Brexit news latest: Theresa May faces calls for cross-party ‘unity government’ to end deadlock after deal rejected again

Britain may need a government of national unity if Theresa May cannot deliver on Brexit, a Tory former cabinet minister has warned after the Prime Minister’s deal was rejected. 

Nicky Morgan said a cross-party coalition may be the only way to break the deadlock after MPs again rejected the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement by 344 to 286 votes, a margin of 58.

The Commons is due to hold a second round of indicative votes on Monday on alternatives to Mrs May’s plan amid warnings that Westminster is rapidly running out of time to resolve the crisis and speculation over a fresh General Election.

With Mrs May determined to bring back her deal for the fourth time, Mrs Morgan said if MPs were able to coalesce around one alternative it may need a unity government to implement it. 

“If the Government refused and Theresa May felt she could not implement what Parliament had identified as a way of leaving the EU, then I think we would have to think very hard about whether a cross-party coalition, group of people, whatever, could do that in order to make sure that the UK does leave the EU in an orderly fashion,” she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The former education secretary – touted as a possible “unity” prime minister – added: “It may well be that if you end up with a cross-party approach to finding a majority in the House of Commons it might be that you need a cross-party approach to implementing it.

“There have been periods in our history when we have had national unity governments or a coalition for a very specific issue.”

However, the idea was rejected by Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis, who insisted that Mrs May’s deal was still the best way to deliver an orderly withdrawal from the EU.

“A national government is not the answer. It doesn’t change the parliamentary maths and the fact that when MPs have voted they have consistently failed to come to a conclusion,” he told Today.

His comments come after Labour deputy leader Tom Watson also suggested the time had come for a national unity government in an interview with Prospect magazine. 

He said: “I prefer Labour governments and I hope we never get to a point where our economy or security is so in peril that we get a government of national unity.”

But he added: “If needs must, we have to then do what’s right.”