MPs say they are ready to push May towards softer Brexit

“If she comes forward with a process on Thursday then that would be a way forward … but if she doesn’t that is when we will be looking at possible amendments or other approaches … to make sure you can get indicative votes,” Cooper said in a speech at the Centre for European Reform.

She said it was “time to pivot, not to dig in” and said the risk of extension was that May would “do more of the same, running round in circles on the backstop and running down the clock”.

“We were going to have to start facing these choices this summer anyway under the prime minister’s deal. So instead let’s take the first few months of the transition period to make those decisions as part of the article 50 process instead. Let’s decide before we finish article 50 rather than after,” Cooper said.