Theresa May is under pressure from her cabinet to back a plan to secure a time limit on the Irish backstop hated by so many Tory MPs.

Three senior ministers are pushing for her to support the move to let parliament vote on introducing a sunset clause to the backstop.

They argue it would give her leverage to extract concessions from the European Union, but there is reticence to explicitly back the plan in Downing Street because it could go down badly in Brussels, as it contradicts the deal Ms May spent 19 months negotiating.

The cabinet pressure comes as a Conservative MP again tabled an amendment to achieve a time limit, setting the scene for a new clash with Commons speaker John Bercow because it must be chosen by him for debate.

Ms May led her weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, at which ministers received an update on preparedness for Brexit as well having a wider discussion on the UK’s withdrawal process and the backstop.

Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland’ sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. ‘I’ve been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again,’ Johnson said laughing. ‘We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that it’s gone, we wouldn't like it back again’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crockett’s Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. ‘At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day,’ said Crockett. ‘If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio – the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. ‘When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village,’ said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. ‘Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. ‘I live in the south but the business is in the North,’ said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if there’s duty, I’ll have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. I’ll have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. ‘I’d be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, you’d have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful,’ said Mullen. ‘All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters

The backstop comes into play if the UK fails to agree a future trading arrangement with the EU by December 2020, and could potentially lock Britain into an indefinite customs union.

Cabinet insiders confirmed reports that foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt argued that the best way to move forward is to get parliamentary backing for a time limit to the backstop, and then take that to Brussels as proof of what must happen for the deal to pass through the Commons.

The Independent understands that Andrea Leadsom and Penny Mordaunt could also back the plan, and have been pushing for it as a way to try to salvage Ms May’s withdrawal agreement.

But one source said the government’s preference would be for MPs to make the move without the executive’s backing, allowing Ms May to argue for a time limit while also being able to claim in Brussels that she had no choice but to do so because parliament had demanded one.

That could happen if Mr Bercow allows MPs to vote on an amendment tabled for a second time by Conservative MP Andrew Murrison, which if passed would make accepting the withdrawal agreement conditional on there being a time limit.

Frustrated EU spokesperson Margaritis Schinas channels Spice Girls on Brexit: ‘Tell us what you want, what you really, really want’

But the last time it was tabled the speaker refused to call it, angering ministers who backed the plan. Others inside No 10 are not confident the EU would respond well, however the amendment was passed.

Tory Brexiteers have begun to suggest they might back Ms May’s deal if she could find a way to extract a new concession on the backstop.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said at the weekend he would prefer the prime minister’s deal to remaining in the EU, and Nadine Dorries also suggested there might be circumstances in which she could support it.

Sammy Wilson of Ms May’s DUP partners in government also indicated he could live with a backstop as long as there are significant changes to it.