Brexit rebels Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have been blamed by Mrs May’s allies for ruining her hopes of a deal with the party. Allies claimed a last minute deal fell through because of doubts amongst the DUP Mr Johnson and Mr Raab were “really Unionists’. A senior Cabinet Minister said the two Tories met the DUP, as the Prime Minister begged the party’s 10 MPs to support her deal.

A minister said the DUP had suspicion about how strongly Mr Johnson and Mr Rabb felt about the Union.

Mrs May’s ally said the DUP had doubts if either of the pair would defend the Northern Ireland position if they became PM.

They said: “One of the things that put the DUP off is that they met Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab and decided that they were not really Unionists.”

The DUP’s backing is vital if Mrs May has any hope of getting her Withdrawal Agreement passed through the Commons.

11am update: Justice Secretary David Gauke said the Tories cannot afford to ignore the will of MPs if they vote for a “softer” Brexit

The Justice Secretary said Theresa May would have to look “very closely” if MPs back a customs union in another round of indicative votes this week.

Mr Gauke said: ”I think that she would need to look very closely at that.

“If Parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I don’t think it’s sustainable to ignore Parliament’s position and therefore leave without a deal.”

Mr Gauke said he could not remain an MP if the Government tried to leave with no deal.

However, he said that Mrs May had made clear that was something she would not do.

“My position is that it is not the responsible thing for a government to do, to leave without a deal in these circumstances, so obviously I wouldn’t be able to remain a member the Government that pursued that as a policy.

“That is a point I have made on a number of occasions.”

“The Prime Minister has been very clear that when Parliament is making it clear what it wants to do, she is not going to go down that route.”

10:15am update: James Cleverly has said the Tories are not preparing for a snap general election to resolve the Brexit deadlock

He said: ”I don’t think an election would solve anything. Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver.

“We don’t want to add any more unnecessary delay.”

The Conservative Party deputy acknowledged that “sensible and pragmatic” contingency planning was taking place in case Theresa May was forced to go to the country early.

“We have got a minority Government in a turbulent time,” he said.

In such circumstances, he said it was an “inevitable possibility” that Mrs May would lead the party into the election.

10am update: Former Tory minister Alistair Burt demands UK leave the EU but on good terms

He said: “There are, I’m not going to put a number on it but that really shouldn’t be in a way what we’re talking about.”

Mr Burt, who quit in order to allow indicative votes on Brexit alternatives, added: “I don’t want to see more resignations – my colleagues and I want to see a situation in which we’ve made an agreement and we’ve done what we think the British people have wanted to do, which is leave the EU but leave on good terms.”

On the idea of another general election, Mr Burt said: “We’re all with Brenda from Bristol on this – oh no, not another one. I don’t see a general election now adding to the mix that we’re in at the moment as anything that would be likely to be helpful to the country, whoever leads the Conservative Party or Labour Party or anyone else at the moment.”

Pressed on whether Theresa May should lead the Tories into another election, he replied: “The Prime Minister has already said she’s expecting to leave after we get the first stage of Brexit going through, I don’t anticipate a general election before that is done – so probably the answer would be no.”

Labour’s Lisa Nandy said Mrs May has “caused some problems this week.”

She said “By saying she’ll stand down when the Withdrawal Agreement goes through, which was designed to reassure hardline Tory MPs on her own side, she’s actually had precisely the opposite effect on the Labour side because these guarantees she’s currently making, we have no idea whether they’ll be met by a new prime minister.”

9:45am update: Emily Thornberry says it is “likely” the UK will leave the EU under Labour

She said: “I think that we are likely to leave the EU but I think it is something we need to agree ourselves and I think that there is a strong argument for asking the people to have a final say on this.

“I think that it is quite difficult for us to leave the European Union, most of us campaigned for Remain.

“I think in our hearts we want to remain, but the difficulty is that we have to square that with democracy. We are democrats above everything else.”

Ms Thornberry said Mrs May was “out of control” after her Brexit deal was voted down again on Friday.

She said: “Even with just days to go she is just saying ‘It is my deal or no deal’. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying ‘I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything,”‘ she said.

“No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined.”

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