Is May about to lose her THIRD Brexit secretary? Stephen Barclay hints he could quit if PM backs a long extension to Article 50 saying ‘we shouldn’t be afraid to leave with no deal’

• Mr Barclay voted against a Government plan for a delay to Brexit last night
• He said he would support a short extension to Article 50  but not a long one 
• Mrs May expected to make third attempt to get a Brexit deal thought next week 
• Mr Barclay said: ‘If we don’t have a deal then we should leave with no deal ‘

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has fuelled speculation he could quit after just months in the key post if Theresa May backs a long extension to Article 50, saying ‘we shouldn’t be afraid to leave with no deal’.

The North East Cambridgeshire MP said that while he backed a short ‘technical extension’ to allow Theresa May’s Brexit deal to be implemented the UK should otherwise quit the bloc without one.

His comments to the BBC on Friday came the day after he spent 10 minutes speaking in the Commons telling MPs they should a Government plan seeking an extension to Article 50 – before then voting against it. 

The interview and vote appear to put him on a potential collision course with Theresa May if she fails to get a deal through at the third time of asking before meeting EU leaders on March 21.

The motion passed last night said that if a deal is agreed next week Mrs May would seek to leave by the end of June, to allow time for the delay to be implemented and ratified by EU member states.

But it also says that without one the UK faces staying in the EU for months and potentially years. 

The EU is reportedly considering demanding a second referendum as the price of an extension if Mrs May does not arrive in Brussels with a deal.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay leaving the House of Commons last night after he used a free vote to oppose a Government motion setting out the possible length of a delay to Brexit

Mr Barclay, pictured sitting next to Theresa May last night, had urged MPs to back the deal minutes before he voted against it. The motion was passed by 413 to 202

Asked about how he voted Mr Barclay today suggested that he was voting only against the latter part of the motion, saying: ‘There are two parts of the motion, a short technical extension which we need with the deal, and we are pushing that, that’s separate from whether you have a long extension rather than no deal.

‘My view is … I support Brexit. This constituency voted in very large numbers for Brexit.   

‘We need a deal, we need to get that over the line. But if we don’t have a deal then we should leave with no deal.

‘That has always been my position and I voted as my constituency would expect me to do last night.’

He added: ‘If we get the deal through, as I hope we still will do, we will need a short technical extension, but if we don’t we shouldn’t be afraid to leave with no deal.’

 If Mr Barclay was to quit he would be the third Brexit secretary to step down since last July, following Dominic Raab and David Davis out the door.

He has only been in the role since November, when the 46-year-old became the surprise name to be unveiled, having  previously been a junior health minister.

Theresa May (pictured last night) appears to have a final shot to get her Brexit deal through Parliament with the EU demanding a major ‘rethink’ on Brexit by Britain if they are to offer an extension and Philip Hammond has been in talks with the DUP today

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, pictured leaving the Commons last night, is said to be ‘updating’ his legal advice to include his view that the UK could withdraw unilaterally from the Irish backstop

‘If they want Brexit – they’ll have to hold their nose and vote for May’s deal’: Esther McVey hints she – and other hardline Brexiteers – will back PM’s deal in third vote 

Esther McVey quit over Theresa May’s deal but has admitted she and other Brexiteers could change their minds this time

Brexiteer opposition to Theresa May’s EU deal is softening today as leading Tory MP Esther McVey she and other rebels could now ‘hold their noses’ and back it.

The Cheshire MP, who resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary over the deal four months ago, said Leaver MPs will ‘have to think a different way’ when the Prime Minister’s EU divorce returns to the Commons for a third time next week.

Mrs May’s deal lost by 149 votes last time and 75 rebels from her own party, including Ms McVey, voted against her.

But now the Tory Brexiteer, who is a member of the hardline ERG group led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, has hinted she and other Conservatives have changed their minds.

Speaking to the BBC she said: ‘The [situation] now is people will have to take a bad deal rather than no deal. People are going to have to think a different way next week’.

When asked if if ‘MPs like her would hold their noses and vote’ she replied: ‘Yes. They will. I don’t know what the number is, but they will have to do that if they want Brexit’.  

His comments today came as the DUP edged towards backing Theresa May’s Brexit deal when MPs vote for the third time next week as the Chancellor Philip Hammond was brought in as emergency talks turned to money.

Mr Hammond is leading negotiations with the Unionist party who previously grabbed an extra £1billion of funding for Northern Ireland in exchange for propping up the Government for two years until this summer.

Earlier today, in a significant boost to the Prime Minister, a DUP representative admitted it was ‘involved in ongoing and significant discussions with the Government today’ over her EU divorce.

There is also growing pressure on Attorney General Geoffrey Cox to change his legal advice to ease fears that Britain would be trapped ‘indefinitely’ in the Irish backstop – and Mrs May’s top lawyer is also at today’s talks.

Other insiders suggested that the Government could promise to pump more money into Northern Ireland. The party negotiated an extra £1billion of funding in exchange for supporting Theresa May in a ‘supply and confidence’ deal struck in 2017.

The DUP is said to be getting closer to ordering its 10 MPs to back Mrs May’s deal, and would bring a large number of Brexiteers with them including high-profile members of the Tory ERG group led by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Speaking in Washington DUP leader Arlene Foster, who met Donald Trump yesterday, said she was ‘working very hard’ with Mrs May, adding: ‘We want to make sure we get there.’ 

One source suggested that she is under pressure from party backers and one told The Sun: ‘The donors have turned off the taps. They want a deal’. 

As she scrambles for votes Mrs May will also have to set out a timetable for her resignation in order to get her deal through Parliament, her own Brexiteer MPs have warned. 

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