Theresa May has cut short her Cabinet ministers’ Christmas break, summoning them to a meeting to discuss planning for a no deal Brexit.

Senior ministers will meet on January 2, five days before the rest of Parliament returns from their Christmas recess.

The Prime Minister pulled the vote on her Brexit deal two weeks ago, postponing it to mid-January instead. She has been putting pressure on MPs to back her plan, in part through ramping up the threat of no deal.

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, will lead the Cabinet meeting, which will take place a week before Parliament returns from recess, according to the Financial Times.

It is aimed to discuss planning for a no deal scenario and attempt to get ministers to support Mrs May’s plan.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, is said to be “petrified” of a disorderly no-deal Brexit, which he believes will leave Britain with severe food shortages.

One minister said the meeting is “all about show really. It's to prove that we are pulling out all the stops to prepare for the worst.”

It comes as Mrs May called for warring political factions to heal divisions over Brexit.

Writing in the Daily Express, she called on the Tories to “put aside our differences” as the “vast majority of people” want politicians to move on from Brexit to focus on other issues