The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) would rather cancel Brexit than risk the breakup of the UK by voting for Theresa May’s deal, one of its most senior figures has said.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP Westminster leader, dealt a hammer blow to the prime minister’s hopes of bringing her deal back to the Commons for a fourth time, by insisting the party’s 10 MPs would not drop their opposition.

It comes after MPs rejected Ms May’s Brexit blueprint for the third time on Friday – the day the UK was originally due to leave the EU.

Ms May now has just two weeks to come up with a viable plan, as the European Commission said a “no-deal” break on April 12 was now “a likely scenario”.

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Mr Dodds told BBC Newsnight: “Somebody once asked me what the order of these priorities is and I said I would rather stay in the European Union and remain than risk Northern Ireland’s position.

“That’s how strongly I feel about the union.”

Mr Dodds warned his party could not support the prime minister’s deal because the divisive backstop – designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland – could see Northern Ireland being left behind.

He added: “We want to see Brexit delivered, we believe the referendum result should be respected and delivered on, but it can’t be at the risk of separating Northern Ireland out from the rest of the United Kingdom.”

The DUP, whose 10 MPs prop up Ms May’s minority government, joined a hard core of Tory Brexiteers and opposition parties to inflict a 58-vote defeat on the government on Friday.

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A grim-faced Ms May hinted she would trigger a general election if parliament does not approve a Brexit plan within the next 10 days

Ministers told The Independent a new ballot featured in the prime minister’s thinking, with her likely to have one final attempt to push her Brexit deal through the Commons next week.

Asked whether an election was now becoming a clear possibility, one cabinet source said: “Yes. Absolutely. No question.”