At least 40 lawmakers in UK PM May's party willing to vote down Brexit deal: Steve Baker

LONDON: At least 40 lawmakers in Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party are willing to vote down her possible Brexit deal if it leaves the United Kingdom 'half in and half out' of the European Union, a senior rebel lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"My estimate is that there are at least 40 colleagues who are not going to accept a 'half in, half out' Chequers deal or indeed a backstop that leaves us in the internal market and the customs union," lawmaker Steve Baker told BBC radio.

"Colleagues will not tolerate a half in, half out Brexit," said Baker, who served as a junior Brexit minister in May's government until he resigned in protest at her Brexit proposals.