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Mrs May made the dramatic offer to step down in the next few months in a meeting of backbench Conservative MPs at Westminster, after senior Tories said that setting a timetable for her departure was a pre-requisite of winning support for her deal.
“I know some people are worried that if you vote for the withdrawal agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have. I won’t — I hear what you are saying”, Mrs May told MPs.
“I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party,” she added.
The offer to quit is intended to pave the way for a possible third vote on her exit deal in the next 48 hours, as it gives Tory Eurosceptics the hope they can take over the second phase of exit talks.
I ask everyone in this room to back the deal so we can complete our historic duty: to deliver on the decision of the British people Theresa May Mrs May indicated that if her exit deal is approved by the Commons, she will stay on as prime minister to oversee Britain’s departure from the EU: securing Brexit would then become her political legacy.
“I ask everyone in this room to back the deal so we can complete our historic duty: to deliver on the decision of the British people and leave the European Union with a smooth and orderly exit,” she said. [...]
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