Theresa May set for showdown with MPs after hinting at third vote on deal
Theresa May is under pressure to name her departure date, amid signs Tory rebels are reluctantly ready to back her deal.
Wednesday 27 March 2019 17:10, UK
Theresa May is expected to face pressure to name her departure date when she faces her MPs later, amid signs that Conservative rebels are reluctantly ready to back her deal in a third vote.
The prime minister will address the 1922 committee as she battles to save her withdrawal agreement, which has already been rejected twice by MPs.
There have been suggestions that giving a time-frame for her exit from Number 10 will unlock more votes and see her party fall into line behind the deal.
Mrs May's spokesman said the PM is "totally focused on the job at hand and remains so".
At Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May faced calls from the opposition to quit, while one of her own backbenchers claimed she will never be trusted again due to her handling of Brexit.
In response to criticism from Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, she said MPs could still guarantee delivering on Brexit "if this week he and others in this House support the deal".
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told the Commons: "It is becoming increasingly clear that the cost the prime minister will pay to force her disastrous deal through is the price of her departure.
"Yet again another Tory prime minister is willing to ride off into the sunset and saddle us with a crisis in the UK and an extreme right-wing Brexiteer coming into Downing Street.
"Does the prime minister feel no sense of responsibility for what she is about to do?"
Mrs May did not directly deny suggestions she was about to name a date for her departure, saying: "It is my sense of responsibility and duty that has meant I have kept working to ensure Brexit is delivered."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hit out at the "chaotic and incompetent" government and pushed the PM to tell MPs what her "plan B" is.
The Commons clashes comes ahead of MPs voting on a range of Brexit alternatives in so-called "indicative votes".
They will likely be able to express their opinion on a variety of potential ways forward - including a second referendum and a "soft" Brexit involving closer links with the EU - but the government has already said it will not be bound by what MPs decide.
Labour has confirmed that its MPs will be whipped to support the call for a second referendum on any Brexit deal passed by Parliament.
The government's unease with the process was underlined by Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, who said she was "very concerned about the far-reaching implications" of MPs taking control of the parliamentary agenda.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of eurosceptic Conservative MPs, said it was part of a "concerted attempt" to stop Brexit.
Mr Rees-Mogg is among those who has softened his opposition to the PM's deal, saying although it has "many faults" it is "at least legally leaving the European Union".
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has hinted he could back the agreement, provided Mrs May says when she will go.
"There's no point in supporting this deal without any sign that the UK is going to change its approach in phase two," he said.