Theresa May rejects Cabinet calls to delay Commons vote on Brexit deal
2 min read
Theresa May has rejected calls by some of her own ministers to delay next week's Commons vote on her Brexit deal.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has reportedly led a Cabinet push for the meaningful vote to be postponed amid fears the Prime Minister is heading for a humiliating defeat.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns are also said to have urged the Prime Minister to call off Tuesday's vote. One Cabinet minister told the Daily Mail Mrs May risked defeat on "a scale that makes the whole thing impossible to salvage".
The Prime Minister stopped short of completely ruling out a delay during an interview on Radio Four's Today programme this morning.
But a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The vote will take place on Tuesday as planned."
More than 100 Tory MPs have signalled that they will vote against the Brexit deal, as have the DUP, who Mrs May relies on to prop up her government.
The Prime Minister is meeting with small groups of potential rebels in a bid to win them round.
One concession being discussed is giving MPs a guarantee that the Northern Ireland backstop will not kick in without the approval of the Commons.
Mrs May told the Today programme: "The backstop is talked about as if it’s automatic. Actually it is not automatic - there is a choice.
“If we do need [further negotiations] there is a choice to be made and I am looking at the question of the role of Parliament in that choice and then what would happen thereafter."
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