LONDON 18 Nov (ANA) - Theresa May has told her critics that getting rid of her as PM would not make delivering Brexit any easier.

 

Mrs May defended last week's draft agreement for leaving the EU and said there was a "critical" week ahead.

 

She suggested agreeing more details of UK's future relationship with the EU, ahead of an expected summit next week, could satisfy the concerns of some of the Tory MPs opposed to her plans.

 

Jeremy Corbyn said Labour could get a better deal in time for Brexit.

 

There has been widespread criticism of the draft withdrawal agreement reached between the UK and the EU, which is set be signed off at a special summit next week.

 

There is also doubt over whether it can win the approval of the House of Commons, with opposition parties - including Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party - opposing it.

 

Some cabinet ministers have resigned and others are believed to be still trying to change its wording.

 

Mrs May told Sky News's Ridge on Sunday it had been a "tough week" but that she would not be distracted.

 

"Politics is a tough business and I've been in it for a long time," she said, adding that the next seven days "are going to be critical" for the future of the UK.

 

Asked whether Sir Graham Brady - chairman of the backbench 1922 committee - had received the 48 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in her leadership, she replied: "As far as I know, no - it has not."

 

And in a warning to those pushing for a change of leader, she said: "It is not going to make the negotiations any easier and it won't change the parliamentary arithmetic."

 

EU's future relationship could look like - has triggered resignations from the cabinet including that of Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab.

 

Mrs May said negotiations were still taking place to put more detail into the future deal proposals, saying it was this part that "delivers on the Brexit vote".

 

Sir Graham told BBC Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics he would not reveal how many letters he had received - saying he had not even told his wife, who is his parliamentary assistant.

 

"I get asked in the supermarket, in the street," he said.

 

Sir Graham said he found the suggestion he had received 48 letters but not acted on it to be "slightly offensive".

 

"It's critical that people trust my integrity in this," he said.

 

Sir Graham also told the BBC's Sunday Politics North West it was "very likely" Mrs May would win a vote of no-confidence if there was one.

 

Mr Raab, who negotiated for the UK with the EU's Michel Barnier, has been explaining his decision to quit on the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

 

With "two or three points" being changed he could support the government's proposals, he said.

 

He said he did not know who had inserted a clause on customs relations into the future partnership document but said it was a "clear breach" of the Conservative manifesto.

 

"The difficulty for me is that I was being asked to go over to Brussels and sign on the bottom line... on a deal which I said in good conscience I did not feel was right for the country," he said.

 

"I do think we are being bullied, I do think we are being subjected to what is pretty close to blackmail frankly.

 

"I do think there is a point at which, we probably should have done it before, where we just say 'I'm sorry this is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we cannot accept those dictated terms'."(ANA)

FA/ANA/18 November 2018------