MPs ‘risk derailing Brexit’ if May deal rejected

PM rejects call for second vote amid ‘uncharted territory’ warning

Theresa May has warned that the UK will be in “uncharted territory” if MPs do not back her Brexit plan.

The British prime minister, who is still seeking more guarantees from Brussels in an effort to win over critics ahead of the vote expected on January 15, warned Brexiteers they risked derailing the UK’s departure from the EU if they did not back her deal.

And she again rejected calls for a second referendum, saying it would be disrespectful to people who voted for Brexit in 2016.

As MPs prepare to return to Westminster with the crunch House of Commons vote looming on the Withdrawal Agreement thrashed out with Brussels, Ms May said no alternative plan was able to respect the 2016 referendum result, protect jobs and provide certainty to citizens and businesses.

She promised more moves specific to the North and a greater role for the UK parliament, and said “we are still working on” getting extra assurances from Brussels as part of her drive to secure support for the deal.

She repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether she would keep putting the deal back to MPs if it gets rejected, instead saying: “If the deal is not voted on, this vote that is coming up, then actually we are going to be in uncharted territory.

I don’t think anybody can say exactly what will happen in terms of the reaction we will see in Parliament.

She said Labour was “playing politics” and opposing any deal to create “the greatest chaos” possible.

“We have got people who are promoting a second referendum in order to stop Brexit, and we have got people who want to see their perfect Brexit,” she said. “I would say don’t let the search for the perfect become the enemy of the good because the danger there is that we end up with no Brexit at all.”

On her own future, Ms May refused to put a timescale on her departure.

She said: “I was clear before Christmas with my colleagues on two things: One, I’m not going to call a snap election and secondly, I’m not going to be leading the party into the 2022 general election.

“What colleagues have said they want me to do is to deliver Brexit, which is what I am working on doing and also deliver on the agenda I set out when I first became prime minister.”

Officially slated for the week of January 14, the House of Commons vote is expected to be held on January 15. May said it would be “that sort of time”.

Earlier, speaking in Los Angeles, British international trade secretary Liam Fox said: “Parliament needs to understand that if we’re not able to come to Parliament and get a deal, then we may end up leaving the EU with no deal.

“Most people seem to say that’s not what they want to see, well they better make up their minds before we get to a week on Tuesday because that’s going to be a very key decision-making point.”

However, Labour’s international trade secretary Barry Gardiner suggested the party could offer a referendum on a renegotiated Brexit deal.

He said Labour’s plan remained to push for a general election if May’s deal was rejected.

“The reason Theresa May has had such a botched set of negotiations is because of her red lines,” he said. “If we as a new, incoming Labour government were to go to Europe without those red lines we know that we could get a different, better deal and that’s what we want to try and achieve.”