PM WINS vote demanding EU give us a better Brexit deal after Brexiteers hand her last lifeline – and Remainer plot to kill off our exit date is sunk

THERESA May will return to Brussels with the wind in her sails after winning a massive Brexit battle in the House of Commons tonight.

Brexiteer MPs backed the PM's pledge to rewrite the deal she thrashed out with the EU in a last-ditch bid to get it over the line.

9

Pro-Brexit Tories gave Mrs May a lifeline by backing an amendment tabled by Sir Graham Brady which calls for the Irish backstop to be dropped from the deal.

The victory came in a dramatic turnaround just two weeks after her deal looked dead in the water following a humiliating Commons defeat.

And in a double boost, the PM saw off an attempt by Labour to legally delay our exit date and rule out No Deal - widely seen as a backdoor bid to block Brexit altogether.

The defeat of the motion tabled by Yvette Cooper and backed by Jeremy Corbyn is a huge blow to the so-called "people's vote" campaign pushing for a second referendum.

But a cross-party amendment speaking out against No Deal did succeed - suggesting that in future MPs could tie Mrs May's hands on the issue if she fails to win agreement for her deal.

And the support of Brexiteers is still uncertain after senior figures warned they'll pull their backing if the PM doesn't secure meaningful changes.

9

Mrs May is now expected to head to the EU capital this week to urge European leaders to reopen talks on the withdrawal agreement.

But within minutes of her dramatic victory, top Eurocrat Donald Tusk laid the ground for a huge row by insisting the text of the deal is already fixed.

MPs voted in turn on seven different amendments each laying out a different way forward for Brexit.

But the bid to rule out No Deal, tabled by Yvette Cooper, was defeated as up to 25 Labour MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn's order to support it.

Instead MPs backed a much weaker amendment from ex-minister Caroline Spelman, which calls on the Government to rule out No Deal but has no legal effect.

Four other amendments intended to water down Brexit were all also defeated.

THE BRADY BUNCH

But the Brady amendment passed by 317 votes to 301 - as seven Labour rebels defied Jeremy Corbyn to vote for it, balancing out the eight Tories who opposed it.

Speaking after the end of the voting, Mrs May insisted that No Deal was not off the table but vowed to work with senior MPs across the parties to build support for her deal.

She said: "Tonight a majority of honourable members have said they would support a deal with changes to the backstop.

"Combined with measures to address concerns over Parliament’s role in the negotiation of the future relationship and commitments on workers’ rights, in law where need be, it is now clear that there is a route that can secure a substantial and sustainable majority in this house for leaving the EU with a deal.

"We will now take this mandate forward and seek to obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement that deal with concerns on the backstop while guaranteeing no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. My colleagues and I will talk to the EU about how we address the house’s views.

"As I said this afternoon, there is limited appetite for such a change in the EU and negotiating it will not be easy.

"But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this house has made it clear what it needs to approve a withdrawal agreement."

Responding, Jeremy Corbyn agreed for the first time to attend talks on Brexit at 10 Downing Street.

He said: "The Prime Minister must now face the reality that No Deal is not an option. I will meet the Prime Minister and others from across Parliament to find a sensible Brexit solution that works for the whole country."

Boris Johnson hailed the PM's victory, saying the result was “clear unambiguous good news” and a “huge victory for Britain”.

The Tory big hitter said: “The PM now has a mandate from Parliament that the backstop, the thing that keeps us locked in the single market, the customs union, has to come out.

“Parliament has very clearly said there has to be a change. I hope our friends in Brussels will listen and make that change."

Odds of the PM's deal getting passed shortened as a delay to Article 50 became less likely.

Opening the debate this afternoon, Mrs May hinted at support for a new Brexit plan dreamed up by an unlikely alliance of Leavers and Remainers from across the Conservative party.

The proposal, dubbed the "Malthouse compromise" after Housing Minister Kit Malthouse, would see an extended transition period designed to avoid chaos even in the event of a No Deal outcome.

Mrs May said: "While there are obviously details that need to be worked through, the fact that leading figures from different sides of the argument are coming together to develop proposals shows how much progress has been made over the past few weeks."

Her commitment to fixing the backstop drew praise from top Brexiteers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg who said: "May I thank her for her very clear assurances that the withdrawal agreement text will be re-opened and that she will be considering what has been called the Malthouse compromise."

9

9

The DUP's Nigel Dodds added: "She can be assured of our support in trying to find a solution which avoids any hard border on the island of Ireland but also avoids any borders within the UK."

A meeting of the hardline European Research Group agreed to back the Brady motion - vice-chairman Steve Baker said: “A vote for the Brady amendment is a vote to see if the PM can land a deal that will work."

But arch-Brexiteer Mark Francois warned that Eurosceptics could vote the deal down all over again if the concessions on the backstop aren’t good enough.

Mrs May fought fiercely against Yvette Cooper's amendment, which would have given MPs the right to delay Brexit by up to nine months if a deal isn't secured by the end of February.

Labour chiefs decided to back the amendment after a meeting this morning - and the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum has publicly supported the move as the first step towards cancelling Brexit altogether.

But it was defeated by a 23-vote margin after pro-EU ministers decided to back the Prime Minister.

Mrs May vowed to "bring a revised deal back to this house for a second meaningful vote as soon as we possibly can", adding that if the deal hasn't passed by February 14 MPs will have another chance to declare their favoured solution then.

And she mocked Labour's shambolic Brexit policy, summarising it as, "Let's have a few more votes in the future, possibly, maybe, if we think it might be useful, at some stage."

The PM concluded: "If you want to leave with a deal you have to vote for it. If you want Brexit, you have to vote for Brexit."

Before today's debate, Business Minister Richard Harrington issued an extraordinary public warning to Mrs May not to take Britain out of the EU without a deal.

MOST READ IN POLITICS

SHOCK MOVE

Yvette Cooper announces new grooming gang inquiries as party rift deepens

BBC FURY

'How did this happen?' slam MPs demanding BBC probe over Mizen's rapper killer

PILLOW FIGHT

Biden suffers ‘final humiliation’ after using pillow as prop & slurring speech

'UNBREAKABLE'

Starmer to sign historic 100-YEAR pact with Ukraine as he arrives in Kyiv

He told the BBC: "Many of us have been to see the Prime Minister and have told her the absolute catastrophe and disaster for jobs and the economy that No Deal would be.

"What she has asked us is that we give her another two weeks."

Mr Harrington said he would quit as a minister if the PM refused to give MPs another chance to rule out No Deal within a fortnight.

9

9

9

9

9

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online politics team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours