Brexit: Theresa May's plan to get her deal through parliament revealed by Tory Commons leader Andrea Leadsom

Nicola Sturgeon accuses prime minister of planning to ‘run down the clock’ to Brexit day next March, saying: ‘Parliament can’t allow her to get away with that’

Andrea Leadsom has lifted the lid on Theresa May’s demands in her emergency talks with the EU to salvage her Brexit deal, insisting she has “plenty of options”.

The prime minister will seek an “addendum” to the withdrawal agreement, the Commons leader said – giving MPs power over whether to enter the Irish border backstop and to pull out of it.

Ms Leadsom suggested the change would be “legally binding”, despite the EU ruling out legal changes and No 10 refusing to say Ms May would make such a demand.

The insight came as Ms Leadsom launched an extraordinary attack on John Bercow, the Commons speaker, accusing him of anti-Brexit bias and suggesting he should be removed.

Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, piled pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to accelerate a motion of no confidence in the government, following the decision to shelve the Brexit vote.

The SNP leader accused the prime minister of planning to “run down the clock”, in the hope MPs – faced with the horror of a no-deal Brexit – fear there is no alternative but to approve the agreement next year.

“Parliament can’t allow her to get away with that,” Ms Sturgeon said. “The stakes are too high and the implications too serious.”

The normal Tuesday cabinet meeting was cancelled as Ms May headed to The Hague, Berlin and Brussels, to beg EU leaders for further concessions to ease the pain of the deal in the UK.

However, any hopes of success were dented immediately by Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, who said the EU would offer only “further clarity” – without changing the agreement.

“The deal we have achieved is the best deal possible, it is the only deal possible, and so there is no room whatsoever for renegotiation,” he told the European parliament.

“This will not happen. Everyone has to know that the withdrawal agreement will not be reopened.”

Nevertheless – exposing the gulf between the two sides – Ms Leadsom insisted it was essential the EU conceded to parliament an extra “democratic ability to decide”.

“That might include an addendum to the withdrawal agreement that sets out that parliament will vote prior to going into a backstop, should that prove necessary, and potentially that the EU parliament and UK parliament must vote every year thereafter to provide that legitimacy for the UK to stay in the backstop, should that prove necessary,” she told BBC Radio 4.

“So, there are plenty of options for the prime minister to talk to the EU about that don’t involve reopening the withdrawal agreement, but that would provide the legal text as a part of the withdrawal agreement, through perhaps an addendum.”

Ms Sturgeon said the only thing blocking a parliamentary majority for a Final Say referendum on the Brexit outcome was the fact that “Labour is not yet behind that”.

“In order to put that to the test to get to that point, we need to get Labour off of the fence that it is determinedly sitting on right now and backing a clear way forward.”

Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister and deputy chair of the European Research Group (ERG), urged fellow Tory MPs to put in no-confidence letters to reach the 48-letter mark that would trigger a formal challenge.

“What I would say to my colleagues is: you now face the certainty of failure with Theresa May, you must be brave and make the right decision to change prime minister, and change prime minister now,” he said.