Theresa May today avoided a no confidence vote at the hands of Jeremy Corbyn despite a last-minute threat to bring her down.

Labour leader’s was braced to make the move during a statement by the Prime Minister to Parliament from 3.30pm.

But sources said he would set a condition for making the call – if the Prime Minister failed to set a date for a vote on her Brexit deal and hold it "promptly".

And Mrs May in her statement DID announce the vote would be held in the week beginning January 14 – the last few days possible before a January 21 deadline. So Mr Corbyn did not make his announcement.

In the moments after the climbdown Labour claimed they had "forced the PM to bring her botched Brexit deal back to Parliament."

However, a Labour source said they had not yet received an advance copy of Mrs May’s statement when they decided to issue their threat to journalists. That means the statement may have included the date of the vote already.

UPDATE: Three hours later Jeremy Corbyn DID call a vote of no confidence in Theresa May. Read that story here.

In a furious exchange Mr Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of "wasting a month" as time ticks down to exit day on March 29.

He told MPs: "The PM has cynically run down the clock trying to manoeuvre Parliament into a choice between two unacceptable outcomes – her deal or no deal.

"The country, workers and businesses are increasingly anxious."

He blasted a "constitutional crisis and the prime minister is the architect of it", claiming it was the most "shambolic and chaotic government" in memory.

"The Prime Minister’s shoddy deal no longer even has the backing of the Cabinet," he said.

"A prime minister whose authority has been lost," he said, "a Cabinet disintegrating into cliques and factions, and a Conservative party so fundamentally split that its very existence is being discussed."

Yet the motion Mr Corbyn had been expected to table, which he did not end up putting forward in today’s debate, would not automatically have triggered a general election.

Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, the only vote that counts in that respect would be one that: “This house has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government.”

That triggers a 14-day countdown. If the government doesn’t regain confidence by then, a general election is triggered.

Instead it’s understood the motion to be tabled by the Labour leader would have read: “That this house has no confidence in the Prime Minister.”

While subtle, the difference is important and does not include an automatic general election.

Mr Corbyn was expected to say in the Commons: “Mr Speaker, if the Prime Minister does not announce the date for the final vote immediately and with the vote taken promptly, I will table a motion;

“That this House has no confidence in the Prime Minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote straight away on the withdrawal agreement and framework for the future relationship between the UK and the EU.”

But he did not make the announcement at all after Mrs May announced the week of January 14 for the vote.

Instead he said Tories had "been dragged kicking and screaming to announce a date to restart the debate."

A Labour source today insisted it is still a matter of "when not if" Mr Corbyn brings a formal, full vote of no confidence in the government.

But the party wants to wait until it’s sure it can win – which would likely mean convincing Mrs May’s DUP allies.

Key Labour figures have suggested that would not happen until Mrs May holds the vote on her Brexit deal, due some time before January 21.

Today the DUP’s Sammy Wilson told the BBC his party, whose 10 MPs prop up the Tory government, would not back Labour today.

Mrs May was blasted in today’s Commons debate.

Tory Remainer Justine Greening, a former Cabinet minister, said the PM was "not just not listening, she’s not allowing debate".

The PM was forced to delay the vote on her Brexit deal after it was clear it would be voted down by MPs.

Since then she has tried to get concessions out of EU leaders – but they refused to negotiate in a disastrous summit on Friday.

Key points from UK’s 611-page Brexit deal with EU

The Brexit deal agreed by Theresa May and the EU covers two areas: the Withdrawal Agreement, covering the UK’s exit from the EU, and the Political Declaration on a Future Framework, which sets out the relationship with the EU after Britain leaves.

Key details on the Brexit deal include:

1. The Withdrawal Agreement

• The transition period can be extended until 2022 – after the next election
• Goods face being checked between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK
• A ‘backstop’ could extend EU customs rules UK-wide – and we’d need Brussels’ permission to quit
• European courts will still have a big hold on the UK

2. The Future Framework

• "Comprehensive arrangements that will create a free trade area" – not exactly the "frictionless trade" hoped for
• Possible EU access to British fishing waters
• We would remain tied to European courts
• We’d respect human rights laws
• Visas needed for long term trips to the EU
• It has built in vagueness – kicking the can down the road for further negotiations

Read about the deal in more depth here.

The Prime Minister admitted today this situation was not “perfect.”

But she added: “If we let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we risk not leaving the EU at all.”

She told MPs defiantly: "I make no apology for standing up for the interests of this house and the interests of our whole United Kingdom."

And in a message aimed as much at her own backbenchers as Labour’s leader she said: "Let us not follow the Leader of the Opposition in thinking about what gives him the best chance of forcing a general election.

"Because at this critical moment in our history, we should be thinking not about our party’s interests, but about the national interest.”

For a full guide to the formal no confidence vote process in the government click here.

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