Theresa May delays crunch Brexit vote until January

MPs won’t get a vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal until January, Downing Street have confirmed.

The withdrawal agreement was set to be put before Parliament on Tuesday, but was pulled the day before as May faced a growing rebellion within her own party.

The Prime Minister has been in conversations with EU leaders since then – aside from winning a vote of confidence in her leadership on Wednesday – in a bid to get assurances the controversial backstop plan will only be temporary if it is ever enacted.

May had previously promised to bring the deal back for a vote before January 21, and today it was confirmed it would not be until the new year – with Parliament set to break for two and half weeks from December 20.

"The 'meaningful vote' will not be brought to Parliament before Christmas,” the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman said.

The delay gives May more time to persuade her MPs to back the deal, with 117 Tories voting against her staying on as PM in a ballot on Wednesday.

While 200 did support May, the size of the discontent means she would almost certainly fail to get the withdrawal deal through parliament without further assurances from the EU.

If the deal is rejected, parliament could step in to guide the government with how to proceed in future negotiations – raising the possibility of a closer relationship with the EU than the current agreement sets out.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “There must be no more dither and delay, or attempts to run down the clock in an attempt to deny parliament alternative options.

He added: “She has admitted her deal is likely to be defeated by a significant margin. There is no time to waste, and parliament must take back control.”