At the beginning of a historic week on Brexit, Theresa May has told MPs she will not be bringing back her deal for a third vote as there is ‘still not sufficient support’ for it.

She also opened the door for a second referendum on Brexit, after more than a million people took to the streets to demand a People’s Vote on Saturday.

This weekend the PM faced reports of a ‘Cabinet coup’ to force her to resign, then suggestions she would have to name a date for quitting to get her Brexit deal passed.

The Prime Minister said the ‘default outcome’ of voting down her deal remained leaving without a deal.




‘The alternative is to pursue a different form of Brexit or a second referendum,’ she told MPs to cheers from the opposition benches.

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She added: ‘The bottom line remains: if the House does not approve the Withdrawal Agreement this week and is not prepared to countenance leaving without a deal, we would have to seek a longer extension.’

That would mean holding European elections and would mean ‘we will not have been able to guarantee Brexit’, she said.

Later, when answering a question from Vince Cable on the People’s Vote march and her views on a second referendum, the PM said: ‘I wasn’t not on the march because I was too busy, it’s because he and I have different opinions on a second referendum.

‘I do believe it’s important that this House, rather than talking about and wanting to pass the decision back to the British people, we will say to the British people that we will abide by the decision of the 2016 referendum.’

Things didn’t look good for May ahead of her statement in the House of Commons, with both Labour and the DUP indicating their position on her deal had not changed.

Theresa May apologised for the Commons’ ‘collective failure’ to come to a decision to heckles from MPs (Picture: Reuters)

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May met with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Parliament, who told her he wouldn’t be backing her meaningful vote for a third time.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May met for over an hour in Parliament and had a frank and comprehensive exchange of views.

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‘Jeremy Corbyn made clear there was no basis for bringing back the meaningful vote on Theresa May’s deal for a third time

‘The Labour leader did not accept the prime minister’s suggestion that the Withdrawal Agreement could be separated from the Political Declaration.’

Mr Corbyn told her in the Commons May should ‘accept today that her deal is dead, and the house should not have its time wasted by voting on it a third time’.

He added the Prime Minister had ‘succeeded in uniting the house against her deal’.

Jeremy Corbyn said May’s approach to Brexit was a ‘national embarrassment’ (Picture: PA)

Corbyn also said his party will support the amendment tabled by Sir Oliver Letwin which would lead to a series of indicative votes on different Brexit options.

Earlier, May was also told by the DUP, who she relies on for support, that its position on her Brexit deal ‘remains unchanged’.



The PM had a telephone conversation with DUP leader Arlene Foster after an emergency Cabinet meeting on Monday morning.

Foster told the prime minister she would not change her party’s stance, which is to vote against the deal.

May’s deal has been overwhelmingly rejected in the Commons twice, and it remained unclear this morning whether she would bring it back for a third Meaningful Vote this week.

She wrote to MPs saying she would only do so if there was ‘sufficient support’. On Sunday she summoned ministers and Brexiteer MPs to her Chequers residence for a last minute meeting ahead of a tense week in Westminster.

An effigy of the PM appeared in Trafalgar Square as a million people joined the People’s Vote anti-Brexit march in London on Saturday (Picture: AP)

The European Commission this morning released a warning that ‘it is increasingly likely that the UK will leave the European Union without a deal on April 12’.

It said it is fully prepared for a no-deal Brexit, urging other EU citizens and businesses to make their own preparations.

On Thursday, May asked the EU for an extension to Brexit, which was supposed to take place on March 29.

The EU agreed an extension until May 22, but only if the prime minister can pass her Withdrawal Agreement.

If she can’t, the EU has only granted an extension until April 12, meaning we may ‘crash out’ on that date if no alternative ideas are put forward.

MPs will today vote on the amendment to hold a series of ‘indicative votes’ on Brexit in order to come up with an alternative to May’s plan.

The Prime Minister invited ministers for a meeting at her country residence, Chequers, on Sunday (Picture: BBC)

If the amendment passes it would be another humiliating blow for the Government.


The amendment – tabled by former ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve and Labour MP Hilary Benn – seeks to seize control of parliamentary business.

If voted for, it will see May stripped of her control over the Brexit process and MPs instead holding a series of votes on Wednesday to come up with an alternative Brexit withdrawal plan.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said that if MPs took control of parliamentary proceedings it would bring a ‘constitutional collision’ and increase the risk of a general election.

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Chancellor Philip Hammond said ‘one way or another’ MPs would be given the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favour of.

May is said to have held ‘lengthy’ talks during the three hour Chequers meeting with prominent Brexiteers including Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and David Davis yesterday.

A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The PM and a number of Government ministers met today at Chequers for lengthy talks with senior colleagues about delivering Brexit.

‘The meeting discussed a range of issues, including whether there is sufficient support in the Commons to bring back a Meaningful Vote this week.’

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