Vote for Brexit deal if you want a second referendum, desperate ministers tell MPs in last-ditch bid to save May's plan

MINISTERS are begging MPs to vote for Theresa May's deal even if they want a softer Brexit or second referendum in a last-ditch bid to push it over the line.

No10 will tell MPs from across the Brexit divide they should vote in favour of the deal – then amend it to get the outcome they really want.

The gambit is intended to buy Mrs May a few more weeks to save her Brexit plan and prolong her time in No10.

The 100-page Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which would write the deal into law, will be published this week.

The Commons will then vote on it in the first week of June – with the so-called "second reading" being the first major hurdle.

If the bill passes second reading, it will enter committee and report stage, when MPs have the power to attach amendments.

A Cabinet minister told The Sun: "There's no reason for anyone who supports Brexit, who wants to respect the referendum result, not to vote for it at second reading."

But in a further appeal to Remainer MPs, the minister added: "After the second reading you could have the debate on the customs union, a 'confirmatory referendum' and so on."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC today: "If you want as an MP to leave the EU and deliver on the result of the referendum, no matter what the details you want to see in terms of the future relationship, you need to vote for this legislation – and then have the debate in the committee stages later on exactly what the details are."

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