Theresa May embarked on a high-stakes gamble last night after revealing a final vote on her Brexit plan could be delayed until just 17 days before Britain is due to leave the European Union.
Defying Cabinet calls to delay departure and take No Deal ‘off the table’, the Prime Minister appealed to Remainer ministers for another fortnight to win concessions from Brussels.
Mrs May said she was making progress in talks but not enough to hold a second ‘meaningful vote’ this week. Instead she set a new deadline of March 12 to win approval of a plan that suffered a shattering Commons defeat last month.
Prime Minister Theresa May is hugged by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borissov
European Union Council President Donald Tusk, right, speaks with Theresa May during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit
This means pro-Remain ministers will now have to decide whether to follow through with threats to defy Mrs May and vote for a backbench bid on Wednesday to postpone the Brexit date.
If the backbench motion is passed, Mrs May would have until March 13 to get her plan through Parliament or be forced to seek a delay in the process.
That would set up a showdown on March 12 when Eurosceptics could be asked to back a deal they dislike or face the possibility of Parliament forcing a postponement of Brexit the following day.
Eurosceptics hoping to install a Brexiteer in No 10 by June were slapped down by Theresa May yesterday.
The Prime Minister indicated she wanted to remain in Downing Street long after Brexit and set out plans for an extensive domestic policy programme.
She said: ‘My job is not just about delivering Brexit. Actually, there’s a domestic agenda that I’m delivering on, that reflects what I said on the doorstep of No 10 when I first became PM.
‘That’s why we’ve been making key decisions like the extra money for the NHS. There is still a domestic agenda that I want to get on with.’ While not being drawn on a departure date, Mrs May also spoke about the second stage of Brexit talks on the future economic and security partnership.
A senior Brexiteer said this was unacceptable: ‘There is no way she can be allowed to conduct the next round of negotiations after the mess she’s made of this one. We need someone who actually believes in Brexit.’
Some hardliners are considering demanding Mrs May’s immediate departure as their price for backing her Brexit plan. Others want her to go after local elections in May.
And last night it emerged that the EU may insist that Brexit is delayed until the start of 2021 if the UK requests an extension of Article 50.
Mrs May’s dramatic gamble came 24 hours after Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark signalled they could quit the Cabinet this week to back the backbench move themselves unless a withdrawal agreement is in place.
At least a dozen more ministers are considering their positions – potentially enough to allow the motion proposed by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin to pass.
Writing in the Daily Mail at the weekend, the Cabinet trio warned that ‘if there is no breakthrough in the coming week’ there was a clear majority in Parliament to delay Brexit rather than ‘crash out’.
The ministers, who all campaigned for Remain, described No Deal as disastrous, saying it would ‘see us poorer, less secure and potentially splitting up’. Their intervention led Eurosceptic MPs to call for them to be sacked.
Speaking on a flight to an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt, the Prime Minister insisted she still believed that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’.
But she refused to criticise the rebel trio and ducked questions about whether the fragile state of her Government made the ministers ‘unsackable’.
Mrs May said: ‘Collective responsibility has not broken down. What we’ve seen around the Cabinet table, in the party, in the country at large is strong views on the issue of Europe. That’s not a surprise to anybody.
‘We have around the Cabinet table a collective, not just responsibility, but desire to actually ensure we leave the EU with a deal. That’s what we’re working for, that’s what I’m working for.
‘We’ve been having positive talks with the EU. As you know we were in Brussels last week, my team will be back in Brussels again this coming week. They will be returning to Brussels this Tuesday.
If the backbench motion is passed, Mrs May would have until March 13 to get her plan through Parliament or be forced to seek a delay in the process
Mrs May is holding talks with Angela Merkel today in the hope the German chancellor can break the deadlock in Brussels
‘As a result of that we won’t bring a meaningful vote to Parliament this week, but we will ensure that happens by March 12. It is still within our grasp to leave the EU with a deal on March 29. And that’s what we’re working to do.’
Mrs May is holding talks with Angela Merkel today in the hope the German chancellor can break the deadlock in Brussels.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith last night said that by delaying the meaningful vote, Mrs May was effectively ‘calling the bluff’ of the Cabinet rebels.
‘They are smashing the whole concept of government,’ he said.
Mrs May speaks with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, centre left, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, right
‘If they resign and this Brexit delay goes through then we will end up in a general election and these people need to be deselected because they are going to be responsible for delivering a Corbyn government.’
Business leaders have ‘lost all faith’ in the political process after the decision to delay a meaningful vote on Brexit.
Industry groups said it was ‘unbelievable’ that political ‘tactics’ were being put ahead of the economy and that there was ‘little chance’ of a deal being agreed by March 29.
Their frustration comes amid warnings from former Bank of England policymaker Danny Blanchflower that interest rates could be slashed into negative territory for the first time in history in the event of a chaotic no-deal Brexit. Adam Marshall, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘We are well into the 11th hour, and these endless political manoeuvres aren’t helping the businesses, communities or people of the UK.’
Edwin Morgan, of the Institute of Directors, said: ‘The Prime Minister must make absolutely clear what the Government’s next steps will be if the vote fails again.’
And Josh Hardie, of the CBI, added: ‘No deal is hurtling closer. It must be averted.’
Miss Cooper’s plan would enable Parliament to take control and pass legislation requiring the Government to extend Article 50 if there is no agreement by March 13.
The timeline is almost identical to one set out by Mrs May’s chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins when he was
