The Northern Irish party, whose 10 MPs are propping up Mrs May's Government, and the influential ERG group of around 100 Tories led by Jacob Rees-Mogg are set to vote with Labour to oppose her divorce when the Commons votes at 7pm tonight.
This likely fatal blow to Mrs May's Brexit deal came after her Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC admitted the 11th hour deal struck in Strasbourg last night failed to reverse his legal advice that Britain could be locked into EU rules forever through the Irish backstop.
In his bombshell letter presented to the cabinet this morning Mr Cox said: 'The legal risk remains unchanged. The UK would have no internationally lawful means of exiting the Protocol's arrangements, save by agreement'.
His overall conclusion immediately sparked a negative reaction from the DUP - seen as the key group the PM needed to win over - with MP Nigel Dodds, who is also barrister, saying Mrs May's deal meant: 'Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom could be trapped'.
Veteran Brexiteer Bill Cash said: 'In the light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the Government’s motion today' while fellow Tory MP John Whittingdale said Mr Cox had inflicted 'terminal' damage on the PM's deal.
Hours after releasing his bombshell letter Mr Cox attempted to defend Mrs May's deal and told the Commons it is 'highly unlikely' that the UK and EU would not reach an agreement on their future relationship - and insisted MPs had to make a 'political decision' tonight not a legal one.
After hearing the bad news Theresa May left Downing Street this morning to beg her own MPs to vote for her deal in a lunchtime meeting, warning them that Britain may never leave the EU if they refuse to back her tonight. One MP in the meeting said she 'needed to bring back a rabbit but she had only managed a hamster'.
Minutes earlier she told her cabinet that she did have 'legally-binding changes' to the backstop and ended the meeting by saying: 'Today is the day. Let's get this done'.
If Mrs May's deal fails tonight it will kick-start a move by MPs to block no deal and delay Brexit in votes tomorrow and on Thursday. In a clear threat to Tory Brexiteers, leading Tory remainer Nick Boles, who is working with Labour MPs to deliver the softest possible Brexit, tweeted: 'Do yourselves a favour. Take the win. Vote for the deal. But if you won't, please don't say I didn't warn you about what comes next'.
MAilOnline
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