Nineteen Labour MPs braced for Saturday night showdown with Jeremy Corbyn to help Boris Johnson deliver Brexit

NINETEEN Labour MPs are braced for a Saturday night showdown with their party leader to help Boris Johnson deliver Brexit.

They are ready to defy Jeremy Corbyn and back the PM if he returns from Brussels with a deal next weekend.

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Their support would be enough to carry it over the line in a crucial Commons vote – and ensure Britain leaves the EU in just 18 days’ time.

The “rabble alliance” of Remainer MPs were plotting a fresh wave of wrecking tactics to sabotage the process.

Battle lines were drawn for the most dramatic week in politics for decades as British and EU negotiators were locked in a weekend of intense talks ahead of a crunch summit on Thursday.

Hopes of a breakthrough came after Mr Johnson and Irish PM Leo Varadkar announced they could see a “pathway to a possible deal” after a four hour meeting.

Diplomats said the pair had agreed to a way of agreeing a customs deal that would not trap Northern Ireland in the EU or require border checks.

SUPER SATURDAY

If technical details thrashed out this weekend are agreed at a two-day Brussel summit starting on Thursday, MPs will get the final say at a “Super Saturday” sitting – the first since the Falklands War 37 years ago.

At least 19 Labour MPs will back any deal that has the support of hardline Tory Brexiteers and the Democratic Unionist Party.

The group - including Dan Jarvis, Caroline Flint, Sarah Peacock and Melanie Onn – had written a letter to EU chiefs to assure them they would vote it through.

A Labour source said: “The 19 are rock solid in favour of a deal but there are several others ready to jump aboard to get Brexit done.

“If Boris Johnson can bring one back that his party supports, then he will have the numbers to get it through the Commons.”

But the DUP has threatened to torpedo the make or break deal if Northern Ireland is treated differently from the rest of the UK.

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Nigel Dodds, the party’s deputy leader, said: “Northern Ireland must remain fully part of the UK customs union.”

And ministers fear die-hard Remainers will try to ambush Mr Johnson by mounting a fresh coup while he is away in Brussels.

Some want to seize control of the Commons business on Thursday if it looks like the PM has secured a deal – giving them a chance to thwart a vote and forcing him to seek a delay under laws they passed to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

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