Brexit talks are officially in deadlock just a day before MPs are supposed to vote on Theresa May’s deal.

The Prime Minister is now being urged to postpone the Commons showdown – due tomorrow night – to avoid a repeat of January’s 230-vote defeat.

A delay would be a betrayal of the Prime Minister’s solemn promise to Parliament to hold the vote by March 12.

Yet it may be the only way of avoiding a crushing defeat that could lead to a Brexit delay and threats to her leadership.

Mrs May’s RAF jet was on standby all weekend amid hopes she could set off for an emergency trip to Brussels.

"Technical" talks between officials took place in Brussels over the weekend over the Irish backstop – a clause in the 585-page Brexit deal that could trap the UK under EU customs rules.

And Mrs May spoke to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last night.

But a Downing Street source this morning confirmed talks are "deadlocked".

There are currently no plans to fly out to Brussels today – leaving Mrs May facing almost certain defeat in the House of Commons tomorrow night.

Some senior Conservatives said last night that the PM should postpone the "meaningful vote" rather than risk another damaging defeat.

Instead Mrs May was urged to table a "conditional" motion – allowing MPs to vote on what they do want, and then taking that back to Brussels.

Despite that plan failing previously Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the pro-Brexit Tory European Research Group, told the Times that it "would not be a foolish way to proceed".

He added: "I think a meaningful vote with an addendum saying this House will support a deal if such and such is done might be a way of uniting the party or limiting the scale of the defeat."

Meanwhile the Tory government has been forced to resort to pleas and threats in a vain hope that MPs will change their minds.

Yesterday Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, warned Leavers the "wind is in the sails" of people who want to stop Brexit or soften the deal to a ‘Norway-style’ model if the deal fails.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove – one of the leaders of the official Leave campaign in the referendum – spoke out today to back the PM.

In an article for the Daily Mail, he said: "I hope that everyone who believes in our democracy – in the importance of delivering Brexit, but also in the critical need to unite our country – will come behind the Prime Minister’s deal this week."

But in private speculation is mounting that Mrs May has just a few weeks left of her career.

A Cabinet source told the Telegraph: “I would say there are only two ministers in the Cabinet who still support her.

"Everyone else has lost faith in her ability to lead.”

Former minister Nicky Morgan has already called publicly last week for the PM to head towards the door. Others tell the Guardian she wants simply to outlast Gordon Brown by passing May 28.

Another Tory told the Guardian: “Give it a few months and the only negotiations Theresa will be doing are how much she can get for an appearance on Celebrity Bake Off."

Mrs May cannot be ousted via a no confidence vote in the Tory party until December.

But one eyebrow-raising report over the weekend claimed she could be cornered by Tories siding with Labour for a no confidence vote in the government, in order to remove her from office.

She could also be forced politically to quit by the "men in grey suits" of her Cabinet in exchange for getting her deal over the line.

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