PARLIAMENT is today in the midst of fresh Brexit chaos after the House of Commons’ speaker said Theresa May could not put her unchanged withdrawal plan to another vote.

John Bercow said the deal would have to be substantially different from the package which MPs rejected last week.

His decision – made after consulting the parliamentary rule book Erskine May – scuppered any chance of another Commons vote on the prime minister’s Brexit deal before Thursday’s EU summit.

Poole’s MP Sir Robert Syms – a Brexiter who was persuaded to vote for the prime minister’s deal last week – objected to the speaker’s unexpected announcement by raising a point of order.

He said it was important that decisions were made ahead of the scheduled Brexit date of March 29, which is enshrined in law.

He said the issue was time sensitive and that he could “see no reason” why parliament “shouldn’t be put through the pain of maybe another vote”.

He said: “Every member of this House expects to have a say on the type of Brexit that we actually are going to undertake and even if we are dealing with an issue which has been dealt with before, it is sometimes important that this house makes a decision or decides not to make a decision – but not to consider the matter again could in itself have consequences.”

Mr Bercow replied: “The issue is not the pain of a vote but its propriety.”

Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Michael Tomlinson, who voted against the agreement, tweeted yesterday: “Very pleased to see that we have a speaker who is adhering to precedent. Right now, he is even quoting Erskine May in support. It seems that the old rules now apply. I look forward to that and to knowing where we stand in future.”

Earlier, he told the Daily Echo that he thought there might not be a vote anyway until after the prime minister had met with the European Council later this week.

Downing Street had indicated that Mrs May would not table a motion on a third “meaningful vote” ahead of Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels unless there was a realistic prospect of securing a majority in the Commons.

If no vote takes place over the coming days, she is expected to ask the leaders of the remaining 27 EU members for a lengthy extension to the two-year Article 50 negotiation process, delaying Brexit for months or even years beyond March 29.

Mrs May had been expected to then make a last-ditch attempt to get her deal through the Commons next week, presenting MPs with a choice between the withdrawal agreement or a long wait for Brexit.

But Mr Bercow’s ruling could scupper that plan unless Mrs May can negotiate changes to her deal.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The Speaker did not warn us of the contents of the statement or indeed the fact that he was making one.”

Solicitor General Robert Buckland said the Government was facing a “major constitutional crisis” and that Mr Bercow’s intervention would have “huge reverberations” for the Brexit process.

He suggested ministers may need to prorogue Parliament and call a new session in order to get round the ruling.

“There are ways around this,” he told BBC News.