Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said he does not believe Labour MPs will back Boris Johnson’s new Brexit deal.

He was speaking to Sky News amid reports the PM would be focusing his attention on Labour MPs in Leave-voting areas to get his deal through Parliament tomorrow, in what is expected to be a dramatic and historic House of Commons showdown.

Johnson has just 24 hours to persuade the commons to back his deal and crucial allies in the DUP have already ruling out voting for it.

Earlier today SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon claimed Labour would be secretly ‘happy’ to see the new withdrawal agreement go through, tweeting that although they will officially oppose the deal, the party will give a ‘nod’ to rebels to ensure the numbers will pass.

Her claims follow reports Labour MPs will not lose the whip if they vote for Boris Johnson’s deal in a crunch vote on Saturday.

McDonnell has told Sky News it is up to Labour’s chief whip to decide on disciplinary action, but he does not think the party’s MPs will defy the whip and vote for the Brexit deal because it is ‘such a poor deal’.

His views were shared by former Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who said he would be ‘quite flabbergasted’ if significant numbers of Labour MPs voted in favour of the Brexit deal.

But others believe Labour could push the deal over the line.

Yesterday a Labour MP claimed that between 10 and 20 party members could vote for Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, against the party line.

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP for Poplar and Limehouse, told talkRADIO that he thinks the MPs who regret not backing Theresa May’s deal may come out for the one struck by Johnson with the EU.

He said: ‘Only five of us voted for prime minister May’s deal on March 29 and several have subsequently said they wished they had joined us and voted for it.

‘So those five, if they hold the same view once they get a chance to see prime minister Johnson’s deal, and if several others come forward then there could be between 10 and 20 Labour MPs who might vote for the deal.’

Fitzpatrick is one of 19 Labour MPs who told the EU  they would be willing to vote for a deal and that they hoped it ‘will not be attracted to the option of further delay’.

However they said they would only do so if it contained enough assurances on protecting workers’ rights and the environment.

Jeremy Corbyn was quick to dismiss the PM’s agreement, criticising it for creating a customs border in the Irish sea, and saying: ‘As it stands we cannot support this deal.’

A total of 635 votes will be in play when the deal is debated, which means the Government will need at least 318 votes to be certain of a majority.

If every Conservative MP who is able to vote also backs the deal, this gives the Government 285 votes.

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