THERESA MAY told the Commons that the Government was stepping up preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

Mrs May told the House of Commons she would meet other European leaders and the leaders of the European Council and Commission ahead of Thursday's summit in Brussels.

Announcing the decision to delay the vote on the Brexit deal, Mrs May told the Commons that if it had gone ahead as planned, the Government would have been defeated by a significant margin.

"I have listened very carefully to what has been said in this chamber and out of it by Members from all sides," she said.

"From listening to those views it is clear that while there is broad support for key aspects of the deal, on one issue, the Northern Ireland backstop, there remains widespread and deep concern.

"As a result, if we went ahead tomorrow it would be rejected by a significant margin."

Mrs May said she believed there was "a majority to be won" in the Commons on her deal, if she is able to "secure additional reassurance on the backstop".

The PM said the fundamental question for MPs to answer was: "Does this House want to deliver Brexit?"

If so, she said that they needed to ask themselves whether they were willing to make compromises.

Mrs May said it was an "inescapable fact" that the Northern Ireland/Ireland border would become the external EU border on March 30.

She told the Commons: "The challenge this poses must be met, not with rhetoric, but with real and workable solutions.

"Businesses operate across that border, people live their lives crossing and recrossing it every day.

"I have been there and spoken to some of those people, they do not want their every-day lives to change as a result of the decision we have taken. They do not want a return to a hard border.

"If this House cares about preserving our Union it must listen to those people because our Union will only endure with their consent."

Mrs May said she would meet her EU counterparts in advance of the European Council this week.

She told MPs: "I am clear from what I have heard in this place and from my own conversations that these elements do not offer a sufficient number of colleagues the reassurance that they need.

"I spoke to a number of EU leaders over the weekend and in advance of the European Council I will go to see my counterparts in other member states and the leadership of the Council and the Commission. I will discuss with them the clear concerns that this House has expressed."

She said the Government was also looking at "new ways of empowering the House of Commons" to ensure that any provision for a backstop has "democratic legitimacy and to enable the House to place its own obligations on the Government to ensure that the backstop cannot be in place indefinitely".