The second referendum campaign for Tory MPs, Right to Vote, set up by Phillip Lee, no longer contains a single Tory MP among their ranks, following multiple defections, resignations and withdrawals of the whip by the Government. Coincidentally the website and campaign have since folded…

At its height, the group contained 10 Tory MPs in its fold, however, following a record number of MPs changing party, the supposedly Conservative campaign is now led by a Lib Dem and counts four independents, one ‘The Independents’ MP and one ‘The Independent Group for Change’ MP among others. Keeping up?

The only sign the group was ever Tory-affiliated is the two remaining Tory Lords, who will be grateful that Boris said he wouldn’t withdraw the whip from any Lords supporting the Surrender Bill. A good demonstration of the change seen in British politics over the last year.

Guto Bebb backs Corbyn for PM…

“I certainly take the view that a short-term Jeremy Corbyn government is less damaging than the generational damage that would be caused by a no-deal Brexit.”

The Tory awkward squad launched their own “distinctive” People’s Vote campaign last month under the excruciatingly bad name-pun of ‘Right to Vote’. At the time of their launch Right to Vote widely claimed to have 10 Tory MPs on board, although Phillip Lee only counted eight at the launch event – Sam Gyimah, Heidi Allen, Dominic Grieve, Justine Greening, Guto Bebb, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and himself.

That number appears to have shrunk even further by the time of their latest ‘intervention’ this week, with just four MPs putting their name to their letter calling for Brexit to be delayed – Gyimah, Lee, Grieve and Bebb along with two hardline Remainer Lords. They seemed so desperate for MP support that the letter even originally listed “Baroness Altmann MP” as a signatory before the amusing mishap was corrected…

Incredibly, Right to Vote have reportedly spent a whopping £40,000 so far, despite not even having a website or a Twitter account at the time they launched, and their woeful lack of impact generally. As a campaigning organisation specifically made up of members from only one party they also clearly satisfy the Electoral Commission’s definition of a ‘members association’, which means they have should have registered with the Electoral Commission and declared every donation they have received over £7,500 by now – they haven’t. By law, the public have a right to know exactly whose dark money they’ve been fruitlessly burning through…

Former Defence Minister Guto Bebb came out in favour of a second referendum over the weekend, a few weeks after resigning his ministerial post to join a Remainer rebellion on the Customs Bill.

While Bebb’s Remainer tendencies have long been known, his Leave-voting constituents might be somewhat peeved by his sudden move to trying to reverse the referendum result, because it wasn’t so long ago that he told them in his North Wales Weekly News column on 27 June that:

“You cannot, in my view, have voted for a referendum only to then try and stop the decision taken being implemented.”

And as recently as last month, he used his column to promise them:

“All I can promise is to be a voice for those who accept that we are leaving the EU but want to do so in a constructive and business friendly manner.”

Less than three weeks later, he has he has directly broken his promise to his constituents. It’s funny, because back in 2016, he actually took the trouble of slapping down another MP who questioned the referendum result:

“I will take no lessons from the hon. Gentleman. He claims to be a democrat, but on several occasions in the debate he has called for another referendum. I think what we are seeing is an individual who perhaps did not fight as hard for his beliefs as he should have during the referendum and is now asking for a second chance.”

Guto Bebb MP used to slap down those who call for a second referendum – it’s not what democrats do. We got it right the first time… pic.twitter.com/HMe3Dex91D

— Change Britain (@Change_Britain) September 9, 2018

Bebb’s majority is a mere 635, in a constituency which voted 52% Leave according to Chris Hanretty. Interestingly, UKIP won 3,467 votes in 2015 and didn’t field a candidate in Aberconwy in 2017. It’s fair to say that Bebb wouldn’t be in Parliament without the support of former UKIP voters. Risky move in a marginal…

Welsh Secretary @AlunCairns asked about suggestions from a minister in his dept that his “gut feeling” is Scotland will leave the UK #Peston pic.twitter.com/rzDGq6NJmn

— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) March 19, 2017

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns did not offer any defence of his minister Guto Bebb’s comments on Scotland, comically just saying a string of incomprehensible words. Theresa May will need a better line that that when she visits Wales tomorrow…

Is Tory minister Guto Bebb trying to get sacked? Fresh from infuriating Downing Street by demanding they apologise for the Budget, Bebb has written a column in his local paper arguing that Scotland is “clearly another country” and that his “gut feeling” is Scottish voters no longer see themselves as British. Fair to say these comments from a serving government minister are not in line with Theresa May’s position that “at heart we are one people”. Bebb said:

“We have a huge amount in common with citizens of the Irish Republic, as we do Scotland. Similar TV programmes, popular music and in many ways a shared literature… But, and it’s a real but, read their papers, listen to talk shows and watch the news and it’s clearly another country…

“My brief visit to Edinburgh left me somewhat despondent because I felt the same way as I do when I leave Dublin. For me Dublin is somewhere which is recognisable but very different. That is fine in the context of the capital of an independent country but it should be a warning when visiting a city which is a crucial part of the UK. The sense of nationhood in Edinburgh is palpable. For a long time it has been satisfied within the UK. Even in 2014 a majority saw themselves as British and Scottish. Is that changing though? My gut feeling is yes and that should be a cause for regret to all of us.”

Bebb, a former pro-Welsh independence Plaid Cymru activist, was due to speak at the Tory spring forum in Cardiff yesterday but didn’t show…