Theresa May has issued a desperate plea to Conservative MPs to unite and deliver on Brexit, urging her party to 'move beyond what divides us' and sacrifice 'personal preferences' for the national interest.
The Prime Minister's rallying cry follows another tumultuous week in Westminster which saw tensions in the party reach boiling point, with one minister accusing Eurosceptic colleagues of 'treachery'.
Mrs May, in a letter to all 317 Conservative MPs after her Brexit plans suffered a humiliating Commons defeat on Valentine's Day, said the result was 'disappointing' but vowed that the Government would continue its work to secure changes to the Irish border backstop.
She announced that she will return to Brussels for further talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker next week, and revealed plans to speak to the leaders of every EU member state over the coming days.
Theresa May will return to Brussels for further talks with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker next week
Meanwhile, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will meet the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday to discuss the proposals of the Alternative Arrangements Working Group of Tories, who have been seeking a compromise solution to avoid the need for backstop.
And Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will set out what changes would be required to eliminate the legal risk of being indefinitely trapped in the controversial Irish backstop in a speech on Tuesday.
In an appeal for unity 41 days before Britain's scheduled departure, she said as party leader she had sought to 'steer a course that can unite all pragmatic points of view behind a clear and coherent policy' which honours the referendum and leaves the EU with a negotiated deal.
'History will judge us all for the parts we have played in this process. I believe that a country with our innate strengths, enviable resources, and enormous talent can face the future with confidence that our best days lie ahead. But we stand now at a crucial moment.
'I do not underestimate how deeply or how sincerely colleagues hold the views which they do on this important issue – or that we are all motivated by a common desire to do what is best for our country, even if we disagree on the means of doing so.
'But I believe that a failure to make the compromises necessary to reach and take through Parliament a Withdrawal Agreement which delivers on the result of the referendum will let down the people who sent us to represent them and risk the bright future that they all
