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Theresa May tonight hurtled towards a clash with Spain over Gibraltar’s future after Brexit .

As both the Prime Minister and EU chief Michel Barnier declared the deal 'agreed in full,' Mrs May remained in Westminster, facing down Brexiteer rebels as more of her own MPs called for her to be ousted.

And she struggled to convince critics of her deal that it would not keep Britain in the EU for four more years.

Spain last night threatened to withdraw support for the Prime Minister’s draft divorce deal, unless the territory is excluded from a future trade deal between the UK and EU.

But Number 10 insisted Gibraltar will be included in negotiations on Britain’s future relationship with Europe.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The PM has been clear that we will not exclude Gibraltar and the other Crown Dependancies from our negotiations on the future relationship.

“We will get a deal that works for the whole UK family.”

Josep Borrell, Spain’s foreign minister warned both Britain and the EU to prepare for “last minute surprises” in the days leading up to Sunday’s emergency Summit in Brussels.

He said: “We want to make sure the interpretation of this text is clear and shows that what’s being negotiated between the EU and the UK does not apply to Gibraltar.

(Image: REUTERS)

“The future negotiations over Gibraltar are separate,” he added. “Until that’s clear in the exit text and the political declaration over the future relationship, we won’t be able to agree to it.”

It came as more splits emerged among EU member states over the proposed deal.

France is reportedly pushing for a ‘side-declaration’ to be published alongside any deal agreed with Theresa May , making it clear that a future trade deal would be dependent on Britain opening up its fishing waters to European vessels.

Any such declarations would make it harder for Mrs May to gain the approval of Parliament for her deal.

She also faced an ongoing row over the possibility of Britain effectively staying in the EU until 2022 if a clause extending the ‘transition period’ is invoked.

(Image: PA)

The Prime Minister said it was “important” to her that any such extension should end before the next General Election, which is expected in June 2022.

But the maximum length of an extension has yet to be agreed with Brussels.

And the Prime Minister’s spokesman said the price the UK would have to pay the EU to extend the transition remained “subject to negotiation.”

In October, Mrs May confirmed she was ready to consider a delay of “a matter of months” in Britain’s final departure from the EU in order to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

Tory former leader and prominent Brexiteer Lord Howard told the BBC he was against extending the transition period to the end of 2022, stating: “That would be just kicking the can down the line yet again.”

There was some respite for the PM as Tory Brexiteer rebels struggled to muster the 48 names need to trigger a leadership challenge.

Key points from UK's 611-page Brexit deal with EU The Brexit deal agreed by Theresa May and the EU covers two areas: the Withdrawal Agreement, covering the UK's exit from the EU, and the Political Declaration on a Future Framework, which sets out the relationship with the EU after Britain leaves. Key details on the Brexit deal include: 1. The Withdrawal Agreement The transition period can be extended until 2022 - after the next election

Goods face being checked between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK

A 'backstop' could extend EU customs rules UK-wide - and we'd need Brussels' permission to quit

European courts will still have a big hold on the UK 2. The Future Framework "Comprehensive arrangements that will create a free trade area" - not exactly the "frictionless trade" hoped for

Possible EU access to British fishing waters

We would remain tied to European courts

We'd respect human rights laws

Visas needed for long term trips to the EU

It has built in vagueness - kicking the can down the road for further negotiations Read about the deal in more depth here.

Two senior Brexiteer Tories, former minister Owen Paterson and Iain Duncan Smith, who himself faced a challenge to his leadership of the party in 2003 arrived at Number 10 for talks on technical solutions to the Irish border issue.

Both are members of the European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg ’s hard Brexit association of Tory backbenchers, who have called on their membership to demand Mrs May step aside.

Neither MP had as of last night written to Tory backbench chairman Sir Graham Brady to trigger a leadership challenge.

Will Theresa May win the Brexit deal vote? Theresa May has a Brexit deal, but the danger is looming that it will be defeated in the House of Commons. Even getting it past her Cabinet forced Esther McVey and Dominic Raab to resign. Now she faces one more hurdle - a vote in Parliament on December 11. MPs are grouped in several factions - their warring opinions are explained more fully here. But if 318 or more vote against the deal, they will defeat the deal. Against the deal TORY BREXITEERS: There are up to about 80, led by Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, threatening to vote down a deal that keeps Britain trapped in "vassalage" with Brussels. Not all are expected to live up to their threats. TORY HARD REMAINERS: Only about a dozen, but many - including Justine Greening and Jo Johnson - will vote against, instead wanting a second referendum. DUP: Theresa May's Northern Irish allies - who she handed £1.5bn - are 10-strong. They say they will vote down the deal. LABOUR LOYALISTS: About 150 MPs are consistently loyal to Jeremy Corbyn on Brexit. They'll be told to vote against the deal because it doesn't meet Labour's 'six tests'. LABOUR REMAINERS: There are about 50 hard Remainer Labour MPs. They're likely to oppose the deal to avoid enabling a Brexit. OTHERS: The SNP (35), Lib Dems (12), Plaid Cymru (4) and Greens (1) are all likely to vote against. For the deal TORY LOYALISTS: Well over 200 are likely to vote with Theresa May, for the deal. Many have paid government jobs - so would have to quit if they oppose her. 'NERVOUS LABOUR': Some Labour MPs could BACK a deal - fearing otherwise Britain will be plunged into an even worse No Deal. There could be 20 or more. Caroline Flint is among them. Unknown LABOUR BREXITEERS: There are only about half a dozen. It was generally thought they'd side with Theresa May, but Kate Hoey MP broke ranks and said she could vote against.

They were accompanied by former Northern Irish First Minister Lord Trimble and two ‘technical experts’ - Hans Maessen and Shanker Singham.

An ERG source said the meeting was “constructive.”

But the number of Tory MPs who have written to Sir Graham calling for a vote of no-confidence in Mrs May’s leadership continued to rise.

Philip Hollobone and Sir William Cash bringing the confirmed number to 24.

Brexit deal countdown Early December: Theresa May tours UK and G20 with two-week "campaign" to sell her deal directly to the British public. 11 December: A vote in the House of Commons on the deal. 13 December: The last chance EU Council summit, where deal could come back for more negotiation. 20 December: Parliament rises for its Christmas break. Final or 're-run' vote by MPs must be held before now. If it fails there could be no deal, or a general election, or a second EU referendum. 26 January 2019: By this point Theresa May must return to Parliament and make a statement if she still has no agreement. MPs then vote on a motion based on the government statement 7 days later. 29 March 2019: Brexit Day. If there's a deal, this will be a total anticlimax because a transition will be in place. If there's No Deal, planes could be grounded, ports jammed up and customs checks thrown into chaos at 11pm. 31 December 2020: If there's a deal, this is when the transition period - which continues pretty much all the EU rules we have now - is supposed to end. But it could be extended by two more years. 1 January 2021: If there's still no deal, under current plans a "backstop" would kick in. This could keep the UK tied to EU customs rules, until a proper agreement is reached, in exchange for keeping the Northern Ireland border open. Read the full guide to the timetable here.

48 letters are needed to trigger the vote.

Best for Britain spokesperson Paul Butters said: "Iain Duncan Smith, Owen Paterson and others went inside Number 10 today trying to convince Theresa May to move the Brexit goalposts.



"It says it all that the right wing of the Conservative party have sent their luminaries into Downing Street to try to negotiate with the Prime Minister.



"All this was about as successful as Owen Paterson's fight against the badgers. We shouldn't be surprised by it - I mean it was all fantasy land, unicorn stuff all spouted by this cabal, headed by IDS, the thinking man’s Andrew Bridgen."