Brexit: Ministers urge Theresa May to keep no-deal option on table ahead of Commons battle to kill it off

Cabinet ministers have demanded that a no-deal Brexit remain an option for Britain, ahead of a showdown in House of Commons over the matter.

Education secretary Damian Hinds and commons leader Andrea Leadsom both said the option to quit talks without a deal should be a possibility for Theresa May.

The comments from Mr Hinds in particular, seen as one of the cabinet’s strong Remainers, will give little comfort to pro-EU ministerial colleagues who have threatened to resign over no deal in recent days.

It comes amid repeated warnings that a no-deal Brexit could severely damage the UK economy.

On Tuesday Ms May will face a concerted effort from a cross-party group of MPs likely backed by Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench to extend the Article 50 negotiating period, delaying Brexit and avoiding no deal for now.

However, the prime minister has insisted it must remain a possibility and in the past week or so both justice secretary David Gauke and pensions secretary Amber Rudd have indicated they could resign if the government were to pursue a no-deal Brexit policy.

Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hinds was asked if he could follow suit, answering: “I don’t envisage no deal becoming government policy.

“We want to avoid a no deal. No deal would not be a good outcome.”

But he went on: “But, it is important that it remains as a possibility because, on the other hand... some people are trying to thwart Brexit altogether.”

On the controversial backstop proposals – to come into play if the UK cannot agree a future trade deal with the EU by December 2020, potentially locking Britain into an indefinite customs union – Mr Hinds said there are reasons to believe it would never happen.

“And, even if it did, actually there are some advantages to the backstop as well as drawbacks,” he added.

Asked if the government supported a time limit to the backstop – something set to be demanded by Tory MPs and Ms May’s DUP backers on Tuesday – he said it was not “entirely in the gift” of the government.

In an article for The Sunday Times, Ms Leadsom accused some MPs of using attempts to take no deal off the table in order to stop Brexit altogether.

She wrote: “I’m usually the last person to agree with anything that Michel Barnier says, but this week I was surprised to find common ground with him.

“He made clear that opposition to a no-deal Brexit will not stop it from happening in March.

“Taking no deal off the table has been used as a thinly veiled attempt to stop Brexit – which conveniently overlooks the simple fact that no deal is the legal default, and that the best and most responsible way to avoid it is by voting for a deal.”

Labour MP Yvette Cooper said she was not seeking to “block Brexit” with her no-deal amendment and said she was not yet sure if she had the backing of Mr Corbyn.