Senior ministers put pressure on Theresa May over Brexit Plan B

Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, became the fourth Cabinet minister to publicly swing behind allowing MPs to have a so-called “indicative vote” on certain Brexit options should, as is still expected, the Prime Minister fails to get her own plan through the Commons next month.

READ MORE: Second Brexit referendum would do 'irreparable damage', Theresa May warns 

The Kent MP explained: "Obviously, it's important once the Prime Minister has finished her negotiations with other European leaders and the Commission that Parliament votes on that.

"If that were not to be successful, we do need to have agreement. We can't just have continuing uncertainty and Parliament should be invited to say what it would agree with and that's something businesses up and down the country would expect elected members to take responsibility, rather than just be critics."

Mr Clark’s remarks follow similar ones by Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, and Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary.

Robert Buckland, the Solicitor-General, also floated the idea of a free Commons vote on Brexit.

It is also understood that David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, as well as Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, David Gauke, the Justice Secretary and David Lidington, the Cabinet Office Minister, are “open to” giving MPs a say on all the possible options.

Mrs May’s spokesman told a Westminster media briefing this morning that there were "no plans" to stage an indicative vote on a range of Brexit options but he conspicuously did not rule out the option.

He said that all Cabinet ministers who had spoken publicly on Brexit in recent days had made clear their commitment to getting the PM's deal through Parliament, which remained the Government's priority.

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The spokesman explained that talks by officials were continuing "at all levels" to seek further clarification and assurances on the terms of the existing deal - and particularly the nature of the proposed backstop - as agreed at the European Council last week.

But he stressed: “The Prime Minister is very clear that we will not be holding a second referendum."

This afternoon, Mrs May will again face a hostile reception when she gives a Commons update on last week’s European Council when her fellow EU leaders made clear that they would not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement to satisfy UK concerns about the Irish backstop. The best the PM was able to secure was a commitment to possible “clarifications”.

In her statement today, Mrs May will strongly oppose a People’s Vote, arguing that MPs should “not break faith with the British people” on staging another referendum, warning that to do so would cause "irreparable damage" to the integrity of British politics.

The move comes after close allies of the PM distanced themselves from reports that they were manoeuvring to bring about a fresh referendum.

Tomorrow’s Cabinet is likely to be a fraught affair as ministers discuss preparations for a no-deal Brexit; anathema to many of them.

Mrs May herself as told MPs that crashing out of the EU would be “chaos” while Mr Mundell has warned that it would be “catastrophic” to the economy in Scotland and across the UK.

Yet at the weekend, Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain would "prosper" even if it quit the EU with no deal.

At Cabinet, prominent Brexiteers like International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt look set to make their views known.

Meanwhile, prominent Brexiteer Boris Johnson railed against the idea of a second referendum.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the former Foreign Secretary said: "A second referendum would provoke instant, deep and ineradicable feelings of betrayal."

Mr Johnson said the idea that the Government would hold a fresh Brexit poll was "sickening".

Labour is insisting that Mrs May should put her Brexit deal to a vote in the Commons before Parliament rises for Christmas on Thursday.

However, the party has made it clear it will not table a motion of no confidence in the Government until such a vote has been held.

Today, Jeremy Corbyn has been invited to a meeting of opposition party leaders. But the expectation is that he will not attend.

At the weekend, Nicola Sturgeon suggested that if Labour did not put down a confidence vote in the Conservative Government, the SNP would.

However, Ian Blackford, the party’s leader at Westminster, faces his own dilemma; if he calls a confidence vote and loses it, the Nationalists would be blamed for letting Mrs May off the hook. If the PM won the vote, her Government could not be challenged for another year.

The SNP leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, is thought to be applying for an emergency debate on last week’s EU summit. 

This means he will get to make a short speech making the case for a debate later this afternoon. 

If John Bercow, the speaker, agrees (which is not a given), and if MPs agree, the debate would take place tomorrow.