FILE PHOTO: Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary, Amber Rudd, arrives in Downing Street, in central London, Britain December 6, 2018. REUTERS/ Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - British minister Amber Rudd said on Monday she did not believe Theresa May’s premiership was dead after the prime minister pulled a parliamentary vote on Brexit for fear of losing it.

“I really disagree with that,” Rudd, the work and pensions minister, told the BBC when asked if May’s deal, and her premiership, were now dead.

A loyal minister in May’s cabinet, Rudd said the prime minister remained committed to the Northern Irish backstop, an insurance policy to ensure no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

“She is committed to keeping that backstop but we have said and the EU have said the intention of the backstop is that if we get into it, it is temporary,” she said.

“What she is trying to get now is reassurance for the people who are concerned that it’s not temporary. If she can work with the EU to provide that information hopefully they can support the Withdrawal Agreement.”