Theresa May fails to rule out delaying Brexit as defeat on Brexit deal looms

Theresa May today failed to rule out delaying Brexit as her last-ditch attempt to persuade MPs to vote for her deal fell flat.

The Prime Minister stopped short of guaranteeing that she would not extend the Article 50 deadline, saying she ‘did not believe’ doing so would be the best course of action.

The assurance falls short of previous statements, with Downing Street saying in early January that an extension ‘won’t happen’.

Mrs May made a last-ditch plea to MPs today to back her Brexit deal before Tuesday’s crucial Commons vote on her EU withdrawal plan.

In an attempt to win over Brexiteers bent on voting down her deal, Mrs May presented a letter of reassurance over the Irish border backstop from the EU, in which they insisted they did not want the backstop to come into force at all.

But the letter appears to have done little to assuage the concerns of Northern Irish party the DUP, who say the backstop risks breaking up the UK by subjecting NI to different rules from the rest of the country.

In a significant blow to the PM, the DUP’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said: “As far as we are concerned, the deal is dead because it is quite clear that the EU are not willing to grant any of the changes.”

The letter also failed to impress Brexiteers, who fear that the Irish backstop could trap Britain in a position where it is forced to accept rules from Brussels.

MP Will Quince said: “This letter from the EU, welcome as it is, does not offer legally binding assurances on the backstop.

“Therefore my position remains unchanged and I will not be voting for the Withdrawal Agreement as it stands.”

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a long way from the significant and legally effective commitment the prime minister promised last month. It is a reiteration of the EU’s existing position. Once again, nothing has changed.”

Mrs May warned earlier that Parliament is more likely to block Brexit than allow the UK to leave the EU without a deal.

She told factory workers in pro-Leave Stoke-on-Trent to urge MPs to consider the “consequences” of their actions on the faith of British people in democracy.

She reiterated her warning that “catastrophic harm” will be inflicted to trust in politicians if they fail to implement the result of the referendum.

Mrs May said, based on last week’s Westminster drama, that she now believes MPs blocking Brexit is a more likely outcome than leaving without a deal.

Elsewhere, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned the prime minister that he would trigger a vote of no confidence in her government “soon”, as he hinted that Article 50 may have to be extended if his party came into power.

“Clearly if Theresa May’s deal is voted down, clearly if a general election takes place and a Labour government comes in – an election would take place February, March time – clearly there’s only a few weeks between that and the leave date, there would have to be time for those negotiations,” he told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show.