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Theresa May to REJECT growing calls for second Brexit referendum

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, the Prime Minister will warn MPs prepared to vote down h..

Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, the Prime Minister will warn MPs prepared to vote down her deal that holding a new Brexit poll would do “irreparable damage” to Britains politics and democracy.

Mrs May is facing a groundswell of calls to hold a second referendum to decide the fate of Brexit as her withdrawal agreement heads for likely defeat in Januarys “meaningful vote” in parliament.

But the PM will tell MPs another public vote on the EU question would divide the country and “leave us no further forward than the last”.

She will to address MPs in the wake of a bruising EU summit in Brussels last week during which European leaders largely rebuffed her calls for reassurances on her deal.

Her statement to parliament will follow days of speculation that some cabinet ministers and key aides to the PM are manoeuvring for a fresh Brexit poll.

theresa may second referendum

NO SECOND VOTE: Theresa May will tell MPs a new Brexit vote would divide the country (Pic: GETTY)

Downing Street has staunchly denied drawing up contingency plans for a second referendum.

"Let us not break faith with the British people by trying to stage another referendum,” Mrs May will tell MPs.
"Another vote which would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics, because it would say to millions who trusted in democracy, that our democracy does not deliver.
"Another vote which would likely leave us no further forward than the last.
"And another vote which would further divide our country at the very moment we should be working to unite it."

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“Another vote would further divide our country”

Theresa May

Mrs May's de facto deputy, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington, and the PM's chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, both dismissed reports they are planning for a new referendum.

The Prime Minister also became embroiled in a highly personalised war of words with one of her predecessors, Tony Blair, over his calls for a fresh Brexit vote.

Mrs May accused the ex-Labour PM of insulting the British people, and undermining Brexit negotiations, with calls for a new referendum.

theresa may

UPHILL STRUGGLE: Theresa May's deal is likely to be defeated in parliament (Pic: GETTY)

Mr Blair hit back by saying that Mrs May's stance was "irresponsible".

Labour former foreign secretary, and prominent People's Vote campaign supporter, Dame Margaret Beckett, said the case for a new Brexit poll was "becoming overwhelming".

Dame Margaret said: "It is highly significant that Downing Street felt it had to issue these advance extracts of her statement to the House of Commons on Sunday night, because officials know the prospect of a People's Vote is being discussed not just in Westminster but in the corridors of Whitehall too.

theresa may

DEADLOCK: Theresa May has faced calls to break the parliamentary deadlock over Brexit (Pic: GETTY)

"The case for the public being given the final say is becoming so overwhelming that people from all parties and of none now recognise that this is the best way forward for our country.
"A new public vote would be different from the referendum in 2016 because we now know more about what Brexit means.
"It is vital that leaders who care about the national interest begin preparations for a People's Vote that can sort out the Brexit mess, give our politics the clarity it needs to move forward and our country the opportunity to move on from the bitter divisions of the past three years."

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