‘We cannot serve our country by overturning the people’s decision’

Theresa May spent ­almost an hour on her feet in the House of Commons imploring MPs to back her agreement with the EU.

Britain's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox gives his legal opinion during the Brexit debate in the House of Commons. Picture: AP

Theresa May warned MPs that they, and not Brussels, would be blamed if Brexit were “lost” because they rejected her deal yesterday.

The Prime Minister spent ­almost an hour on her feet in the House of Commons imploring MPs to back her agreement with the EU.

She addressed them hours after it emerged that Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox had not changed his legal advice, dealing a blow to her hopes of a significant parliamentary breakthrough.

Watched from the public gallery by her husband, Philip, Mrs May warned MPs not to let the great be the enemy of the good.

If they rejected her deal “then Brexit could be lost”, she said, ­saying “it falls to us here to ­implement” the referendum ­result.

“We cannot serve our country by overturning a decision of the British people … by refusing to compromise,” she said. “The time has come to deliver on the instruction we were given. The time has come to back this deal.’’

A delay to Brexit would create more uncertainty for business, she said. Accepting the deal would show “the UK is a country that honours the democratic decisions taken by our people in referendums and in elections”.

Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh told his fellow Brexiteers that the deal was “not perfect, but it delivers Brexit”.

Other Eurosceptic Tories were scathing. Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, told MPs he could not accept Mr Cox’s claim that there was a minimal legal risk that Britain would be trapped in the Irish backstop, the insurance policy to prevent a hard border that critics warn could leave Britain stuck in a Customs union with the EU.

He called a no-deal Brexit “the only safe route to self-respect” and said if rejected, Mrs May’s deal should be “put to bed”.

Sir Bill Cash, a Eurosceptic Tory MP and chairman of the ­European scrutiny committee, told Mrs May he would vote against her plans, saying they ­“undermined” the Brexit vote.

This was echoed by Tory Conor Burns, who warned that if MPs passed the deal, they would be telling Leave voters “their voice did not matter”.

Tory Andrea Jenkyns, said Mrs May’s deal was “the same bad deal for this country’s ­future” despite extra talks with Brussels. She called on Britain to “just leave” on March 29.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said he would have “preferred” unilateral withdrawal, and the issue of the backstop was now “one of trust”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Mrs May of “running down the clock” for three months only to fail to achieve any of her aims. He said her agreement was a “bad deal that will damage our economy, undermine our industries, irreparably harm our manufacturing sector, risk our NHS, damage our public services (and) harm living standards”.

Chris Leslie, of the newly formed breakaway Independent Group of former Tory and Labour MPs accused Mr Corbyn of “colluding in the drift ­towards such a disastrous Brexit” by not backing a second referendum soon enough.

The Times