Dear Prime Minister, Your deal dies today. So, in the interests of national unity will you please open up your eyes (and ears) and start looking for a... PLAN B
» PM on brink as she faces crushing loss » Nothing to deliver after 2 years of talks
THERESA May faces one of Parliament’s most crushing defeats tonight as more than 100 rebel Tory MPs line up to finally bury her controversial Brexit deal.
The PM’s RAF plane is on standby to whisk her to Brussels to beg for more concessions if she loses the EU withdrawal vote, as widely expected.
It leaves Britain staring at a no-deal or even no Brexit. As she begged MPs to back her, Jeremy Corbyn said: “The Government is in disarray.”
AFTER weeks of desperately trying to convince opponents to back her Brexit deal, Theresa May stands on the brink of humiliation as her efforts look to have spectacularly failed.
The PM faces the most catastrophic parliamentary defeat in 40 years, with more than 100 Tory MPs expected to finally reject her plan in a vote tonight.
And it puts Mrs May under massive pressure as she has spent two and a half years scrabbling to pull together a Brexit deal Brussels would accept, only for it to face a snub in its own back yard.
Her RAF plane is on standby to whisk her to the EU to beg for more concessions should she lose the vote.
But as Brussels has already told her there could be no more negotiating, it leaves her facing MPs with no Plan B.
With her premiership under threat, Mrs May yesterday had a Brexit showdown with party rebels, but sources insisted she had failed to change any minds.
She was warned by the DUP, which is propping up her government, her bid to get more reassurances from Brussels on the Irish backstop issue were of no value. Deputy leader Nigel Dodds said: “There is nothing new. Instead of meaningless letters, the Prime Minister should ask for and deliver changes to the withdrawal agreement.” Leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg added: “Only change to the withdrawal agreement matters.”
With all eyes on when Labour will choose to table a no-confidence vote in the Government after a defeat, leader Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the letter from eurocrats Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker as “warm words and aspirations” which fell short of legal assurances.
He said: “I’m sure members across the
House will not be fooled by this. The Government is in disarray.
“It’s clear, if the Prime Minister’s deal is rejected, it’s time for a general election. It’s time for a new government.”
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said of the possible vote of no confidence: “It’s coming soon.”
The PM is expected to make an immediate statement in the minutes following the vote if her deal falls.
Downing Street sources did not even rule out her quitting.
Last night, Mrs May warned no Brexit at all was the “more likely” outcome if
her deal is axed. But that comes after she allocated more than £4billion for a dramatic escalation of no-deal planning.
Thousands of civil servants have been temporarily switched to
Brexit planning while the usual business of government has ground to a halt.
Key policy proposals including on social care and immigration have been delayed. As she ploughed ahead
with her plan, that many critics fear will leave us tied to the EU without any say in it, she has lost two Brexit Secretaries, David Davis and Dominic Raab. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also quit in protest, along with 13 ministers. She suffered another blow yesterday when Tory Gareth Johnson quit the Government
so he could vote against her. As Remain and Leave protestors made their feelings known in Westminster yesterday, Mrs May begged rebel MPs to give her deal a second chance. She said: “No, it’s not perfect and yes it’s a compromise.
“But when the history books are written, people will look at the decision of the House and ask: ‘Did we deliver on the vote to leave the EU? Or did we let the British people down?”
The PM insisted Britain will leave the EU on March 29 but she refused to explicitly rule out pushing back Brexit Day or holding a second referendum.
It comes amid claims Brussels was preparing to offer a delay until at least July if her deal is quashed.
GMB union chief Tim Roache called for Article 50 to be extended.
He said: “It’s like trying to do your Christmas shopping at half past five on Christmas Eve, everyone will get a load of rubbish or you’ll getting nothing at all.”
The biggest previous parliamentary defeat took place in March 1979 when Labour PM Jim Callaghan lost a vote on firearms licensing fees by 89.