Labour will close the poll gap and reverse the political situation in Britain within 12 months as the Conservatives begin “ripping themselves apart” over Brexit, John McDonnell has insisted.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Independent the Shadow Chancellor, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s closest allies in Westminster, claimed that once divisions over the invoking of Article 50 were out of the way the party would unite.

Speaking in his office in Westminster, the day after the Commons passed the Government’s Brexit Bill by 498 votes to 114 (47 Labour MPs rebelled), Mr McDonnell also suggested Theresa May demeaned herself by rushing towards President Donald Trump’s side in a “desperate” attempt to secure a trade deal in Washington last week.

Since Ms May’s ascent to Downing Street in the summer of 2016, Labour’s position in the polls has been dismal and rarely have the Tories been fewer than 10 points ahead of Labour. “It will take a while to turn,” Mr McDonnell added.

“For Jeremy’s period since Ed Miliband stood down – we’re talking about 18 months or so – half of which has been leadership elections. Understandably people see this as a divided party and it’s going to take a long time to restore that and that’s what we’re doing”.

Asked whether he agreed with a prediction from Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, that Labour will close the gap in the polls with the Tories in the next year, he replied: “I think over the next 12 months we’ll turn the political situation around and that’s what we’ll do.”

He added: “Now we get past Article 50, we’re then in our terrain in which we’re protecting people from a reckless Brexit the Tories are going to implement… the Tories will start ripping themselves apart of the next 12 months. On that basis I think you’ll see that Theresa May’s honeymoon comes to an end. A relationship with Donald Trump may not be the most stable basis upon which you seek to secure your popularity in this country either.

“Over the next 12 months we’ll be contesting in a way that narrows the gap between us and the Tories.” Asked what would happen if this scenario didn’t turn into a reality he replied: “Well, I think it will”.

His comments come after a torrid week for the Labour party as dozens of MPs defied a three-line whip – the strictest possible instruction – to vote against the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Three members of the party’s Shadow Cabinet – representing constituencies with significant proportions of Remain voters – resigned from their posts before the vote. And now the leadership is braced for a fresh rebellion this week, especially if the party fails to secure amendment’s to the Government’s EU Withdrawal bill in the Commons.

Asked about whether MPs would have to resign from the frontbench, Mr McDonnell said the party abides by the “parliamentary convention whereby if someone is in the Shadow Cabinet and votes against it they resign”.

“With other ranks within the PLP the chief whip will report after the Commons stages of the Bill itself and we’ll take into account what his recommendations are.” On the three whips, who voted against the whip, he added: “I’ll leave that for the chief whip”.

Explaining the painful situation Labour MPs find themselves in, he continued: “The atmosphere is one of understanding and mutual respect, we understand where people are coming from completely. It’s exactly as Keir [Starmer] has said time and time again, we’re now in a situation where we campaigned for Remain, we lost the referendum…two thirds of our members now represent seats where people voted Leave and there are others with constituencies where there is an extremely strong Remain vote.

“We’ve had to give direction under the whip system because we wanted people to be clear about Labour policy is – and it is to support the triggering of Article 50 and not to in anyway obstruct it.”

But Labour’s position also appears to have resulted in members abandoning the party. According to the New Statesman magazine more than 7,000 have deserted Labour in the last week over the party’s Article 50 stance. “Members come and go,” said Mr McDonnell when asked for his reaction to this. “Members come and go. It’s renewals that are the big thing at the moment.”

He is scathing of the Prime Minister’s historic visit to Washington, where she appeared at a press conference with Mr Trump just hours before he signed an executive order indefinitely blocking Syrian refugees from entering the US. Immigration from Syria and six other predominantly Muslim countries, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, has also been suspended for at least 30-days. On Monday, when thousands of protestors marched on Whitehall to express their anger at the travel ban, Mr McDonnell was in the crowd.

“I think she’s [Ms May] made a catastrophic mistake,” he added. “Where her advisers and she thought naively that being the first person through the door to greet Donald Trump was some form of electoral advantage to her here, I think has proved completely counter-productive. I don't think people want to see a British Prime Minister demeaning themselves in that way. I understand why she did it: she was desperately trying to demonstrate some form of status for herself but also she’s desperate to find a trade deal.

He believes if the Prime Minister fails to “negotiate properly” US corporations will see the NHS as open for privatisation. “Donald Trump is a negotiator. To have someone rushing to you, walking hand in hand desperate for a trade deal – it doesn’t display any strength in that negotiation from our point of view and I’m fearful of the sort of deal that they’ll do.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the “back of the queue” for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned – forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA – because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germany’s top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as “gateway to Europe” for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the Bundesbank—Germany’s central bank—told a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were “equivalent” between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still “miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market”, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEO’s performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterling’s fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

Later, he added: “People are anxious she [May] is going to sell off the NHS… I think she’ll negotiate a trade deal desperately and I think the President will walk all over us… I think he sees our welfare state as the opportunity for profit for US companies… it’s the same with higher education and other aspects.

“I think Donald Trump welcomes her and she’s so pleased to get the first invite but I think he sees it as a rich cherry to be picked in terms of our economy.”

In the interview Mr McDonnell, who has been the MP for Hayes and Harlington since 1997, also revealed the party has set up a taskforce to investigate universal basic income, which will present its findings before the next general election. The radical concept involves ditching means-tested benefits in favour of unconditional flat-rate payments to all citizens.

During the summer of 2016 he suggested he could “win the argument” on basic income within the Labour party but now he intends to publish a report on the idea with Guy Standing, one of his economic advisers and a founding member of Basic Income Earth Network – established in 1986 to encourage discussion on the topic around Europe.

His comments come before he appeared alongside his long-time comrade Mr Corbyn in Liverpool on Saturday to launch a series of regional economic conferences, aimed at addressing the regional investment imbalance in the economy. “It’s pretty stark what’s been happening over a period of years especially under this Government, is the lack of investment particularly in the North,” Mr McDonnell added. He’s anxious over what he describes as a potential “bankers’ Brexit” – a deal at the expense of the wider economy for a special settlement to be done with the City of London.