Leadsom cried and McVey 'went mental' before a civil servant pulled out a RULE BOOK to silence her - then May's plan was called 'a life raft with a plastic sail': Inside Theresa May's most explosive Cabinet meeting
- The Cabinet signed off the Brexit deal after a marathon five-hours of wrangling
- Sources told MailOnline 'emotional' Esther McVey twice demanded formal vote
- One witness claimed she 'went mental' and a 'shouting match' then broke out
- Andrea Leadsom 'wiped away a tear' and warned PM Commons would kill plan
- 'Sullen' Dominic Raab sat quietly and later refused to fly to Brussels to back deal
- Attorney General asked MPs to hold their noses and back 'ugly sister' agreement
- Around 10 other ministers voiced concerns about elements of the package
The complete chaos in Theresa May's five-hour cabinet meeting led to rebels bursting into tears and 'going mental' as they railed against her 'ugly sister' Brexit deal, MailOnline can reveal today.
At least ten cabinet members are believed to have told the Prime Minister they were opposed to her plans during the marathon summit last night.
Esther McVey, who quit as pensions minister this morning, grew more 'emotional' and 'aggressive' before allegedly 'going mental' as she argued with Mrs May and repeatedly called for a show of hands on the deal.
The PM is said to have twice refused a vote before a 'shouting match' broke out in the room until Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill flourished the 'Cabinet manual' that says only the Prime Minister decides if a majority backs her.
But 'sullen' Dominic Raab sat quietly through parts of the meeting, it is claimed, and would later refuse to fly to Brussels to stand alongside Michel Barnier and Donald Tusk to hail the deal.
At the peak of the cross-table rowing Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom is said to have wiped away a tear as she warned Mrs May her proposals had little or no chance of getting through Parliament.
Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey (pictured leaving Downing Street) was irate during the bombshell meeting while Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom (right afterwards) was said to have shed a tear
A fuming Dominic Raab (pictured heading into the cabinet meeting at No10 yesterday afternoon) refused to get on a waiting jet to fly out to Brussels and plug the Brexit deal alongside Michel Barnier last night
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox is said to have declared that the MPs must hold their noses and back the 'ugly sister' deal, arguing that 'this life raft, constructed as it is of oil drums and a plastic sail, needs to make it out onto the open ocean'.
At the end of the brutal Downing Street meeting Mrs May handed out glasses of red and white wine while she went outside to tell Britain her deal was the 'best deal possible'.
The inside story on the Cabinet meeting came as both Mr Raab and Ms McVey dramatically quit the Cabinet - tearing into the PM's Brexit deal and plunging her premiership into crisis.
Mr Raab became the second Brexit Secretary in just six months to resign - dealing a potentially fatal blow to Mrs May's time in office.
His resignation letter landed in No 10 this morning, but there were plenty of signs that he was not fully signed up to the Brexit plan the day before.
He was said to be 'sullen' during the meeting which signed off the PM's deal - even though he was meant to be the very man who went out and sold it to the country.
And he refused to get on a waiting jet to fly out to Brussels and plug the Brexit deal alongside Michel Barnier last night.
He was expected to stand side by side with the EU's chief negotiator to hail the deal as part of an orchestrated series of press conferences in Brussels, Dublin and London.
He had harboured serious doubts about the deal, and had pushed strongly for the UK to be able to leave the backstop customs union deal unilaterally - a demand which did not make it into the 500-page Withdrawal Agreement.
And friends told Sky News he felt cut out and 'bypassed' in the negotiating process in the final, crucial moments.
The BBC claims he told the Chief Whip on his way out he would be quitting.
But while he quietly dwelt on his doubts about the deal in the meeting, Miss McVey was more explicit in her criticisms.
After nearly five hours of behind-closed doors discussions, the PM declared that she will press ahead with her controversial plan having left her cabinet members with glasses of red and white wine
A leading Brexiteer, she is said to have grown 'emotional' and 'aggressive' as she warned the PM will lose a parliamentary vote on the deal and twice demanded a formal Cabinet vote on it.
Her call for a vote flouts Cabinet convention, which says a consensus should emerge through discussion.
But while the PM's won the argument and no vote was held, she failed to win over Miss McVey who had handed in her resignation less than 24 hours later.
Miss McVey's relationship with No10 was already strained over the row over the Universal Credit welfare reforms.
She reportedly had not been informed by the Treasury that extra money had been found for the benefit payments - leaving her to find out as Philip Hammond read out the Budget in the House of Commons late last month.
While officials at the DWP were said to have stepped in to only let her do pre-recorded clips as they worried about what she would say if she went live on air, according to The Times.
It was amid these strained relations that she has departed.
