A failure to deliver Brexit would be “a catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy”, Prime Minister Theresa May has warned.
Writing in the Sunday Express, Mrs May pleaded with MPs to back her Brexit deal in Tuesday’s crunch Commons vote.
Not doing so risks the UK leaving the EU with no deal or Brexit not happening at all, she said.
The Sunday Times is reporting a plan by a cross-party group of MPs to change Commons rules to enable backbench motions to take precedence over government business if Mrs May’s deal fails.
This would give MPs, rather than ministers, control of parliamentary business and sideline the prime minister.
One possibility is that backbenchers could then legally compel the government to delay Brexit beyond the set departure date – a proposal some MPs have already called for, says BBC political correspondent Chris Mason.
It was previously thought only ministers could extend the two-year Article 50 process, which governs how a member state leaves the EU.
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 automatically, whether the deal is passed by MPs or not.
Writing in the Sunday Express, Mrs May said the Commons vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal would be the “biggest and most important decision that any MP of our generation will be asked to make”.
The PM is widely expected to lose the vote on the withdrawal agreement she reached with the European Union, something some ministers have said will lead to Brexit “paralysis”.
Addressing the paper’s readers, Mrs May said: “When you turned out to vote in the referendum, you did so because you wanted your voice to be heard. Some of you put your trust in the political process for the first time in decades. We cannot – and must not – let you down. Doing so would be a catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy. So my message to Parliament this weekend is simple: It is time to forget the games and do what is right for our country.”
Former prime minister Sir John Major has said revoking Article 50 is the “only sensible course” to take – but accepted this would be “politically uncomfortable”.