Conservative rebels win bid to let MPs take control of EU exit plans if Theresa May loses vote
Prime minister suffers humiliating double defeat in Commons
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has suffered two humiliating defeats in parliament as MPs flex their muscles ahead of a Commons showdown over her deal.
In extraordinary scenes, the government was found to be in contempt of parliament over its refusal to publish key Brexit papers after opposition MPs won a narrow victory to force their hand.
Tory rebels then inflicted a further defeat on the prime minister, by backing an amendment that would give MPs control over Brexit if Ms May's deal is voted down next week.
It comes as the prime minister began a five-day Commons debate on her Brexit blueprint, which culminates in crunch votes that could threaten her leadership and her government.
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Conservative rebel Dominic Grieve has told Sky News he "can’t guarantee that No Deal" is off the table" following the success of his amendment. But he says "a device that I believe was trying to manoeuvre us towards No Deal is off the table".
Why was Theresa May's government so keen to avoid publishing the Brexit legal advice? My colleague Sean O'Grady has some thoughts:
Tory Brexiteer Boris Johnson has been speaking at length. He claims not a single MP supports Theresa May's deal, to protests from Conservative Ed Vaizey, who says he does.
Johnson complains that the EU would have the power to refuse the UK from the backstop. Some of his party colleagues suggest he, as a leading Leave campaigner, should take some responsibility for the situation.
Theresa May has had enough of Boris Johnson's lengthy monologue. One suspects she is not alone.
Ian Blackford, the SNP's parliamentary leader in Westminster, says Brexit is "a moment of self-harm".
"The EU has been the greatest peace project of our time," he says, adding there is "no option" that is going to be better for our economy, jobs or communities than remaining in the EU.
The government's defeat over the contempt motion earlier today makes a second Brexit referendum more likely, writes John Rentoul:
The SNP's Ian Blackford has berated the prime minister's Brexit plan for "pulling up the drawbridge" on EU nationals.
When asked by Tory Daniel Kawczynski, the UK's first Polish-born MP, whether his pro-immigration stance would "give wind to Ukip's sails", Mr Blackford responded: "I simply say we need to take these arguments on - migration has enriched us.
"The thought we would take up the drawbridge and stop people coming to participate in the growth of our country is quite fundamentally repugnant to me."
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