Theresa May set for make-or-break showdown with Tory MPs ahead of key Brexit votes
2 min read
Theresa May is set for a showdown with Tory backbenchers as she mounts a last-ditch bid to win support for her Brexit deal.
The Prime Minister will address a meeting of the 1922 Committee in Parliament on Wednesday evening at the same time as MPs prepare to vote on possible alternatives to her plan.
Mrs May is also expected to face calls from angry Conservative MPs to name the date for her departure as their price for getting backing for her beleaguered Withdrawal Agreement.
Downing Street still hopes to stage a third meaningful vote on her Brexit deal later this week, but insist they will only do so if the Government has a realistic chance of winning it.
The Prime Minister's hopes of success were raised on Tuesday morning when Brexiteers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Michael Fabricant suggested they were finally ready to back the deal.
But they were later dashed by the DUP, whose Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, said the party would rather support a year-long extension rather than the "toxic" agreement.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: "There are some colleagues who I admire greatly and who have stood firmly with us in defending Northern Ireland who now take the view that the Withdrawal Agreement, even though it is a rotten deal, is better than losing Brexit.
"To them I say that, if the deal goes through, we have lost our right to leave the EU."
On Wednesday afternoon, MPs will debate various alternatives to Mrs May's deal before choosing their preferred option in a series of indicative votes.
It is not yet known whether Tory MPs will be given a free vote, as demanded by some Cabinet ministers.
Meanwhile, the Commons will also vote to formally delay Brexit until 22 May, assuming she manages to get her deal passed by Friday.
A spokesman for Mrs May said: "The Prime Minister and her colleagues continue to work hard to build support for that deal.
"If we are able to hold and win a vote this week, we would then be able to leave the EU in less than two months' time with a deal, which the PM firmly believes is what the public wants."
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