Brexit vote result - LIVE : Theresa May offers Tory MPs free vote on no deal after her revised plan suffers second crushing defeat
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Your support makes all the difference.MPs have inflicted a devastating defeat on Theresa May's Brexit deal after last-minute assurances from the EU failed to convince Brexiteers and the DUP.
On a day of high drama in Westminster, parliament voted against the prime minister's blueprint by 149 votes.
Ahead of the Commons showdown, a hoarse Ms May desperately appealed to MPs to back her blueprint after she secured “legally binding” changes during an eleventh-hour trip to Strasbourg on Monday night.
But attorney general Geoffrey Cox dealt a significant blow to her efforts, issuing legal advice that said the UK could still be trapped in the Irish backstop, which is so despised by Tory Brexiteers.
The prime minister must now let MPs decide whether to rule out a no-deal Brexit and has been forced to allow her ministers to vote.
It means over the next 48 hours cross-party groups of MPs will probably table plans for delaying Brexit for different periods; for leaving on different terms; and for giving the British public a Final Say referendum.
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The Attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, has published his updated legal advice online - ahead of his Commons statement.
He has said that the UK can still be trapped in the 'Irish backstop' so hated by Conservative MPs, despite changes to the Brexit deal won by Theresa May. It is a significant blow for the prime minister.
You can read the full legal opinion, published here:
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer quickly responded to Geoffrey Cox's legal advice on the PM's Strasbourg agreement.
He tweeted a picture of the document with the last section highlighted in green, which states that the "the legal risk remains unchanged".
Alongside the picture, Mr Starmer said: "Attorney general confirms that there have been no significant changes to the withdrawal agreement despite the legal documents that were agreed last night.
"The government's strategy is now in tatters."
Brexiteer Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyn's has tweeted a picture of the attorney general's advice. "We must hold our nerve," she says.
"Nothin has really changed, and it is still a bad deal so unable to vote for this."
This is from The Telegraph's Steven Swinford on how the legal advice is going down in Eurosceptic quarters of the Conservative Party. Spoiler: not great.
My colleague, Lizzy Buchan, has written a useful summary of the amendment's tabled today to Theresa May's Brexit agreement. We'll know shortly before her statement which have been picked by the Commons Speaker, John Bercow.
No Labour frontbench
SNP frontbench (a)
Led by SNP’s Ian Blackford, it recognises that Scotland voted to Remain in the EU in 2016 and says it should be allowed to stay in the bloc.
The Independent Group (b)
This amendment, tabled by the newly-formed TIG MPs, says a chaotic Brexit poses “a significant danger” to the future of the UK. It argues for an extension to article 50 and a second referendum by September 30.
Liberal Democrats (c, d, e, f)
Sir Vince Cable has put down four amendments - one to revoke article 50 if it has not been extended by March 29, one to hold a second referendum, one to make Brexit a priority in the Commons, and a final amendment to create a £7.5bn fund to mitigate Brexit-related job losses.
Geraint Davies (g)
Tabled by Labour backbencher Mr Davies, and backed by a handful of Labour, Lib Dem and Plaid MPs, this amendment would require Ms May to seek an extension to negotiations and would secure parliamentary time for his private member's bill paving the way for a second referendum
Angus Brendan MacNeil and cross-party MPs (h)
The SNP's Mr MacNeil’s amendment requires Ms May by March 29 to withdraw the UK's notice of intention to leave the EU. It is backed by europhile MPs including Conservative grandee Kenneth Clarke, Labour's Keith Vaz and Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts.
Also Angus MacNeil (j)
It would require ministers to authorise another Scottish independence referendum.
Plaid Cymru (i)
This amendment would require Article 50 to be extended to 2021 - or until a future relationship with the EU has been negotiated - with a referendum at the end of that period with Remain on the ballot paper.
This is from my colleague Ben Kentish, who is outside the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs in Westminster. The PM is addressing MPs ahead of this evening's crucial vote in the Commons on her agreement.
Jacob Rees-Mogg repeatedly pressed Mr Barclay on whether the UK could unilaterally pull out of the backstop & suggested "we can't leave it without the permission of the EU".
He added: "The unilateral declaration doesn't add anything because it simply says 'we could ask to leave the backstop'. We've always been able to ask to leave the backstop, that is not in any sense an improvement or a development."
Mr Barclay told him "I don't accept that", adding: "This is both a question of legal interpretation and political interpretation.
"The starting point for this is that neither side wants to go into the backstop, there are safeguards to prevent it."
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