Theresa May defends Brexit deal as threats of leadership challenge mount

Theresa May appeared defiant this morning, saying she had not considered giving up her leadership despite enduring a tough week of negotiating with the EU on the withdrawal agreement.

In her first TV interview since announcing a Brexit deal had been reached, May said that while the past week had been "tough", she had not considered quitting the leadership. "These negotiations have been tough from the start but they were always going to get even more difficult towards the end when we're coming to that conclusion," she said.

"But what I think is that this isn't actually about me, it's about what is right for the people of this country, it's about the national interest. That's what drives me. That's what I've been driven to deliver, that's what I want to deliver for people, that's what I believe this deal does. I think it is the right deal in the national interest."

The Prime Minister is facing a mounting rebellion by Tory MPs, 24 of whom have written to chair of the 1922 Committee with letters of no confidence in May.

May said she had spoken to Graham Brady at the end of last week and that the threshold of 48 letters needed to trigger a no confidence vote in her leadership had not been reached.

She warned potential leadership contenders to rethink their position, saying: “It is not going to make the [Brexit] negotiations any easier and it won’t change the parliamentary arithmetic.”

Meanwhile Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary who resigned in protest at the withdrawal agreement, refused to rule out whether he could replace May as Prime Minister.

While he said he would back her in any leadership challenge, he refused to rule out whether he would make a pitch for the Tory leadership, saying: "I'm not going to get sucked into that."