David Davis in climbdown as he says ministers 'expect and intend' MPs to vote on any Brexit deal before Britain leaves the EU

David Davis has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown saying ministers “expect and intend” MPs to be able to vote on Brexit before Britain actually leaves the EU, contradicting comments he made hours earlier.

The Brexit Secretary’s department issued a statement after MPs reacted angrily to his claim on Wednesday morning, that the House of Commons may not have a chance to approve a deal till after withdrawal.

His department's clarification argued that Mr Davis's words in the morning had merely been an answer to "hypothetical scenarios" and added that he actually believed an agreement should be reached "by October" next year, leaving time for MPs to vote before Brexit happens.

Mr Davis is also thought to have angered Downing Street with his claim that negotiations may go up to the very last minute before the deadline for the UK dropping out of the EU in March 2019, making a parliamentary vote before withdrawal difficult.

The clarification statement, from a spokesperson at his Brexit department, said: "We are working to reach an agreement on the final deal in good time before we leave the EU in March 2019.

"Once the deal is agreed we will meet our long-standing commitment to a vote in both Houses and we expect and intend this to be before the vote in the European Parliament and therefore before we leave.

"This morning the Secretary of State was asked about hypothetical scenarios. Michel Barnier has said he hopes to get the deal agreed by October 2018 and that is our aim as well."

At a select committee in the morning, Mr Davis had predicted Brexit negotiations will drag on until the last minute on the last day in 2019 and be "very exciting".

Asked if that meant the promised Parliamentary vote on the agreement could be delayed until after Brexit Day, in March 2019, he replied: "Yes, it could be".

His words created particular difficulties for Ms May who has been fighting accusations from her own backbenches that Parliament is being sidelined in the Brexit process.

The Prime Minister was inevitably quizzed on the comments at PMQs with Labour MP Stephen Kinnock asking how "it is possible to have a meaningful vote on something that has already taken place".

She responded: "The timetable under the Lisbon Treaty does give time until March 2019 for the negotiations to take place.

Comments from Brexit Secretary David Davis led to a difficult day for the Government (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA)

"But I am confident because it is in the interests of both sides - and it is not just this parliament that wants to have a vote on that deal, but actually there will be ratification by other parliaments - that we will be able to achieve that agreement and that negotiation in time for this parliament to have the vote that we committed to."

While the PM's words went further towards restating the Government's previously adopted position - that there would be a vote in Parliament on any Brexit deal ahead of withdrawal - it fell short of a guarantee.

Ms May's spokesman was also asked afterwards whether MPs would have a vote on the deal before Britain leaves the EU, but again failed to give a watertight guarantee, leading other MPs to demand a ministerial statement on the confusion.

In the Commons Chamber Labour MP Chuka Umunna quoted a previously given government commitment to give the House of Commons a vote on the final Brexit deal, before Brexit takes place.

Mr Umunna said the commitment given in a debate in February was at worst a "false impression", in the light of Mr Davis's admission.

With the Brexit Secretary's department finally putting out the clarification just before an afternoon briefing with journalists, Downing Street was forced to state that it still had "full confidence" in Mr Davis.