Theresa May is today facing a Brexit civil war after a former Minister warned a ‘soft’ break with Brussels would be a ‘betrayal’ of the nation.

David Jones, sacked as Brexit Minister by the Prime Minister last week, warned that Mrs May’s Government would face the fury of voters if it now turned its back on a clean break with the EU.

Mr Jones told The Mail on Sunday that trying to keep the UK in the EU single market or customs union would be seen as an ‘absolute betrayal of trust’.

But his intervention came as a new poll showed overwhelming opposition to a so-called ‘hard Brexit’, just hours before the start of crunch talks with the EU.

Maybot malfunction: Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a Brexit civil war. The Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday shows support for the ‘softer’ position advocated by Chancellor Philip Hammond

David Jones, pictured arriving at Downing Street in March, was sacked as Brexit Minister by the Prime Minister last week, warned that Mrs May’s Government would face the fury of voters if it now turned its back on a clean break with the EU

The Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday shows support for the ‘softer’ position advocated by Chancellor Philip Hammond, who has spearheaded criticism of the hard Brexit stance of leadership contenders Boris Johnson and David Davis.

Pro-Brexit MPs fear that Mr Hammond is mounting a ‘stealth coup’ by exploiting Mrs May’s post-Election weakness to assert his vision of leaving – over the Prime Minister’s original preference to walk away from talks if Brussels denies the UK a good deal.

Survation found that the Chancellor is backed by an emphatic two-thirds of voters, while just 31 per cent of voters back the hard Brexit position of leaving the customs union.

Mrs May’s allies are now desperately trying to prop her up in power amid mounting discontent on the Tory backbenches over the disastrous General Election result and her lacklustre response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

One Brexiteer said: ‘May is on her knees and Hammond is blatantly exploiting the fact.’

Party whips received information this weekend that some MPs have started to draft letters of no confidence against Mrs May.

These will be sent to the party’s backbench 1922 Committee if her performance fails to improve before the first Commons votes on the Queen’s Speech in ten days’ time.

Mrs May’s allies are now desperately trying to prop her up in power amid mounting discontent on the Tory backbenches over the disastrous General Election result and her lacklustre response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy

Mrs May is pictured emerging from St Clement's Church, near Grenfell Tower, as she is heckled and booed by residents

A contest would be triggered if the committee receives 48 letters – 15 per cent of the parliamentary party – with Mr Johnson and Mr Davis already established as the clear frontrunners.

And last night, The Mail on Sunday was told by one senior pro-Brexit MP that he would be ‘astounded’ if letters had not gone in already.

He said plans were being hatched to present Mrs May with ‘an ultimatum’ that she had to go and be replaced if possible by a new leader, installed unopposed to avoid a divisive contest.

The MP said: ‘The mood towards Theresa completely changed last week. We started thinking she could limp on for a few months. But her response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy has telescoped that into a matter of days or weeks.’

The next PM? One senior pro-Brexit MP said that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was most people's preferred choice

He said Mr Johnson was probably most people’s preferred choice.

Returning to their constituencies after being sworn in at Westminster, Tory MPs were taken aback at the scale of the anger of grassroots party activists over Mrs May’s performance last week.

The turmoil at Westminster comes as EU sources revealed that the Brexit discussions will have to resolve more than 7,000 outstanding issues by the time we leave in March 2019, ranging from pets’ passports to aviation safety.

The scale of the undertaking is revealed by the fact that Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech will be the last for two years.

In a highly unusual move, two annual Commons sessions will be rolled into one in an attempt to pass the Great Repeal Bill, the legislation required to transfer all EU laws on to the British statute book.

A source said: ‘No 10 is barely operational. Everything was run by Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill (pictured), and they’ve gone'

Downing Street fears that the Bill will lead to months of ‘guerrilla warfare’ in the Commons which could topple the Government now that it no longer has a majority.

A senior Government source said: ‘Our great fear is that the soft Brexiteers will hang the sword of Damocles over our heads by putting down endless amendments to the Great Repeal Bill to pull us back from a hard Brexit.

‘If they put down motions which prevent us from leaving without a deal it could change the whole nature of our negotiations because the Europeans will know that we don’t have a “walk away position”.

‘There is also the nightmare prospect that they use an amendment to try to commit us to staying in the single market.’

The pro-Remain Tory rebels are likely to join forces with Labour MPs, who say they will subject the Government’s negotiations to what they describe as ‘continuous assessment’ – a series of rolling Commons votes as the talks progress.

