Anti-Brexit campaigners at Westminster last month. Theresa May’s Brexit plan has been rebuffed by her own party members and by the EU

Rival Tory factions are gearing up for an autumn confrontation after Theresa May’s Brexit plan hit roadblocks in parliament and Europe.

The prime minister’s hopes of persuading EU leaders to back her post-Brexit compromise plan suffered a blow yesterday as she held talks with the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, and Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, before heading to Italy on holiday.

Ales Chmelar, the Czech Republic’s secretary for European affairs, said that the bloc was united behind Michel Barnier, its chief negotiator. Mr Barnier said on Thursday that the EU would never accept Mrs May’s bespoke customs deal, which had proposed that Britain collected EU tariffs on goods passing through the country and charged lower tariffs on goods destined for the UK.

Yesterday Mrs May