May’s 14 days to tame the rebels

BRITISH MPs will vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal on December 11 after five days of debate, the prime minister has confirmed.

The December timing gives Mrs May a fortnight to avert what threatens to be a humiliating defeat at the hands of scores of Conservative rebels.

Mrs May received a largely hostile reception as she told the House of Commons her Brexit deal ‘delivers for the British people’, and warned that rejecting it would put the UK on the path to division and uncertainty.

She was loudly barracked by MPs as she insisted that no better deal was available than the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on future relations endorsed by EU leaders in Brussels on Sunday.

Ex-defence secretary Michael Fallon described the deal as ‘a huge gamble’ which involved the UK paying a £39billion (€44billion) divorce bill and giving up its votes and veto without any firm commitment on future trade relations.

In a sign that Mrs May aims to go over fractious MPs’ heads and appeal directly to voters for their backing, she said parliamentarians had a duty to listen to their constituents.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Commons would have very little choice but to reject Mrs May’s ‘botched’ deal. With 90 or more Conservative MPs indicating they could rebel, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay admitted Mrs May faces a ‘challenging’ division.

European Commission president JeanClaude Juncker warned that there would be no more negotiation if MPs vote down the agreement, telling the BBC: ‘This is the best deal for Britain... and this is the only deal possible, so if the House says no, we would have no deal.’

Meanwhile, Mrs May’s spokesman declined to confirm or deny reports that Number 10 is considering a possible TV debate with Mr Corbyn, something the Labour leader has made clear he would relish.