The EU is preparing to impose punitive conditions on Britain as its price for agreeing a Brexit delay if Theresa May is forced to ask for an extension this week.

Member states are “hardening” their attitudes towards a delay and will demand “legal and financial conditions” including a multi-billion pound increase to the £39bn divorce payment.

With no signs of a breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations to change the existing exit deal, Parliament is expected to reject the deal for a second time on Tuesday, before voting later in the week to extend Article 50.

EU sources suggested that the only way for Mrs May to win the vote is if she finds her “inner Churchill” and reaches out across the political divide for cross-party support.

Mrs May also faces the twin threats of a possible no confidence vote tabled by Labour if she loses heavily on Tuesday, and a leadership challenge from her own party as Tory MPs warned her position will become increasingly untenable if she loses control of Brexit.