Formal challenge to my leadership not gained enough support to trigger confidence vote: Theresa May

British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that as far as she was aware, a formal challenge to her leadership had not yet gained enough support to trigger a confidence vote.

"As far as I know, no, it has not," May told Sky News, when asked if the threshold had been met for a formal leadership contest.

To trigger a contest, 48 lawmakers from her Conservative Party must submit letter to the chairman of the committee in charge of leadership contests.

May had earlier said that she saw no alternative to the Brexit deal she presented earlier this week, amid reports that some of her senior ministers want her to renegotiate the draft agreement before meeting EU leaders next weekend.

"There is no alternative plan on the table. There is no different approach that we could agree with the EU," May wrote in an article for the Sun on Sunday newspaper.

"If MPs (legislators) reject the deal, they will simply take us back to square one. It would mean more division, more uncertainty and a failure to deliver on the vote of the British people," she added.

Meanwhile,  Britain's opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday that a second Brexit referendum was an option for the future rather than today.

Labour has said it will not support Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit agreement in an upcoming vote in parliament, and some in the party have backed calls for a referendum on the deal.

"It's an option for the future, but it's not an option for today, because if we had a referendum tomorrow, what's it going to be on? What's the question going to be?" Corbyn told Sky News.