Theresa May could hold 2018 general election if she fails to get landmark Brexit bill through Parliament

THERESA May has opened the door to a 2018 general election if she fails to get her landmark Brexit bill through Parliament.

The PM yesterday unveiled her plan for a Great Repeal Bill next year to make sure Britain is ready to leave the EU as soon as an exit deal with Brussels is done.

But some pro-Remain peers and MPs - such as Tory veteran Ken Clarke - have already pledged to vote down any law authorising Brexit.

Challenged on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Mrs May pointedly refused to rule out going to the country if her plan is blocked in the Commons or the Lords.

Mrs May would only say: “The people have spoken, we will deliver on that.”

The PM keeping the option open stands in stark contrast to her ruling out a snap Spring general election next year.

Tory MPs have called on her to increase her wafer thin Tory majority and capitalise on Labour’s chaos.

Dismissing the idea yesterday, Mrs May said a very early poll would only cause “instability” and the vote "should" be in 2020.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling attacked pro-EU parliamentarians yesterday for threatening to block Brexit.

He branded any bid to reverse the EU referendum result by them as "inconceivable".

Mrs May also attacked an attempt by lawyers to force a vote on the start of formal EU exit talks under the Lisbon Treaty’s Article 50 process.

She told the Tory faithful that the government’s top legal officer Attorney General Jeremy Wright would himself go to court next week to oppose it.

The PM told the conference hall in Birmingham: “Those people who argue that Article 50 can only be triggered after agreement in both Houses of Parliament are not standing up for democracy, they’re trying to subvert it.

“They’re not trying to get Brexit right, they’re trying to kill it by delaying it.

“They are insulting the intelligence of the British people.”