Theresa May told to delay Brexit if there’s No Deal to halt Commons rebellion

REMAIN Cabinet ministers have told Theresa May she must agree to delay Brexit if there is no EU deal to halt their Commons rebellion next week.

Four of the PM’s top table confronted her during a No10 meeting on Monday to insist she must take No Deal off the table.

Amber Rudd, David Gauke, Greg Clark and David Mundell named a new pledge from Mrs May to extend Article 50 talks as their price not to side with backbench rebels during a new showdown with MPs in seven days time.

If the PM refuses, the senior ministers insisted they and 20 other members of the Government would press on with their vow to back Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory grandee Sir Oliver Letwin’s plan for Parliament to seize control of the Brexit process.

One Tory minister told The Sun: “The PM has a choice, and that was made clear to her.

“Either take no deal off the table by extending Article 50 or she will have to sack the lot of us, and still be defeated.”

The ultimatum’s revelation came as it also emerged last night that the PM is giving up hope of sealing a new deal in time for next Wednesday’s key vote, dubbed “high noon” by all.

She is in a race against time to present agreed legally binding changes to the Irish backstop before the Commons shoot out to stave off the Remainers’ revolt.

But No10 last night admitted their best hope is now only to show “significant progress” to MPs, which may not be enough to avoid a disastrous defeat.

The PM faces a Catch 22, with Brussels refusing to sign off a new compromise that ensures the backstop is only temporary until Mrs May can demonstrate a majority for it in Parliament.

Either take no deal off the table by extending Article 50 or she will have to sack the lot of us, and still be defeated.

Tory minister

An EU diplomat told The Sun: “We won’t sign anything without the direction of travel having the support of the Commons”.

Mrs May held more “detailed discussions” with EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels yesterday evening.

She dubbed it “a constructive meeting” but also warned: “Time is of the essence”.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will follow Mrs May out to Brussels on Thursday to table specific legal changes to the Withdrawal Agreement.

It was also announced yesterday that Mrs May will make an unexpected trip to a joint EU-Arab summit in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh resort on Sunday in a bid to talk round EU leaders, including German boss Angela Merkel.

The Remain ministers fear major damage is being done to British businesses by the No Deal uncertainty, with just 36 days to go until Brexit Day on March 29.

But the PM has insisted the threat must remain on the table to bolster her negotiating hand.

She was backed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid last night, who told ITV’s Peston show: “I don’t think it’s possible to rule out no deal.”

While admitting “in recent weeks, its probability has gone up”, Mr Javid added: “No deal is something I absolutely do not want to see. But no deal remains on the table - that’s a legal fact.”

EU diplomats last night warned of an “evaporation of trust” with the PM.

One told The Sun: “Cox has to come up with a direction of travel agreed by the UK Government. Then we’ll say test that in Parliament first.

“Given that we’ve been here several times before, there’s a complete evaporation of trust that May can get anything through the Commons.”

They dismissed suggestions of a “deal in the desert” at Sunday’s informal EU summit in Sharm el-Sheikh as “total cr*p”.

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