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| Brexit: Theresa May will ask the EU to reopen Brexit deal | Brexit: Theresa May will ask the EU to reopen Brexit deal |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Theresa May has told MPs she will seek to re-open negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland backstop. | Theresa May has told MPs she will seek to re-open negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland backstop. |
| The PM said she would go back to Brussels to get a "significant and legally binding change" to the controversial proposal, which aims to stop the return of border checks. | The PM said she would go back to Brussels to get a "significant and legally binding change" to the controversial proposal, which aims to stop the return of border checks. |
| The EU has said it will not change the legal text agreed with the UK PM. | The EU has said it will not change the legal text agreed with the UK PM. |
| Mrs May said she knew there was a "limited appetite" in the EU, but she believed she could "secure" it. | Mrs May said she knew there was a "limited appetite" in the EU, but she believed she could "secure" it. |
| She is expected to have phone calls with key EU leaders throughout the day ahead of a series of Commons votes over the future direction of Brexit. | She is expected to have phone calls with key EU leaders throughout the day ahead of a series of Commons votes over the future direction of Brexit. |
| Mrs May said the vote later would be a chance to "send a clear message" to EU on the backstop. | Mrs May said the vote later would be a chance to "send a clear message" to EU on the backstop. |
| Senior Brexiteer rebels - who voted down the PM's deal last month - have indicated they would be willing to back the rest of the UK-EU Brexit deal if she gets legal changes to the backstop. | |
| The backstop is the insurance policy in Mrs May's plan to prevent checks on goods and people returning to the Northern Ireland border, which some MPs fear could leave the UK tied to the EU's rules indefinitely. | |
| But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May herself was the "obstacle to a solution" and that, whatever happened in the votes later, it had "now become inevitable" that the government would have to extend Article 50 - the mechanism which means the UK leaves the EU on 29 March. | |
| MPs put forward a string of amendments to modify the prime minister's Brexit plan after it was voted down by an historic margin on 15 January. | MPs put forward a string of amendments to modify the prime minister's Brexit plan after it was voted down by an historic margin on 15 January. |
| Speaker of the House, John Bercow, has named seven amendments to be debated and voted on, including one from senior Tory MP Sir Graham Brady calling on "alternative arrangements" to the backstop, and one from Labour MP Yvette Cooper, which could delay the exit date by up to nine months. | |
| Opening the debate, Mrs May said: "This House has left no-one in any doubt about what it does not want. Today we need to send an emphatic message about what we do want." | Opening the debate, Mrs May said: "This House has left no-one in any doubt about what it does not want. Today we need to send an emphatic message about what we do want." |
| A series of votes on the amendments is expected from 19:00 GMT. | A series of votes on the amendments is expected from 19:00 GMT. |
| Conservative MPs have been instructed by the government to vote Sir Graham's amendment. | Conservative MPs have been instructed by the government to vote Sir Graham's amendment. |
| Mrs May said backing it would "give the mandate I need to negotiate with Brussels an arrangement that commands a majority in this House - not a further exchange of letters, but a significant and legally binding change to the withdrawal agreement". | Mrs May said backing it would "give the mandate I need to negotiate with Brussels an arrangement that commands a majority in this House - not a further exchange of letters, but a significant and legally binding change to the withdrawal agreement". |
| The Westminster leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - whose votes Mrs May's government relies on to win key votes - Nigel Dodds, welcomed the announcement and pledged his party's support. | The Westminster leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - whose votes Mrs May's government relies on to win key votes - Nigel Dodds, welcomed the announcement and pledged his party's support. |
| The Labour Party and a number of Remain-backing MPs are supporting Ms Cooper's amendment that would create a bill enabling Article 50 to be delayed by up to nine months if the government does not have a plan agreed in Parliament by the end of February. | |
| Labour said it was supporting the amendment because the bill it would create could "give MPs a temporary window to agree a deal that can bring the country together". | Labour said it was supporting the amendment because the bill it would create could "give MPs a temporary window to agree a deal that can bring the country together". |
| However, Mr Corbyn, told the Commons they wanted a shorter window of three months to allow time for a deal to be finalised. | |
| "The Labour Party will back the amendment tonight because to crash out without a deal would be deeply damaging for industry and economy," he said. | |
| He added: "It's quite clear to me that the first duty we have is to block a disastrous no deal and I hope amendments to that effect will indeed be carried by the House later. | |
| "If amendments intended to rule out no deal are defeated and if this government is serious about keeping the threat of no deal on the table, then it's not even close to being prepared and the exit date would have to be extended." | |
| Some members of Mrs May's cabinet, including Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, had called for a free vote on Tuesday's amendments to allow them to back Ms Cooper's proposal, but the government is whipping against it. | Some members of Mrs May's cabinet, including Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, had called for a free vote on Tuesday's amendments to allow them to back Ms Cooper's proposal, but the government is whipping against it. |
