught by surprise when SNP MP Stuart McDonald claimed the prime minister had told MPs on Tuesday that May opposed Costa’s plan.
“When was the government not supporting it?,” asked Javid, before going on to confirm the U-turn.
The PM’s spokesman later stressed that May had simply warned that the EU may not be able to deliver a treaty on citizens’ rights under no-deal - but had not voiced opposition to the aims of Costa’s amendment.
“The prime minister never said that she would oppose it,” said the spokesman. “What the Prime Minister has pointed out was the challenges on the EU side.”
May’s official spokesman declined to say whether Tory MPs would now be whipped to back the amendment, which already has the support of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.
Diane Abbott, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, claimed Costa was sacked.
She said: “The sacking of Alberto Costa for supporting citizens’ rights prolongs the anxiety and uncertainty that over 5 million people have faced for two and a half years.
“Alberto Costa’s amendment was a sensible measure trying to protect the rights of EU citizens in the UK and our own British citizens in the EU.
“These people are our friends and our neighbours and they don’t deserve to be treated as a political football kicked between the Home Office and No 10.”
Cabinet minister David Lidington later confirmed to the House of Commons that the government would try to negotiate the joint UK-EU treaty on citizens’ rights.
But he said: “We should not though underestimate the challenge of reaching the UK-EU commitment that the amendment calls for to ringfence the agreement on citizens’ rights.”