Theresa May staged a humiliating climbdown to avert mass ministerial resignations today by agreeing that Brexit can be delayed if her stricken withdrawal deal is rejected in the Commons again.
Cabinet sources told the Evening Standard that Downing Street floated ahead of a key Cabinet meeting a draft statement of the Prime Minister promising MPs a vote on postponing Brexit beyond March 29 if her deal falls through, and confirming that she would abide by it.
The Pound rose to a four-week high as expectations grew that a disastrous no-deal Brexit on March 29 was being effectively taken off the table.
But the volte-face still had to be approved by full Cabinet - where ministers were predicting a potential “humdinger” of a row.
Pro-Brexit Tory MPs were seething that Mrs May caved in to threats of resignation made by senior ministers including Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark.
But the big name Brexit backers in Cabinet - including Liam Fox, Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom - showed no sign of threatening to resign in protest. One Tory source said the ministers were sounding “sheepish” when asked if they would try to block Mrs May.
A source said Ms Mordaunt had been among a group of Tories who appealed to Mrs May to stand firm yesterday evening to no avail.
In the Commons, MPs were waiting to see Mrs May’s exact words before trusting her to remove the threat of no-deal. An MP involved in the cross-party amendment drawn up by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin, which would give the Commons the power to demand a delay to Brexit if an agreement is not in place by March 13, said it would be tabled today as planned unless the Prime Minister’s promises were watertight.
Around 20 ministers and PPSs were said to be ready to resign at once in the belief that Mrs May would not dare sack them all at once.
David Lidington, the effective deputy prime minister, told Today that a delay would only postpone hard decisions on a final deal.
“It ends up, if you are not careful, simply deferring the need to face up to taking decisions,” he said.
“It is not an actual alternative course of action in its own right.”
Urging Cabinet members and MPs to unite, he said: “I say to them these negotiations are at an absolutely critical point. The Attorney General is going out again to Brussels today, we are into detailed conversations with EU counterparts about trying to get the changes that Parliament voted in favour of.
“Whether you voted leave or remain, it is in the national interests now that we get behind the Prime Minister, the Attorney and the negotiating team to bring the right deal with the changes back by the very latest by March 12.”
