London: A group of about 50 lawmakers in British Prime Minister Theresa May`s government who oppose her proposals for a post-Brexit deal with the European Union have met to discuss how and when they could force her out of her job, the BBC reported on Wednesday.


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The lawmakers, part of the European Research Group (ERG), an anti-EU grouping in May`s Conservative party, met on Tuesday night and openly discussed May`s future as leader, the BBC said citing an unnamed source.


A number at the meeting said they had already submitted letters of no confidence in May, the source told the BBC. Under Conservative rules, a leadership election is triggered if 15 percent of Conservative lawmakers, currently 48 out of its 315 members of parliament (MPs), demand a vote of no confidence.


The ERG has condemned May`s plans for Britain to remain in a free trade zone for goods with the EU after it leaves the bloc in March next year but has faced criticism itself for failing to suggest a detailed alternative.


Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG leader, said on Tuesday his group would unveil its proposal on Wednesday for how Britain could leave the EU without constructing a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, one of the main sticking points in securing a Brexit deal. 


The BBC said those at the Tuesday night meeting which did not include all the ERG`s senior figures had discussed possible scenarios depending on whether May was able to secure a deal with the EU based on her proposals.


Comments at the meeting were said to have included "everyone I know says she has to go" and "she`s a disaster", the BBC reported. However, the BBC report said the ERG was unlikely to force a leadership election unless they were sure they had a candidate that could win. 


The rift in May`s party deepened this week, with her former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who quit the cabinet over the Chequers proposal, comparing May`s plan in a newspaper column to putting a "suicide vest" on Britain`s constitution.


The eurosceptics complain that accepting the free trade on goods with the EU would mean Britain had to sign up to EU regulations even after it leaves the bloc.


May`s spokesman said her so-called Chequers proposal is the only serious, credible and negotiable plan available.


However, the Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that May`s office was drawing up secret plans to ditch her Chequers blueprint if EU leaders reject it at a summit next week.