A pro-EU campaign is pouring cash into a concerted effort to unseat 44 high-profile 'Blue Wall' Tory MPs, the Mirror can reveal.
The European Movement will funnel tens of thousands of pounds into targeting 44 MPs who back the UK-Australia trade deal, which looks set to undercut British farmers and lower food standards.
The money will fund a string of 'aggressive campaign ads', as the Movement aims to 'pick off' Conservative MPs, mainly in the South, to pile pressure on the government to change course.
MPs targeted include Deputy PM Dominic Raab, Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and high-profile Tory Jeremy Hunt.
Activists from the cross-party pressure group will focus on three areas they think could sway voters: animal welfare, environment and food standards, like chlorinated chicken.
One ad to be targeted at voters in senior Tory Liam Fox's North Somerset reads: 'Skinning lambs alive is cruel and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the UK market. Tell your Tory MP Liam Fox to fight for animal welfare standards” alongside images of fearful-looking animals.
Another, apparently ripping off KFC branding, reads: 'How do you like your chicken? Roast. Fried. Chlorinated.'
The fresh attack comes as Boris Johnson's Tories have fallen behind Labour in the polls after two weeks of sleaze allegations following the Owen Paterson row.
'Blue Wall' Conservatives have also been spooked after the shock by-election result in Chesham and Amersham, which saw the Liberal Democrats overturn a 16,000-vote Tory majority in June.
The European Movement has carried out exclusive polling which suggests a majority would back an outright ban on imported food that doesn’t meet British standards.
Insiders have told the Mirror that the group believes if it can convince one in ten of Tory voters in their target seats to switch vote, scores of Tory MPs could be 'under threat'.
Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis, who is chair of the European Movement and previously served as a minister during the Blair and Brown New Labour years, said: “Voters deserve to know when their Tory MP is backing a bad deal that critically undermines traditional British values.
“So, we are putting Tory MPs on notice: Stand up for what your constituents believe in or be sure that we will let them know you let them down. “ Boris Johnson ’s Brexit is already causing empty shelves, empty pumps and empty pockets.
He knows this Brexit isn’t working but his desperation to get a trade deal over the line at any cost is costing him the Blue Wall.
“The British public is clear: Back British farmers, keep chlorine out of our food and stop slashing standards.”
While the two upcoming by-election seats of North Shropshire and Old Bexley and Sidcup are not on the list, the two ballot box tests will be a headache for Mr Johnson as the governing party falls behind.
Northerners are also levelling claims of betrayal at the Government over the integrated rail plan, which contains £90bn less funding than was originally billed.
The list includes six constituencies held Scottish Tories, including Scotland Secretary Alister Jack's Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Tory leader's Douglas Ross' Moray.
Ten constituencies are listed as 'high priority'. They are Anthony Browne's South Cambridgeshire, Derek Thomas' St Ives, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab's Esher and Walton, Ruth Edwards' Rushcliffe, Simon Baynes' Clwyd South, Secretary of State for Wales' Simon Hart's Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Siobhan Baillie's Stroud, James Davies' Vale of Clwyd, former Tory leadership contender Jeremy Hunt's South West Surrey, and health minister Maria Caulfield's Lewes
A DIT spokesperson said: “We will not compromise our high animal welfare standards and food safety standards in any trade agreements and won’t allow any imports that do not meet those high standards.”
The full list of 44 Tory seats
1 Alister Jack – Dumfries and Galloway
2 Alun Cairns – Vale of Glamorgan
3 Andrew Bowie – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
4 Anne-Marie Trevelyan – Berwick upon Tweed
5 Anthony Browne – South Cambridgeshire *high priority
6 Cherilyn Mackrory – Truro and Falmouth
7 Craig Williams – Montgomeryshire
8 David Davies – Monmouth
9 David Duguid – Banff and Buchan
10 David Johnston – Wantage
11 David Jones – Clwyd West
12 David Mundell – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
13 Derek Thomas – St Ives *high priority
14 Dominic Raab — Esher and Walton *high priority
15 Douglas Ross – Moray
16 Duncan Baker – North Norfolk
17 Fay Jones – Brecon and Radnorshire
18 Gagan Mohindra – South West Hertfordshire
19 Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – The Cotswolds
20 Greg Clark – Tunbridge Wells
21 Greg Smith – Buckingham
22 Guy Opperman – Hexham
23 Jacob Rees-Mogg – North East Somerset
24 James Davies – Vale of Clwyd *high priority
25 James Gray – North Wiltshire
26 Jeremy Hunt — South West Surrey *high priority
27 Jeremy Quin – Horsham
28 Jerome Mayhew – Broadland
29 John Howell – Henley
30 John Lamont – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
31 John Penrose – Weston-Super-Mare
32 Julian Sturdy – York Outer
33 Liam Fox – North Somerset
34 Lucy Frazer – South East Cambridgeshire
35 Maria Caulfield – Lewes *high priority
36 Philip Dunne – Ludlow
37 Richard Bacon – South Norfolk
38 Robert Courts – Witney
39 Ruth Edwards – Rushcliffe *high priority
40 Simon Baynes – Clwyd South *high priority
41 Simon Hart – Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire *high priority
42 Siobhan Baillie – Stroud *high priority
43 Tim Loughton – East Worthing and Shoreham
44 Victoria Prentis – Banbury
