With just over 24 hours to go before the biggest vote of her political life, the Prime Minister found herself resorting to a mixture of pleading, threats and stark warnings.

Theresa May began her day by travelling 170 miles to a pottery factory Stoke-on-Trent - one of the most pro-Brexit constituencies in Britain. There, her message to assembled workers was blunt as she urged Tory MPs to back her deal or thwart Brexit.

At the same time she unveiled the legal assurances she had been given by Brussels that she hoped would prove to be a game-changer. Tory Eurosceptics, however, were unmoved dismissing them as little more than a "fig leaf".

She then returned to London to address the Commons and warn MPs that "history" will judge them if they fail to back her deal, even invoking the spectre of another Scottish independence.

In the evening Mrs May addressed the 1922 committee of Tory MPs directly, where sources said she was surprisingly relaxed. Despite all her efforts, "she knows the game is up", one of those present said.

The Government released the exchange of letters between London and Brussels that were supposed to provide reassurance to MPs at 11am.