The rebel boot is on the other foot. For years the most promi-nent Tory troublemakers were Eurosceptics, who were willing to do anything to get Britain out of the European Union. Now the Eurosceptics have captured the government and the most prominent rebels are Euro-moderates, who are willing to do anything to prevent Britain from leaving the eu without a deal. The insurgents are about 40 strong, though not all will vote in the same way at the same time. They are a looser alliance than the old rebels who, in the form of the European Research Group, had their own whips and party line. But Boris Johnson's increasingly hardline policies have stiffened their spines. The alliance contains a collection of Tory grandees, including five former cabinet ministers, and a smaller group of escapees, such as Sir Oliver Letwin and Guto Bebb, who have decided to stand down at the next election. Ruth Davidson's resignation as leader of the Scottish Conservatives has weakened Toryism north of the-border and provided the rebels with another example of the cost of Mr Johnson's policies.
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