A Conservative MP has snubbed an official invitation to watch the England's historic semi-final World Cup game at 10 Downing Street because Theresa May “isn’t bringing Brexit home”.
In a sign of how publicly divided the party is, Henry Smith, the Tory MP for Crawley, replied to the invite from the chief whip to say attending the screening of the national side's match against Croatia “would be a bad omen for football coming home”.
"Received this invite to watch tomorrow’s England-Croatia World Cup semi-final in 10 Downing Street," he said on Twitter,
"Seeing as the Prime Minister isn’t bringing Brexit home I’m concerned attending would be a bad omen for football coming home...I’ll pass."
The unlikely flashpoint came after in-fighting in the Conservative party reached new heights following the dramatic resignations of both Boris Johnson and David Davis earlier this week in protest at the prime minister’s proposals for the UK-EU relationship after Brexit.
And on Tuesday, two vice-chairs of the party, Ben Bradley and Maria Caulfield, also resigned from their posts out of opposition to the cabinet’s Brexit agreement reached at Ms May’s chequers residence on Friday.
Chief whip Julian Smith was quick to reply to his colleague’s public decision not to attend the event in Downing Street, saying: “Henry if you would like to transfer your invite to a constituent let me know.
"Let me have their name first thing – they will be welcome.”
Mr Smith later added: “Thanks Julian but the pubs in Crawley are irresistible.”
According to official figures, almost 20m viewers tuned in to see England’s quarter-final victory against Sweden on Saturday. The actual viewing numbers were likely to be much higher however, as the official calculations do not take into account those who watched in pubs and on big screens.
Drinking establishments across the country are stocking up on alcohol and bringing in extra staff to cater for the demand as approximately 30m people are set to watch their semi-final clash against Croatia on Wednesday night.
A win for Gareth Southgate’s side would see them face France in their first World Cup final since 1966.
