Brexit news: Theresa May promises parliamentary vote on second referendum in desperate bid to force through exit plan

Defence minister Tobias Ellwood has hit out at Conservative colleagues who are "toying" with the idea of standing to succeed Theresa May as Tory leader, telling them: "This is not a reality TV show."

Urging prospective candidates to "take the post a little bit more seriously", he told an event in Westminster:

"No, I'm not standing. Absolutely not. I do not have the experience. I don't have the rank to stand as leader.

"And, I wish some of my colleagues, with humility, would take the post a little bit more seriously. This is not a reality TV show.

"Ambition is good. It allows us to elevate ourselves and reach higher levels. But ambition on its own is purely selfish and trying to promote the individual.

"Leadership is the combination of ambition and vision.

"How does it look to a nation when we have got the biggest issue there, Brexit, and yet we have got so many - what is it, up to 20, 25... people - thinking, or toying, or denying being firm with the answer, to say, 'No, I'm not going to stand'.

"I have more respect for those who confirm that they rule themselves out, rather than playing with the media who love these questions."

EU citizens have said they fear being turned away from polling stations in this week's European Parliament elections and accused the government of failing to make clear that they must fill in additional paperwork 

Theresa May's big Brexit speech, in which she will reveal her final plan for securing Parliament's support for an exit deal, is expected to begin in about 10 minutes. Stay tuned....

The backdrop at Theresa May's Brexit speech reads "Seeking common ground in Parliament". Seeking it is what she has been doing for many months, of course, without much sign of any emerging...

Theresa May is now speaking. She says her aim "was and is to deliver Brexit and help our country move beyond the division of the referendum".

She says this goal can still unite the country, but that the task of taking Britain out of the European Union "was always going to be huge".

She admits it has been "even harder than I anticipated". 

Theresa May says she has "tried everything I possibly can to find a way through" to deliver Brexit. 

She says she tried to do this with the support of her party and the DUP, including by offering "to give up the job I love earlier than I would like", but proved unable to do so.

When this failed, she says, seeking talks with Labour was "the right thing to do". 

There is now "one last chance" to deliver Brexit, she says.

Theresa May says she is making a "serious offer" to MPs in the form of a "new Brexit deal".

The prime minister says she will legislate to make it a binding duty on the government to find an alternative to the controversial Northern Ireland backstop. Addressing DUP concerns, she says that, if the backstop is implemented, the whole UK will adopt the same rules and tariffs as Northern Ireland. 

But, she says, she needs cross-party support if she is to deliver Brexit. Adopting a plan proposed by Labour MPs Lisa Nandy and Gareth Snell, she says parliament will be given more control over the UK's future relationship with the EU. And she guarantees there will be no weakening of workers' rights or environmental protections after Brexit.

Rebuffing calls for a full customs union with the EU, Ms May says one of the main benefits of Brexit will be the UK's ability to strike trade deals with other countries.

But she says, she wants "as close as possible to frictionless trade at the EU-UK border".

She says the government has already put forward a plan that would deliver this, but that it was rejected by the EU. Labour, meanwhile, wants to ensure frictionless trade by entering into a full customs union with the EU.

She says she offered Labour the option of a temporary customs union on goods only but that this was not agreed. 

The government will therefore commit to letting parliament decide between the two options, she says. 

On the issue of a second referendum, Theresa May says she there will be a provision in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill that would guarantee a parliamentary vote on whether to have a referendum on the Brexit deal. 

If the bill passes its second reading in the Commons, this vote of MPs would be held before the deal is ratified. She urges supporters of a second referendum to therefore vote for her bill.

Theresa May says the biggest problem with Britain today "is its politics" and tells MPs: "We can fix that."

She says that in the years ahead parliament will be able to refine the UK's future relationship with the EU, but that her deal must be passed if Britain is to leave the bloc.

The prime minster says she is "making a new offer to seek common ground in parliament" and that this is "now the only way to deliver Brexit".

She says she has compromised and urges MPs to do the same to help her to deliver on the result of the referendum.