Brexit: Theresa May faces defeat in Commons vote after refusing Eurosceptic demand to rewrite motion

The Brexit-backing European Research Group of Tory MPs has said it cannot back the motion as it stands

Downing Street faces defeat in a key Brexit vote on Valentine’s Day after refusing Brexiteer demands to shift the government’s position.

On Thursday MPs will vote on a government motion that endorses previous non-binding decisions taken by MPs – including one that takes a no-deal Brexit off the table.

After a key figure of the Brexit-backing European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs said it could not back the motion as a result, No 10 said on Wednesday it still would not re-write it.

It means Ms May faces an embarrassing government defeat at a critical juncture, as she tries to negotiate for a new deal in Brussels.

Asked if the government is minded to change its motion to gain Brexiteer support, Theresa May’s spokesperson said: “I don’t expect that to happen.”

The government motion for Thursday’s debate and vote endorses “the approach to leaving the EU” backed by the Commons on 29 January.

On that night, MPs said the Northern Ireland “backstop” plan should be replaced by “alternative arrangements”, but they also said a no-deal Brexit should be ruled out.

Speaking to the BBC, Mark Francois MP, ERG vice chair, said: “We cannot vote for this as it’s currently configured because it rules out no deal and removes our negotiating leverage in Brussels.

“The prime minister, if she went through the lobbies for this tomorrow night, would be voting against the guarantees she has given in the Commons for months. It is madness.”

It came after Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay was also forced to reject suggestions that the government is moving to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

He did so after senior UK negotiator Olly Robbins was reported to have been overheard in a Brussels bar saying that Ms May planned to wait until the end of March before confronting MPs with a choice between her deal or a lengthy delay to Brexit.

But Mr Barclay insisted that it remained “the agreed position of the cabinet” to work to secure a favourable deal but plan for the possibility of no deal.

Asked whether Mr Robbins’s reported comments reflected government policy, the Brexit secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “No. The prime minister has been very clear that we are committed to leaving on 29 March.”