May warns defeat of deal could lead to no Brexit
Theresa May continued to roll the dice on Monday as she sought to persuade more of her sceptical MPs to support the government's Brexit deal ahead of a crucial vote on Tuesday.
The prime minister shifted tack over the weekend, saying that a rejection of her contentious deal could result in Brexit being abandoned altogether.
She was set on Monday to use a speech to say the electorate's already low level of trust in politicians would suffer "catastrophic harm" if the 2016 referendum result was not implemented.
"As we have seen over the last few weeks, there are some in Westminster who would wish to delay or even stop Brexit and who will use every device available to them to do so," she was expected to say, according to extracts released by Downing Street.
"I ask MPs to consider the consequences of their actions on the faith of the British people in our democracy.
"Imagine if an anti-devolution House of Commons had said to the people of Scotland or Wales that despite voting in favour of a devolved legislature, Parliament knew better and would overrule them. Or else force them to vote again.
"What if we found ourselves in a situation where Parliament tried to take the UK out of the EU in opposition to a remain vote?”
"People's faith in the democratic process and their politicians would suffer catastrophic harm. We all have a duty to implement the result of the referendum."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would vote against the deal and move to trigger a general election if it was defeated in the House of Commons.
"We will table a motion of no confidence in the government at a time of our choosing, but it's going to be soon, don't worry about it," he told the BBC on Sunday.
About 100 Conservative MPs, and the Democratic Unionist Party's 10 MPs, are currently expected to join Labour and the other opposition parties in voting against the deal.