Theresa May clashed brutally with Phillip Schofield today as he jibed that her Brexit deal is a ‘disaster’.
During a tense grilling on ITV’s This Morning, the Prime Minister admitted she was having a ‘tough time’ and finding it ‘difficult’ to get the package she has thrashed out with Brussels past the Commons.
But despite a wall of opposition from Tory rebels, Labour and the DUP, she insisted the government will ‘hold our nerve’ and press on with doing the best thing for the UK.
Mrs May could not hide her irritation at times as she was asked by presenters Phillip and Rochelle Humes whether she will quit if she loses next week.
‘It”s a tough time. It is a difficult time,’ she said.
Mrs May was asked stingingly if she will still ‘have a job in two weeks’ time’ – and at one point demanded that Philip let her ‘finish a sentence’.
But she used the platform to appeal once again for MPs to recognise the benefits she had secured in negotiations.
‘What I’ve got is a deal that delivers,’ she said.
In an interview on ITV’s This Morning, Theresa May said: ‘What I’ve got is a deal that delivers.’
In at times tetchy exchanges with Mrs May during the interview, Phillip Schofield said: ‘It looks like the end is a disaster.’
In niggly exchanges, Philip said: ‘It looks like the end is a disaster.’
But the premier replied: ‘No, the end is a deal – a good deal.’
She said the UK must ‘hold our nerve in getting this over the line so we can deliver on Brexit and people can that better future.’
Philip also demanded to know, ‘What have you won that we didn’t have before?’
Mrs May insisted: ‘What I’ve got is… we end free movement – we control who comes in to our country.
‘We end sending vast sums of money to the EU.
‘We will end the jurisdiction of the European Courts – we will make our own laws.’
Later she added: ‘It is an important moment in our history. This is not, ‘oh well it’s any old vote’.
‘This is about delivering what people voted for when they voted to leave the EU and I think that’s important for politicians t remember.’
Mrs May dodged questions about whether she will resign if she loses the crunch vote on December 11 – saying she was ‘focused’ on winning it.
At one point the frustrated premier urged Philip to let her ‘finish a sentence’ as he harried her with barbs including: ‘Will you still have a job in two weeks’ time?’
She shot back: ‘I will still have a job in two weeks time. My job is making sure we do what the public asked us for.’
Asked how she personally was coping the her relentless workload and pressure, Mrs May said: ‘It is tough, in any job there are times its really tough and you have to work through it. In politics it’s the same.’
She said her husband was a ‘huge support’ and was telling her to keep doing what it ‘right for the country’.
‘Philip is a huge support to me he says I must do what I believe is right,’ she said.
‘I believe what is right for this country….is let’s get this deal done.’
Mrs May said she hoped MPs would ‘put the national interest first’ and said members of the public were backing her.
‘What people think about this is important. Yesterday in my constituency, in Twyford, I was switching on the Christmas lights,’ she said.
‘A woman said to me ‘when you say you want to get this done you are speaking for me’.
‘That’s important. For us as MPs it’s not just about what we think, it’s about what you’re doing for people.’
The premier also insisted she still wants a TV debate against Jeremy Corbyn – despite talks seemingly having hit an impasse.
Mrs May has signed up to a BBC programme on Sunday – but the Labour leader favours an ITV show the same evening.
The PM said she hoped the face-off would still go ahead, and joked that she was worried the ITV option would stop her watching Strictly Come Dancing.
After the interview, the PM’s spokesman was asked repeatedly why she did not rule out a second referendum.
The spokesman said: ‘I don’t believe she could have been any clearer on any number of occasions and she does not support a second referendum.’
He added: ‘I think she already has done. There is not going to be a second referendum.’
The appearance comes as Mrs May faces the threat of being held in contempt of Parliament.
She is resisting huge pressure to disclose the private opinion Attorney General Geoffrey Cox gave on the package she has thrashed out with Brussels.
The eminent QC and strident Brexiteer was a key figure in forcing the deal through the Cabinet – but there are claims his formal written advice was far bleaker and he warned the UK would be stuck ‘indefinitely’ in the Irish border backstop.
Despite a Commons motion being passed demanding the full document, ministers are insisting they will only release a summary as the full material would break convention and undermine the operation of government.
Boris Johnson today joined condemnation of the refusal, saying it was a ‘scandal’ and pointing out that Mrs May previously called for advice on the Iraq War to be released.
Boris Johnson (right) has joined demands for the full legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (left) to be published
If the government does not cave in by the time Mr Cox makes a statement to the Commons this evening, Speaker John Bercow could launch contempt proceedings – triggering a formal investigation in the PM or her most senior colleagues.
The potential punishments include suspension or expulsion from the House, although they have not been deployed for decades.
The wrangling comes as the bitter row over Mrs May’s Brexit plan reaches the endgame, with just over a week until the crunch Commons vote.
As tensions rise, the DUP has said it ready to sign a joint letter with Labour complaining that ministers are in contempt of parliament – after a Commons motion called for the details to be issued.
The party’s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said: ‘If the Government attempt to ignore the will of the House of Commons and refuse to publish the full legal advice on the Irish backstop, the DUP will work with colleagues from right across the House to ensure they start to listen.’
