Brexit news latest: Theresa May urged to take no deal off table as ministers threaten mass revolt

Theresa May has been urged to ditch the option of a no-deal Brexit
AP
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Theresa May has been urged to take a no-deal Brexit off the table by ministers threatening to back a move the extend Article 50.

Three ministers wrote to the Prime Minister telling her to push back the March 29 deadline to avoid “disaster”.

Richard Harrington, Claire Perry and Margot James said they “implore” the government to take the step this week.

Writing in the Daily Mail, the ministers warned against being “swept over the precipice on March 29”.

Under pressure: Theresa May arrives for press conference at the EU-League of Arab States Summit in Egypt
PA

They said: "It is a commitment that would be greeted with relief by the vast majority of MPs, businesses and their employees.

"We implore the Government to take that step this week.

"But if the Prime Minister is not able to make this commitment, we will have no choice other than to join MPs of all parties in the House of Commons, including fellow ministers, in acting in the national interest to prevent a disaster in less than five weeks' time that we may regret forever."

The Mail also claimed that 15 ministers would be ready to resign to stop a no deal outcome.

It came after Mrs May suggested she could try to take her EU Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament before it has been formally approved by the other 27 member states.

Amid growing pressure to delay Brexit with just 32 days left on the clock, the Prime Minister insisted it is "within our grasp" for Britain to leave the EU with a deal on March 29.

European Council president Donald Tusk revealed that he had discussed the legal and procedural process for extending the two-year Article 50 withdrawal negotiations with Mrs May when he met her on Sunday in Egypt.

Mr Tusk said delaying the UK's withdrawal beyond March 29 is now a "rational solution", warning that the only alternative, if MPs cannot agree a deal, is "a chaotic Brexit".

The PM faces a revolt over her handling of Britain's departure from the EU
PA

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who had talks with Mrs May in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday, said the UK needed to "wake up".

Mr Rutte told the BBC: "The Netherlands is one of your best friends. What you guys are doing - leaving EU in this time of insecurity in the world, instability in EU - is the wrong decision.

"It's four weeks until the end date and still the UK has not agreed a position. So, now we are sleepwalking into a no-deal scenario. It's unacceptable and your best friends have to warn you.

"Wake up. This is real. Come to a conclusion and close the deal."

Despite also facing pressure from pro-Europe Tories for a delay, the Prime Minister insisted in a press conference at the end of a summit of EU and Arab nations that she was sticking to her timetable.

"It's within our grasp to leave with a deal on March 29 and that's where all of my energies are going to be focused," she said.

Challenged over whether MPs would be able to vote on any additional assurances she secures from Brussels before they have been formally signed off by the EU27, Mrs May told reporters: "It is possible to do it either way."

Rejecting calls for a delay, the Prime Minister said: "An extension to Article 50, a delay in this process, doesn't deliver a decision in Parliament, it doesn't deliver a deal. All it does is precisely what the word 'delay' says.

"Any extension of Article 50 isn't addressing the issues.

"We have it within our grasp.

"I've had a real sense from the meetings I've had here and the conversations I've had in recent days that we can achieve that deal."

Mr Tusk said it was "absolutely clear" that if there was no majority in the Commons to approve a deal, Britain faces "chaotic Brexit or extension".

"The less time there is until March 29, the greater the likelihood of an extension," said Mr Tusk.

"This is an objective fact. Not our intention, not our plan, but an objective fact.

"I believe that, in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational solution, but Prime Minister May still believes she is able to avoid this scenario."

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