What's next for Brexit? Five options to break the deadlock after Speaker's dramatic move

John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, has thrown the cat among the pigeons. Photo / AP file

It is described by British constitutional experts as the "nuclear" option.

Ministers are considering asking the Queen to bring Parliament to an early close after the Speaker threatened to block the Prime Minister from holding another vote on her Brexit deal.

John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, plunged Britain into further political uncertainty after banning Theresa May from holding a third vote on her Brexit deal, unless it was substantially different from the package that was decisively defeated last week.

The deal was also defeated in January.

The Speaker invoked a convention last used 99 years ago to stop the vote taking place.

It is just 10 days to go until Brexit day.

1) The Queen

Robert Buckland, the Solicitor General, suggested that the Government was considering asking the Queen to "prorogue" Parliament, bringing the current session to an early end.

The approach would require a new Queen's Speech for the reopening of Parliament before holding the third meaningful vote in a new session.

2) New legislation

A second option would be to introduce new legislation to implement Brexit with a clause overriding the need for a meaningful vote. However the approach would carry a high risk, as losing would kill the deal outright.

3) Will of the House

The Government's third option is to try to prove to the Speaker that it is the "will of the House" to have a vote on her deal. Again, risky. Opposition to the deal is such that the Prime Minister may be unable to secure the support of a majority of the Commons to even hold a vote. And even if she can, Bercow could chose to ignore it.

4) Attempt to remove Bercow

Another option would be to attempt to remove Bercow as Speaker using a motion of no confidence. However, given the fact that both Tory Brexiteers seeking substantial changes to the deal and Labour Remainers support Bercow's intervention, such a move is unlikely to be successful.

5) More changes

One other strategy remains in the Prime Minister's arsenal. She could attempt to convince Brussels to offer substantial changes to the future relationship, known as the political declaration.

Bercow would have the final say on whether any changes secured are "substantive" enough. Securing the changes would come at a cost - Brussels would likely require the UK to accept a longer extension.