Tory rebels who voted to block no-deal Brexit given a lifeline after Cabinet moderates lobby Boris Johnson Exclusive: Matt Hancock and Nicky Morgan have asked the Prime Minister to allow at least some of the rebels to rejoin

Tory rebels who voted to block no-deal Brexit have been offered a way back into the party after Cabinet ministers lobbied Boris Johnson to allow some of them to rejoin.

Moderates are worried that the Prime Minister will divide the Conservative party permanently if he keeps up his hardline stance on all 21 MPs – including nine ex-Cabinet ministers – who voted for the rebel bill last week.

Ministers including Matt Hancock and Nicky Morgan have pushed Mr Johnson to welcome back at least some of the anti-no-deal rebels rather than casting them out for good.

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Under their plan previously loyal MPs such as Steve Brine and Stephen Hammond, who both served as ministers under Theresa May, would be offered the chance to retake the whip and stand as Tories at the next general election. But persistent rebels including Dominic Grieve, Guto Bebb and Justine Greening would remain outside the party because of their record of repeatedly opposing Conservative policy on Brexit.

Appeals process

Another senior figure unlikely to be offered a way back is Philip Hammond, after relations between Mr Johnson and the former Chancellor broke down entirely.

James Cleverly, the party chairman who will run the general election campaign, has also been under pressure from allies to let some rebels stand in the snap poll or risk losing their seats to the pro-EU Liberal Democrats.

After the Cabinet lobbying, the Chief Whip Mark Spencer has written to the rebels inviting them to appeal against the decision to throw them out of the parliamentary party. In a message seen by i, he told the group: “MPs who have lost the whip may apply to the Chief Whip to have the whip restored.

“If the Chief Whip declines to do so he shall set out his reasons in writing. The MP shall then be regarded has having been removed from the approved list of candidates and entitled to a right of appeal.”

Appeals will be heard by a three-member panel nominated jointly by the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers and the national convention which represents the party’s voluntary wing. The panel has the right to reinstate MPs, allowing them to stand for the party again.

The rebels are now discussing whether or not they should appeal against their expulsion. A source close to the group said: “If they’re forced to sign a blood oath supporting no-deal, they will refuse.”

After Amber Rudd resigned over the weekend in protest at the purge, other ministers including Mr Hancock, Ms Morgan, Robert Buckland and Julian Smith have also come under pressure to consider their positions. All have chosen to stay on and fight from the inside rather than make a stand by quitting and risk losing their influence over Mr Johnson.

The purge of the party shocked Tory moderates with the 100-strong One Nation group launching a public complaint. It is believed to have sparked the resignation of Ms Rudd, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, as well as the Prime Minister’s brother Jo.

Former leader William Hague called the move a “disgusting act of hypocrisy” which would make the party look weak and divided ahead of the election campaign. But No 10 has insisted the rebels knew the consequences of backing the anti-no-deal bill and have no excuse for defying the whip.