Brexit: Labour MP suspended from Commons for stealing ceremonial mace in protest at vote delay
The latest Brexit developments at Westminster
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Your support makes all the difference.A Labour MP was ejected from the House of Commons for seizing the ceremonial mace in protest at Theresa May's decision to delay a key Brexit vote.
In dramatic scenes, Lloyd Russell-Moyle swung the antique symbol of parliamentary authority from its holder after the government confirmed it would delay the vote on the prime minister's Brexit deal.
Tory MPs screamed "expel him" as Mr Russell-Moyle was promptly asked to leave the chamber by Speaker John Bercow.
The incident came after Ms May faced fury from MPs for calling off a vote on her Brexit deal, in an attempt to seek further "assurances" from the EU.
The prime minister admitted her blueprint would have been "rejected by a significant margin" on Tuesday due to major rebellion by Conservative MPs, as she confirmed plans in an eleventh-hour Commons statement.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn secured an emergency debate on the delay on Tuesday, saying "the government’s incompetence can’t be used as an excuse to threaten the country with no-deal".
It comes as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 and stop the Brexit process following a "democratic process".
See below to read our coverage of events as they happened
↵DUP leader Arlene Foster says the prime minister must get rid of the backstop - something the EU has made clear it will never agree to.
We're expecting Theresa May's Commons statement in the next 2-3 minutes - stay tuned...
Theresa May says that after three days of Commons debate on her Brexit deal, she has "listened very carefully to what has been said in this Chamber and out of it by members from all sides".
She says "it is clear" that there remains "widespread and deep concern" about the Northern Ireland backstop.
If the deal was voted on at this time it would be defeated by a "significant margin", she says, so the government will defer the vote.
May says there can be no Brexit deal without a backstop
She adds:
"We had hoped the changes we had secured to the backstop would ensure the UK would never be trapped in it indefinitely".
But, she says, the concessions secured by the government clearly do not give MPs the reassurances they need.
May says she will hold further talks with EU leaders this week.
The government is also looking at how to give Parliament more power during the Brexit process, she says.
She insists she has "absolutely no doubt" that her deal is the right one, adding: "I believe in it as do many members of this House."
The prime minister says she is confident she can win a majority for her deal if she can secure "additional reassurance on the issue of the backstop".
There's little in the way of conciliatory language from May.
She says opponents of her deal must "shoulder the responsibility of advocating an alternative that can be delivered, and do so without ducking its implications".
She demands that supporters of a second referendum, of staying in the single market and customs union or of a no-deal Brexit be honest about the consequences of all of these avenues.
On the issue of the backstop, May tells MPs: "I have listened, I have heard those concerns and I will now do everything I can do secure further assurances."
Jeremy Corbyn is now responding to Theresa May's statement.
He says this is an "extremely serious and unprecedented situation", adding: "The government has lost control of events and is in disarray."
The Labour leader says it has been clear for weeks that May's deal did not have the support of Parliament but she "ploughed on regardless".
"Bringing back the same botched deal either next week or in January...will not chance its fundamental flaws and deeply held objections right across this House", he says.
If May cannot renegotiate a deal "then she must make way".
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg responds to Theresa May's statement:
‘What has two years of Theresa May doing Brexit amounted to? An undeliverable deal parliament would roundly reject, if the Prime Minister has the gumption to allow it to go before the House of Commons.
‘This is not governing, it risks putting Jeremy Corbyn into government by failing to deliver Brexit. We cannot continue like this. The Prime Minister must either govern or quit.’
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