REMAIN Cabinet ministers will demand Theresa May this week spells out a timetable to delay Brexit if there is no EU deal by mid-March as their price not to rebel.

A public declaration by Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark to a back a Commons bid this week to extend Article 50 talks ignited a fresh civil war at the top of Government.

3 Amber Rudd alongside David Gauke and Greg Clark publicly declared they would back a Commons bid this week to extend Article 50 Credit: Alamy Live News

Brexiteer Cabinet ministers angrily accused the trio - who are joined by 20 other junior minister and dozens of backbench Tory MPs - of "astonishing disloyalty” and undermining the PM.

But Mrs May herself turned a blind eye yesterday and refused to slap them down.

Instead, she begged as many as 60 Tory Remainer rebels to give her two more weeks to strike a new EU deal.

Forced to admit that not enough progress has been made in talks with the EU to toughen up the Irish backstop for a second meaningful vote on a new deal this week, the PM revealed she will put the new deal to Parliament on March 12 - just 17 days before Brexit Day itself.

But she must first clear a major Commons hurdle this Wednesday, when a cross party group lead by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory grandee Sir Oliver Letwin mount a bid for Parliament to seize control of the Brexit timetable to enforce a delay under No Deal.

One source close to the Cabinet rebels said: “A promise to extend Article 50 on Wednesday isn’t enough. They need to know from the PM how she will actually do it”.

A minister planning to rebel and vote for the Cooper-Letwin amendment told The Sun: “The PM likes baking and so she understands its analogies.

"It’s not enough to have ingredients on the sideboard, they need to be raising in the oven”.

It has also emerged Chancellor Philip Hammond and Mrs May’s de facto deputy, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington, are also lobbying hard for Ms Rudd’s group behind the scenes.

The Sun can reveal that it was the Chancellor himself who delivered the Cabinet trio’s bombshell article to the PM’s Chief of Staff Gavin Barwell before it was published in a newspaper on Saturday.

'It is still within our grasp to leave the EU with a deal on March 29'

During questioning from journalists on her plane to Egypt to attend an EU and Arab leaders’ summit, the PM would only say of the extraordinary insurrection: “What we’ve seen around the Cabinet table, in the party and in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That’s not a surprise to anybody.

“We have around the Cabinet table a collective desire to leave the European Union with a deal.

“That’s what we and I are working hard for.”

Mrs May risks fresh fury from hardline Tory Brexiteers today for refusing to slap the trio down or sack them.

But her new two week delay before a final Brexit deal is put to Parliament also sparked an angry reaction from opposition MPs and business bosses, who accused Mrs May of running down the clock and being “irresponsible”.

The PM added: “We’ve been having positive talks with the EU. My team return to Brussels this week.

“It is still within our grasp to leave the EU with a deal on March 29.”

Mrs May was damning of any Brexit delay, insisting all it does is put off hard decisions.

She insisted: “Often people talk about the extension of Article 50 as if that is something that will solve the issue.

"But of course it won’t. It defers the point of decision. The comes a point when we need to make that decision”.

But during the grilling on board her RAF plane to the summit venue in Sharm El-Sheikh, Mrs May also three times refused to rule out enforcing an Article 50 extension instead of taking Britain out of the EU without a deal.

3 Theresa May also refused to rule out enforcing an Article 50 extension instead of taking Britain out of the EU without a deal Credit: Reuters

Three other lower-ranking ministers have also declared they will vote with the rebels to extend Article 50 on Wednesday - Solicitor General Robert Buckland, Industry Minister Richard Harrington and Veterans Minister Tobias Ellwood.

Another 15 ministers could also join them, along with dozens of Tory MPs, in voting for the Cooper-Letwin amendment to seize control of the Brexit timetable from the Government.

No10 fear certain defeat if they all press ahead with the plan, that will plunge Westminster into a full-blown constitutional crisis.

Josh Hardie, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: “This is the latest signal to businesses that no deal is hurtling closer.

"It must be averted. Every day without a deal means less investment and fewer jobs created. That’s the cost of running down the clock, and it’s irresponsible to treat that as a price worth paying”

Calling on Tories to rebel, Labour’s Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said: “This decision to further delay the meaningful vote is the height of irresponsibility and an admission of failure.

”Theresa May is recklessly running down the clock in a desperate attempt to force MPs to choose between her deal and no deal.

“Parliament cannot stand by and allow this to happen.”

MOST READ IN POLITICS WINTER COMING England may have to ban home visits too as SAGE adviser warns lockdown coming CLUB FURY Footballer who beat girlfriend & forced her to eat paint signs to new club LOCKED UP AGAIN New lockdown rules explained: Everything you can and can't do now SKIN DEEP Skin rash IS Covid symptom, experts warn - the 8 different types revealed Breaking TERROR ALERT Eiffel Tower EVACUATED by cops after man 'threatens to detonate bomb' HOT SPOTS Interactive Covid map reveals how many cases are in YOUR area

Tory Remainer rebel Dominic Grieve said that MPs must push ahead with their plan to take Brexit no-deal off the table this week in the wake of Mrs May’s announcement.

He told Sky News: “If she is going to come back and say please do nothing until 12 or 14 March, I’m afraid I think the House of Commons will start taking steps.

“If we leave things until 12 or 14 March it will be far too late.”

It emerged last night that No10 has begun to draw up plans on how to implement a Brexit delay if a Remain rebellion enforced one.

3 Dominic Grieve has said MPs must push ahead with their plan to take Brexit no-deal off the table this week Credit: Alamy Live News

Theresa May kicks the can down the road AGAIN as she delays vote on Brexit deal by two weeks