Theresa May defeats rebellion by senior pro-EU Tories on Brexit in the biggest challenge to her authority yet

THERESA May defeated a rebellion by senior pro-EU Tories on Brexit last night in the biggest challenge to her authority yet.

The PM saw off a demand that she must get Parliament’s approval first before  walking away from any bad EU exit deal.

In a knife edge vote, the government defeated the bid by 326 to 293, a majority of 33.

Seven Tory MPs voted with Labour, including four ex-ministers.

And a further three abstained, including heavyweight ex-Chancellor George Osborne and former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan.

The showdown came on the second of three more days of impassioned debate over the Article 50 bill to grant Mrs May permission to trigger Brexit talks.

The Tory rebels and Labour MPs insisted the PM must be stopped from carrying out a ‘no deal’ hard Brexit that would leave the UK having to pay tariffs set by the WTO on trade with Europe.

Downing Street hit back to say any conditions slapped on Mrs May would weaken her hands around the Brussels talks table.

Brexit Minister David Jones told MPs: “I can’t think of a greater signal of weakness than for this house to send the government back to the EU to say we want to negotiate further”.

Instead, he told the Commons the choice before it at the end of negotiaions would be “to accept her deal, or leave the EU without one”.

Ministers did offer a small concession to rebels, promising the house would get “a meaningful vote” that would come before it is signed and authorised by the European Parliament.

That bought off some Tory rebels, such as the Government’s ex-law chief Dominic Grieve, who dubbed it “a significant step forward”.

But pro-EU MPs insisted it was just a “fig-leaf”.

Former Lib Dem boss and Deputy PM said: “For the final vote to be meaningful, Parliament must be granted power to send the government back to the negotiating table if the deal is not good enough”.

For a second week in a row, insults flew among Leave and Remain backing MPs yesterday as tensions ran high over the tinderbox issue.

Ex-Transport Minister Ms Perry infuriated anti-EU Tory colleagues by branding tehm “like jihadis in their support for a hard Brexit”.

And former justice minister Ms Soubry risked a telling off for unparliamentary language by accusing Brexiteers of “willy waving”.

Instead of voting, Mr Osborne was snapped last night speaking at the Vooruitblik 2017 economics forum in Antwerp, Belgium.

The ex-Chancellor gave a speech about the economic prospects for Europe in the next year at the event hosted by the Flanders’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Last night’s vote came before the final hurdle for the Article 50 bill in the Commons tonight.

Mrs May will also come under pressure from Tory MPs again to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK before Brexit talks begin.