Brexit vote: MPs vote for Theresa May to renegotiate Irish backstop with EU
Follow updates from Westminster as they unfolded throughout the day
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Your support makes all the difference.MPs have authorised Theresa May to go back to Brussels to renegotiate a key part of her Brexit deal after a series of dramatic Commons votes.
Different Brexit factions tabled amendments to Ms May’s exit plan, which she was forced to bring back to the Commons on Tuesday after MPs overwhelmingly rejected her Brexit deal earlier this month.
Amid an apparent compromise between Tory Remainers, Brexiteers and her DUP allies, MPs backed a bid by Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady to scrap the Irish backstop and replace it with “alternative arrangements”, requiring the prime minister to go back to Brussels.
However the path ahead looks rocky, as the European Commission immediately sent out a statement saying the deal was “not open for renegotiation”.
Follow updates from Westminster as they unfolded throughout the day
Tory MP Nicky Morgan asks about the “Malthouse compromise”, which she worked on with Tory Brexiteers.
May says that this is a “serious proposal” and that she is engaging with it “sincerely and positively.
Summing up, Theresa May says she believes a deal is 'in reach' but the days ahead are crucial. Now is the time for MPs to tell Brussels what they want - and if they want Brexit, they must vote for it.
Jeremy Corbyn is now responding for Labour and it is safe to say it is going well so far.
He says it is now "inevitable" that the government will have to extend article 50, which is the first time he has explicitly said this.
Corbyn sets out the importance of membership of a customs union to ensure jobs are protected.
May intervenes with a techy question about customs rules, in a bid to catch him out.
The House is in a fractious mood with lots of points of order being made, of varying levels of quality. John Bercow seems to be enjoying himself, telling off Boris Johnson and a number of Tory MPs.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries accuses Jeremy Corbyn of not taking interventions from women, after Angela Smith, the Labour MP, complains he has not listened to her.
He says he took an intervention from the PM, in case she has not noticed.
It's getting very rowdy now. Mr Corbyn again refuses to take an amendment from Angela Smith, the Labour MP. Huge roars as he allows Yvette Cooper but not Smith.
Cooper addresses concerns about her amendment, which aims to rule out a no-deal Brexit.
Corbyn says Labour would back a three month - not nine month - delay to Brexit, which Cooper is open to.
He said: "The Labour Party will back the amendment tonight because to crash out without a deal would be deeply damaging for industry and economy.
"That's why the Chancellor says it would be irresponsible.
"I say to her now that in backing her amendment, we're backing a short window of three months to allow time for renegotiation."
Michael Gove has now raised a point of order about Angela Smith, who he says has been an MP for 37 years. Smith is an avowed supporter of the bid for a second referendum.
Corbyn gives a sharp retort, thanking him for his 'leadership bid'. Gove is stony faced.
Wrapping up, Corbyn says Labour will support amendments that 'give this House the opportunity to recognise the reality that this government has so far failed to do'.
He says: 'No leadership from a government that has demonstrated it has no ability to negotiate a good deal, no willingness to listen to parliament, and crucially no acceptance that they must change course.
'They spent most of the last two years arguing amongst themselves rather than negotiating with the EU, and still they’re arguing amongst themselves and failing to come up with a workable solution.
'Tonight I hope this House does its job, and leads where this government has failed.'
Veteran Tory Ken Clarke says Brexit is an 'almost unique political crisis'. He vows to vote for any amendment that prevents a no-deal Brexit.
He says if this shambles continue, then "I hate to think where populism and extremism will take us next in this democracy”.
Let's take a step back from the debate for the moment and look at what the Irish backstop really means on the ground.
Here's why the Northern Ireland backstop is so crucial – and why Brexit hardliners are sabotaging democracy', writes human rights journalist Tess Finch-Lees.
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