Theresa May's Brexit deal is 'worse' than staying in EU, Dominic Raab says

'We would effectively be bound by the same rules but without the control or voice over them,' says ex-Brexit secretary

Dominic Raab has said that Theresa May's Brexit blueprint is "even worse" than remaining in the European Union amid pressure on the prime minister from all sides.

The ex-Brexit secretary said MPs would "inevitably" vote down the deal, as more than 80 Tory MPs have publicly declared their opposition to the draft deal ahead of a Commons showdown next month.

Ms May is stepping up efforts to sell her Brexit agreement to the public before heading out to Brussels for a crunch summit on Sunday, where EU leaders will be asked to approve the plan.

But she faced a fresh headache overnight when leaked internal emails from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) cast doubts on the body's public support for the draft Brexit deal.

The CBI, which represents more than 190,000 firms, expressed private concern that the blueprint is "not a good deal", despite publicly showing support for Ms May.

Asked if the draft deal was worse than remaining in the EU, Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm not going to advocate staying in the EU.

"But, if you just presented me terms, this deal or EU membership, because we would effectively be bound by the same rules but without the control or voice over them, yes, I think this would be even worse than that."

Mr Raab, who resigned from the cabinet in protest at the deal, said MPs were unlikely to support the plans.

"We will, I think, inevitably see parliament vote this deal down," he said.

"And then I think some of those other alternatives will need to come into play."

The final part of the draft agreement was agreed by negotiators in Brussels and London, setting out the "political agreement" for the future relationship with the EU.

Senior Tories lined up to rubbish the plans during a tensee Commons statement on Wednesday, where the prime minister told MPs that a good Brexit deal was "within our grasp".

Ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson described the plan as "complete nonsense" and Iain Duncan-Smith, former Tory leader, said it was not "at all workable" in its current form.

However education secretary Damian Hinds defended the plan, telling the Today programme that support would grow in parliament as MPs considered the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal.

"The deal that we have on the table is a strong deal. It is a good, balanced deal. As people reflect on what the alternatives are, I think people are going to come to see this is a very good deal for Britain," he said.

Ahead of the summit, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to "veto Brexit" over the issue of Gibraltar, the disputed British territory.

Spain says the future relationship to be negotiated between the EU and UK should not apply to Gibraltar and that it should be only decided bilaterally between itself and Britain.

But Theresa May has rejected this idea and has said the plan must apply to “the whole United Kingdom family” – a group which apparently includes the British Overseas Territory.