PM Theresa May defends her draft Brexit deal as several ministers quit amid threat of vote of no-confidence against her.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said her draft agreement on Britain’s departure from the European Union is the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit as she faced political attacks from all sides, including the threat of a no-confidence vote from within her own party. 

Speaking before a hostile parliament after several ministers quit on Thursday, the leader of Britain’s Conservative party told legislators “the choice is clear”.

“We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all, or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated,” May told the House of Commons. 

Her comments came after two cabinet ministers, including the head of Brexit negotiations and two junior ministers, quit the government in protest against the agreement over Britain’s departure from the bloc on March 29, 2019.

In his resignation letter, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said that May’s plan threatened the integrity of the UK.

“I regret to say that, following the cabinet meeting yesterday on the Brexit deal, I must resign,” he said on Thursday.

“I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election. This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust.”

Esther McVey, the secretary for work and pensions, said the draft deal “does not honour the result of the referendum” in her own resignation letter.

Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads a group of anti-EU Conservatives, submitted on a letter of no-confidence in the prime minister saying that “it would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside”.

EU leaders will meet on November 25 to endorse May’s divorce deal, although the British prime minister acknowledged that a number of obstacles remained before Brexit could be finalised.

“We have been preparing for no-deal and we continue to prepare for no-deal because I recognise that we have a further stage of negotiation with the European Council and then that deal when finalised … has to come back to this House,” she told parliament.

But politicians on all sides told May that there was no way the proposed EU withdrawal agreement could pass their approval, with arch-Brexiteers and EU loyalists alike insisting it was already sunk.

“After two years of bungled negotiations, the government has produced a botched deal that breaches the prime minister’s own red lines and does not meet our six tests,” Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour party, told parliament.

Corbyn has said Labour will vote against any deal that does not meet its tests, which include delivering the same benefits Britain currently has as a member of the EU customs union and single market.

“The government is in chaos,” Corbyn said. “Their deal risks leaving the country in an indefinite halfway house without a real say.

“The government simply cannot put to parliament this half-baked deal that both the Brexit secretary and his predecessor have rejected.”

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