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Theresa May is to call-off Tuesday\u2019s crucial vote on her Brexit deal in the face of what was expected to be a significant defeat by Tory rebels.<\/p>\n
Government sources have said the prime minister is set to tell MPs about the delay in a statement at 15:30 GMT.<\/p>\n
Downing Street had been insisting the vote would go ahead.<\/p>\n
The pound fell sharply in response, shedding 0.5% versus the US dollar to stand at $1.26. Against the euro, the pound was 0.8% down at 1.10 euros.<\/p>\n
Mrs May\u2019s Commons statement will be followed by a statement from Commons leader Andrea Leadsom \u2013 and then a statement from the Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay on Article 50 \u2013 the legal mechanism taking the UK out of the EU on 29 March.<\/p>\n
The deal has been agreed with the EU \u2013 but it needs to be backed by the UK Parliament if it is to become law ahead of the UK\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n
Mrs May is thought to be trying to convince MPs to back her deal by suggesting the Northern Ireland backstop \u2013 the main item they object to \u2013 could be modified.<\/p>\n
She has also been speaking to EU leaders about re-opening the withdrawal agreement, something both sides have previously ruled out.<\/p>\n
It comes as the European Court of Justice ruled the UK could cancel Brexit without the permission of the other 27 EU members.<\/p>\n
But European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said the EU would not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\n
In a press briefing, she said: \u201cWe take note of the Court of Justice judgment today on the irrevocability of Article 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an agreement on the table which was endorsed by the European Council in its Article 50 format on 25 November.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs President Juncker said, this deal is the best and only deal possible. We will not renegotiate \u2013 our position has therefore not changed and as far as we are concerned the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union on 29 March, 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of Conservative MPs had been planning to join forces with Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems and the DUP to vote down Mrs May\u2019s deal.<\/p>\n
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was hoping to use a defeat for Mrs May on Tuesday to force a general election, said: \u201cThe government has decided Theresa May\u2019s Brexit deal is so disastrous that it has taken the desperate step of delaying its own vote at the eleventh hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the prime minister should have \u201chave gone back to Brussels to renegotiate or called an election\u201d when it became clear she would not get her deal through Parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a functioning government,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
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