The lengthy Cabinet meeting took a very different turn to the usual weekly No10 gatherings.
It ran more than two hours over time and the PM spoke far more than she usually does - responding to criticisms of specific aspects of her deal as she tried to rally her troops to back her deal.
No 10 sources said Mrs May opened the meeting by saying there are ‘difficult things we have to address and confront’.
The PM acknowledged the ‘strongly held views on these issues’ and made two main contributions herself at the beginning and end of the meeting.
As the Cabient wrapped up, the PM offered thanks for the ‘high quality’ contributions made by every minister in the room.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove (left) is said to have backed the deal with a 'heavy heart', while Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom voiced deep misgivings about some elements
While Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt, a Brexiteer who has been placed on resignation watch, urged the PM to 'dig in and fight for more concessions from Europe'.
Just after 7pm - two hours behind schedule - Mrs May emerged from Downing Street to declare the deal had been signed off.
But her reference to a 'collective' decision rather than a unanimous one immediately raised eyebrows amid reports that numerous ministers had raised objections.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox - both Brexiteers - were described as backing the plan 'with a heavy heart'.
While Defence Secretary Gavin Willliamson, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt all expressed reservations a bout aspects of the deal.
Ministers had full and frank discussions during which they laid brae their reservations about the deal.
Mrs Leadsom allegedly asked 'whether we are actually leaving' and whether the deal would lead to the break-up of the union.
She was said to have told Cabinet that if Mrs May continued with the plan, the European Research Group - the powerful group of Tory Brexit backing MPs - 'would end up having a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister'.
But energy minister Claire Perry is said to have leapt to the PM's defence by rebuffing the suggestions.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid - who is tipped as a possible future Tory leader if Mrs May is ousted - also voiced his concerns.
He is understood to have asked whether there was any chance of trying to toughen up the exit clause from the Irish border 'backstop' - one of the most contentious parts of the agreement.
But he did not press the issue, conceding that the negotiating team was best place to know what could be achieved.
Mr Javid also reportedly called for continuing plans for a no-deal Brexit in case the House of Commons rejects the plan, the Times reported.
Mr Hunt also voiced concerns that Mrs May simply does not have the support among MPs she needs to get the deal through the Commons.
He said that as many as 66 Tory MPs could vote against the deal, but said the PM was in a 'difficult situation'.
Meanwhile Treasury Minister Liz Truss said ministers were 'caught between the devil and the deep blue sea' as they discussed the plan, which includes a transition period that could be extended beyond December 2020.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell had emerged as a potential risk after he signed a letter warning against giving away fishing rights as part of the agreement.
He tonight confirmed that he was staying in the tent, without giving a full-hearted endorsement of the blueprint thrashed out with Brussels.
Chris Grayling apparently voiced concerns about losing the support of the DUP, which has kept Mrs May's fragile government alive since the snap election.
Another Cabinet source said many of the ministers took potshots at 'specific' parts of the deal or offered 'constructive criticism', rather than opposing it wholesale.
'The Brexiteers moaned, but they did not have any alternative,' the source said. 'We are where we are.'
The discussion is said to have focused almost exclusively on the withdrawal package, with no real mention of the future trade relationship. One source said whether Mrs May 'pivots' away from Chequers is still an open issue.
Brexiteer nerves were calmed by attorney general Geoffrey Cox, who told ministers that any bid to keep Britain in the controversial 'Irish backstop' indefinitely would lead to legal challenges.
Mr Cox reportedly called the plan an 'ugly sister of a deal'. He acknowledged there was a 'balance of risk' in the plans, but said: 'The one risk I am not prepared to take is one that means we don't end up delivering Brexit.'
Backing the proposals, he said it was time for the life raft made of 'oil drums and a plastic sail' to be released on to the open ocean. 'It was a key moment,' said a source.
Michael Gove was the only other Brexiteer minister to speak up for the deal.
Meanwhile pro-Remain minister James Brokenshire also spoke up in favour of Mrs May, saying she should 'follow her judgment', the Guardian reported.
Admitting that the debate had been 'long and impassioned', Mrs May said outside Downing Street: 'The collective decision of Cabinet was that the government should agree the draft Withdrawal Agreement and the outline political declaration.
'I know there will be difficult days ahead. This is a decision that will come under intense scrutiny and that is entirely as it should be.
'But the choice was this deal that enables to take back control and build a brighter future or going back to square one with division and uncertainty.'
'I firmly believe with my head and heart that this decisive choice is in the best interests of the entire UK.'
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, an eminent QC and staunch Brexiteer, has emerged as a key figure in wrangling over the Irish border 'backstop'. Treasury minister Liz Truss (right) was also among ministers at the session
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