Brexit deal latest – 30 Labour MPs ‘set to back Theresa May in Commons vote’ because they’re scared of No Deal
Theresa May faces a rebellion from 40 of her own MPs and is hoping to cancel it out by getting Labour votes instead
THERESA May could score a Brexit victory in the Commons by relying on rebel Labour MPs, it was claimed today.
Around 30 Labour politicians are reportedly set to vote for whatever deal the PM brings back from Brussels.
The rebels are expected to defy leader Jeremy Corbyn because they're terrified of a possible No Deal scenario.
If 30 Labour backbenchers do back Mrs May, they will balance out Tory Brexiteers who are hoping to bring down the PM's Chequers plan.
Mrs May is currently facing an assault from her own MPs with dozens of them committed to blocking her preferred course on Brexit.
Next week she will meet European leaders in a bid to convince them her Chequers proposals should be the basis for a future trade deal.
She hopes to secure a deal the next six weeks - but must then get it through Parliament.
Leading Brexiteer Steve Baker insisted yesterday that around 40 Tory MPs will never support Chequers.
But The Times and the FT that 30 Labour backbenchers are likely to back the PM on the grounds that any deal would be better than crashing out next March without a deal.
North Durham MP Kevan Jones : "I would not support No Deal because that would be disastrous both for my constituents and the country."
Lisa Nandy added: "The public want this over, they are fed up with this and want it done so the government can get on with other difficult decisions."
Mrs May is also likely to win the support of a core group of Brexit-backing Labour figures including Kate Hoey and Frank Field, who have backed her in previous Commons showdowns.
Veteran Europhile Tory Ken Clarke called on the PM to reach out to Labour MPs, saying it would prove that "the hardline Eurosceptic views of the Bennites on the Labour frontbench and the right-wing nationalists in our party are a minority in Parliament".
Speaking in the Commons today, Mrs May replied by calling on all MPs to do what's best for the UK rather than sticking to the party line.
She said: "I would hope that everybody across this whole House will put the national interest first."
Other Labour MPs insisted their colleagues will never vote to save the PM - dismissing the reports as "spin" from Downing Street.
Rachel Reeves said: "There is no way I will prop up this Government and rescue the Prime Minister by supporting their dog’s dinner of a Brexit deal."
David Lammy added: "Labour MPs must not swallow the government's propaganda that the choice is between No Deal and Theresa May's very bad deal."
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock today predicted the PM will succeed in striking a deal with Brussels bosses - but warned it might not come until the "last minute".
He told the BBC: "I'm backing the Prime Minister to get a good deal and I think the whole nation should get behind her."
"We are entering the end phase of these negotiations, we all know that EU negotiations tend to run up to the last minute and the person to make the judgments on getting the best deal in the national interest is the Prime Minister."
Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit envoy, told other Eurocrats today that talks must make "decisive progress" in time for next week's European Council summit.
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