200 MPs to warn PM they will not accept no-deal departure

MORE than 200 MPs are expected to warn Theresa May today they will never accept a no-deal Brexit.

The cross-party group, led by former Tory cabinet minister Caroline Spelman and British Labour frontbencher Jack Dromey, will urge Mrs May to guarantee that the UK will not leave the EU without a deal even if her own proposals are defeated in the Commons.

And the group, which includes nine former UK cabinet ministers, will meet the British prime minister tomorrow to press their case that a no-deal Brexit would cause ‘economic damage’ and cost thousands of jobs.

In a letter to Mrs May, they said: ‘As a cross-party group of MPs, business leaders and representatives we are united in our determination that the UK must not crash out the EU without a deal. We urge the government to agree a mechanism that would ensure a “no-deal” Brexit could not take place, and are confident this is a path that parliament would support.’

MPs opposed to leaving without a deal are planning amendments that could prevent ministers being paid and even stop the UK Treasury collecting taxes, effectively shutting the government down – a move that angered Tory Brexiteer Charlie Elphicke.

He said: ‘A Trump-style shutdown of government finances is not the answer.’

But sources believe MPs could make life all but impossible for the British government if Mrs May attempts to leave the EU without a deal.

A source said: ‘Some of the Eurosceptics think they can defeat the PM’s deal and then just drift to no deal at the end of March. It isn’t going to be like that.

‘The idea that opponents of no deal – who are in the majority – are just going to sit back and let it happen is completely unrealistic. They will try to paralyse the government. There is a question about how long any government could survive the kind of parliamentary ambushes we may see.’