Theresa May refuses THREE times to rule out quitting if her Brexit deal fails

In a staunch defence of her plans the Prime Minister dodged questions on whether she would stay in post if MPs threw them out next month and said again: "this isn't about me".

In a live Q&A with the public this lunchtime she warned Brexit rebels there is NOT a plan B for what happens if they chucked it out, and stressed that her deal was the only one on the table from the EU.

Asked repeatedly if she would quit she replied: "I'm focused. No, Emma, I'm focusing on ensuing that we get this deal through Parliament."

And she told the BBC's Emma Barnett: "If this deal doesn't go through we end up back at square one with more uncertainty and division…

"I don't think we will get a better deal – I think this is the deal that works for the UK."

She said there was no prospect of Brexit being stopped under her watch – vowing to lead us out next March no matter what happens.

Mrs May told listeners: "From my point of view, personally, there is no question of 'No Brexit' because the Government needs to deliver on what people voted for in the referendum in 2016."

But she refused to say her deal would better than staying in the EU, stressing it would be "different" instead.

"It is a different sort of environment and a different approach that we will be taking to things," she told a worried caller.

In the interview she also:

  • Said she would have a drink with Phillip to celebrate if her deal gets passed through the Commons
  • Revealed she was sent a cupcake from a nine-year-old girl to cheer her up after a tough week
  • Promised she would be sending ex-PM David Cameron and her rival Jacob Rees-Mogg a Christmas card, even though he's said he has no confidence in her leadership
  • Insisted she doesn't dream about Brexit – but often has to go to bed after midnight

But her deal could be OFF altogether as MPs of all sides vowed today to oppose her "sell-out" deal.

The Prime Minister now faces a battle on all sides to get her MPs, the EU leaders and the public on side to get the deal signed, sealed and delivered.

More than 80 MPs have publicly trashed her agreement and at least 100 are expected to vote it down in the Commons alongside most of Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP.

She will do a live question and answer session with the public later today, before dashing back to Brussels tomorrow to see EU leaders hopefully sign off on her deal.

But when she returns she will face the fight of her life to get MPs to vote for it.

Yesterday dozens lined up to slam her new 26-page agreement which will see us tied to the EU and European Courts until 2022 – with a price tag of more than £39billion.


Concessions she won from Brussels over "alternative arrangements" for Northern Ireland and the ability to sign trade deals after we leave weren't enough to win over fuming Brexiteers.

Yesterday Mrs May said a deal was "within our grasp" and Brits just wanted to get on with it and settle the issue.

"In these crucial 72 hours ahead, I will do everything possible to deliver it for the British people," she said.

But MPs branded her deal a "sell out" and said she had rolled over on fishing rights – and the unpopular Northern Ireland backstop plan still remains.

It also emerged the transition could be extended even further than planned, which would force Britain to cough up even MORE millions of pounds to the bloc, while having no say in any rule-making.

Boris Johnson said the PM's deal made "a complete nonsense of Brexit". And David Davis called it a "pig in a poke".

Priti Patel, writing for The Sun, branded it a "costly surrender" by the Government.

But this morning Education Secretary Damian Hinds said support for the PM's deal would grow as MPs realised the risk of No Deal.

He told Radio 4: "As people reflect on what the alternatives are, I think people are going to come to see this is a very good deal for Britain."

Cabinet Brexiteers are gambling on Mrs May's deal getting thrown out next month – and are making plans for a managed No Deal.

As first revealed by The Sun earlier this month, ministers are working on plans for a series of arrangements that would prevent us from leaving with nothing.

Britain could ask and pay for an extra year of EU membership – or a transition – but then move towards No Deal under World Trade Organisation rules, with a series of mini side deals.

Staying in the EU is better than Theresa May's deal 'lock us in' to EU forever, Raab says

The former Cabinet secretary, who quit last week over the proposed arrangement for our EU exit, said he didn't want to Remain in the bloc but that Mrs May's proposals are even worse than that.

He told the BBC this morning: "I'm not going to advocate staying in the EU.

"But if you just presented me terms, this deal or EU membership… yes, I think this would be even worse than that."

Mr Raab said it would keep us "locked in" to the EU's rules for years to come – and might never become free of thyem.

"They want to peg us in and control our laws and avoid having a competititive advantage – and they've acomplished that with this deal."

Instead he said Mrs May should go back to the EU and rengeotiate, giving a "best final offer" before considering a managed form of No Deal.

Meanwhile, the EU are still squabbling over their asks for the agreement.

Last night in a late night tweet Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed to "veto Brexit" to "defend the interests of Spain".

But Gibraltar's first minister Fabian Picardo fired back, saying Spain and Gibraltar had reached agreement, and re-opening it would allow other EU nations to hijack it and demand even more concessions from Britain.

Spain can't actually "veto" the agreement – but the EU want everyone to agree on the deal going ahead.

The PM's official spokesperson said today: "The Withdrawal Agreement isn’t being reopened we will work with Government of Gibraltar and Spain on our future relationship and negotiate on behalf of the whole UK family.

EU officials will meet today to finalise the Brexit deal and try and appease last-minute demands from Spain.

But Treasury minister Mel Stride vowed last night: "We are not going to compromise on the sovereignty issue around Gibraltar.

"It would be quite unusual if something like that with one particular country was used to be a spanner in the works."

UK’s out of pluck and out of pocket

TODAY we have finally seen the true cost of being out-thought and out-manoeuvred by the EU at every stage in the negotiations.

By agreeing to give the EU £39billion of taxpayers’ money for no trade deal in return, we have ensured everything we wanted from the negotiation has been put in an unenforceable, meaningless political declaration.

And it will cost every UK household £1,433.

However, the EU’s happy because everything it wanted has ended up in the Withdrawal Agreement — a legally enforceable international treaty which we won’t be able to back out of.

Worse still, the declaration is essentially the discredited Chequers proposal all over again.

Instead of taking back control, we will be abandoning control over vast swathes of our social and economic policy.

Instead of being bold enough to prepare to walk away from negotiations, we’ve succumbed to the EU’s bullying tactics.

This is a defeatist surrender and I implore ministers to think again.

Cabinet ministers spent much of a conference call with Mrs May ­yesterday morning debating how to sell the deal to the nation.

Sajid Javid said ministers needed to be better at arguing its case with the public to get it through.

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