Theresa May to warn MPs more likely to block Brexit than allow no deal

  • Politics
Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement will be voted on in the Commons on Tuesday Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA

Parliament is more likely to block Brexit than allow Britain to crash out of the EU without a deal, Theresa May is set to warn as she delivers a rallying cry to MPs to back her withdrawal agreement.

The Prime Minister will use a speech to factory workers in Stoke-on-Trent on the eve of the critical Commons vote on her exit plan to ask MPs to consider the “consequences” of their actions on the faith of British people in democracy.

She will warn that trust in politicians will suffer “catastrophic harm” if they fail to implement the result of the referendum.

With less than 36 hours to go until the long-awaited vote, Mrs May is expected to say: “I ask MPs to consider the consequences of their actions on the faith of the British people in our democracy.

However ITV News political correspondent Paul Brand pointed out a second referendum on scrapping the Welsh assembly was a Conservative Party pledge as late as 2005.

In her speech the Prime Minister will say that while the two sides in the 2016 referendum disagreed on many things, they were united on one thing – that “what the British people decided, the politicians would implement”.

“On the rare occasions when Parliament puts a question to the British people directly we have always understood that their response carries a profound significance,” Mrs May will say.

“When the people of Wales voted by a margin of 0.3%, on a turnout of just over 50%, to endorse the creation of the Welsh Assembly, that result was accepted by both sides and the popular legitimacy of that institution has never seriously been questioned.

“Parliament understood this fact when it voted overwhelmingly to trigger Article 50. And both major parties did so too when they stood on election manifestos in 2017 that pledged to honour the result of the referendum.”

Yvette Cooper tabled an amendment forcing May to return with a plan B within three days should she lose the vote. Credit: PA

The Prime Minister decided to delay the Parliamentary vote on her deal - which was supposed to take place last year - when it became clear she did not have the support needed to get it passed.

At the start of another five days of debate ahead of the upcoming delayed vote, MPs backed an amendment demanding the Government return within three sitting days with a new Brexit plan if it is defeated.