The aim will be to, in the words of a senior Labour source, ‘hold their feet to the fire’ and push Ministers into backing away from a hard Brexit.

t comes as international financier George Soros – who famously made $1 billion by betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in 1992 – warned ‘Brexit is a lose-lose proposition, harmful both to Britain and the European Union'

However, a senior Cabinet ally of Mrs May said last night: ‘We just need to get back to ordinary politics and for everyone to calm down a bit.’

But another Cabinet Minister said: ‘The Cabinet is divided, the party is divided and the country is divided’.

According to some MPs, the Downing Street operation was close to paralysis this weekend.

A source said: ‘No 10 is barely operational. Everything was run by Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, and they’ve gone. Everyone presumes that Nick, at least, is still advising at arms’ length. But it’s not the same as having him in there.

'They have lost virtually their entire political press team, and are scrabbling to put a new one in place.

‘Key civil servants left because they couldn’t stand being bossed about by Nick and Fi, and their replacements lack the same institutional memory. It’s a listing, half-empty boat taking on water – with a tired and demoralised captain at the wheel.’

Last night, Liberal Democrat former Cabinet Minister Alistair Carmichael, pictured leaving the Edinburgh Court of Session in 2015 when he appeared over a falsified memo that was leaked when he was in charge of the Scotland Office, said: 'My message to Theresa May is simple: back down or you will fall from power'

It comes as international financier George Soros – who famously made $1 billion by betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in 1992 – warned in an article for The Mail on Sunday: ‘Brexit is a lose-lose proposition, harmful both to Britain and the European Union. It cannot be undone, but people can change their minds.’

Mr Soros added: ‘If Theresa May wants to stay in power she has to change her approach. There are signs she is prepared to do so.

‘By approaching the negotiations starting on Monday in a conciliatory spirit, she could reach an agreement with the European Union on their agenda and agree to continue as a member of the single market for a long enough period to carry out all the legal work.’

Last night, Liberal Democrat former Cabinet Minister Alistair Carmichael said: ‘There is no majority in the House of Commons for the extreme Brexit Theresa May is apparently still pursuing in defiance of her own Chancellor and just about every independent economic authority.

'The Conservatives are hopelessly split on Brexit, with saner voices in the party finally starting to question why they would rob the Treasury of £59 billion in revenue by leaving the single market and customs union.

‘My message to Theresa May is simple: back down or you will fall from power.’

DEVASTATING POLL REJECTS THERESA MAY'S TACTICS: TWO-THIRDS OF VOTERS SUPPORT PLAN FOR SOFT BREXIT Philip Hammond has infuriated Leave-supporting Ministers by arguing in Cabinet that British jobs and prosperity depend on retaining the benefits of the customs union ANALYSIS BY GLEN OWEN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Philip Hammond is commanding the increasing support of the British people in his Cabinet battle against the ‘hard’ Brexiteers. Our Survation poll shows that on the totemic issue of whether the UK should remain in the customs union – giving British companies the automatic right to trade freely with EU firms – the Chancellor is backed by an emphatic two-thirds of voters who expressed a view while just 31 per cent back the hard Brexit position of leaving the union. Our poll surveyed 1,005 people on Friday and Saturday. Figures exclude 'don't know' responses Mr Hammond has infuriated Leave-supporting Ministers by arguing in Cabinet that British jobs and prosperity depend on retaining the benefits of the customs union – even if only for a transitionary period to allow them to adjust to the new trading conditions. The Brexiteers have counter-briefed their suspicion that, as an ‘instinctive Treasury Remainer’, he is trying to exploit Mrs May’s weakness by trying to ‘water down’ Brexit. The poll points to a growing public fear about the consequences of a ‘cliff-edge departure’ from the EU when Brexit talks conclude in March 2019 – possibly because the political turmoil caused by the inconclusive General Election result has magnified people’s feelings of insecurity. Opinion is still firmly against Mrs May’s war-cry earlier this year that she could walk away from the negotiating table because ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’. The Survation poll shows that 65 per cent of those with a view were against walking away, while only 35 per cent agreed with the Prime Minister’s tactic. And support is rocketing for the idea of a second referendum to be held on whether to accept the terms of the final Brexit deal with the EU. A total of 53 per cent of those with a view back a vote, while 47 per cent oppose, a margin of six points. When the question was asked in April, the majority was against a second referendum, with only 46 per cent backing a vote and 54 per cent opposed. Advertisement