Labour’s plot to topple Theresa

They’ll push for a no confidence vote if MPs reject deal... and DUP may not support her

LABOUR will try to bring down the Government and force a general election within days if MPs reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal, it emerged yesterday.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said it was ‘inevitable’ the party would table a no-confidence motion in the Commons if the Prime Minister lost the crunch vote.

And sources told The Times last night that Democratic Unionist Party MPs have threatened to abandon the Prime Minister in the event of a no- confidence vote. With Tories relying on the DUP’s ten MPs for a Commons majority, the threats leave Mrs May in danger of losing the vital vote.

It raises the stakes for Tory MPs threatening to vote against the deal which comes before the House a week tomorrow.

Appearing on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Sir Keir said there ‘has to be a question of confidence in the Government’ if Mrs May loses a vote ‘of that significance’, adding: ‘I think it’s inevitable that we will seek to move that.’

He also reiterated the possibility of a second Brexit referendum, but claimed the ballot paper could simply list a choice between the Prime Minister’s deal and remaining in the EU – with no option of leaving with ‘no deal’.

The threat was made as a study suggested Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could form a government with the support of the Scottish National Party if a general election was held.

A ‘poll of polls’ carried out by Electoral Calculus predicted the Tories would emerge as the largest party after a snap election, with 286 MPs – three more than Labour.

Labour could then form a ‘Leftleaning’ coalition with the SNP, if it achieved its predicted 43 MPs, giving Mr Corbyn a wafer-thin two-seat majority.

This week will see the start of five full days of debate on the agreement, as the Prime Minister tries to win over up to 100 backbench Conservatives who have pledged to vote it down.

Today Mrs May will go on the offensive, pointing to the benefits of her deal in terms of new trade deals and controlling immigration.

In a statement to MPs about the G20 in Argentina, the Prime Minister will say Brexit will allow for ‘ambitious trade deals’ and highlight talks over prospective deals which were held with leaders from Argentina, Australia, Chile and Japan last week.

‘For the first time in more than 40 years we will have an independent trade policy, and we will continue to be a passionate advocate for the benefits open economies and free markets can bring,’ she will say.

‘We will forge new and ambitious economic partnerships, and open up new markets for our goods and services in the fastest-growing economies around the world.’ On immigration, Home Secretary Sajid Javid will say the deal ‘delivers’ on the Government’s key aims of ending free movement and restoring control over our borders.

Yesterday Tory chairman Brandon Lewis accused Labour of trying to ‘frustrate’ Brexit, warned of ‘chaos’ if MPs voted down the deal, and said the public did not want another election.

‘I don’t think anybody watching this programme – having had two general elections and a referendum in the last three years – is looking for another general election,’ he told Sky News. He dismissed the suggestion ministers were working on an alternative plan if the deal was voted down.

‘Plan B is Plan A, it’s to get this deal agreed,’ he said. ‘It is the only deal that’s there on the table, it’s

‘Nobody wants another election’

the only option we’ve got.’ But former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said rejecting Mrs May’s agreement would force the EU to come back to the negotiating table with better terms.

Mr Johnson said: ‘Once the EU realises that they have overplayed their hand and Parliament won’t wear this shameful surrender, they will be faced with a choice: do a proper and equitable deal or split without a deal – a prospect that they don’t relish, not least as they lose all leverage over us.’

Later in the week, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling – another Cabinet Brexiteer – is also expected to weigh in behind the deal.

It came as senior government sources said they feared business minister Richard Harrington was among a group of Remain- supporting ministers who might resign in protest at the Brexit deal, following the shock decision by pro-EU universities minister Sam Gyimah to quit on Friday night.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby denied being ‘ too political’ yesterday as he urged politicians to show ‘restraint’ in their language in the run-up to Brexit.

After it was suggested he had mockingly been described as ‘the Anglican wing of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party’, the Archbishop distanced himself from party politics and instead said Brexiteers and Remainers should work together for the ‘common good’.

He told the BBC politicians needed to move to ‘calm down the hatreds that have arisen over the last few years’.