Two Conservative MPs were caught in a painfully awkward exchange on BBC News after being told by presenter Victoria Derbyshire: “I gather you two don’t necessarily want to talk to each other.”
Andrew Bridgen was explaining why he will vote against Theresa May in the no-confidence vote of Tory MPs when James Cleverly, a supporter of the Prime Minister, appeared on screen to speak next.
After Derbyshire addressed the pair’s awkward relationship, a long pause took hold before Mr Bridgen said: “I’ll go, that’s fine. Thank you.”
.@vicderbyshire: “I gather you don’t necessary want to talk to each other”
Andrew Bridgen MP: “…I’ll go”
Tory backbencher who supports no confidence vote walks off TV set as colleague, James Cleverly, puts case for supporting Theresa May
Updates: https://t.co/aiJQkfNxO5 pic.twitter.com/uY03QPVHUR
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) December 12, 2018
Mr Cleverly, who defended the Government’s Brexit deal in a Channel 4 debate on Sunday, was then asked what he made of “colleagues like Andrew Bridgen” who opposed it.
“I’ve known Andrew for many years, I like him a lot,” he said.
But he added that Mr Bridgen should not have submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister, saying it was a “big distraction” that he feared “might undermine the Brexit process completely”.
