What is the Brexit deal? Theresa May's controversial agreement with the EU explained
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has secured a draft Brexit agreement with Brussels after months of wrangling.
The prime minister cleared the first hurdle when the cabinet backed her Brexit blueprint before European leaders rubber-stamped the plan at a special summit in November.
But the future of the deal – and Ms May’s leadership – was thrown into doubt when she dramatically shelved a crunch parliamentary vote on Monday in the face of near-certain defeat at the hands of Tory backbenchers.
Amid a furious backlash, Conservative backbench leader Sir Graham Brady announced he had received the necessary 48 letters to trigger a no-confidence vote in the prime minister on Wednesday.
What is the Brexit deal?
Senior officials in Brussels and London have come up with a 585-page draft agreement, which will form the legal basis for Brexit.
Known as the withdrawal agreement, the long-awaited document is the result of 18 months of intense talks to sort out key issues around the UK's exit from the European Union.
It covers the main parts of the UK-EU relationship, from citizens' rights and the divorce bill, to the Irish border.
Both sides have been forced to make concessions to get to this point and talks have ground to a halt many times, particularly over the threat of a frontier in Northern Ireland, which has prompted fears of a return to violence at the border.
Will Brexit deal be approved by MPs?
Ultimately, no one knows.
The prime minister secured the backing of her cabinet and the EU for the deal but her efforts were dramatically thrown off course when rebel Tories triggered a no-confidence vote in her premiership.
MPs had been due to hold a meaningful vote in the Commons on December 11 but Ms May pulled the vote at the eleventh hour in the face of a catastrophic defeat.
The move provoked fury, prompting enough Tory MPs to trigger a no-confidence vote by writing to Sir Graham Brady, the Conservative backbench leader.
If Ms May wins, she is likely to press ahead with her deal. Downing Street previously said she would bring it back to parliament before January 21, giving her time to seek some concessions from the EU.
Parliamentary experts say the so-called meaningful vote could proceed as before, if there are no major changes to the deal itself.
If she goes back to the EU and wins significant alterations to it, the parliamentary process must start again, with new amendments, a new business motion and a new vote.
She would still need to secure 320 votes - more than half of the remaining 639 MPs, once the abstentionist Sinn Fein politicians and the Speaker and his deputies are discounted
After losing her parliamentary majority in the snap general election, the Tories hold 315 seats, Labour has 257 and the SNP are on 35. Ms May's DUP allies hold 10 seats, giving her a working majority of 13.
If Ms May loses the no-confidence vote, any new Tory leader will have the same problem of squaring the parliamentary arithmetic.
The new PM could also ditch her deal completely, or pursue a no-deal Brexit.
What does the Brexit deal mean for UK citizens living in Europe?
Protecting citizens rights has been a key issue as more than 3 million EU citizens live in the UK and 1 million UK nationals reside in European countries.
The agreement safeguards the existing rights of UK citizens who were living in the EU up to the end of the transition period and vice versa. Family members will be able to join them, as under current rules. Children born after Brexit will also be covered.
However it does not clear up questions over "onward movement" for Britons who might want to move to another EU country from the one they are living in after Brexit.
It also doesn't cover what happens to people who want to work in different countries, which is one of the main concerns for British nationals living in the EU.
What does the Brexit deal mean for the Irish border?
The Irish border has been the most difficult issue to square for negotiators and among MPs.
Ms May has promised to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic amid fears it could herald a return to violence and threaten the peace process.
The agreement includes a "backstop", which would keep the whole of the UK within a customs union with the EU to prevent the need for endless checks at the border.
The backstop is a type of safety net. It comes into force after the end of the transition period and will stay in place until Brussels and London come up with a better plan.
Northern Ireland would also stay aligned to parts of the EU's single market, so goods coming in would need to be checked to see if they meet EU rules. Goods going in the other direction would not have the same checks.
None of this is popular with Brexiteers or the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), as they fear it keeps the UK too closely tied to Brussels.
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