NORTH-East Tory MP Simon Clarke has joined Jacob Rees-Mogg in delivering a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Just hours after writing a piece for a pro-leave campaign website Brexit Central, in which he described May's withdrawal deal as a 'shameful and squalid surrender', Mr Clarke, the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, submitted a letter to the 1922 committee.

Mr Clarke said in his Brexit Central piece: “As humiliations go, this would be complete and unendurable.

And he said on Twitter tonight: "Honouring my promise to the voters of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is my chief responsibility.

"Alone of the six MPs on Teesside, I have been steadfast in working to deliver the Brexit local people voted for overwhelmingly in 2016. Delivering Brexit means delivering genuine national independence.

"I therefore told the Prime Minister directly today that I cannot back her proposed Brexit deal.

"I have also let it be known that I have submitted a call for a vote of confidence in her continued leadership.

"This has been one of the most difficult decisions of my life. Having made it, however, I will not stand in the shadows and hope others do the difficult work for me. I have made my thoughts clearly known to everyone and I hope and believe that is the right thing to do.

“The Prime Minister will have unerringly delivered a deal that delivers none of the benefits of leaving the EU and none of the benefits of remaining.”

In his piece for the Brexit Central website Mr Clarke quoted Winston Churchill saying the peculiarity of the English people had ‘always thrown away after a victory the greatest part of the advantages we have gained from the struggle’ which came from defeatist doctrines by politicians.

And he added: “Such will be the legacy of Brexit if this deal goes through, The brave decision of the British people to leave the European Union, taken in the largest democratic vote in our history, will have been reduced in two years to a shameful and squalid surrender.

“This must be resisted at all costs, and I have little doubt that the House of Commons will indeed defeat the deal should matters go that far.”

Speaking at an event on Thursday morning, Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen said: “I haven’t seen the withdrawal agreement yet, I plan to spend the afternoon going through it.

"I voted to leave. The people of the Tees Valley voted heavily to leave, and my views will be seen through the prism of that. We must leave the European Union, we must do it properly and it must be a clean Brexit.

"I will give my view once I have looked at the more than 500 detailed pages that were published last night.

“Tees Valley voted very heavily for Brexit and we must deliver on that vote and I will make sure the withdrawal agreement meets that requirement because I need to justify myself to the people of the Tees Valley and not to Theresa May or her Government.

“Ministers will take their own view on the withdrawal agreement, some ministers have read it and taken their views on it and other ministers are happy with it. I will be taking my view from the people of the Tees Valley and not from the Conservative party."

Asked if the Prime Minister should resign, Mr Houchen said: “Theresa May is the leader of the country and we need to back her and we need to make sure the European Union know that we are leaving and we do the best for Britain.”