THERESA May has cut short the Cabinet’s Christmas break in order to begin No Deal Brexit preparations, it was reported.

The cabinet will now meet on January 2, five days before the rest of Parliament comes back from the festive recess.

The PM dramatically abandoned the Meaningful Vote on her Brexit deal scheduled for December 11, after MPs had already debated it for three days.

She is expected to return to the House of Commons on January 14 for a second attempt to win support for the proposals.

In the meantime, concern is mounting among colleagues about the prospect of a No Deal Brexitn and the cabinet will now meet on the first working day after the holiday, the Financial Times reported.

Environment secretary Michael Gove, is reportedly “petrified” of a disorderly no deal, which he believes could leave Britain with severe food shortages, if the Dover-Calais route becomes blocked.

The meeting will be led by Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay.

One unnamed minister said “all about show really. It’s to prove that we are pulling out the stops to prepare for the worst”, the Financial Times said.

It was recently reported ministers will stage emergency border control exercises to prepare for No Deal.

The plans to test Border Force control systems for checking passports were unveiled at a Cabinet meeting last week.

It came as Theresa May’s de facto number two, David Lidington, suggested No Deal planning should now be the “principal operational focus” of the Government.

Cabinet ministers agreed other manifesto commitments should be shelved in the meantime.

Mr Lidington’s intervention was a compromise between Brexiteers who wanted them to be the “central planning assumption” of the government and Remainers who only want contingency planning as a last resort.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is also said to be returning to plans floated earlier this year about turbo boosting Britain’s economy in the event of No Deal.

He hinted previously at slashing business taxes to encourage more investment in Britain to prevent an economic downturn.

Downing Street has been approached for comment.