Prime Minister refuses to be drawn on prospects for no-deal Brexit

Theresa May was appearing before the liaison committee, which is made up of select committee chairs, on Thursday when she made the comments.

Asked what she would do if MPs decided not to back the Withdrawal Agreement, she said: "If the house was to vote down the deal which has been agreed [...] then obviously decisions would have to be taken."

She said planning for a no-deal Brexit would increase, telling Labour MP Rachel Reeves: “We have been doing no-deal planning as a government. We have made certain information available to businesses.”

Fellow Labour MP Yvette Cooper wanted to know if the Prime Minister would take the country out of the EU without a deal. But May refused to speculate further, instead insisting that the Withdrawal Agreement was the only deal on the table.

The European Union and May agreed the Withdrawal Agreement earlier in November. But the deal has drawn criticism from across the political divide in the UK. MPs vote on it on 11 December and there are concerns the government will be unable to secure enough votes.

May was also asked if Article 50 should be suspended to allow for a second referendum or to extend negotiations. The Prime Minister said it was important to honour the 2016 referendum result, so not to undermine trust in politics, and insisted that the EU had made it clear that the Withdrawal Agreement was the only deal on offer.

During the session May also acknowledged that she had so far been unable to persuade the EU to allow “absolutely frictionless” trade post Brexit, and insisted that the partnership between the Conservatives and the DUP would continue. The DUP props up the government’s slender majority but it has been vocal in its disapproval of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland backstop in particular.

“If I’m being honest with you, we haven’t persuaded absolutely everybody in Europe about frictionless trade yet,” she admitted.

The lack of commitment to such trade is holding back many Conservative MPs from supporting May’s deal.

DEBATING THE TV DEBATE

The BBC said it had been told that May has accepted the broadcaster's offer to take part in a debate on the Brexit deal on Sunday 9 December.

"We’re delighted she’s agreed and hope to hear soon from the Labour Party," the BBC said on Twitter. "We have been discussing debate formats with both parties and will announce further details soon.”

The BBC's Sunday evening schedule includes Doctor Who, the Strictly Come Dancing results and Sir David Attenborough’s new Dynasties series. ITV's I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here final airs at 2100 GMT.

Downing Street and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's advisers are believed to have heard pitches from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.

Corbyn told ITV's This Morning: “The ITV offer seemed a sensible one. It reaches a wider audience and the timing looked good to me because it’s not inconveniencing people who want to watch other things later in the evening."