The Prime Minister has given a defiant Brexit statement to a press conference at Downing Street.
She issued a stark warning: “If we do not move forward with a Brexit agreement, we cannot know what will follow.
“Leadership is about taking the right decisions, not the easy ones.
“As PM, my job is to bring back a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people by ending free movement, ensuring we're not sending vast annual sums to the EU – but also protects jobs, security and the unity of the UK.
“Am I going to see this through? Yes.”
She indicated she would fight any leadership battle after Jacob Rees-Mogg led a flurry of MPs in submitting no confidence letters.
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Mrs May vowed to fight for her draft divorce deal with the European Union today after the resignation of her Brexit secretary and other ministers put her strategy and her job in peril.
Just over 12 hours after May announced that her cabinet had agreed to the terms of the deal, Brexit minister Dominic Raab and work and pensions minister Esther McVey resigned.
Eurosceptics in May's Conservative Party said they had submitted letters calling for a vote of no confidence in her leadership.
Two junior ministers, two ministerial aides and the Conservatives' vice chairman also quit. Hostility to the deal from government and opposition lawmakers raised the risk that the deal would be rejected and Britain would leave the EU on March 29 without a safety net.
HERE TO STAY: “Leadership is about taking the right decisions, not the easy ones" (Pic: PA )
“Am I going to see this through? Yes.”
Theresa May
Theresa May said she was sorry at the resignations and understood their unhappiness, but believed her deal was the right one.
"I believe with every fibre of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country and all our people," she said.
"I am going to my job of getting the best deal for Britain and I'm going to my job of getting a deal that is in the national interest."
By seeking to preserve the closest possible ties with the EU, May has upset her party's many advocates of a clean break, and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which props up her minority government.
Meanwhile, proponents of closer relations with the EU in her own party and the Labour opposition say the deal squanders the advantages of membership for little gain.
DEFIANT: Prime Minister Theresa May holds a press conference at Downing Street (Pic: PA)
Both sides say it effectively cedes power to the EU without securing the promised benefits of greater autonomy.
"It is … mathematically impossible to get this deal through the House of Commons. The stark reality is that it was dead on arrival," said Conservative Brexit-supporting lawmaker Mark Francois.
May will need the backing of about 320 lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament to pass the deal.
The ultimate outcome remains uncertain. Scenarios include May's deal ultimately winning approval; May losing her job; Britain leaving the bloc with no agreement; or even another referendum.
PRIME MINISTER: Mrs May vowed to fight for her draft divorce deal with the European Union (Pic: GETTY)
RESIGNED: These are the ministers who have quit today (Pic: PA )
At least one Conservative MP is not impressed. Andrea Jenkyns called the PM a “drama queen” in a scathing tweet.
She tweeted: “All this build up, and another non-statement….from dancing Queen to drama Queen.
“Why keep fighting on Prime Minister, it is truly time to let someone who believes in Brexit and respects the democratic decision of the referendum to lead these negotiations. Its truly time to go!”
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