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Emma Reynolds MP: Theresa May's error was not to ask for help

Theresa May has made a fatal mistake in failing to work with other parties to forge a Brexit deal capable of winning widespread support, a Labour MP has said.

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Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds

Emma Reynolds said the Prime Minister's decision to pull last night's meaningful vote on her deal showed she was 'running scared of her own party and the DUP'.

Mrs May delayed the vote – potentially until January – in a bid to gain concessions from the EU over the Irish backstop. It comes after she conceded that in its current form her deal had no chance of passing the Commons.

But Wolverhampton North East MP Ms Reynolds, who sits on the Brexit Select Committee, insists that she will vote against the deal when it finally goes before MPs.

"I am disappointed that the Prime Minister has not taken this opportunity to reach out beyond her party," said Ms Reynolds, who backed Remain in the EU referendum.

"By delaying the vote, it looks like she is running scared of her own party and the DUP.

"It is a mistake not to reach out across the House. The reality is that many MPs – including me – will not vote for her deal even if she manages to get changes made to the Irish backstop issue.

"There are numerous problems with the deal. As the Chancellor, and the Government's own analysis has said, it makes people worse off.

"I cannot, in my own conscience, vote for something that I strongly believe will make my constituents poorer."

Mrs May's announcement that she was postponing the vote prompted chaotic scenes in Parliament, with MPs from all parties furious at the decision, which followed a week of heated Commons debates on her deal.

She is expected to ask Brussels to change elements of the agreement, although the EU has said the current deal is the only one available to the UK.