Theresa May urges MPs to back her Brexit deal as crunch vote approaches

Theresa May has issued another plea to MPs to back her Brexit deal, saying it is the only way to honour the result of the referendum and protect jobs.

MPs will return to parliament tomorrow where they will be preparing for the second vote on Brexit, after the first was ceremoniously pulled by May in the wake of near-certain defeat.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister said: "The only way to both honour the result of the referendum and protect jobs and security is by backing the deal that is on the table. MPs should approach that vote with confidence. The deal delivers on the issues that the British people care about."

She accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of rejecting her deal without even reading it, and branded his party's approach to Brexit a  "cynical tissue of incoherence, designed to avoid difficult decisions".

She said those who were advocating for a second referendum risked "threatening democracy and the livelihood of our constituents".

Speaking to the BBC this morning, May said the vote on her deal would "definitely" go ahead the week commencing 14 January.

She said MPs would plunge the UK into "unchartered territory" if they rejected her deal. She denied that in refusing to entertain any other options to the deal, such as a second referendum, she was allowing the UK to head towards no deal.

When asked what had changed since she pulled the original vote in December, May said she had been seeking assurances from European leaders on concerns raised by MPs and specific measures relating to Northern Ireland.  

She added that she was also looking at granting parliament a greater say in how the future relationship with the EU is worked out.

However, the Sunday Telegraph reported that May's aides are drawing up a plan to that would make MPs' approval of the deal dependent on the EU providing further concessions to the UK, in a bid to limit the scale of opposition to the vote and bide time for the Prime Minister in her ongoing talks with the EU.

The Prime Minister's aides are believed to be drawing up a plan to make MPs' approval of the deal conditional on the European Union providing further concessions.