- LIVE: MPs prepare to vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal.
- The House of Commons will vote on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement at after 7 p.m. this evening, five weeks after it was postponed. The result is expected some time between 8 and 9 p.m.
- The prime minister is set for a big defeat. Government sources say the margin of defeat will be around 150 votes.
- House of Commons Speaker John Bercow refuses to let MPs vote on amendments that could have helped the prime minister.
- Jeremy Corbyn is preparing to launch a vote of no confidence in the government.
- May is set to make a statement immediately following the vote.
LONDON — Members of Parliament will tonight vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal after weeks of debate and delay.
MPs will finally vote on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement on Tuesday evening after the prime minister postponed the so-called meaningful vote last month amid fears of a huge defeat.
Despite assurances from May and the European Union on the most controversial aspects of the deal, specifically the Northern Irish backstop, MPs are set to inflict a big defeat on the deal, potentially by a majority of over 200 votes.
If, or when, May's deal falls the big question will be what the prime minister will do next.
She is expected to make a statement immediately following the result in which she could spell out a Plan B. Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is also poised to table a motion of no confidence in the government as early as this evening if the deal is voted down by a huge margin, according to multiple reports.
MPs are set to vote on amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement shortly after 19:00 (GMT) with the main vote coming afterwards and a final result expected later in the evening.
Scroll down for the latest developments in a historic day in British politics. All times are in GMT.
16:42: Tory Brexiteer U-turns twice
Conservative Brexiteer Sir Edward Leigh has pulled off the remarkable feat of two U-turns.
Leigh initially opposed May's deal. Earlier this week, he said he had changed his mind and declared his support for it. This came after Theresa May decided to give him a knighthood.
However, speaking in the Commons just now, Leigh suggested he was again planning to vote against it, telling MPs he "reserves the right" to reject the PM's deal.
14:37: Here are the amendments in full
1. CORBYN (LABOUR) AMENDMENT: Line 1, leave out from "House" to end and insert "declines to approve the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship because it fails to provide for a permanent UK-EU customs union and strong single market deal and would therefore lead to increased barriers to trade in goods and services, would not protect workers’ rights and environmental standards, allows for the diminution of the United Kingdom’s internal and external security and is likely to lead to the implementation of a backstop provision in Northern Ireland that is neither politically nor economically sustainable; declines to approve the United Kingdom’s leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement; and therefore resolves to pursue every option that prevents the United Kingdom’s either leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement or leaving on the basis of the negotiated withdrawal agreement laid before the House."
2. SIR JOHN BARON (TORY) AMENDMENT:At end, add "subject to changes being made in the withdrawal agreement and in the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol so that the UK has the right to terminate the protocol without having to secure the agreement of the EU."
2. IAN BLACKFORD (SNP) AMENDMENT: Line 1, leave out from "House" to end and insert "declines to approve the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the framework for the future relationship in line with the views of the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly that they would be damaging for Scotland, Wales and the nations and regions of the UK as a whole; notes the legal opinion of the advocate general of the European Court of Justice that the United Kingdom has the right to unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded; therefore calls on the UK government to request an extension to the period of negotiation under article 50 of the treaty on European Union so that the UK does not leave the EU without a withdrawal agreement or on the basis of the negotiated agreement laid before the House on Monday 26 November 2018; and calls on the UK government to respect the will of the Scottish parliament in its vote on 5 December 2018 and the Welsh assembly in its vote on 4 December 2018, which both rejected the withdrawal agreement as it now stands."
3. SIR EDWARD LEIGH (TORY) AMENDMENT: "At end, add "notes that the Northern Ireland backstop is intended to be temporary; notes that the Vienna convention on the law of treaties makes it absolutely clear that a sovereign state can abrogate any part of a treaty with an international body in case of a fundamental change of circumstances since the Treaty was agreed; notes that making the Northern Ireland backstop permanent would constitute such a fundamental change of circumstances; and therefore calls for an assurance from the government that, if it becomes clear by the end of 2021 that the European Union will not agree to remove the Northern Ireland backstop, the United Kingdom will treat the indefinite continuation of the backstop as a fundamental change of circumstances and will accordingly give notice on 1 January 2022 to terminate the withdrawal treaty so that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland shall become an independent country once again."
14:30: Michel Barnier tells the UK: "Keep calm!"
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has offered a message for Westminster: "Keep calm!"
Here's a clip of Barnier speaking to the BBC in Belgium earlier today.
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