May wants Brexit talks without Commons vote

A source in her office said that May was “committed to deliver the public’s verdict in June’s referendum” – when 52% voted for Britain to leave the EU.

Mr Smith said: “Theresa May is clearly running scared from parliamentary scrutiny of her Brexit negotiations”.

Once Article 50 is triggered, it would start a two-year countdown to Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Meanwhile Gus O’Donnell – former head of the civil service – said Brexit was not inevitable and Britain could still remain a part of the changed EU.

In this Wednesday, July 20, 2016 file photo, Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing street to attend her first Prime Ministers Questions at the House of Parliament in London.

However, government lawyers are confident that they will win, paving the way for Article 50 to be triggered at the beginning of next year, which could see Britain leave the European Union in 2019.

Those mounting the challenge say the course proposed by the Government is unlawful because only Parliament is empowered to authorise service of the Article 50 notice and consequent withdrawal from the EU.

“It might be that the broader, more loosely aligned group, is something that the United Kingdom is happy being a member of”. Prime Minister Theresa May is attempting to allay disquiet about her surprise delay to a Chinese-backed nuclear power plant by reassuring China’s leader that Britain wants strong relations with Beijing.

He was quoted Saturday telling The Times newspaper that a British exit “depends on what happens to public opinion and whether the European Union changes before then”.

The challenges facing Government are “immense”, but “the probability of us not leaving is very, very low and we need to get on and implement the people’s decision to leave”, he told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.

Meanwhile, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith suggested Britain could rely on bare bones World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules to trade with the European Union following Brexit.

“My instinct is we will nearly certainly stick with them and say, ‘OK we’ll keep them for now, so you can leave with everything in place, ‘” he told The Times newspaper.