Theresa May in Brexit showdown with Irish PM Leo Varadkar as she jets to Dublin

THERESA May will today confront Irish PM Leo Varadkar and warn him to fix the Brexit deal - or risk No Deal chaos.

She's expected to ask him for help in changing the "Irish backstop" plan which is preventing her Brexit deal being approved by MPs.

Mrs May will tell Mr Varadkar that after last week's Commons vote approving the deal as long as the backstop is fixed, a legally binding change is the only way to avoid No Deal.

She will be accompanied by Attorney Geoffrey Cox, seen as a key figure because of his influence with Brexiteers who need to be assured that any fix is legally sound.

Before tonight's dinner, the Irish leader will head to Belfast for talks with politicians in Northern Ireland.

Mr Varadkar is coming under increasing pressure to sign off on changes to the backstop, which is designed to avoid a hard border.

Brexiteers say the backstop in its current form risks leaving Britain trapped in the EU's customs union indefinitely.

SQUEEZE ON IRISH PM
Angela Merkel is understood to be lobbying Dublin not to block a legally binding fix to the proposal.

But Mr Varadkar is also under pressure at home - as a new poll finds four-fifths of Irish voters want him to hold firm.

He's likely to be crucial to the process because EU leaders are wary of approving any Brexit deal that doesn't command support in Ireland.

Yesterday Mrs May held frosty talks with European leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk.

It came after Mr Tusk said there's a "special place in hell" for the politicians who led the Brexit campaign.

But the PM won a breakthrough as the EU agreed to restart talks on the deal with the aim of fixing the backstop.

Mrs Merkel said yesterday: "I think we can find solutions without re-opening the withdrawal agreement."

Hardline Brexiteers insist they won't back the withdrawal agreement unless the backstop is removed entirely.

But Mrs May is confident she can win over enough MPs to pass a deal by providing legally binding assurances that the backstop won't be in place permanently if it ever does come into effect.

Jeremy Corbyn this week launched a bid to force a soft Brexit, pledging to back Mrs May's deal if she signs Britain up to the customs union.