Brexit will be at risk and Corbyn will tank UK if Labour triggers election, Theresa May warns ahead of no-confidence vote

BREXIT will be at risk and Britain's economy could tank if there's a snap election, Theresa May warned today.

The PM blasted Jeremy Corbyn's terror ties as he launched his bid to unseat her with a no-confidence vote.

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And she claimed that if he is successful in triggering a General Election, our exit from the EU will have to be delayed.

Mrs May tore into the radical Labour leader at the start of the crunch debate on whether or not to topple the Government.

The PM is expected to survive this evening's vote - but she still faces an uphill struggle to try and thrash out a Brexit strategy after last night's historic Commons defeat.

As Mrs May fights for her political life:

• MPs will vote on whether to trigger a snap election at 7pm tonight
• Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to back a second referendum if the no-confidence vote fails
• Labour chiefs threatened to hold repeated no-confidence votes in the weeks to come
• EU bosses called for Britain to head for a soft Brexit
• Irish leaders secretly admitted that without a Brexit deal they will have to start border checks
• Nicola Sturgeon jetted in to London to stir up the case for a fresh independence referendum
• The PM reached out to other parties to craft a compromise solution to her Brexit headaches

The House of Commons is today debating whether it still has confidence in the Government.

Mrs May defended her own record and her Brexit vision as she blasted Mr Corbyn for wanting to scrap Nato and ditch nuclear weapons - saying he would "abandon our allies, weaken our security and wreck our economy".

The PM also slammed his support for the IRA and refusal to blame Vladimir Putin for the Salisbury novichok attack.

She raged: "His leadership of the Labour Party has been a betrayal of everything that party has stood for, a betrayal of the vast majority of its MPs and a betrayal of millions of decent and patriotic Labour voters.

"What he has done to his party is a national tragedy, why he would do to the country would be a national calamity."

Mrs May said a General Election would be "the worst thing we could do", adding: "It would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty and it would bring delay when we need to move forward.

"Parliament must finish the job - that's what the British people expect of us. A General Election is simply not in the national interest.

"It would mean extending Article 50 and delaying Brexit for who knows how long."

She mocked Mr Corbyn's confusion over Brexit - after he couldn't even say whether or not Labour actually backs Britain leaving the EU.

Corbyn would abandon our allies, weaken our security and wreck our economy

Theresa May

If Mrs May loses the vote tonight, a General Election is likely to take place within weeks.

But the PM has gained the backing of Tory Brexiteers and the DUP, meaning she's widely expected to win the vote.

Opening the debate this afternoon, Mr Corbyn blasted the "zombie Government", adding: "Last night the Government was defeated by 230 votes.

"The largest defeat in the history of our democracy. The first Government to be defeated by more than 200 votes.

"Last week they lost a vote on the Finance Bill. That what’s called supply. Yesterday they lost a vote by biggest margin ever. That what’s regarded as confidence.

"By any convention of this House, by any precedent the loss of confidence and supply should mean they do the right thing and resign."

But he admitted that many voters would be furious to be asked to return to the polls less than two years after the last General Election

The PM won support from DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, who told MPs: "We believe it's in the national interest to support the Government at this time so the aims and objectives of the confidence and supply agreement we entered into can be achieved.

"I don't think the people in this country would rejoice at the prospect tonight if a General Election were to be called."

Mrs May also got a boost from John Woodcock, who quit Labour last year to sit as an independent and today said he wouldn't join Mr Corbyn's no-confidence vote.

He told The Sun: "If the no-confidence motion is passed, we get a choice between a Government that is struggling to govern and a man who is simply not fit or safe to hold high office.

"We need to give people the chance of better leadership than this."

GUERRILLA WAR

Last night Labour bosses said the party could put down further no-confidence motions over the weeks to come.

And the DUP refused to rule out turning against the PM in a future vote - Mr Dodds said: "We will take every vote as it comes."

Every time Labour tables a confidence vote, the Government is effectively forced to put it on the Commons schedule as quickly as possible.

Mr Corbyn's right-hand man John McDonnell today insisted Labour could pull off a shock win in tonight's vote.

He told the BBC: "People don't expect us to win it, but who knows these days? After yesterday's vote anything can happen."

And asked about the plan to hold repeated no-confidence motions, Mr McDonnell : "It’s open to us to come back again - we’ll judge this step by step."

People don't expect us to win - but who knows?

John McDonnell

Mrs May's Brexit deal was defeated by a giant margin of 230 votes - the worst Commons defeat in history.

She is now holding talks with senior MPs from across the parties to find a compromise deal.

Ex-Tory minister Oliver Letwin called on the PM to be more flexible in the run-up to Brexit day on March 29.

He said: "She put down right at the beginning of this process what she called red lines.

"This is not a terrain in which you can have things you will definitely never do. You have to sit down and talk and come up with a consensus.

"That means being much more flexible than we have been so far."

Amber Rudd urged Tories to pull together after last night's defeat, saying: "We have difficulties over delivering on Brexit, but nothing, nothing would be worse than a Jeremy Corbyn government."

Today Nicola Sturgeon flew to London to try and whip up support for a fresh referendum on Scottish independence.

The SNP boss said: "It is becoming increasingly clear that Scotland's wider interests will only be protected with independence."

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