Theresa May today warned no-deal Brexit plan will have to be triggered if her agreement with the EU is rejected by MPs.
The PM said the timetable for the UK leaving the bloc meant practical steps would have to be taken if she loses the crunch vote on December 11.
She also pleaded with Tory Eurosceptics to focus on securing Brexit, saying killing off the controversial package could help those who want to frustrate the process altogether.
The appeal came as she gave evidence to the powerful Liaison Committee with less than a fortnight to go before a titanic Commons showdown on her plan and Mrs May seemingly on course for disastrous defeat.
Amid bruising clashes with the panel, the premier urged MPs to ‘focus on the choice that lies in front of them’, insisting her settlement with Brussels delivered on the referendum.
She warned that Tory MPs condemning the deal had to be aware that there are some members of Parliament who do not want to leave the EU.
The government dramatically stepped up its campaign to force the settlement through yesterday by publishing grim figures about the impact of no deal while the Bank of England warned that the Pound would plummet, inflation would spike, and unemployment would soar.
But the estimates infuriated hardline Brexiteers, who branded it Project Hysteria. And Remainers seized on the dismal projections for all Brexit options to say the whole idea should be abandoned.
The Commons Liaison Committee includes senior figures from all sides of the argument – meaning Mrs May was always in for a rough ride.
Mrs May dodged when asked if she would press ahead with no deal Brexit if MPs vote down her package. But she insisted the government had been doing detailed planning in case the UK does crash out.
But she insisted the government had been making detailed preparations in case the UK does crash out and suggested those plans and businesses contingencies will need to be triggered if her package is not passed.
The timetable is such that actually some people would need to take some practical steps in relation to no deal if the parliament were to vote down the deal on the 11th of December, she said.
Mrs May batted away questions about whether the government could get behind a second referendum or try to renegotiate if her deal is sunk.
You want to look at all sorts of options and ideas. I think it is important Members of Parliament focus on the nature of this vote, she said.
‘This is an important point in our history. It is a vote on which we will be deciding whether we deliver on the decision of the British people.
What has been made clear from the European Union is that this is the deal that has been negotiated and this is the deal that people need to focus on when they are looking at the vote.
Mrs May managed to raise a smile when Tory Andrew Murrison asked whether her Irish border ‘backstop’ is ‘like a post war prefab; supposed to be temporary, built to last, and will outlive us all?
The appearance comes as Labour threw down the gauntlet over Mrs May’s EU withdrawal agreement by tabling an amendment opposing the deal ahead of a Commons showdown in 12 days’ time.
DUP leader Arlene Foster also upped the ante today by warning Mrs May not to ‘waste time’ trying to force her deal through.
However, there was some good news for Mrs May as Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom – who had been put on resignation watch by No10 – explicitly backed her plan. Mrs Leadsom, the ring-leader of a so-called ‘pizza club’ of pro-Leave Cabinet ministers, who held informal meetings to discuss their response to withdrawal plans, backed Mrs May’s deal.
In a letter to constituents, Mrs Leadsom said it had been a ‘challenging journey’, but the PM’s plan was the only deal on the table and meant the UK would quit the bloc next March, the newspaper said.
The intervention came as the Government confirmed MPs will debate the Brexit deal eight hours a day for five days leading up to a crunch vote on December 11.
MPs will be allowed to vote on six amendments to the Government motion backing the deal during the Commons showdown.
Commons Speaker John Bercow will decide which amendments get to be debated and decided upon by MPs ahead of the so-called meaningful vote on Government proposals.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is appearing on ITV’s This Morning today to push his case, said the party could not back Mrs May’s plan as it failed to ensure participation in a ‘strong’ single market and customs union.
The move came as Labour signalled a new referendum would be inevitable if Mrs May’s plans are voted down.
Reiterating that her party’s 10 MPs would not support the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement when it comes to Parliament, Ms Foster said it would create a ‘huge democratic deficit’ in Northern Ireland.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Foster said the current proposals contain ’68 pages of regulations that will apply to Northern Ireland and will not apply to the rest of the UK.
There is a huge democratic deficit coming our way if we agree to this deal, because we’ve no say over the rules that will apply to Northern Ireland, she added.
The comments followed a warning from the Bank of England that without an exit deal the UK could be tipped into a recession worse than the financial crash, with an 8 per cent cut in GDP, unemployment surging by as much as 7.5 per cent and house prices falling by almost one-third.
Also a cross-Government analysis found the UK economy would be 9.3 per cent smaller after 15 years if Britain leaves without a deal and falls back on World Trade Organisation rules, compared with remaining in the EU.
While the UK economy would continue to grow after withdrawal, Britain would be worse off under any Brexit scenario than if it stayed in the EU, the Government paper found.
There could be further stark warnings later, when the Commons Treasury Committee publishes the Financial Conduct Authority’s analysis of the Brexit deal and political declaration.
But arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees Mogg was dismissive of all the claims, telling the Daily Telegraph: This is Project Hysteria. ‘Before the referendum we were threatened with a plague of frogs.
Now they warn of the death of the first born.
The Bank of England has gone from being discredited to being hysterical.
Pro-Europe Tories hit back with former minister Jo Johnson urging party colleagues to vote down Mrs May’s deal.
The ex-minister, who is brother to leading Brexiteer Boris Johnson, is using a speech on Thursday to say that if the Conservatives do not change course they face a bigger electoral defeat than 1997.
And security minister Ben Wallace will say that a no-deal Brexit would leave both the EU and UK at greater risk.
He will say on Thursday that leaving the bloc without an agreement would have a real impact on authorities ability to protect the public.