May warns UK has 9 days to save Brexit

Another minister quits over deal but British prime minister stays f irm

THERESA May last night warned the UK that she had ‘nine days to save Brexit’ – as her allies fumed at the ‘betrayal’ by a government minister who quit over her deal with the EU.

The British prime minister told The Mail on Sunday that she would not be deterred by the resignation of Universities Minister Sam Gyimah over a demand for a second referendum – and promised to fight to win the crunch Commons vote on December 11.

Her remarks, at the G20 summit of world leaders in Buenos Aires, Argentina, came as:

A cross-party group of MPs tried to crank up the pressure on her to call a second referendum;

Former premier Tony Blair revealed how the British government had lobbied him to back Mrs May over her deal;

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe used the G20 summit to issue an appeal to her to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Gyimah said he was resigning because Mrs May’s deal would mean the UK would lose its voice in the EU while still having to abide by the bloc’s rules.

His move meant that the British government team in Buenos Aires spent Friday battling in vain to avert his resignation – while juggling diplomatically fraught encounters with Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Mrs May said she ‘profoundly disagreed’ with Mr Gyimah for wanting a second referendum and that voting down her deal in an attempt to achieve it would end the UK’s Brexit project altogether.

Mrs May insists she can still carry the vote through the Commons on December 11, despite calculations that more than 100 Conservative Party MPs could rebel. Last night 16 Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs released a statement calling for a second referendum.

The group described December 11 as ‘one of the biggest votes since the Second World War’ and said it ‘was clear it will not command a majority’.

The group said it was ‘time the country’s interests are put before any party political advantage… it is vital, given the speed with which events will unfold, that we do not prevaricate during these historic events in ensuring the people are given their rightful seat at the table’.

But Mrs May – if she has not been toppled as leader – will be subject to equal lobbying from Brexiteers to pursue a ‘managed no-deal’.

Leave campaigners are confident they can win a second vote if a clean Brexit is one of the options.

‘One of the biggest votes since the Second World War’