Brexit: Theresa May ponders fourth bid to pass deal

The letter, signed by 170 members of the Prime Minister's party, called on her to bring her deal back to Parliament for a fourth vote, with the threat of a general election if it is rejected again, the newspaper said.

None of the eight alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May's deal were approved last week after Parliament seized control of the Commons agenda.

The House of Commons is set to debate options on Monday in hopes of finding an approach that can command a majority.

Amid claims he would resign if Mrs May ignored Parliament and switched to No Deal, Mr Gauke added: 'I just don't think the British people would thank us if we left without a deal and we said we were just following the referendum result'.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry joins with Mr Grieve and MPs from other parties with this plan to seek an extension to the Brexit process, and if this is not possible then Parliament will choose between either no-deal or revoking Article 50.

Britain has until April 12 to tell the European Union whether it will extend the delay, cancel Brexit or go through without a deal.

Noting the growing support for her deal despite the defeat, May's spokesman told reporters on Friday: "We are at least going in the right direction".

Northern Ireland's DUP - which has propped up Mrs May's minority government - also continues to oppose the deal.

"We would end up with a Ramsay MacDonald-esque government where we would be completely at odds with our own party", referring to the first-ever Labour prime minister - who ultimately ended up having to govern with on behalf of the Tories, after losing the support of his own backbenchers.

The chairman of May's Conservative Party, Brandon Lewis, told Radio 4's Today programme: "The government's position is very clear - we do not support these options". Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver.

May has blamed MPs, but they say it is her refusal to change course that is blocking any solution.

The rejection has left the United Kingdom facing the stark prospect of a chaotic departure from the European Union in just two weeks, unless squabbling politicians can put aside their differences and engineer a long delay in the process of leaving the bloc.

Sir John told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: "If we have a general election in the autumn, which I think is possible not certain, and we don't get a government with a clear majority then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so that we can take decisions without the chaos that we're seeing in Parliament at the moment where every possible alternative is rejected".

Potentially another round of "indicative votes" will be held on Wednesday.

The withdrawal agreement allows for a long transition period which would temporarily maintain the status quo to give individuals and businesses time to adapt to the future UK-EU relationship.

"We are not prepared to see our constitutional position altered by Brussels in a fit of pique for daring to leave the European Union", said MP Sammy Wilson, the DUP's Brexit spokesman.