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
MPs are now onto their fourth vote of the night - Yvette Cooper's amendment to try to rule out a no-deal Brexit. This one could be close as Labour has vowed to back it and Tory remainers are also looking on it favourably.
Yvette Cooper's amendment has been defeated by 321 votes to 298. Government majority of 23.
MPs are now voting on the fifth amendment of the night, tabled by Labour's Rachel Reeves. It would require the Prime Minister to seek an extension of Article 50 if no deal had been reached by February 26.
It's a slightly watered down version of Cooper's amendment.
Leading pro-EU MP Chuka Umunna tweets a veiled swipe at his Labour colleagues who did not back the Grieve and Cooper amendments.
Rachel Reeves' amendment has been defeated by 322 votes to 290, with a majority of 32. It was similar to Cooper's, requiring the PM to seek an extension of Article 50 if no deal had been reached by February 26.
MPs are now voting on their sixth amendment. Tabled by Tory MP Caroline Spelman, it attempts to rule out a no-deal Brexit but does not carry the legal force that Cooper's amendment did.
Meanwhile, the pound fell against the euro and the US dollar after MPs voted down a series of Brexit amendments aimed at preventing a no deal scenario.
Jumping out of the Commons for a moment, French president Emmanuel Macron dealt a blow to the PM's hopes by describing the withdrawal agreement as "not renegotiable".
Speaking in Cyprus moments before MPs voted, Mr Macron said: "As the European Council in December clearly indicated, the withdrawal agreement negotiated between the UK and EU is the best agreement possible.
"It is not renegotiable."
Dame Caroline Spelman's amendment has WON by 318 votes to 310. Majority of 8 votes.
The cross-party bid, tabled with Labour's Jack Dromey, says the UK will not leave the EU without a deal. However, our political editor Joe Watts points out that it is only advisory and carries no legal force.
It's still a decent defeat against the prime minister. Here's the moment it happened.
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