Theresa May faces brutal Commons showdown as Labour and SNP wrangle over no-confidence vote

On Tuesday, she made a whistle-stop tour of European capitals, seeking “further assurances” on the Irish backstop.

In Berlin ahead of a meeting with Angela Merkel, the PM suffered the embarrassment of being locked in her limousine for several seconds before being greeted by the German Chancellor.

Today, after a post-PMQs Cabinet, Mrs May will travel to Dublin for talks with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the hope of getting Ireland to agree to make the backstop time-limited in a legally-binding addendum to the Withdrawal Agreement.

However, while Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, said the EU would be willing to look at “clarifications,” he made clear there was "no room whatsoever for renegotiation".

After their meeting in the Belgian capital, the PM insisted there was a “shared determination” to solve the backstop impasse.

Amid speculation of a possible Tory rebel challenge to her leadership, Mrs May will again travel to Brussels on Thursday for the December European Council, which now has Brexit on its agenda.

No 10 confirmed the postponed Commons vote on the UK-EU deal would take place before January 21 but it is not expected to be before Christmas.

In an emergency Commons debate, Jeremy Corbyn accused the “runaway prime minister” of “demeaning her office” by delaying the Brexit vote.

The Labour leader said he had never “witnessed such an abject mess” in his 35 years in Parliament as Mrs May’s handling of Brexit.

“This is no longer a functioning government and the Prime Minister must admit her deal is dead,” declared Mr Corbyn.

Ian Blackford for the SNP attacked the Conservative leader’s "pathetic cowardice" in pulling the Brexit vote, saying the Government was “out of control, out of its depth and increasingly running out of time".

David Lidington, Mrs May’s de facto deputy, said the decision to defer the vote had been agreed by the Cabinet. He stressed the Government saw January 21 as a “deadline and not as a target" and made clear he would "not prejudge what the outcome of the conversations the Prime Minister is having with other European leaders will be".

Earlier, a row broke out between Labour and the SNP over when to call a no-confidence vote in the Conservative Government.

Nicola Sturgeon took to the airwaves to urge Mr Corbyn to call a snap vote at Westminster, declaring: "For goodness sake, if the time is not right now, when will the time be right?”

After leaders of the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Greens urged the Labour leader in a joint letter to call a no-confidence vote, they repeated it, alongside Conservative Remainer Anna Soubry, at a London press conference supporting the campaign for a People’s Vote.

Ian Blackford, the Nationalist leader at Westminster, urged Mr Corbyn to fulfil his duty as Leader of the Opposition to table the no-confidence vote and suggested that if he had not done so by midnight on Tuesday, then the Highland MP would take the initiative.

It appeared the Labour leadership took umbrage at the SNP pressure.

Mr Corbyn, who insisted he would “do the appropriate thing at the appropriate time,” cancelled a meeting with Mr Blackford while John McDonnell hit out at the First Minister, accusing the SNP of being “terrified of a general election”.

The Shadow Chancellor said: “Who can delve into the mind of Nicola Sturgeon but they want to lose a vote of no-confidence and then avoid a general election because they know we're breathing down their necks in Scotland; we'll take seats off them in so many marginals."

The Nationalists accused Mr McDonnell of “clutching at straws,” insisting they would “relish a general election”.

A party spokesman said the SNP was the “only party which has been consistent in its opposition to the Tories' Brexit shambles and recent polls suggest we would win seats from Labour, not the reverse”.