Theresa May tries to win round Brexit rebels ahead of fresh Commons battles

Theresa May has held talks with pro-Brexit MPs in a bid to avoid losing key votes in the Commons early next week.



The Customs and Trade bills make their return to the House of Commons on Monday and Tuesday as the Prime Minister looks to avoid a further defeat in the Commons.

On Friday night, Mrs May summoned several pro-Leave Conservatives to Chequers straight after her meeting with US President Donald Trump.

One Brexiteer told the Guardian the move was "an effort to butter up the butterable", and said several MPs had turned down the invitation.

Conservative remain ‘rebels’ have tabled amendments to keep Britain in a customs union while several prominent Brexiteers left the cabinet, including David Davis and Boris Johnson.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis is prepared to rebel against the government and back a Brexit amendment on the Irish border after resigning his post as Brexit Secretary.

The former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, who resigned as Foreign Secretary on Monday, is meanwhiile expected to give a speech to the commons on Wednesday.

Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist to Donald Trump, told The Telegraph that "now is the moment" for Johnson to challenge May to lead the UK.

"I believe moments come," he said. "It is like Donald Trump… people dismissed him."

The ex-Breitbart editor added: "Now is the moment. If Boris Johnson looks at this... There comes an inflection point, the Chequers deal was an inflection point, we will have to see what happens."