BBC Radio 5 live

Business owner Kris Ingham from London has told 5 Live Breakfast that he wants his MP to vote for the deal tonight - to put an end to uncertainty.

Click here to listen to the discussion.

Michael Gove has defended the controversial Brexit backstop - the insurance arrangement designed to avoid a hard border if a trade deal is delayed.

He told the Today programme: "I think the whole point about the backstop is that it's deeply uncomfortable for the EU.

"If it is a trap for anyone, it's a trap for the EU. Why? Because the European Union said at the very beginning of this process that there would be no cherry-picking, the four freedoms of the single market were indivisible.

"But we have picked a whole bowl of glistening cherries, we have free access to the European market with no tariffs and no quotas but at the same time we say that European citizens have no freedom of movement.

"We don't pay a penny for that access, if we are worried about money after we leave and when we are in the backstop, and at the same time we can say to European nations, 'Do you know what? Access to our territorial waters for fishing, access to our exclusive economic zone, forget about it'.

"We are in a stronger position in the backstop."

Q&A: The Irish border Brexit backstop

Adam Fleming
Europe Correspondent

All the EU was prepared to do before the vote was to send that letter yesterday clarifying details of the existing deal and particularly the backstop., external

What they're prepared to do after the vote - well, that’s anyone’s guess. Although based on what they've said so far - it’s not a lot.

What they're looking for from Theresa May after this vote is clarity about what it means.

If various amendments are passed, tweaking the government's position, what do they actually mean in practice?

And so Brussels will expect to hear Teresa May's interpretation of what her position is.

Does she feel she’s able to give it one more go and finally get the vote through? Or have MPs taken control of the process? Then the EU will have to react to that.

Or do they just need a little bit more time in the UK to get this deal through? Then I think the EU will be prepared to do a little extension to the Article 50 period.

In short, Brussels thinks it's got options available whatever eventuality there is.

BBC Radio 5 live

5 Live is asking how people would like their MP to vote tonight. Naomh McElhatton is a tech entrepreneur in County Tyrone...

Howard Mustoe
business reporter

During the past two years, the pound has had a rough time of things when it comes to its price against the dollar and other currencies.

The immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum saw sterling decline sharply in value.

And as the vote on the UK's withdrawal deal from the European Union looms, further volatility is expected.

Since June 2016, holidays and imported goods have become more expensive, but UK exports have been cheaper.

It's a complex picture, though.

Continue reading Howard's piece here.

Image source, reu

A report in the Sun, external claiming German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Theresa May the EU could grant "extra concessions" once her deal is defeated in Parliament is incorrect, the German government has said.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for the German government told the BBC: "The content of a telephone conversation between the chancellor and the prime minister has been wrongly reported by the Sun.

"The chancellor made no assurances beyond what the European Council agreed in December and what has been laid out in the letter by Jean Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk."

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, EPA

Five Conservative Brexiteer MPs who have been critics of the withdrawal agreement said on Monday they will support the government in the vote tonight, including Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and former Public Accounts Committee chairman Sir Edward Leigh.

Sir Geoffrey, Conservative MP for the Cotswolds, told BBC Radio 5 Live this morning: "I mix with lots of people, obviously, as Member of Parliament. And they're all saying to me: 'We elected you to get on with it. What we don't want is this endless backwards and forwards'.

"That's why I changed my mind. I am voting for some form of certainty that we will leave on the 29th of March.

"How many of my colleagues will vote for that remains to be seen. I do have a belief that somehow we will leave with a deal."

Feeling a little lost on Brexit? Never really got your head around it in the first place? Don't know what this vote is all about?

Let us walk you through it with a really simple guide.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

09:30 - The cabinet gathers in Downing Street for its regular Tuesday morning meeting. It is likely to last for several hours.

12:50 - The last day of the Brexit debate will be opened by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.

18:30 - Theresa May will close the debate with a speech from the Dispatch Box. It is expected to be heavy on "the people expect" and "the eyes of the world are upon us" type rhetoric.

19:00 - Voting will begin, starting with backbench amendments and culminating in the meaningful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement itself. It could be as late as 22:00 according to some guesses.

After the meaningful vote takes place: Mrs May is expected to make a statement to the Commons.

Leaving her house this morning, Amber Rudd was unwavering in her support for Mrs May.

The work and pensions secretary told reporters: "I'm completely happy to back this deal, it is the right deal for the UK, it delivers on the referendum result - I look forward to voting for it."

When asked if she had concerns that the prime minister would resign if she lost the vote, Ms Rudd said: "I certainly hope not, no. She's the right prime minister and I hope the deal gets through - that's the most important thing today."

She added: "As the Daily Mail editorial said today: we need to put our country first."

Image source, Reuters

Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab says passing the prime minister's deal would cause "long term damage" to the UK but insisted there was no need for "doom and gloom".

He told BBC Breakfast: "I think we vote this deal down because it’s bad for the country, we continue to keep the arm of friendship extended with the EU but we also make clear we’re not going to be bullied into delaying Brexit or allowing it to be frustrated.

"We will leave on 29 March."

Mr Raab said the UK would be better of leaving without a deal with the EU and trading on WTO terms.

He added: "Sure, leaving on the WTO terms I think would have some short term risks but I think we can manage them."

Is there hope for MPs agreeing a Brexit deal if Britain can't even agree on this?

MPs are to get their say on the PM's Brexit deal today - five weeks after the vote was postponed because the government seemed likely to lose.

So what would happen if the Brexit deal is rejected?

It's not even mid morning but someone on Downing Street is already tucking into a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

An armed police officer was spotted making the delivery shortly after eight o'clock.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

The government has dismissed speculation that a location in Cumbria has been earmarked for stockpiling food in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Times reported that a site near Carlisle, external was being considered.

But in a statement, the Government told BBC Radio Cumbria that, even without a deal, stockpiling food wouldn't be necessary.

Image source, Google

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Environment Secretary Michael Gove was speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

"If we don't vote for the deal tonight, in the words of Jon Snow 'winter is coming'," he said, quoting the character in Game of Thrones.

The Brexit deal, while not perfect, is a "door" to leave the EU, he said. Otherwise it opens the door not to leave - which would not respect the views of the electorate.