Labour whips are "furious" with Jeremy Corbyn's handling of an attempt to force a no-confidence vote in the prime minister, sources have suggested.

The Labour leader tabled a non-binding no-confidence motion in Theresa May late on Monday, but the government refused to grant parliamentary time for a vote, describing it as a "stunt".

Downing Street instead challenged Mr Corbyn to table a more meaningful no-confidence motion aimed at the government as a whole and under the terms of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.

Sky News understands Labour's chief whip Nick Brown had earlier told his party's MPs that the government would be obliged to grant Mr Corbyn's motion under parliamentary rules and, if it was refused, the Labour leader would immediately escalate his motion to one with legal weight in an effort to force a general election.

In discussions with parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday, Mr Brown is understood to have been "contrite", acknowledging his guidance on parliamentary rules had not been accurate.


However, a number of other Labour whips are said to be "furious" with Mr Corbyn's office for sending out inconsistent messages about their intentions.

One senior backbench figure said many Labour MPs shared a "considerable frustration" with the handling of the no-confidence motion, as well as the lack of clarity about whether Mr Corbyn would escalate his motion to one of no confidence in the government as a whole.

Another backbencher said the last 24 hours had been an "omnishambles" of the party leadership's making.

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Had a full no-confidence motion in the government passed, it would have triggered a process under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act that could have resulted in a general election if a government was unable to win a second confidence vote within 14 days.

But House of Commons Speaker John Bercow confirmed to MPs on Tuesday that the government was not under any obligation to grant parliamentary time to the motion as tabled by Mr Corbyn because it amounted to an issue of censure not confidence.

Mr Bercow said: "For the avoidance of doubt, and in the name of better public understanding of our procedures, I should make it clear that there is a strong convention that the government provides time at the earliest possible opportunity for a no confidence motion in Her Majesty's government, if tabled by the official opposition.

"However no such convention applies in relation to this particular motion, which is not a conventional no confidence motion."

Following the Speaker's intervention, Tory grandee Sir Edward Leigh accused Mr Corbyn of holding back because he feared having to put Labour's backing to a second EU referendum.

"The problem for the leader of the Labour Party is that he does not want an immediate motion of no confidence because if, as is likely it was lost, he would be forced by his party to go for a referendum, so he was playing games", said Sir Edward.

The DUP, who provide Mrs May with a working majority in parliament, confirmed on Monday night they would not support Labour's call of no confidence in the prime minister.

This was despite the party's Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson suggesting the DUP would be prepared to back a censure motion in Mrs May last week.

Without DUP support, or significant numbers of Conservative rebel MPs, any confidence motion is unlikely to succeed.

A Labour spokesman insisted no pledge to immediately escalate to a binding motion of no confidence in the government had been made, saying instead that the party "reserved the right" to make that move.

On Tuesday night, other opposition parties sought to put further pressure on Labour by tabling their own no-confidence motion in the government.

The cross-party bid was supported by the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party.

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "Opposition leaders have taken the decision to table a vote of no confidence in the UK government under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act - something Jeremy Corbyn has failed to do.

"Labour has failed to hold the UK government to account over their shambolic Brexit negotiations.

"Their motion of no confidence in the prime minister on Monday was a gimmick - we attempted to strengthen it with our own amendment and it's regrettable it was not offered time for debate in parliament.

"By tabling our motion on Tuesday evening, we hope to be afforded time by the UK government to debate it before parliament closes for the Christmas recess."