| Mrs May is said to have tried to reassure her cabinet this will not be their last chance to vote on the next steps of Brexit, promising to return to the Commons "as soon as possible" with a revised deal and offering a second "meaningful vote" on her proposals. | Mrs May is said to have tried to reassure her cabinet this will not be their last chance to vote on the next steps of Brexit, promising to return to the Commons "as soon as possible" with a revised deal and offering a second "meaningful vote" on her proposals. |
| If no new deal is reached by 13 February, the PM will make a statement to Parliament that day and table an amendable motion for debate the following day, re-opening discussions on how to move forward with Brexit. | If no new deal is reached by 13 February, the PM will make a statement to Parliament that day and table an amendable motion for debate the following day, re-opening discussions on how to move forward with Brexit. |
| EU 'unlikely to entertain changes' | |
| By Katya Adler, Europe editor | |
| The excitable interventions we're witnessing in Parliament will convince EU leaders even more deeply that MPs are still very divided over Brexit and that now is not the decisive moment for Brussels to budge. | |
| The EU wants to avoid an endless process of Theresa May shuttling to and from Brussels, getting a tweak or two, returning to Parliament, having the deal still rejected, coming back to Brussels and so on. | |
| It's right to think the EU sometimes insists one thing, then does something rather different. | |
| But the Irish backstop is a hugely sensitive issue, painfully co-negotiated over months with UK negotiators and almost impossible to fudge (as the EU prefers to do in difficult situations). | |
| EU leaders are unlikely to touch the conditions of the backstop until a no-deal Brexit is well and truly staring them in the face. And even then they are unlikely to entertain changes unless Dublin is on board. | |
| We're nowhere near there yet, if we ever get there. | |
| Separately, Conservative MPs on both sides of the Brexit argument have been planning for a no-deal scenario. | Separately, Conservative MPs on both sides of the Brexit argument have been planning for a no-deal scenario. |
| Former Remainers, including ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and government ministers Stephen Hammond and Rob Buckland, have been working with Brexiteers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker on the plan - in talks co-ordinated by Conservative MP Kit Malthouse. | Former Remainers, including ex-Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and government ministers Stephen Hammond and Rob Buckland, have been working with Brexiteers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker on the plan - in talks co-ordinated by Conservative MP Kit Malthouse. |
| According to a leaked document, the proposal drawn up by the rival factions would extend the transition period - during which the UK would continue to follow EU rules and pay into its budget - from the end of 2020 to December 2021, to allow more time to reach a free trade deal. | According to a leaked document, the proposal drawn up by the rival factions would extend the transition period - during which the UK would continue to follow EU rules and pay into its budget - from the end of 2020 to December 2021, to allow more time to reach a free trade deal. |
| EU citizens rights would be guaranteed during this time, there would be no customs checks on the Irish border and the UK would pay the £39bn so-called "divorce deal". | EU citizens rights would be guaranteed during this time, there would be no customs checks on the Irish border and the UK would pay the £39bn so-called "divorce deal". |
| The DUP also endorsed the "Malthouse" proposals. | The DUP also endorsed the "Malthouse" proposals. |
| DUP leader Arlene Foster said the plan could "unify a number of strands in the Brexit debate" and was a "feasible alternative to the backstop proposed by the European Union". | DUP leader Arlene Foster said the plan could "unify a number of strands in the Brexit debate" and was a "feasible alternative to the backstop proposed by the European Union". |
| But the EU was "standing tough" on its position of no renegotiation and they were "mesmerised" with what was happening in Parliament, BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said. | But the EU was "standing tough" on its position of no renegotiation and they were "mesmerised" with what was happening in Parliament, BBC Europe editor Katya Adler said. |
| Senior EU representatives have repeatedly ruled out reopening negotiations with the UK over Brexit, and have insisted the backstop must be included in any deal. | Senior EU representatives have repeatedly ruled out reopening negotiations with the UK over Brexit, and have insisted the backstop must be included in any deal. |
| And Ireland's European Affairs Minister, Helen McEntee, said: "There can be no change to the backstop. It was negotiated over 18 months with the UK and by the UK." | And Ireland's European Affairs Minister, Helen McEntee, said: "There can be no change to the backstop. It was negotiated over 18 months with the UK and by the UK." |
| The European Research Group, led by Eurosceptic Mr Rees-Mogg, had initially said the group would not back the amendment. | The European Research Group, led by Eurosceptic Mr Rees-Mogg, had initially said the group would not back the amendment. |
| But Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC on Tuesday that if the Brady amendment had government support and if it meant reopening the withdrawal agreement - the part of Mrs May's deal that lays out how the UK will leave the EU - it would be "very different" from a backbench plan. | But Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC on Tuesday that if the Brady amendment had government support and if it meant reopening the withdrawal agreement - the part of Mrs May's deal that lays out how the UK will leave the EU - it would be "very different" from a backbench plan. |
| "Let's see what the prime minister says at the despatch box today and what the Brady amendment really means," he said. | "Let's see what the prime minister says at the despatch box today and what the Brady amendment really means," he said. |
| Will MPs find agreement in their plans? | |
| The government's ambition is so low - or its hurdles so high - that what No 10 seeks to do on Tuesday is not to win (326 is a majority in the House of Commons), but to reduce the scale of resistance to their central policy that, in the words of another cabinet minister, only the "hardliners oppose", so that Theresa May can get the rebels down to a "few dozen", so then they can crack on. | |