Brexiteer Tory MP Steve Baker warns he could vote against Theresa May's government in no confidence motion

't's on the table - there's no point denying things are running away'

Brexiteer Steve Baker has warned he could risk bringing down the government by voting against Theresa May's administration in a no confidence motion.

As the civil war in the Conservative Party over Brexit showed no sign of abating, the former minister made the remarks ahead of a series of critical votes in the Commons.

While none of the options received majority support from MPs last week, those with the best chance of succeeding involve a softer form of Brexit, such as demanding ministers negotiate for a customs union with the EU.

Asked whether he would vote against the government if the prime minister backed a customs union, he replied: "I'm hoping not to reach that point."

Mr Baker told the BBC's Politics Live that at this point he could "foresee no circumstances" while being a Conservative MP he could move against a Tory government in such a critical vote.

He continued: "But we are approaching the point where the stakes are now so very high and so transcend party politics and what this country is about, and the fundamental British value that political power rests on consent, that I think these things are coming on the table.

"It's on the table - there's no point denying things are running away."

If a government loses a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons, and no party is successful in winning a confidence vote in the next 14 days a general election is triggered.

The prime minister has already seen off a bid to collapse her government in January after Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence following the first, and historic defeat of Ms May's Brexit deal.

Ms May won by 325 to 306 - a margin of 19 - due to the support of Conservative backbenchers and her supply and confidence partners, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Speaking to The Daily Mirror, the Labour leader hinted on Monday he could table a second motion of no confidence in Ms May's government.

"We're ready for a general election, whenever it comes," he said. "Labour has an alternative Brexit plan and we are ready to deliver it."

He added that an election must be about the "future of our country" and not just Brexit, saying: "A general election would give us the chance to remove this incompetent and failed Tory government."