Theresa May tells MPs there won’t be a People’s Vote on Brexit

Theresa May has shot down the prospect of a so-called People’s Vote on the terms of Brexit.

Brexiteers and Remainers have united in condemning the prime minister’s draft deal with the EU, with Mrs May facing a backlash in the House of Commons.

But she ruled out any chance of a reversal on Brexit following a plea from her fellow Conservative MP Anna Soubry.

Ms Soubry, a prominent Remain campaigner, described staying in the EU as ‘the best deal we have with the European Union’.

She added: ‘On that basis would (Mrs May) at least today undertake not to rule out taking this back to the British people and having a People’s Vote?’

In response, the prime minister reiterated that Britain will leave the bloc in March 2019.

She said: ‘I’m not going to change the position I’ve taken in this house, and indeed, taken more widely.

‘I believe that it is the duty of members of this parliament to ensure that we deliver on the choice that was made by the British people – a choice that this parliament overwhelmingly decided to give them.

‘That means that we will not be taking the option that she said of remaining in the European Union, but we will indeed be leaving the European Union, and that will happen on the 29th of March next year.’

She went on to give similar responses to other MPs calling for Britain to remain within the bloc.

Mrs May received resignation letters from two key cabinet members on Thursday morning – Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.

There is speculation of further key resignations amid the backlash to her draft deal for Brexit.

Labour MP David Lammy tweeted his support for another public vote, writing: ‘May’s house of cards is collapsing around us.

‘Brexit was doomed from day one because it was founded on the lie that we can have frictionless trade with Europe without pooling any sovereignty.

‘The 2016 referendum was a moment of madness. The PM now needs to go back to the country.’

Earlier, Guto Bebb MP, a leading supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, said: ‘With the Government and Parliament now utterly paralysed, the only democratic way forward is to give the final say on Brexit back to the country through a People’s Vote, so everyone can compare the botched Brexit on offer to the deal we have now as a member of the EU.’