A minister has been photographed carrying a sheet of paper declaring “no food” and “no Channel tunnel”, as MPs prepare to vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Mel Stride, the financial secretary to the Treasury and paymaster general, was snapped as he left a Brexit meeting in Downing Street on Monday.

The government has repeatedly warned that a no-deal Brexit – which could happen if MPs vote against the prime minister’s plan tomorrow – would be bad for the UK.

But some pro-Brexit Tories have accused the PM of trying to scare MPs into backing her deal.

So simple was the message, scribbled in large letters easily seen by cameras, many suspected it was done on purpose. 

May admitted today assurances from the EU that it does not want the backstop to be triggered will not be enough to persuade many MPs to back her Brexit deal.