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Jeremy Corbyn has accepted Theresa May's challenge to the Labour leader to debate Brexit live on national TV.

The Prime Minister is frantically trying to sell her deal and sees a primetime Sunday night debate as a way to persuade the public.

"Jeremy would relish a head-to-head debate with Theresa May about her botched Brexit deal and the future of the country," a Labour spokesman said.

Today a spokesman for the Prime Minister refused to deny the plans. Instead he said: “The PM debates the leaders of the Opposition parties regularly on Brexit.”

If agreed the show could happen on Sunday 9 December - days before the crucial Commons vote.

The debate would form part of the PM's national offensive with speeches planned on different aspects of the deal in all four nations of the country in the coming days.

(Image: Getty Images)

The reports come despite chicken Mrs May ducking calls for TV debates during last year's general election.

At the time she dismissed the value of TV debates saying"I don’t think people get much out of seeing politicians having a go at each other" and said Mr Corbyn "ought to be paying a little more attention to thinking about Brexit negotiations."

But the Prime Minister is now relying on winning over the public in a bid to convince wavering MPs to back her.

On Monday afternoon she will tell a hostile House of Commons "with absolute certainty" that "there is not a better deal available".

The Prime Minister, who will chair a meeting of her Cabinet on Monday morning, will warn rejecting her deal will "open the door to more division and uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail".

Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer welcomed plans for a showdown.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

He told the BBC: “I would be very happy to see Jeremy Corbyn debate with Theresa May.

“I think he’s already said he would. It sounds very much like a general election campaign so I wonder if that’s where it’s heading.”

Asked if she was “up for” a televised debate between the two party leaders, Shadow Brexit Minister Jenny Chapman added: “Oh yeah, I definitely am.

“I don’t know about the rest of the country but I’d watch it.”

But Brexiteer Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin said: “Corbyn was for Remain, Theresa May was for Remain.

“The 52% who voted for Leave have got to represented in those debates.

“Its can’t be polarised between a Remain Labour Party and a Remain prime Minister who’s negotiated a Remain Brexit.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas demanded a role for smaller parties in any broadcast contest.

(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/REX/Shutterstock)

She said: “It’s good to hear the Prime Minister is considering reaching out to the public with a TV debate on her bungled Brexit deal.

“But for this conversation about our collective future to have any semblance of democracy, it must represent the views of everyone.

“That means it must be cross-party, featuring a diverse range of voices representing every nation, as well as every stance on this deal and our relationship with the EU - not just the Government and an opposition party who are falling far short of actually opposing the Prime Minister’s approach.

“I stand ready to debate with all other parties and make the case that a People’s Vote is now the only democratic way forward.”

At a historic summit in Brussels on Sunday, the leaders of the remaining 27 member states took less than 40 minutes to approve the deal.

(Image: REUTERS)

Following the announcement European Commission president insisted that the deal was the UK's only option.

On Monday morning Jean Claude-Juncker insisted again that there will be no more negotiation.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is the only deal possible. So, if the House (of Commons) says no, we would have no deal."

Mrs May will now put it to a vote of MPs before Christmas but faces a battle to get it through the House of Commons in the face of intense opposition on both the Leave and Remain-supporting wings of her party.

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.

She has already started a campaign of selling her deal directly to the public in the hope their support can win round MPs opposed to the plan before the Commons vote, expected in the week beginning December 10.

In her Commons statement the Prime Minister will say: "Our duty as a Parliament over these coming weeks is to examine this deal in detail, to debate it respectfully, to listen to our constituents and decide what is in our national interest.

(Image: Getty Images)

"There is a choice which MPs will have to make. We can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum and move on to building a brighter future of opportunity and prosperity for all our people.

"Or this House can choose to reject this deal and go back to square one ... It would open the door to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail."

She will say that "the national interest is clear" and "the British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum".

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson branded the Prime Minister's deal a "disaster" and a "humiliation" for the UK.

In his regular Daily Telegraph column, he said: "The other EU countries have signed the deal immediately, because they know that they have us exactly where they want us.

"We are a satellite state - a memento mori fixed on the walls of Brussels as a ghastly gaping warning to all who try to escape."

More than 80 Tories have rejected the deal, with opposition parties - and Mrs May's allies in the DUP - also set to oppose it.

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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.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, deputy DUP leader Nigel Dodds demanded the Government go back to the negotiating table "rather than waste any more time putting forward false choices".

"We are heading under this deal for Brexit in name only or the break-up of the United Kingdom," he warned.

"The tragedy is that it is all so utterly unnecessary."

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted Mrs May could carry on as Prime Minister if she was defeated.

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.

"Absolutely she can," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

Pressed on whether the Government could collapse, he acknowledged: "It's not possible to rule out anything."

Mr Corbyn said the deal "is the result of a miserable failure of negotiation that leaves us with the worst of all worlds".

At a press conference in Brussels, Mrs May refused to be drawn on whether she would stand down if she lost the vote, despite being repeatedly pressed on the subject.

"I am focusing on ensuring that I make a case for this deal to MPs," she said.