Brexit: I'll still have a job in two weeks, Theresa May insists

Theresa May has insisted she will 'still have a job in two weeks' time' as she begins the final countdown to a crucial vote on her Brexit deal.

In an interview on ITV’s This Morning, she denied the suggestion that her agreement with Brussels was a “disaster”, and said MPs must hold their nerve and deliver a “better future” by backing her deal on 11 December.

With around 100 Conservative MPs saying they will vote against the deal, the Prime Minister insisted: “I will still have a job in two weeks’ time.” However, she did not rule out resigning in the wake of a defeat.

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She added: “At the end of the line it is, I think, about holding our nerve and getting this over the line so we can deliver on Brexit and people can have that better future.”

Asked if she was “knackered” after a busy schedule trying to convince the public of the benefits of her deal, Mrs May said: “It’s a tough time, it’s a difficult time ... an awful lot of work has had to go into this.

“But I always think the key thing is just keep focused on what the end point is. The end point is getting a good deal through for the UK and delivering on what people voted for.

“That is what drives me.”

Theresa May has insisted she will "still have a job in two weeks' time". Picture: AFP/GettyTheresa May has insisted she will "still have a job in two weeks' time". Picture: AFP/Getty
Theresa May has insisted she will "still have a job in two weeks' time". Picture: AFP/Getty

“My job is making sure that we do what the public asked us to, we leave the EU but we do it in a way that is good for them.”

Mrs May did not explain what would happen to her if her deal fails, instead saying: “I’ve got a duty as Prime Minister to deliver on what people voted for.”

She also reiterated that it is her deal or no deal, telling the programme: “The message has been very clear: this is the deal.”

Mrs May is likely to face questions on the Brexit deal when she delivers a statement to the Commons on the G20 summit in Argentina.

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The Government also faces a difficult cross-examination after it publishes a command paper on the legal advice on the Brexit deal on Monday afternoon.

MPs demanded the government publish its full legal advice, believed to run to thousands of pages across Whitehall departments, in a Commons vote lost by the Government.

Opposition parties have said they will seek to hold the Government in contempt of parliament if ministers do not produce the full advice as requested.

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Asked whether the document would contain the full legal advice given to the Government by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is a full-reasoned position statement as David Lidington set out in the House a few weeks ago.”

The spokesman added: “We are meeting the commitments [Mr Lidington] made in the House of Commons when this matter was debated.”

Asked if the Prime Minister thought the Government was entering “squeaky bum time”, her spokesman said: “She thinks that we are entering a very significant moment in the recent history of our country, that there is a moment of opportunity here and that we should seize it.”