MPs get early holiday with Tories plotting against Theresa May and her Brexit strategy

The House of Commons term is to end early on Thursday. The last day had been scheduled for Tuesday July 24.

Commons sources said the Government is going to bring forward a motion to end the parliamentary term early on Thursday, ditching plans to sit on Monday and Tuesday next week.

It comes with the Prime Minister's Chequers plan for leaving the EU coming under fire from all sides of the Conservative Party, with a string of Ministerial and frontbench resignations over the last week.

The move suggests Number 10 is seeking to send MPs away from Westminster early to break up any plots to oust Mrs May, amid intense speculation that the threshold of 48 letters required to trigger a vote of no confidence in the PM is close to being reached.

Breaking up on Thursday would theoretically give Mrs May's opponents just three more full days to get the required signatures and hold a vote.

MPs will also go home as the new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab travels to Brussels to meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier for the first time since taking the role from David Davis, who resigned last week.

Their meeting will round off a week of fresh Brexit negotiations and any EU rejection of Mrs May's proposals could spark chaos in Westminster, as Leavers do not want her to make any more concessions to Brussels.

A Labour source said: "It is staggering that the Tories are in such a state they are considering just packing up and going home. Maybe Theresa May is eyeing up a walking holiday?"