Theresa May will not sack Steve Baker for suggesting he'd heard about a pro-Remain plot

Theresa May has said Steve Baker will not be sacked over comments made in the House of Commons which appeared to suggest there was a pro-Remain conspiracy. ...Baker failed to challenge a claim from Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg on Thursday that Charles Grant, from the Centre for European Reform think-tank, had alleged this was the case to the minister. He vowed to apologise after he was criticised by MPs and the trade union for senior civil servants.

Rees-Mogg asked Baker on Thursday morning to confirm that Grant had told him Treasury officials had "deliberately developed a model to show that all options other than staying in the customs union were bad and that officials intended to use this to influence policy".

Baker replied: "I am sorry to say that my honourable friend's account is essentially correct." At this, Brexit secretary David Davis, who was sitting alongside him, visibly winced.

The minister's comments sparked immediate condemnation. Grant insisted he had been misinterpreted at an event at the Conservative party conference and “did not say or imply this”. Others who were present – including Tory MP Antoinette Sandbach – backed Grant up.

Later Prospect Magazine, which hosted the event in October, released audio which confirmed Grant’s account of the exchange.

In a series of tweets, Baker said he had answered Rees-Mogg’s question based on his own “honest recollection of a conversation” but was now “glad the record stands corrected”.