Brexit latest: Theresa May warns of disorderly no-deal outcome if EU leaders fail to save agreement

Theresa May has warned EU leaders they risk forcing a disorderly no-deal Brexit if they fail to step in a save her exit agreement.

A package of the right assurances from leaders over the backstop could “change the dynamic” at Westminster, the Prime Minister said in remarks released by Downing Street.

She made clear the perception that the backstop could be a “trap” that the UK cannot escape needs to change, adding: “until we do, the deal – our deal – is at risk”.

Mrs May said: "I am in no doubt that the best result for all of us is to get this deal delivered in an orderly way and to get it done now. It is in none of our interests to run the risk of accidental no-deal with all the disruption that would bring, or to allow this to drag on any further."

She added: "We have to change the perception that the backstop could be a trap from which the UK could not escape. Until we do, the deal - our deal - is at risk.”

The Prime Minister flew early yesterday to a two-day Brussels summit to ask leaders individually to rescue the agreement with new legal assurances on the backstop.

Mrs May had appealed to EU leaders to put their trust in her to deliver on her promises and to give her the political room for manoeuvre that she needs.

"Over the last few years I hope I have shown you can trust me to do what is right, not always what is easy, however difficult that might be for me politically," she said

"We must get this right and hold nothing in reserve. Let's work together intensively to get this deal over the line in the best interests of all our people."

Following her address, Mrs May took questions from the leaders before leaving the summit while they discussed their response over dinner.

Earlier, Number 10 said the Commons vote on the agreement would not take place until the New Year. The vote had been due on Tuesday, but was dramatically pulled after the whips warned the Prime Minister she was heading for a heavy defeat unless she delayed.

The move, which was met with anger on all sides of the House, finally prompted the no confidence vote by Conservative MPs, with more than a third of parliamentary party voting to get rid of her.

Arriving in Brussels earlier, Mrs May acknowledged that with her own party divided and the opposition parties set against her agreement, she needed additional assurances regarding the backstop.

However, she made clear she was not expecting an "immediate breakthrough" during the course of the two-day gathering in the Belgian capital.

"My focus now is on ensuring that I can get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line," she said.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, suggested there could be a special Brexit summit in January to agree "additional assurances".

Other leaders indicated their willingness to help through "clarifications" to the backstop arrangements - intended to prevent the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland - but were adamant they would not re-open negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met Mrs May in Berlin on Tuesday, said: "I do not see that this Withdrawal Agreement can be changed. We can discuss whether there should be additional assurances, but here the 27 member states will act very much in common and make their interests very clear."

French President Emmanuel Macron said: "We cannot reopen a legal agreement, we can't renegotiate something which has been negotiated over several months. We can have a political discussion in this context."

Irish premier Leo Varadkar, who held a lengthy one-to-one meeting with Mrs May ahead of the main summit, said that while EU was keen to be "helpful", some of the suggestions she had put forward were "difficult".

In particular he warned there could be no "unilateral exit clause" on the backstop, as some MPs are demanding.

"If the backstop has an expiry date, if there is a unilateral exit clause, then it is not a backstop. That would be to render it inoperable," he said.

"That would mean reopening the substance of the Withdrawal Agreement and the European Union is unequivocal that is not an option."