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Desperate Theresa May will today freeze fuel duty for the ninth year in a row and claims "our best days lie ahead of us” – despite Tory chaos over Brexit and fresh questions over her leadership.

The Prime Minister will announce yet another year of tax cuts for drivers that her Chancellor Philip Hammond admits will come at "significant cost" to the nation.

It comes as the Daily Telegraph reports fresh discussions have begun about when Mrs May should be ousted if she refuses to quit before the next election.

Despite her difficulties she'll claim Britain's post-Brexit future is "full of promise" - urging Jeremy Corbyn voters to switch to the "decent, moderate, patriotic" Tories.

It is the first formal spending announcement to be included the Budget in four weeks' time.

It will benefit hard-pressed motorists but comes as other groups continue to struggle - with working-age benefits still frozen for four years to 2020.

(Image: PA)

(Image: PA)

Mrs May will claim the benefit of having a “little bit of money left to put away at the end of the month” isn’t “measured in pounds and pence”.

She will add: "It’s the joy and precious memories that a week’s holiday with the family brings. It’s the peace of mind that comes with having some savings."

This year's fuel duty freeze alone has cost the Treasury £830million.

The red meat to tax cut-hungry Tory activists comes after scheming Boris Johnson savaged her Brexit blueprint as an “outrage”.

He told delighted supporters it is time to “chuck Chequers”.

Blasting Mrs May’s withdrawal plan again, he said: “This is not what we voted for – this is an outrage.

“This is not taking back control, this is forfeiting control.” He quit the Cabinet in July so he could oppose the Chequers plan, which he said yesterday would keep Britain too closely tied to Brussels.

The ex-Foreign Secretary, who has split from his wife and has previously faced claims of extra-marital affairs, added: “If we cheat the electorate – and Chequers is a cheat – we will escalate the sense of mistrust.”

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Activists even cheered his suggestion the PM risks being prosecuted under a 14th century law stating “no foreign court or government shall have jurisdiction in this country”.

Mr Johnson, who chickened out of a 2016 leadership bid after he lost the support of Environment Secretary Michael Gove, accused Mrs May of losing her nerve over quitting the EU.

He said: “If we get it wrong, my friends – if we bottle Brexit now – believe me, the people of this country will find it hard to forgive...

“If we remain half-in half-out, we will protract this toxic, tedious business.”

(Image: Daily Mirror)

At a ConservativeHome fringe event, he aimed a broadside at Mr Gove by warning against leaving the EU with a deal then hoping to sort it out afterwards – a move floated by Mr Gove.

Mr Johnson told 1,500 Tory activists in Birmingham: “Do not believe that we can somehow get it wrong now and fix it later... Total fantasy.”

In his 33-minute speech he outlined a traditional platform for a leadership bid by calling for low taxes, boosting home ownership and devolving power.

He laid into Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn , mocked Chancellor Philip Hammond and slammed Mrs May over police stop-and-search powers.

She responded by saying in an interview: “There are one or two things that Boris said that I am cross about.”

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Mrs May also slapped him down by saying: “Of course, Boris, when he was Foreign Secretary, signed up to the Chequers plan and then a few days later resigned from the Cabinet.”

Business minister Claire Perry said Mr Johnson “doesn’t have a policy backbone anywhere on him”.

In her speech Mrs May will claim the Tories are the party of virtue.

She is due to say: “Millions who have never supported our party... are appalled by what Jeremy Corbyn has done to Labour. They want to support a party that is decent, moderate and patriotic. One that puts the national interest first... And is comfortable with modern Britain in all its diversity.

“We must show everyone in this country that we are that party.”

(Image: PA)

Uncertainty surrounds her plan for the Irish border amid reports she is preparing a compromise on EU “backstop” proposals, which would involve customs checks in the Irish Sea.

DUP leader Arlene Foster , who props up Mrs May’s government, shot down No 10’s latest plan, insisting: “Northern Ireland is not about to become a semi-detached part of the United Kingdom.”

In another row, the PM has publicly disowned Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s remarks in his speech when he compared the EU to the Soviet Union.

Mr Hunt accused Brussels of seeking to “punish” Britain for wanting to exit the EU and likened it to the USSR trying to stop its citizens leaving.