Voting against Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement will “unlock a better future” for the UK, according to North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara.

Mr Vara is a co-signatory to a letter sent to all Conservative MPs today (Monday) just 24 hours ahead of a vote in the House of Commons on Mrs May’s proposed deal, calling for the proposal to be voted down.

The letter has also been signed by David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, and Priti Patel, former international development secretary, among others.

The letter reads: “On January 15, the house will vote on the prime minister’s proposed withdrawal agreement and political declaration. This will be a historic decision which will affect future generations.

“We urge colleagues to look beyond the day-to-day news cycle, to consider the long-run future of our country and to vote against this agreement.”

The letter says the deal has “many weaknesses” and said that ‘nothing had changed’ since the original vote, scheduled to have taken place in December, was postponed.

The letter said agreeing to the deal would sign Britain up to a “democratically and constitutionally unacceptable backstop” which would “create barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

Mrs May’s withdrawal deal was described as a “blind alley” and the MPs insisted “good alternatives” were still available. It said that the EU should be encouraged to re-negotiate and, in doing so, remove the “most problematic parts” of the deal, including the Irish backstop.

The document concludes: “In short, colleagues should be confident on January 15 that it is right to vote down this bad deal and that, in doing so, we will unlock a better deal for our party, our country, and its people.

“It will not lead to no Brexit or to an early general election. Indeed, it would be by agreeing to this punitive and highly one-sided deal that we would do most damage to the Conservative Party’s prospects at the next election.”