Conservatives 'so fractured over EU that fresh election needed'

Conservatives must hold a fresh election before Christmas under a new leader for the EU referendum campaign has been so badly fractured party, a rebel MP has claimed.

Andrew Bridgen makes bold claims as a fellow backbencher Nadine Dorries, called on David Cameron to quit and leave the minister led a campaign launched some of their strongest attacks personally the prime minister so far.

No. 10 refused to respond Tory calls for Cameron to go, says Cameron focused on "big problems" in the campaign. Many Conservative dismissive of claims that there will be a leadership challenge after June 23 because they think MPs like Bridgen and Dorries is a small minority.

But the fact that some critics are now openly Cameron said the party needed a new leader describe how bad the referendum campaign has been to damage the unity, and how difficult it would be for the prime minister to repair the damage after polling day.

Bridgen, the sound off, told BBC 5Live that Cameron has made "outrageous" claims in an attempt to persuade voters to support fixed and that, consequently, he has effectively lost its parliamentary majority.

conservative rift over EU risks widening as an attack on David Cameron intensify

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"This party is quite cracked, straight down the middle and I do not know where the characters might be able to pull back together forward for effective government. To be honest I think we might need to go to an election before Christmas and get a new mandate from the people, "he said.

Bridgen said at least 50 Tory MPs - the number needed to call a vote of no confidence - feel the same way about Cameron and that the vote on the future of the prime minister is "probably very likely" after the referendum.

Dorries, a long time critic Cameron told ITV Peston on Sunday he had submitted a letter to the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee revealed not trust the prime minister.

"[Cameron] has been lying deep, and I think that actually is really at the heart of why Conservative MPs have been so angry. To say that Turkey will not join the European Union as far as 30 years is a lie."

A leadership contest will only happen if Cameron loses no-confidence vote would not be possible if it remains a campaign to win the referendum. But overwhelmingly against Cameron in the vote of confidence they can be fatal to the prime minister, forcing him to accelerate plans for departure.

Dorries said that if keep winning 60/40, Cameron will probably survive. "If you still win by a slim majority, or if the left wins, he's toast in a few days," he said.

Conservative MP Steve Baker said Bridgen "[has] a point" about how backbenchers unsympathetic attitude of the EU toward Cameron. Baker admitted that only about 30 are very strongly committed to remain - and he said he thought there might be a "problem" for the prime minister after June 23.

But more senior figures in the Tory camp Brexit supported Cameron and insist on no-confidence motion will not happen because the rebels will not get enough support.

"I do not think there are 50 co spur to the prime minister," said Chris Grayling, the justice secretary. "I can assure you that the people who are fighting to win their seats 12 months ago must not be gunning for a general election by Christmas."

Graham Brady, chairman of the committee in 1922, said the intervention Bridgen was "unfortunate" and that the party should pull together after the referendum.

Liam Fox, the former defense minister, said the party would need a "period of stability" after the referendum and that it would be best for Cameron to remain as prime minister. Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary, also said he did not support replacing Cameron.

In a particularly personal attacks that seemed clearly aimed Cameron and Chancellor, George Osborne, tPriti Patel, minister of labor, used an article in the Sunday Telegraph said it was "shameful" that the rich keep the campaign was not aware of how much mass immigration do harm to the poor.

"If you have personal wealth or if you work for Goldman Sachs you'll be fine. But when public services are under pressure, it is the people who do not have the luxury of being able to pay the alternative most vulnerable," he wrote.

"It's a shame that they are leading the pro-EU campaign failed to care for those who do not have their advantages."

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Articles Patel coincided with Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, and Michael Gove, the secretary of justice, wrote an open letter to Cameron asking him to accept that it is impossible for him to achieve manifesto pledge her get net migration below 100,000 if the British living in the EU. Letter, also signed by Labour's Gisela Stuart, said the failure to keep this promise "is corrosive of public confidence".

A source close to Mr Cameron said that there is evidence now outstanding, supported by a survey Observer Sunday economists, who leave the EU would lead to "economic shock that serious" and that the "suggestion is crashing the economy is the best way to deal with immigration clearly nonsense ".