Theresa May has been forced to defend her Brexit plan to MPs just moments after cabinet ministers Dominic Raab and Esther McVey dealt her authority a major blow by resigning from the government.
The prime minister secured the uneasy support of her cabinet for the draft deal with Brussels after a stormy five-hour meeting on Wednesday night.
Ms May also faces the growing prospect of a vote of no confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party, as MPs, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, began publishing their letters sent to the party's 1922 committee - calling for the PM to step down.
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Opinion: The Cabinet members who might yet resign – and the ones who will definitely stay
On a scale of zero to five, these are the people left in Theresa May's government who want to oust her, whose careers depend on her, and who might soon challenge her for leadership writes Andy Grice"The EU is prepared for a final deal with the United Kingdom in November," he told a news conference in Brussels.
"We are also prepared for a no-deal scenario but of course we are best prepared for a no-Brexit scenario."
Senior Conservative MP and former cabinet minister (who was sacked by Theresa May in 2016) comes to the prime minister's defence, lashing out at Brexiteers.
Dominic Raab accuses Theresa May of giving in to EU 'blackmail' after quitting cabinet
Dominic Raab accused the EU of “blackmail” as a fellow cabinet minister condemned his resignation as a selfish bid to grab Theresa May’s job.
Open warfare broke out at the top of the Conservative party, with the outgoing Brexit secretary branded a “carpetbagger” by David Mundell, the Scottish secretary.
Mr Raab, meanwhile, stepped up his broadside at the prime minister’s draft deal, accusing her of giving in to “blackmail” by Brussels.
"I have wanted to avoid the disagreeable nature of a formal Vote of No Confidence with all the ill will that this risks engendering.
"Regrettably, the draft Withdrawal Agreement presented to Parliament today has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the Prime Minister, either on her own account or on behalf of us all in the Conservative Party Manifesto.
"That the Conservative and Unionist Party is proposing a Protocol which would create a different regulatory environment for an integral part of our country stands in contradistinction to our long-held principles.
"It is in opposition to the Prime Minister's clear statements that this was something that no Prime Minister would ever do and raises questions in relation to Scotland that are open to exploitation by the Scottish National Party.
"The 2017 Election Manifesto said that the United Kingdom would leave the Customs Union.
"It did not qualify this statement by saying that we could stay in it via a backstop while Annex 2, Article 3 explicitly says that we would have no authority to set our own tariffs.
"It is also harder to leave this backstop than it is to leave the EU, there is no provision equivalent to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
"The Prime Minister also promised an implementation period which was the reason for paying £39 billion.
"As was made clear by a House of Lords report in March 2017 there is no legal obligation to pay anything. This has now become an extended period of negotiation which is a different matter.
"The situation as regards the European Court of Justice appears to have wandered from the clear statement that we are taking back control of our laws. Article 174 makes this clear as does Article 89 in conjunction with Article 4.
"It is of considerable importance that politicians stick to their commitments or do not make such commitments in the first place.
"Regrettably, this is not the situation, therefore, in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures of the Conservative Party and the 1922 Committee this is a formal letter of No Confidence in the Leader of the Party, the Rt Hon Theresa May."
What is the 1922 Committee? How Jacob Rees-Mogg and other backbenchers could overthrow Theresa May
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has decided to submit a letter of no confidence in Theresa May over her draft Brexit deal.
The senior Conservative backbencher, chairman of the European Research Group, had asked the prime minister in the Commons to give him a reason why he should not do so, given the broken promises he said the draft agreement contained.
He said on Thursday: “As what my right honourable friend says and what my right honourable friend does no longer match, should I not write to my right honourable friend the member for Altrincham and Sale West?”
The query referred to Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tory 1922 committee.
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