THE KEY VOTES

THE VOTE ON THE PM’S DEAL MARCH 12

BY this date Mrs May must return to the Commons with her deal and put it before MPs. After multiple delays, this really will be Brexit D-Day. She lost the first vote by 230 in January.

She now has two clear weeks to secure whatever concessions she can eke out of Brussels on the Northern Ireland backstop and put an amended deal back before the Commons.

To secure victory, she will need to win over the Northern Irish DUP, and at least some of the hardline Eurosceptics on the Tory Right.

If – and it’s a big if – she succeeds, Britain could leave the EU with only a short delay after March 29 to pass essential Brexit legislation.

THE ‘NO DEAL’ VOTE MARCH 13

IF the Prime Minister cannot get her deal through on or before March 12 then the following day she will table a motion asking MPs if they support leaving without a deal. The Commons is likely to reject No Deal overwhelmingly as it has already indicated its opposition to this form of Brexit.

Mrs May refused several times yesterday to say if she would vote against a No Deal Brexit – or if the Government would ‘whip’ the issue, thereby instructing its MPs how to vote.

She insisted: ‘The absolute focus should be on working to get a deal and leaving on 29 March.’

THE ‘DELAY BREXIT’ VOTE MARCH 14

IF the Commons rejects leaving without a deal, the Government will table a motion the following day asking if MPs want to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50 beyond March 29.

This is likely to pass. Again, No 10 would not say yesterday if the vote would be subject to a ‘whip’. What happens afterwards remains unclear.

MPs will, in all likelihood, force her to ask the EU for a delay. This would fray Tory unity, embolden the supporters of a second referendum and put a huge question mark over Brexit happening in any form.

Any Article 50 extension would need to approved by other EU leaders. A three-month extension, dragging out the process until the end of June, has been suggested. There remains the awkward issue of European elections in May but the new European Parliament is not scheduled to sit until July.

Thus the outgoing parliament, including its British members, may still need to ratify a Brexit deal.