Dominic Raab, who was appointed Brexit minister in the summer after the resignation of David Davis, said in his resignation letter that he could not support “an indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit”.

He was quickly followed by work and pensions secretary Esther McVey. “The deal you put before the cabinet yesterday does not honour the result of the referendum,” the Brexiter minister said in a letter to the prime minister.

Mrs May defended her Brexit plan as she gave her statement in the House of Commons on Thursday morning, insisting that the alternatives were no Brexit or no deal.

“We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all, or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated,” she said.