Brexit could still be stopped if warring Conservatives don’t stop fighting, says Theresa May

'If we all go off in different directions, in pursuit of our own visions of the perfect Brexit, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all'

Brexit could still be stopped if warring Tories don’t stop fighting over the withdrawal plan, Theresa May has said for the first time.

“If we all go off in different directions, in pursuit of our own visions of the perfect Brexit, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all,” she told the party conference.

The warning came after the latest bout of Conservative infighting, which saw Boris Johnson pack out a fringe meeting as he again demanded the prime minister “chuck Chequers”.

Strikingly, Ms May chose to dedicate a chunk of her speech to acknowledging the growing campaign for a fresh referendum on the exit terms.

The Independent has launched its Final Say campaign, to give the British people the crucial decision on any Brexit deal, which is supported by almost 850,000 people who have signed our petition.

The prime minister mounted a strong defence of her Chequers plan, but did not describe it by that name – an apparent admission of its unpopularity among Tory MPs and activists.

She also made no reference to EU leaders rejecting it outright, at the recent Salzburg summit, other than acknowledging it was “very challenging for the EU”.

Instead, Ms May raised the spectre of Labour exploiting Conservative divisions to force either a general election or a further referendum.

“Even if we do not all agree on every part of this proposal, we need to come together - because it’s time we faced up to what is at risk,” she said.

“We have a Labour party that, if they were in government, would accept any deal the EU chose to offer, regardless of how bad it is for the UK.

“But who also say they’ll oppose any deal I choose to bring back, regardless of how good it is for the UK.

“And there are plenty of prominent people in British politics – in parliament and out of it – who want to stop Brexit in its tracks.”

The prime minister then condemned the idea of a ‘People’s Vote’, saying: “We had the people’s vote. The people voted to leave.

“A second referendum would be a “politicians’ vote”: politicians telling people they got it wrong the first time and should try again.

“Think for a moment what it would do to faith in our democracy if - having asked the people of this country to take this decision - politicians tried to overturn it.”

David Willetts, the former Conservative Cabinet minister and People’s Vote supporter, said: “The prime minister spent a long time taking about a People's Vote because she knows it is getting more likely by the day.

“If the only deal on offer is a bad one for the UK, it would be a mistake to insist that it is implemented without continuing popular consent.”

Asked what the prime minister meant by the risk of “no Brexit at all”, her spokesman pointed to the Labour party “refusing to rule out a second referendum and advocating a general election”.

“I think that’s the reference she is making there,” he said. “The lesson of the last few months is that the Labour party is prepared to pull any number of parliamentary levers.”