EU leaders will wait until the new year before unveiling their plan to save Theresa May’s Brexit deal amid fears that the political turmoil in the UK would jeopardise any announcement long before the deal is voted on.

The bloc plans to hold back its best cards until January, sending the prime minister back to Westminster on Friday with warm words and a written commitment to help her in her renewed attempt to get the plan through parliament.

The prime minister on Thursday night insisted to her counterparts that she would have the numbers in the Commons to pass the deal if they would only give her something to help it “over the line”.

But arriving at the meeting, she played down the possibility of an “immediate breakthrough”, while senior UK government officials admitted that she had not brought any documented proposals for the other leaders to consider.

Speaking in the margins of the meeting, an EU official said there would be a “little bit of candy this time, and then once we see how that goes a little more candy in January”.

But it is far from clear that even an eventual final offer from the EU will be enough to win over Tory MPs, after 117 of them voted no confidence in her leadership.

The prime minister appears to have already jettisoned Brexiteer calls for a built-in time limit or expiration to the controversial backstop – despite having reportedly pledged to her MPs ahead of the confidence vote that she would only sign up to it if it was made temporary on a legally-binding basis.

It is understood that the prime minister did not mention time limits or an expiration date in a bilateral meeting with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar when the policy was discussed.

Ms May told the closed-door meeting of leaders on Thursday night: “There is a majority in my parliament who want to leave with a deal, so with the right assurances this deal can be passed.

“Indeed it is the only deal capable of getting through my parliament.”

She called on leaders to give her something that would “change the dynamic” in Westminster, adding: “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.”

But the EU has already clearly ruled out changes to the withdrawal agreement that contains the backstop, which keeps the UK tied to the EU customs area – with concessions likely to take the form of political declarations that countries will do their best to find a replacement for it, or non-legally binding protocols tacked onto the treaty.

Arriving at the summit, Mr Varadkar warned that “if the backstop has an expiry date, if there is a unilateral exit clause, then it is not a backstop”.

Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Show all 13 1 /13 Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Esther McVey Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey arrives to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet at 10 Downing Street in London. - Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey resigned from the cabinet over draft Brexit deal AFP/Getty Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @EstherMcVey1 of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Works and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Ms McVey has resigned, saying the Brexit deal âdoes not honour the result of the referendumâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @DominicRaab/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Dominic Raab British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab give a press conference at the end of the final round of talks in Brexit negotiations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium EPA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @DominicRaab of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Mr Raab has resigned, saying he âcannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EUâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @DominicRaab/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Rehman Chrishti Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Rehman Chrishti tendered his resignation letter this afternoon PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Anne-Marie Trevelyan Parliamentary private secretary in the Department of Education Anne-Marie Trevelyan resigned stating that she cannot support the deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @annietrev of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Education. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Ms Trevelyan has resigned saying she cannot support the Brexit deal after negotiations âbuilt on the UK trying to appease the EUâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @annietrev/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Sam Gyimah Universities minister Sam Gyimah resigned on November 30, claiming the government's decision to pull out of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system as a deciding factor PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara who has quit as Minister of State for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Theresa May's Brexit agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation" PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Suella Braverman Brexit minister Suella Braverman has resigned, stating “It is not what the British people, or my constituents, voted for in 2016.” Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Ranil Jayawardena Parliamentary private secretary to the ministry of justice Ranil Jayawardena resigned as he could not back the deal "in good conscience"

German chancellor Angela Merkel had 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.”

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is currently chairing the European Council, struck a more conciliatory tone, telling reporters: “We are ready to accommodate Theresa May. It’s not about pushing through maximum positions but to find a provision that is the best possible for both sides.”