Brexit news: Theresa May secures ‘legally binding’ changes to EU deal after last-ditch Strasbourg visit
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has secured “legally-binding’’ changes to her Brexit deal after an eleventh-hour dash to Strasbourg on the eve of a dramatic Commons vote.
In a late-night press conference with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, Ms May urged MPs to back her “improved” deal in the meaningful vote tomorrow after pledging she had secured reassurances that the UK would not be trapped in the Irish backstop.
Cabinet Office minister David Lidington set out details of some of the changes agreed with Brussels in a Commons statement as he tried to buy the prime minister time to finish her talks before the Commons rose for the night.
It comes ahead of a parliamentary showdown on Ms May’s Brexit deal on Tuesday, which returns to the Commons after it was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs in January.
As speculation mounts over a fresh humiliation for Ms May, all eyes will be on the Brexiteers and her DUP allies to see if the changes the prime minister has secured will be enough to get the deal over the line.
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A bit of gossip from Brussels - apparently May and Juncker will hold talks in the European Parliament's 'Winston Churchill' building.
Brexiteers are going to love that...
Confirmation of the meeting from Jean-Claude Juncker's spokesperson Mine Andreeva. It looks like it will be around 8pm UK time.
Away from Brexit for a moment, we've got an exclusive story on plans by climate protesters to blockade the main routes in and out of Dover on the day after Brexit to deepen any disruption to Britain’s food imports.
Read more here:
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As if there wasn't already enough on tonight's agenda, Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson has hosted the first meeting of his new social democrat grouping. It was set up after a string of Labour MPs quit the party in protest over its direction - and is aimed at giving MPs across the party a greater voice.
Mr Watson argues it is not a new idea - as Labour already has various factions such as the centre-left Tribune group, and the socialist Campaign group. But it is something that will be watched with interest by those on the left of the party.
Journalists have been doorstepping the meeting and it sounds like a pretty decent turnout.
Bit of breaking news here: Irish broadcaster RTE says ministers have been summoned to a special government meeting at 6.45pm.
Lots of moving pieces here - details not clear but it seems like something is going on.
DUP leader Arlene Foster is in Westminster tonight meeting Nigel Dodds and the party’s other MPs as Theresa May heads to Strasbourg in a bid to secure changes to her Brexit deal, according to our political editor Joe Watts.
It sounds like all the players are assembled to wait to hear what Ms May and Jean-Claude Juncker have to say.
Tom Watson apparently told the new Future Britain Group, that Labour will see a "schism bigger than any we have experienced" unless tolerance is restored.
Sources said the deputy leader told the group: “I know that the last thing the party needs is another faction and this group is certainly not one.
"This meeting is intended to pull the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) together at a time when our country needs a united Labour Party with all shades of red represented.
"The last few weeks have been very difficult and upsetting.
"The departure of good people, in particular friends like Luciana and Ian Austin, was for me a personal wake up call to step up and do more.
"I really fear that unless we restore pluralism and tolerance to this party it will be irreparably damaged and we will see a schism bigger than any we have experienced in our long history.”
Amid the Brexit drama, the government has released a list of "critical goods" which could be carried on additional ferries chartered in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
On the list are medicines for humans and animals, vaccines, infant milk formula, organs for transplants and chemicals for the energy industry.
It comes after transport secretary Chris Grayling issued contracts totalling £107m in December for ferry firms to run additional services to take the pressure off the Dover-Calais route if the UK leaves the EU without a deal on March 29.
The contract with Seaborne Freight to provide a service between Ramsgate and Ostend was dropped after attracting controversy because the company had no ships.
But Brittany Ferries and DFDS are set to run ferries into and out of Poole, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Immingham and Felixstowe in the case of no-deal.
Items on the list include:
- Human medicines, covering prescription-only, pharmacy and general sales list medicines, clinical trials and children's vitamins;
- Medical devices and clinical consumables;
- Vaccines;
- Nutritional specialist feeds, including infant milk formula;
- Biological materials such as blood, organs, tissues and cells;
- All veterinary medicines authorised under the Veterinary Medicines Regulation and unauthorised veterinary medicines covered by a Special Import Scheme;
- Critical chemicals or consumables used within the energy sector.
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