A third cabinet minister has called for MPs to be allowed to break the Brexit deadlock through a series of votes on the options, as pressure grows on Theresa May to give way.

Greg Clark, the business secretary, said the Commons should be “invited to say what it would agree with” if – as seems certain – the prime minister’s deal is defeated.

The comment follows similar endorsements from Liam Fox, the trade secretary and a key May ally, and Damian Hinds, the education secretary, over the weekend.

Today, senior Labour MP Frank Field will launch a push by backbenchers for the Commons to be able to “rank its preferences” for potential alternatives to the doomed withdrawal agreement.

Meanwhile, former Tory minister Sam Gyimah – who resigned over the Brexit deal – accused the prime minister of effectively giving up on trying to pass it.

“Instead we have displacement activity designed to distract from last weeks failed renegotiation,” he tweeted, pointing to Ms May’s overnight dismissal of a Final Say referendum.

“And a concerted attempt to discredit every plausible alternative as they run down the clock. This is not in the national interest.”

The idea of non-binding indicative votes – on options including the “Norway-plus” soft Brexit model, a fresh referendum and a no-deal Brexit – is gaining ground as the stalemate drags on.

Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Show all 13 1 /13 Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Esther McVey Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey arrives to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet at 10 Downing Street in London. - Britain's Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey resigned from the cabinet over draft Brexit deal AFP/Getty Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @EstherMcVey1 of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Works and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Ms McVey has resigned, saying the Brexit deal âdoes not honour the result of the referendumâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @DominicRaab/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Dominic Raab British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab give a press conference at the end of the final round of talks in Brexit negotiations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium EPA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @DominicRaab of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Mr Raab has resigned, saying he âcannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EUâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @DominicRaab/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Rehman Chrishti Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party Rehman Chrishti tendered his resignation letter this afternoon PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Anne-Marie Trevelyan Parliamentary private secretary in the Department of Education Anne-Marie Trevelyan resigned stating that she cannot support the deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Handout image taken from the Twitter feed of @annietrev of the resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Theresa May from Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Education. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday November 15, 2018. Ms Trevelyan has resigned saying she cannot support the Brexit deal after negotiations âbuilt on the UK trying to appease the EUâ. See PA story POLITICS Brexit. Photo credit should read: @annietrev/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Sam Gyimah Universities minister Sam Gyimah resigned on November 30, claiming the government's decision to pull out of the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system as a deciding factor PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Shailesh Vara Shailesh Vara who has quit as Minister of State for Northern Ireland, saying he cannot support Theresa May's Brexit agreement, which he said "leaves the UK in a halfway house with no time limit on when we will finally be a sovereign nation" PA Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Suella Braverman Brexit minister Suella Braverman has resigned, stating “It is not what the British people, or my constituents, voted for in 2016.” Cabinet ministers resign over Brexit deal Ranil Jayawardena Parliamentary private secretary to the ministry of justice Ranil Jayawardena resigned as he could not back the deal "in good conscience"

Downing Street has rejected the move so far in favour of continuing negotiations with Brussels into the New Year – despite the EU’s outright rejection of legal changes to the withdrawal deal on Friday.

But Mr Clark, speaking on BBC Radio 4, said other options had to be brought forward if the attempted renegotiation “were not to be successful”.

“I think Parliament should be invited to say what it would agree with, and that's something that I think businesses up and down the country would expect – elected members to take responsibility, rather than just be critics.”

Mr Clark also warned a second referendum would “continue the uncertainty for many more months”, but did not rule it out.

Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, Philip Hammond, the chancellor, David Gauke, the justice secretary, David Mundell, the Scotland secretary, and David Lidington, the cabinet office minister, are also understood to back votes on the options.

Instead, in a Commons statement today, the prime minister will turn her fire on Final Say supporters, claiming it would do “irreparable damage to the integrity our politics”.

“Another vote which would likely leave us no further forward than the last. And another vote would further divide our country at the very moment we should be working to unite it,” she will say.

Tom Brake, a Liberal Democrat supporter for the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said: “When even Dr Fox encourages the idea of indicative votes in Parliament, the Brexit project is clearly in jeopardy.

"All this just shows how the government are in total, complete and utter chaos. To call them rudderless is the understatement of the century.”