There is one story leading the papers today and it is unsurprisingly Theresa May’s decision to defer the Brexit vote. 

The Telegraph has a remarkable front page, running an arresting photograph of May in her car after the vote, under the headline “The lady is for turning”, in a play on the famous remark by Margaret Thatcher. 

The story added that May “appeared to be clinging to power by her fingertips after her own MPs said they could no longer trust her and that she was leading them to the ‘slaughter’.” 

The paper also runs a front page comment piece by Allison Pearson, under the headline: “I have never felt more ashamed to be a Conservative”, which begins “Oh, for God’s sake, what fresh Brexit hell is this?”  and concludes “we continue to be led by a mule flogging a dead horse”. 

The i splashes with the low-hanging fruit “Mayday!”  saying there is “anger on all sides as opposition MPs warn Government has lost all authority while sterling slides to 20-month low” and the digital front page of the Independent has the jaunty headline “Let’s call the whole thing off.” 

The Sun runs with “Brexmas turkey”, saying May has condemned Britain to “continuing chaos and crisis through Christmas and into the New Year”, and sticking with the poultry theme: “PM is well and truly stuffed”.” 

Tomorrow's front page: Theresa May calls off her Brexit deal vote at the 11th hour - condemning Britain to continuing chaos and crisis through Christmas https://t.co/yuYDd56bQz pic.twitter.com/A5KqI8fyQ8 — The Sun (@TheSun) December 10, 2018

The Mirror says: “May running scared” and calls her a “desperate PM” forced to go “crawling back to Brussels after calling off vote on her deal”. 

The Daily Mail, which since it came under the control of its new editor has been quite supportive of May and her Brexit deal, calls yesterday’s events “May’s last roll of the dice”. 

“Facing a humiliating defeat on her Brexit vote which could have toppled her, PM is forced into dramatic climbdown – and a last-ditch tour of Europe to salvage her deal,” the paper says. 

The Guardian’s splash is “Desperate May reveals her plan B: to buy more time”, and outlines the government’s shifts on whether the vote will happen in a timeline of quotes from the week. 

The Guardian front page, Tuesday 11 December 2018 | Desperate May reveals her plan B: to buy more time pic.twitter.com/SwI29VTK8v — The Guardian (@guardian) December 10, 2018

The Times has “May pleads for help from Europe”, outlining May’s itinerary for visiting European leaders to discuss the deal and says no prime minister since the second world war has had to defer a vote on a significant international treaty. 

Just published: front page of the Financial Times UK edition Tuesday December 11 https://t.co/4t36Dyg5TJ pic.twitter.com/BUWeBMvTBj — Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) December 10, 2018

The FT says: “May turns to EU for help after climbdown on Brexit deal vote”, noting that May’s “premiership hangs by thread”. 

The Daily Express, a pro-Brexit paper, calls May’s visit to Europe to discuss terms of the deal “a desperate whistlestop diplomatic tour to wring an improved Brexit deal out of the EU”, however, the Express says the EU “faces a stark choice”: “Better deal or no deal”. 

The Scotsman says: “Mayday Mayday … abandon vote”.  Its story quotes first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who called May’s refusal to hold the vote “an act of pathetic cowardice” and looked ahead to May’s tour of European capitals, which the paper calls “a desperate bid to reopen the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and strip it of the Irish border backstop, which she condeded had caused MPs ‘widespread and deep concerns’.”