"I recognise the genuine and sincere strength of feeling across the House on this important issue," May said. "The government will therefore include in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at introduction a requirement to vote on whether to hold a second referendum.
"This must take place before the Withdrawal Agreement can be ratified," May told reporters. "And if the House of Commons were to vote for a referendum, it would be requiring the government to make provisions for such a referendum – including legislation if it wanted to ratify the Withdrawal Agreement."
She added: "So to those MPs who want a second referendum to confirm the deal - you need a deal and therefore Withdrawal Agreement Bill to make it happen. So let (the bill) have its Second Reading and then make your case to Parliament."