Brexit news: MPs to vote on withdrawal agreement tomorrow after Theresa May cuts deal in half

Labour rejects ‘blindfold Brexit’ plan after leaders’ phone call

Theresa May is set to push ahead with a critical vote on part of her Brexit deal after overcoming the speaker’s ban on repeatedly putting the same plan to MPs.

Commons leader Andrea Leadsom confirmed on Thursday that the government will exclude the political declaration, which deals with Britain’s future relations with the EU, in Friday’s vote - focusing solely on the withdrawal agreement.

The withdrawal agreement and the political declaration together form Theresa May's Brexit deal.

The EU has said the prime minister needs to secure approval by 11pm UK time on Friday for the withdrawal agreement - not the political declaration - if the UK is to be given an automatic delay of its departure date from the bloc until 22 May.

Otherwise, Britain has until 12 April to announce a new plan or leave the bloc without a deal.

The announcement came as Downing Street made a last push to win over Tory rebels and the DUP to her Brexit deal after offering to quit before the next stage of talks.

There is still substantial opposition to the agreement, even after the prime minister sacrificed her job for her deal, promising to quit if MPs approved the agreement and let Britain leave the EU on schedule in May.

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May spoke for 20 minutes on Thursday evening and the Labour leader said his MPs would not back the Government move.

"Jeremy made clear Labour will not agree a blindfold Brexit to force through Theresa May's damaging deal, which would leave the next Tory party leader free to rip up essential rights and protections and undermine jobs and living standards," a Labour spokesperson said.

It is understood that the call took place at the prime minister's request.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds also said on Thursday evening that his party would not vote for the withdrawal agreement on Friday, due to concerns over the backstop.

The Northern Irish party's MPs have consistently opposed the deal, over fears that the backstop arrangements could jeopardise the union by treating Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK.

Downing Street has said that the prime minister will not move to a third meaningful vote - known in Westminster as MV3 - unless she believes she has a realistic chance of success, having seen it defeated by 230 votes in January and 149 in March.

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