Brexit news - live: Three ministers resign as MPs vote to seize control over EU exit from May
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has suffered another humiliating defeat in the Commons after MPs dramatically wrested control of the Brexit process from the government.
Pro-EU Tory ministers Steve Brine, Alistair Burt and Richard Harrington resigned from their posts to back a cross-party bid to hold indicative votes on Wednesday, allowing the Commons to test support for different Brexit options.
Some 30 Conservative MPs rebelled against the government to support the amendment tabled by Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwin, potentially paving the way for a softer Brexit deal that keeps the UK closer to Brussels.
It comes after the prime minister admitted there was "still not sufficient support" to bring her Brexit deal back to the Commons for a third "meaningful vote". MPs have overwhelmingly rejected her plan twice already.
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A government source has denied a claim by Labour that Theresa May proposed separating the Brexit deal from the political declaration in a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn.
The source said it was simply being explained to the Labour side that the EU summit conclusions published last week - which could see Brexit delayed to May 22 - referred only to the withdrawal agreement.
"It was a clarification that came up in the course of a wider conversation," the source said.
The source said that in order to satisfy the terms of the EU Withdrawal Act, the Commons "meaningful vote" had to cover both the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration.
The Speaker has chosen the amendments for later - including the all-important indicative votes amendment. Tabled by Tory grandee Oliver Letwin, amendment A would allow parliament to seize control of the agenda in the Commons on Wednesday to hold a series of indicative votes to establish whether there is a majority for any Brexit outcome.
The other amendments are:
Amendment D - tabled by leader Jeremy Corbyn with the backing of his top team, calls on the government to provide parliamentary time to debate a range of Brexit options, including Labour's own plan, the Common Market 2.0 proposals, a customs union and a second referendum.
Amendment F - tabled by Labour former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, this would require parliament to be given an opportunity in the week before a mooted no-deal Brexit to vote on whether the government should go ahead and take the UK out of the EU or seek a further extension to negotiations.
It would also require Parliament to be recalled if a no-deal Brexit is set to occur during recess.
David Lidington, the de-facto deputy PM, is opening the debate for the government.
He says ministers are taking the indicative votes seriously and the views of the House seriously.
Labour's Stephen Doughty intervenes and asks the PM not to encourage abuse against MPs after her ill-judged speech last week.
Lidington says many MPs have been subjected to the most appalling online threats, and no encouragement should be given to those wicked people.
Lots of jokes from MPs about David Lidington's leadership credentials in the wake of stories over the weekend about a possible coup to put him into No10 to replace Ms May.
The SNP’s Pete Wishart describes him as “the putative prime minister” and says he couldn't be doing a worse job than the current PM. He points to the viral petition demanding the government cancel Brexit, which has been signed by more than 5m people.
Lidington says the Put it to the People March on Saturday and the petition show there is a strong desire to remain among some members of the public but 17.4m voted to leave.
Tory grandee Ken Clarke says revoking article 50 may be the only sensible thing to do if the deal is not passed "in the hope that we can start the process again once the people in this House have come back to their senses".
Lidington says he disagrees as he claims Clarke underestimates the damage such an act would do to public confidence.
Labour MP Gareth Snell - one of the key Labour leavers who could back May's deal - asks if there is a way for MPs to have a say in the future of the Brexit process.
He says he thinks there is a majority in the Commons for the withdrawal agreement - but not the political declaration. This was discussed in the Corbyn/May meeting earlier, see here.
Lidington says there are conversations going on, with ideas about how select committees could be involved etc. He says that his experience is that the House will insist on having its say when it wants to.
Tory ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve says he thinks the case for revoking article 50 is getting stronger. He is worried the cabinet has been influenced by what is best for the Tories, not what is in the national interest.
David Lidington says May is always guided by the national interest.
Earlier, David Lidington was asked whether Tory MPs would be allowed free votes in indicative votes but said it was "premature to say anything about whipping".
He added: "At the moment, we don't know exactly what the content of any options might be nor what amendments might conceivably be tabled to those, nor which of those amendments the chair might be willing to accept."
Sir Keir Starmer is moving for Labour now. He says the PM has "lost control of the meaningful vote" and MPs had no idea when it might be brought again.
"We've been in that loop since December", he says, of May thinking there is not enough support for her deal and kicking the can down the road.
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