Theresa May's cabinet will meet on Wednesday to consider the draft Brexit agreement.

It comes after negotiators agreed on a framework for the UK leaving the EU next year.

Cabinet ministers were invited to read the papers relating to the draft deal on Tuesday night ahead of the special meeting of the Prime Minister's senior team "to decide on next steps".

The developments came after the Prime Minister told Cabinet on Tuesday morning that a "small number" of issues remained to be resolved and her de facto deputy David Lidington described a deal as "almost within touching distance".

Confirmation that a deal had been reached by officials follows months of protracted talks in Brussels, with measures to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland the main stumbling block.

If the UK cabinet and European Council approve the deal it will be sent for ratification to both the Westminster Parliament and the European Parliament. However, with prominent Brexit supporters such as Dominic Raab and Liam Fox in the cabinet, Ms May may struggle to get approval for a deal that could see the UK remain closely tied to its European neighbours.

The Government would hope to stage a vote in the House of Commons before Christmas. If every obstacle is cleared, the deal would come into effect in time for the UK's departure on March 29 2019.

On Tuesday evening, leaders of Westminster's opposition parties called for guarantees from Theresa May that she will not seek to "muzzle Parliament" when it examines a Brexit deal.

Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, the SNP's Ian Blackford, Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable and Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts used a joint letter to the Prime Minister to seek assurances over the "meaningful vote" on the Brexit agreement.

"Recent interventions from Government ministers have suggested that you and your government may seek to limit or constrain the process on the final vote, in an attempt to muzzle Parliament," they claimed.

"We want to be clear that this would be wholly unacceptable."

They said a "much more extensive" debate on the arrangements for the vote was required than the 90 minutes usually set aside for a business motion.

And when the actual motion is considered, they said there must be opportunities to table "multiple amendments".