Theresa May today insisted she would not pull her Brexit doomsday vote despite facing another humbling Commons defeat, growing calls to quit and the EU saying negotiations are dead.
Mrs May has been warned she will have told a 'straight up lie' to MPs having promised them a ‘meaningful’ say on her deal by tomorrow at the latest.
And hinting that she should quit or call an election Tory rebel remainer Nick Boles said that if doesn't keep her word and put her deal before Parliament 'she will forfeit the confidence of the House of Commons'.
Today it emerged that Mrs May was urged by Conservative MPs to stop the vote on her deal in the Commons tomorrow night because it is 'inevitable' it will be defeated by 100-plus votes or more.
But the Prime Minister's official spokesman said this morning: 'The meaningful vote will take place tomorrow. The motion will be tabled today ahead of that debate taking place.'
He added: 'I seriously caution against speculating what this motion will look like'.
Sources have said the 'devil will be in the detail' because the motion, which has to be submitted later today, could be made provisional rather than binding or watered down in a way that keeps her deal alive so Mrs May can try to revive ailing talks with the EU.
In more bad news for the Prime Minister the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said today that negotiations between the two sides are over, adding: 'The talks are now between the UK government and MPs'.
Ahead of the biggest vote of the Prime Minister's political career, it emerged today:
The Prime Minister's spokesman insisted the meaningful vote will go ahead - despite predictions she could lose by 100 or even 200 votes;
Experts have said she could try to water down the vote
Mrs May and her team have again failed to make any breakthrough in negotiations with the EU and called off an 11th-hour trip to Brussels.
The Prime Minister had her plane on standby but after a phone call with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker last night she cancelled plans to fly out to Europe as the deadlock continues.
The next EU council meeting of the 27 states begins on March 21 - just eight days before Brexit is due to happen - and optimistic members of the Downing Street team are said to be hopeful that European leaders could still back down at the last minute.
But insiders say that the EU is running out of patience and 'hardening' towards Mrs May.
Instead she is being advised to replace it with a motion on the kind of Brexit deal wanted by Tories to put pressure back on the EU to help deliver her divorce by March 29.
A source told The Times: 'As it stands her deal is going to be defeated. It has been made clear to Downing Street that it would be eminently sensible to avoid that by proposing a motion that the party can support. Whether they listen or not is another matter'.
If the vote goes ahead and she loses some in her party are ready to call for Mrs May to resign immediately.
Sources have claimed cabinet support is also failing, with under-fire ministers Chris Grayling and Karen Bradley said to be the only two people vocally backing the PM, who has kept them in their jobs despite usually career-ending blunders in recent weeks.
Leadership candidate Boris Johnson today called on MPs to reject her deal - and accused the EU of showing 'chronic disdain' towards Britain by refusing to change the Irish backstop.
But Michael Gove said that voting for the PM's deal is the only way to 'heal the bitter divides across the country' - saying if it falls there will be a democratic crisis in the country because the PM would lose control of Brexit.
Brussels will demand another £13.5billion in Brexit divorce payments if Theresa May seeks an extension to Article 50, it is claimed.
EU states are said to be 'hardening' their stance against a longer Brexit process and could force Britain to stay in a customs union as the price of agreeing a delay.
MPs could vote on a postponement this week if, as expected, Theresa May's deal is defeated again in the House of Commons tomorrow.
The PM has suggested a three-month delay but EU diplomats will demand more money if the extension is longer than a few weeks, the Daily Telegraph reported.
An EU source told the newspaper: 'Lines are hardening against extension... Anything more than a few weeks will come with legal and financial conditions attached.'
Brussels could ask Britain to pay an extra £13.5billion a year - £1bn a month - on top of the current £39bn divorce deal, it is reported.
The EU could also push for Britain to stay in a customs union, a move opposed by many Brexiteers who want the UK to strike new trade deals instead.
All 27 of the EU's remaining member states would have to agree an extension beyond March 29 if it is requested by Mrs May.
A plane was reported to be on standby at RAF Northolt to fly Mrs May to Brussels to clinch an agreement if there was any sign of a deal emerging from talks over the weekend.
But there has been no sign of a breakthrough and Mrs May will have to take her deal before Parliament on Tuesday with the controversial backstop still in place.
In an apparent indication of the lack of progress, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier chose to travel to Dublin to attend the Ireland v France rugby international rather than remain in the Belgian capital.
Tory Brexiteers have said a defeat for Mrs May was 'inevitable' unless the Prime Minister was able to secure significant changes to the arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Mrs May has said if she loses the vote on Tuesday, there will be further votes on Wednesday on whether the UK should leave with no-deal and on Thursday on whether they should seek an extension to Article 50.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned Tory colleagues that they risked losing Brexit altogether if they did not back the PM.
He said there was 'wind in the sails' of the opponents of Brexit and that it would be 'devastating' for the Conservatives if they failed to deliver on their commitment to take Britain out of the EU.
Meanwhile former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said Mrs May could be forced out of No 10 if her Brexit strategy was 'dismantled' by MPs this week.
Mrs May was last night warned her position will become untenable if MPs reject her deal and succeed in delaying Brexit.
Former Tory Cabinet ministers Dominic Raab and Nicky Morgan raised doubts she could remain if her withdrawal agreement is voted down by the Commons tomorrow.
Downing Street aides are now 'resigned' to Mrs May having to set out her departure date in an attempt to get her deal through the Commons, Cabinet sources revealed.
But former Brexit secretary David Davis dismissed the suggestion that the promise of an exit plan would be enough to persuade rebel Tories to support her withdrawal agreement.
Mrs May has said if the Government loses tomorrow, there will be further votes on whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal or seek an extension to negotiations beyond the March 29 exit date.
Former education secretary Nicky Morgan yesterday said it would be the 'beginning of the end' if MPs end up voting for a delay to the Article 50 process.
She told Radio 4's The World This Weekend: 'I think that her position is going to become slowly less and less tenable as Parliament changes the Government's Brexit policy.
'If the votes go this week in a way which means that the Prime Minister's policy as she has set out and stuck to rigidly over the course of the last two-and-a-bit a years is taken away, dismantled slowly by Parliament this week, I think it would be very difficult for the Prime Minister to stay in office for very much longer.'
Mrs Morgan, who has said she will vote for the Brexit deal tomorrow, said it may be up to the Cabinet to tell Mrs May that the time has come for her to go.
'They are going to have to take a role in saying potentially to the Prime Minister, 'Actually, things have changed significantly. We think you should think about your position, Prime Minister',' she added.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
