British vote on Brexit deal will be ‘as soon as possible in January’

British MPs will not be asked to vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal before the end of this year, Downing Street has said.

A Number 10 spokeswoman told reporters: “The ‘meaningful vote’ will not be brought to Parliament before Christmas.”

The spokeswoman said the vote – which was scheduled for Tuesday this week but postponed by the British Prime Minister after she accepted she would lose heavily – will come “as soon as possible in January”. The Government has committed to holding it before January 21.

It comes after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who held a lengthy one-to-one meeting with Mrs May ahead of the main summit, said that while the EU was keen to assist her, it could not reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.

“As the European Union we are very keen to offer explanations, assurances, clarifications, anything that may assist MPs to understand the agreement and, hopefully, to support it but the backstop is not on the table,” he said.

“If the backstop has an expiry date, if there is a unilateral exit clause then it is not a backstop. That would be to render it inoperable.

“That would mean reopening the substance of the Withdrawal Agreement and the European Union is unequivocal that is not an option.”