LONDON �� Theresa May's team pushed back against reports that they are warming to a second referendum on Brexit as the U.K. prime minister prepares to face Parliament Monday.
David Lidington, May's effective deputy, and chief of staff Gavin Barwell said they don't favor another vote after newspapers reported they'd held talks on the issue. May criticized former Prime Minister Tony Blair for championing a "People's Vote."
"For Tony Blair to go to Brussels and seek to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referendum is an insult to the office he once held and the people he once served," May said in a statement released by her office. "We cannot, as he would, abdicate responsibility for this decision."
Speculation has intensified about a second referendum on leaving the European Union since May withdrew a House of Commons vote on her deal with the EU when it became clear it was headed for defeat. May then survived a bid by her own lawmakers to unseat her as leader of the Conservative Party. She is running out of options as time runs short for clinching a deal with the EU.
May will face a hostile House of Commons _ and further calls for another referendum _ Monday after her appeals for help from EU leaders were rejected at a summit in Brussels on Friday.
The idea of a national vote is gaining traction with both those who hope it would stop the U.K. from leaving the EU and those who see it as a threat that will bring Brexit supporters behind May's plan.
After a Sunday Times report on plans for a new referendum, Barwell posted on Twitter that "I am not planning a 2nd referendum with political opponents or anyone else." adding it would "further divide the country when we should be trying to bring people back together." Lidington, also on Twitter, said that he has made "plain" his opposition to a repeat vote and posted an extract from a speech in which he said it would threaten faith in democracy.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox also ruled out a second referendum, but said he would be willing to have Parliament play more of a role in considering alternatives to May's deal if it is unable to win enough votes to pass it.
The opposition Labour Party said it will press for May's deal to face a vote in Parliament this month and is still considering the best time to submit a no-confidence motion against the government to enhance its chances of winning a majority in the House of Commons.
"We've been assessing on a daily basis the time we would achieve a successful outcome," Rebecca Long-Bailey, the party's business spokesman, told Sky News. "What we want is an outcome rather than it just being a bit of parliamentary drama."
