CLACTON MP Giles Watling voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Mrs May’s government faced a vote of no confidence last night after MPs rejected her deal at Tuesday’s meaningful vote on Brexit in Parliament.

The Clacton MP was unhappy about the deal’s two-year transition period while the UK and EU negotiate their long-term relationship.

It included a controversial “backstop” preventing border controls in Ireland in case the long-term relationship is not agreed by the end of 2020.

Mr Watling said: “Prior to the vote, I said that I could not back this deal, solely because of my concerns about the backstop.

“The Government’s own legal advice makes clear that this backstop could endure indefinitely, and this would keep us locked into a customs union with the EU.

“There is no absolute guarantee in this deal that we will not be trapped in a never-ending backstop limbo.

“I know that this outcome would be unacceptable to many of my constituents and would mean that the last two years of pain and division would have been for nought.

“I do appreciate that my vote moves us closer towards leaving without a deal, and that in my view would leave us worse off, but I believe that, ironically, the result of the vote will give our leadership a stronger hand when going back to Brussels.

“We must get the right deal for the country and this deal is not that.

“I am sure that the British public, and many of my constituents, would far prefer a no deal outcome to any deal that left us vulnerable to an indefinite backstop.”

Mr Watling added he would be supporting the Government in the vote of no confidence so negotiations can resume quickly, rather than wasting time trying to form a new government.

He added: “As ever, I do not believe that we should have a second referendum, nor extend or revoke Article 50.

“A second referendum would bring even more uncertainty. Extending Article 50 merely prolongs the agony and will achieve very little.

“The British people voted to leave, and we must deliver on that instruction.”

Senior Tory party figures said the vote of no confidence, triggered by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was unlikely to succeed as Northern Ireland’s DUP and Conservative rebels were expected to back Mrs May.

If she survives the vote, the PM said she will return to the Commons with an alternative plan next week.