British ministers demand May's leaving from Downing Street: media reports

The future of Theresa May's tenure at 10 Downing Street was under threat with Sunday reports of a coup by her own ministers to unseat her dominating headlines in the main London Sunday newspapers.

The dramatic development at the heart of the British governing Conservative Party comes at what is scheduled to be Britain's last week as a member of the European Union.

The BBC carried a more muted report in its bulletins, saying May could gain support for her twice-defeated Brexit deal if she promises to stand down as prime minister.

The broadsheet Sunday Times (ST) said that May was "at the mercy of a full-blown cabinet coup" as a group of senior ministers moved to oust her and replace her with Cabinet Minister David Lidington as the caretaker premier.

Lidington is May's de-facto deputy and stands in for her when she is unavailable for her ministerial duties.

According to the ST's front page article, plotters plan to confront May at a Downing Street cabinet meeting Monday and demand that she should announce her quitting.

"If she refuses, they will threaten mass resignations or publicly demand her head," the report added, saying it had spoken to 11 cabinet ministers.

One cabinet minister is quoted as saying: "The end is nigh. She won't be prime minister in 10 days."

The rift within the cabinet between May and her cabinet has erupted over the fate of the Brexit deal that May has agreed with Brussels.

Though the deal had already been rejected overwhelmingly by the House of Commons, the EU Council has given May more time to get the deal through her parliament, putting the planned departure from the bloc on Friday on hold.

However there is still no indication when, or if, May can guarantee a yes vote for her deal from the lawmakers.

May's former policy adviser, Conservative MP George Freeman, said on his social media site: "She's done her best. But across the country you can see the anger. Everyone feels betrayed. Government's gridlocked. Trust in democracy is collapsing. This can't go on. We need a new PM who can reach out and build some sort of coalition for a Plan B (Brexit)."

Downing Street sources told the ST that May has not yet come to the conclusion that she should resign and is still being encouraged by her husband Philip May to fight on.

The latest development in the Brexit saga comes after an estimate 1 million people marched through central London Saturday demanding another referendum to decide the country's EU Membership. A online petition aimed at stopping Brexit has meanwhile gained more than 4 million signatures.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)