May admits without her deal there could be "no Brexit at all"
Ahead of a trip to Brussels to fine-tune her Brexit deal ahead of a European Union summit on Sunday, Prime Minister Theresa May attempted to gain support for her deal by warning that without it there could be "no Brexit at all".
Backing away from her previous threat that Britain would be forced to exit the EU without a deal, on Wednesday she looked to gain the crucial backing of hardline Brexit supporters in her party by warning that voting down her deal in parliament could prevent Brexit altogether.
Responding to a question from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn about whether there were any circumstances in which Britain could leave without a deal, May told the House of Commons: “If you look at the alternative . . . it will either be more uncertainty, more division, or it could risk no Brexit all.”
Amber Rudd, a pro-EU MP who May who rejoined May's Cabinet last week, earlier said, "Brexiteers could lose their Brexit" if they do not vote for May's deal.
Later on Wednesday, May travels to the Belgian capital to meet Jean-Claude Juncker with the aim of finalising the details of the future relationship between the UK and the EU after Brexit.
Downing Street said it could not forecast when the final part of the Brexit deal would emerge, although reports suggested Brussels insiders expect a draft to start circulating on Thursday.
Both sides are attempting to complete the negotiations in time for Sunday’s EU summit where the Brexit deal will be agreed by the EU leaders and later on approved by the UK parliament.
The EU’s deputy chief negotiator, Sabine Weyand, told ambassadors for the member states on Tuesday that negotiations regarding the deal had stalled on the issues of Gibraltar and Spain, European fishermen’s right to access British waters, and the UK’s hopes for “frictionless trade”.
Even if the deal gets approved by all 27 EU countries, it still has to be voted through by the UK parliament later on. Recently hardline Tories have attempted to force a no-confidence vote against the PM as a response to her deal with the EU.
Arch Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted on Tuesday the threshold for the 48 letters from Tory MPs needed to force a no-confidence vote might not be reached for some time.
The number of letters publicly submitted declaring no confidence in the PM reached 26 on Monday.