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Europe will let the UK crash out without a deal and not be "held hostage" by Theresa May French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

Mr Macron said Britain cannot rely on the EU to "avoid failure" for the UK as he warned that they could not rely on leader granting an automatic extension.

Speaking as he hosted a meeting with Irish PM Leo Varadkar the French President the failure of the House of Commons to agree a compromise would lead to crashing out.

This would be a result Britain "had chosen itself" he continued.

He told journalists in Paris: "The third rejection of the withdrawal agreement by the House of Commons as well as the rejection of any alternative has paved the way for a No Deal exit.

(Image: STEPHANIE LECOCQ/EPA-EFE/REX)

"As decided by the European Council on the 22nd of March it belongs to the United Kingdom to present a credible plan, backed by the majority of MPs by the 10 of April to avoid it.

"Should the UK be unable to, three years after the referendum, propose a solution backed by a majority then they de facto they will have chosen by themselves to leave without a deal.

"We cannot avoid failure for them.

"Should this plan be new elections, a referendum, a different selection of a future relationship that is not for me to say.

"It is for London to say - and say it now.

"A long extension involving the UK's participation in the EU elections and continued participation in the EU's institutions is far from evident and certainly not to be taken for granted.

(Image: REUTERS)

"Let me repeat it here today, our priority will be the good functioning of the European Union and the single market.

"We can not continue to be hostage to the political crisis in the United Kingdom."

It came as Theresa May was locked in marathon talks with her top Cabinet team to try to work a way through the Brexit impasse.

The stumbling Prime Minister was desperately trying to reassert authority amid the massive political crisis.

She faces a deeply divided Cabinet with different factions pressing her to go for either a No Deal Brexit or an soft Brexit compromise.

Ministers on both sides have threatened to quit as the Government spirals further out of control, with others taking leadership wranglings into consideration.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Downing Street insiders suggested the PM could press ahead with a fourth vote on her defeated Brexit deal.

This could either go head-to-head with a softer Brexit or Mrs May could even press the “nuclear” button and make the vote a confidence issue.

However, Government insiders expected the Speaker to throw another spanner in the works by blocking a fourth vote - unless ministers came up with a "creative" way round the problem.