Theresa May has launched a last-ditch bid to save her Brexit deal - by getting MPs to only vote on one half of it.

On Friday, the prime minister will ask the House of Commons to approve only the withdrawal agreement - the divorce element of the deal she struck with Brussels back in November.

If this passes, the EU will allow the new Brexit date to be set for 22 May.

If it does not, on 12 April the UK will either leave the EU with no deal or have to request a longer delay to Brexit.

A longer delay would force the UK to once again elect MEPs to the European Parliament.


There has also been speculation Brussels could make the granting of a more substantial extension to the Article 50 negotiating period conditional on a second EU referendum being held.

Image: Only the divorce half of the deal will be put before the Commons

Friday's vote will be held on the day the UK was initially meant to leave the EU, 29 March, before Mrs May was forced to seek an Article 50 extension after her Brexit deal was twice defeated in the Commons.

However, even if the vote does pass on Friday to unlock the 22 May departure date, it is argued this will not fulfil the terms of the "meaningful vote" which Mrs May must win to fully ratify her deal in parliament.

The other half of the prime minister's deal is the political declaration, the outline of the future UK-EU relationship, which will also have to be approved by MPs.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn confirmed his party would vote against the withdrawal agreement on Friday.

He said: "We want to see a discussion about both the issues and, in particular, the crucial future arrangements and that is why we have proposed a customs union and access to markets and, crucially, protection of consumer, environmental and working rights."

Mr Corbyn held a 20-minute phone call with the prime minister on Thursday, understood to be at Mrs May's request.

According to a Labour spokesperson, Mr Corbyn "made clear Labour will not agree a blindfold Brexit to force through Theresa May's damaging deal".

The House of Commons will vote on a version of Theresa May's deal on Friday, in a surprise move from the government.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer highlighted the previous words of EU officials and the prime minister herself in stating the withdrawal agreement and political declaration must be treated as one package.

"What the government is doing is not in the national interest," he said.

Mrs May has already been defeated twice on her Brexit deal - in January by 230 votes and earlier this month by 149 votes.

A significant number of Tory Brexiteers dropped their opposition in the light of Mrs May's pledge on Wednesday to resign if her deal passes, which would allow another prime minister to lead the second phase of Brexit negotiations on the future relationship.

But the Democratic Unionist Party, which is propping up Mrs May's minority government, and a hardcore group of around 25 Conservative Leavers are still withholding their crucial support for the prime minister's deal.

Mrs May will therefore be relying on Labour MPs to help her pass the withdrawal agreement.

Conservative MPs immediately attempted to paint Labour voting against the withdrawal agreement as evidence they are the "Stop Brexit" party.

Image: DUP leader Arlene Foster's party is still withholding support

Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom announced the government's move to split the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration late on Thursday afternoon.

She told MPs: "The only way we ensure we leave in good time on 22 May is by approving the withdrawal agreement by 11pm on 29 March, which is tomorrow."

MPs reacted with fury and questioned the legal advice behind the decision.

Labour's Stephen Doughty called it "trickery of the highest order".

His colleague Mary Creagh compared the withdrawal agreement and political declaration to "two horns on a goat's head", adding: "The goat's head cannot be divided as the government are trying to do."

Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois, who opposes the withdrawal agreement, said: "It seems that as so often in this whole saga over the last couple of years or so, the government has got itself into a bit of a procedural mess."

But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox sprang to the despatch box when the announcement was made to assure MPs the decision was "perfectly lawful, perfectly sensible".

However, Mr Cox failed to immediately answer the question, posed by Labour's Hilary Benn, of whether - if the withdrawal agreement is passed and the EU agrees to setting a new Brexit date of 22 May - a further or longer extension to Article 50 could be granted.

"Splitting up documents that go together isn't going to take them anywhere."@Keir_Starmer says the government needs to find a consensus on how to leave the EU.



Follow #Brexit live here: https://t.co/86KtV2eq9b pic.twitter.com/FDNj4wcSQE — Sky News (@SkyNews) March 28, 2019

Mr Cox promised to address the issue "in full" in the Commons on Friday, prompting MPs to shout: "Why not now?"

The government action to split off the withdrawal agreement for a separate vote was approved by Commons Speaker John Bercow, who had previously ruled the prime minister couldn't hold a third vote on her Brexit deal as a whole without it being substantially different.

Earlier, Labour's Sir Keir told Sky News that splitting the two parts of Mrs May's deal would create "the blindest of blind Brexits".

He said: "It creates an even bigger problem, which is you have a withdrawal agreement with no idea where you're heading."

US president Donald Trump recently said he was "surprised at how badly" the Brexit negotiations have gone for the UK.

But he struck a more conciliatory tone towards Mrs May when speaking to reporters outside the White House on Thursday.

"She's a very nice lady. She's a friend of mine," he said.

"I hope she does well. I hope the Brexit movement and everything happening there goes very well.

"But, Theresa May is a very good woman. And, I'll tell you what, she's strong, she's tough, and she's in there fighting."