Theresa May appeared on This Morning on ITV yesterday, and robustly defended her Brexit deal

Theresa May has begun seeing Conservative MPs in small groups to try to save her job, knowing that she will face calls from Labour to resign if she loses the Brexit vote a week today.

She saw groups of two to five Tory MPs selected by the whips in her Commons office in an attempt to underline the seriousness of opposing her deal.

There is despair in government’s top ranks that MPs are treating the vote as a “moment of purity” when they could vote against her deal with impunity, thinking that there would be further opportunities to vote again within days.

However, Jeremy Corbyn is likely to call for the prime minister to step down immediately if the vote is lost.

Labour wants