Theresa May: Brexit won't be easier if I'm ousted

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Conservative Party's Spring Forum in Cardiff, Wales, March 17, 2017. /REUTERS
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Conservative Party's Spring Forum in Cardiff, Wales, March 17, 2017. /REUTERS

Theresa May has told her critics that getting rid of her as PM would not make delivering Brexit any easier.

Mrs May, who has been facing calls for a no-confidence vote from some of her MPs since her draft plan for leaving the EU was published on Wednesday, said there was a "critical" week ahead.

Talks on the UK's future relationship with the EU were continuing ahead of an expected EU summit next week, she said.

Jeremy Corbyn said Labour could get a better deal in time for Brexit.

There has been widespread criticism of the draft withdrawal agreement reached between the UK and the EU, which is set be signed off at a special summit next week.

There is also doubt over whether it can win the approval of the House of Commons, with opposition parties - including Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party - opposing it.

Some cabinet ministers have resigned and others are believed to be still trying to change its wording.

In other developments:

"Politics is a tough business and I've been in it for a long time," she said, adding that the next seven days "are going to be critical" for the future of the UK.

Asked whether Sir Graham Brady - chairman of the backbench 1922 committee - had received the 48 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in her leadership, she replied: "As far as I know, no - it has not."

And in a warning to those pushing for a change of leader, she said: "It is not going to make the negotiations any easier and it won't change the parliamentary arithmetic."

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