In his Telegraph column, Mr Johnson also waded into the row, saying: ‘It is a scandal that this is currently being withheld.
‘You will recall that, when she was in opposition, the present Prime Minister wrote to the Labour government and complained of their failure to publish the Attorney General’s advice on the Iraq war.
‘She was right then – and how much more wrong and absurd is her position now, when you consider that this legal question is more important even than the Iraq war.’
It represents another massive hurdle for Mrs May to overcome as stares down the barrel of almost certain defeat on December 11.
A heavy loss could bring Mrs May’s time in Downing Street to a chaotic halt – although allies hope going down by a small margin could allow her to try again.
Meanwhile, demands for a second referendum are mounting after the dramatic resignation of universities minister Sam Gyimah over the weekend.
Senior Labour figures including shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Tom Watson are thought to be ramping up pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to back a fresh national ballot.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove admitted yesterday that a referendum was a potential outcome if Mrs May loses, but said it would ‘rip the social fabric of the country’. He also insisted Leave would win by a bigger margin than in 2016.
MPs across Parliament have angrily accused ministers of ignoring the will of the House after they said only that they would release a ‘full reasoned political statement’ on the legal position.
It follows a binding Commons vote last month requiring the Government to lay before Parliament ‘any legal advice in full’ – including that given by the Attorney General – relating to the Withdrawal Agreement.
Ministers chose not to oppose the motion – tabled by Labour under an arcane procedure known as the humble address – as they feared a damaging Commons defeat.
As pressure grows on the PM, there are claims next week’s Brexit vote could be shelved.
The crucial vote could be postponed as Tory whips urge Theresa May to go back to EU to renegotiate her deal to avoid a defeat in the Commons.
If true, the Government would abandon the vote at the end of this week.
However, Sajid Javid – who was said to be one of the minister who back the idea – dismissed it today.
And Downing Street insisted the vote will go ahead as planned.
May jokes Corbyn’s Brexit TV debate plan would mean she misses STRICTLY
Theresa May joked Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit TV debate plan would mean she misses Strictly Come Dancing – just days after the Labour called for the showdown to be early enough he could watch the I’m a Celebrity final.
The PM’s jibe at Mr Corbyn today after Downing Street accused the Labour leader of ‘running scared’ of a head to head clash.
Both leaders have backed a debate on Sunday night – two days before the crunch vote on Mrs May’s Brexit deal in the Commons – but failed to agree on format.
Theresa May (pictured today on This Morning) joked Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit TV debate plan would mean she misses Strictly Come Dancing – just days after the Labour called for the showdown to be early enough he could watch the I’m a Celebrity final
The BBC is planning to screen a Brexit showdown between Theresa May and Mr Corbyn (pictured last week on This Morning) on Sunday – two days before the crucial Commons vote on December 11
Mrs May wants the debate on BBC One and has accepted the broadcaster’s idea of a head-to-head debate alongside questions from a panel.
Mr Corbyn had backed an ITV plan of a simple one-on-one contest. He has accepted this could be on the BBC but wants the simpler format.
There are growing doubts as to whether the debate would take place at all amid continued wrangling over the format.
Mrs May told This Morning she was ‘keen’ to take part in a debate.
She said: ‘There are discussions about where exactly it is going to be.
‘There are variations on this. I think he said he wanted to be on ITV so he could watch the final of I’m a Celebrity.
‘I think his proposed time means I would miss Strictly – I hate to say it on ITV but I’m a bit of a Strictly fan.’
‘Leave won!’ Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan grill Tony Blair on Brexit referendum call
Tony Blair faced a fiery grilling today as he was challenged over why he is calling for another Brexit referendum just two years after the historic vote.
The ex-PM is stepping up his campaign for a so-called People’s Vote and lashed Theresa May’s deal for ‘yielding’ too much to Brussels.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said another referendum should be held which gives Britons a choice between staying in the EU or having a Boris Johnson-style hard Brexit.
But presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan quizzed him over why Remain should even be on the ballot two years after the side lost.
Tony Blair (pictured on GMB today) stepped up his campaign for a second Brexit referendum – and said Theresa May’s deal should not be an option on another ballot
In a heated exchange with the ex Labour leader, Susanna said: ‘Why should Remain even be an option on the second referendum? Why isn’t it a choice between May’s deal and an alternative Brexit?
‘Because the whole Remain camp didn’t win that campaign. Why should we re-run that part of the referendum? Why would Brexiteers – people who voted to leave , not feel utterly infuriated that is being re-run?’
Mr Blair hit back, saying: ‘I think if you had a referendum and you excluded the possibility of remaining I think your 16-odd million people who voted Remain would feel a great sense of disillusion if they weren’t able to make their case again.’
Piers also chimed in asking: ‘Isn’t that what happens when you lose?’
The ex Labour leader went on: ‘When you lose but the other side are as divided as to what form of Brexit is correct or not the only sensible way is to put it back to people and say, you have had your 30 months of experience, do you want to stay?’
He said there his also a ‘good chance’ Brussels would give the UK more concessions to the UK.