Theresa May is facing the end of her premiership within days as her MPs try to sack her for a “betrayal” over Brexit, and the political crisis threatens to become an economic one.

The Prime Minister last night vowed to fight on despite a wave of ministerial resignations and pro-Brexit Tory MPs demanding her removal from Downing Street.

“And am I going to see this through? Yes," she said.

However her opponents within the Tory party, led by the arch Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, had already launched a campaign to force her out through a vote of no confidence.

The pound fell against the dollar and euro and stocks in banks and housebuilders slumped as it appeared Mrs May could not get her Brexit plan through Westminster, shortening the odds on No Deal .

At a press conference in Number 10, Mrs May said: “I believe with every fibre of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country and all our people.

"Leadership is about taking the right decisions, not the easy ones.

"My job is to bring back a deal that delivers on the vote of the British people... ending free movement ... ensuring we are not sending vast annual sums to the EU any longer, ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, but also protects jobs and protects people's livelihoods, protects our security, protects the Union.

"I believe this is a deal which does deliver that, which is in the national interest. Am I going to see this through? Yes."

The Herald:

Mrs May’s fate now appears to rest with her Leave-supporting Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who has so far remained in the cabinet.

He rejected an offer to become her third Brexit Secretary in 18 months following Dominic Raab’s resignation yesterday.

Mrs May refused his pre-condition of rewriting her 585-page draft withdrawal agreement and delaying a sign-off meeting of EU leaders scheduled for November 25.

If Mr Gove quits, the loss of confidence in Mrs May would almost certainly be irreparable.

In an extraordinarily fast-moving day at Westminster, Mrs May suffered five resignations before addressing MPs on her draft agreement at 10.30am.

Mr Raab and his fellow Brexiter Pensions Secretary Esther McVey walked out of the cabinet, saying the plan, which Mrs May had touted as a breakthrough in Downing Street barely 12 hours earlier, threatened the Union and British democracy.

Also leaving the government were Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara, Brexit minister Suella Braverman, and education parliamentary private secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Ms Braverman said generations of people would see plan “as betrayal”.

After Mrs May insisted in the Commons that her plan was in the national interest, she was assailed by critics in her own party who told her MPs would never agree to it.

One told her she ought to resign, while another pleaded with her to “face reality.”

Jeremy Corbyn said the government was “in chaos” and confirmed Labour would not back the draft withdrawal agreement.

He told party members last night that if the crisis did not lead to a general election, he would support “all options remaining on the table”, including a second EU referendum.

Mrs May’s previous allies in the DUP, on whom she has relied for a majority, also rejected the deal, accusing her of breaking promises and not listening to criticism.

Justice PPS Ranil Jayawardena and Rehman Chisti, Vice chair of the Tory Party, then quit.

As ever, the main problem for Mrs May was the Irish backstop arrangement to avoid the return of a hard border between the republic and the north.

The draft agreement proposes a temporary UK-wide customs arrangement until a future trade deal is settled, which Brexiters fear could become permanent as the EU’s approval would be required to end it.

There would also be closer alignment to EU rules for Ulster, which the DUP and others say would divide the UK economically and undermine the Union.

Mrs May admitted the negotiations had involved “difficult choices” on the backstop.

"We can choose to leave with no deal, we can risk no Brexit at all, or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated," she said.

In his resignation letter, Mr Raab said he could not accept "an indefinite backstop arrangement" for the Irish border, adding: "No democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement."

Mr Raab, who had been in post barely four months after succeeding David Davis, who also quit over Mrs May’s plans, later told the BBC there were “fatal flaws” in the plan, and the UK should be ready to risk a no-deal Brexit rather than give in to EU “blackmail”.

In a vivid example of government infighting, Scottish Secretary David Mundell called Mr Raab a “carpetbagger” who was motivated by his own desire to become party leader.

Ms McVey, who was promoted to the Cabinet in January, said: "We have gone from no deal is better than a bad deal, to any deal is better than no deal. I cannot defend this, and I cannot vote for this deal. I could not look my constituents in the eye were I to do that."

Mr Rees-Mogg, the leader of a 60-strong group of hardline Brexiter Tory MPs, said Mrs May had broken her promises to the country and had to go.

Publishing his own letter demanding a vote of No Confidence in the Prime Minister, he said he expected enough MPs would do likewise to trigger a vote on her future.

The last time the Conservatives held a No Confidence vote in their leader was 2003, when Iain Duncan Smith was dismissed just 24 hours after MPs called for the vote.

The current threshold is 15% of the parliamentary party - 48 MPs - writing to Graham Brady, the chair of Tory backbench group, the 1922 Committee.

Speaking outside parliament, Mr Rees-Mogg denied it was “a coup”, as he was acting in an “entirely constitutional" way not using "illegitimate procedures" to oust Mrs May.

He said the country needed a leader who would “stand up to the European Union”.

He denied being motivated by personal ambition and was not offering his name as leader.

He suggested Boris Johnson, Mr Davis, Ms McVey, Mr Raab or Penny Mordaunt could replace her.

His letter said the draft withdrawal agreement was “worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the prime minister, either on her own account or on behalf of us all in the Conservative party manifesto”.

If Mrs May loses a no confidence vote, it would lead to a Tory leadership contest, a new Prime Minister and demands for a general election, but would not solve the stalemate over Brexit in parliament, where no option for the future commands a clear majority.

Mr Rees-Mogg said Mrs May’s successor could be chosen “not in months, but weeks",

The turmoil saw sterling fall 1.7% against the dollar and 1.9% against the euro, while stocks fell in the sectors of the economy seen as most at risk from a no deal downturn.

Royal Bank of Scotland was down 9% and housebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments seeing 7% declines.

SNP constitutional relations secretary Michael Russell told Holyrood that Mrs May’s deal was “essentially dead” and Holyrood would have a symbolic vote on it.