Russia condemns Boris Johnson's call for demonstrations outside its London embassy against bombings in Syria as "shameful".

Press Association

Theresa May's decision to allow Tory MPs to back a Labour call for Parliament to be able to "properly scrutinise" her Brexit strategy does not go far enough, say lawyers about to challenge the prime minister in the courts.

The country's top judges will be asked to rule that the government cannot lawfully trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to leave the European Union without Parliament having "the ultimate say".

Mrs May has tabled an amendment which will allow Tories to back the text of Labour's motion in a Commons debate calling for MPs to be given proper scrutiny before Article 50 is triggered.

But scrutiny is not enough and the amendment is "meaningless window dressing", says a solicitor in one of the legal teams in the Brexit case to be heard by London's High Court on Thursday. 

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SNP Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins says he is new to Parliament but wonders if it is usual "for a secretary of state to spend so long at the despatch box without actually telling us anything".

He claims that "we don't even have a starting point" for negotiations.

Leaving the EU should be "subject to the most intensive scrutiny" by the UK Parliament and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, he argues.

Mr Gethins says the Leave campaign urged people to vote "based on a blank piece of paper", whereas the SNP Scottish government produced a white paper before Scotland's independence referendum.

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Brexit Secretary David Davis has addressed claims that British people didn't vote for the terms of the Brexit negotiations.

He said they would assume ministers would work towards the "best possible" outcome for all parts of society and the UK, devolved administrations, sectors and manufacturers, security, democracy and access to markets across the world.

He added: "The British people did vote for that - 17.5 million of them."

The Labour leader reminds Theresa May of a former chancellor's comments on sterling

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SNP MP Neil Gray asks David Davis whether he favours single market membership or not.

"It's astonishing how linear or black and white they think this is," Mr Davis says, citing the relationship than non-EU states including Norway and Turkey have with the bloc.

"This is not a single entity, it is a spectrum of outcomes and we will be seeking to get the best of the spectrum of outcomes," Mr Davis says.

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David Davis says the government has been clear on "the overarching aims", if not on the details of its negotiating strategy.

Its aims include "maintaining the strongest relationship" with the EU and the "freest possible" trade with the EU and the rest of the world, he says.

In response to Labour's Jack Dromey, he says that you cannot "give away" all details of a negotiating strategy in advance.

He says Labour has not set out what its post-Brexit immigration policy will be.

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The government has tabled an amendment, which would accept the words of Labour's motion calling for Parliament to be consulted before the Brexit process begins, but adds the following words to the end:

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David Davis, the "Brexit secretary", says Labour's plan to ask 170 questions, external, one for each day before the end of March, is "a stunt".

The end of March is the government's self-imposed deadline for triggering Article 50.

However, he says he can "broadly welcome" Labour's motion today but "with important caveats" that he claims the government's amendment addresses.

The pound has recovered some of its losses with analysts attributing the gains to the promise of a Commons debate on the Brexit process.

The pound is currently trading 1% higher against the dollar at $1.22.

Sterling has been sliding since Mrs May announced on 2 October that the formal Brexit negotiation process would start by the end of March 2017.

Traders sold the pound, fearing the effects of a UK exit from the single market.

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Conservative MP Claire Perry says "there are many of us on the government benches" who will support access to the single market.

She urges Labour to accept the government's amendment which, she claims, is "not a hard or a soft Brexit, but a smart Brexit".

Jonathan Edwards of Plaid Cymru wants to know "the Labour Party's policy on single market membership".

Sir Keir Starmer says the party wants "the best access to the single market".

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Conservative MPs who campaigned to leave the EU press Sir Keir Starmer on his position.

Bernard Jenkin asks whether Labour's shadow Brexit secretary is in favour of triggering Article 50 or would back a vote in Parliament against it.

Iain Duncan Smith asks: "What is the simple definition of leaving? Is it the non-application of EU law?" The government plans to introduce a Great Repeal Bill incorporating EU laws applying to the UK into UK law.

Sir Keir argues that Parliament has a greater role. "We are almost certainly leaving one treaty and signing new treaties," he says, adding:

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SNP MP Alex Salmond says he remembers the debate on the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, when there were "lots of votes" in Parliament.

Conservative MP and former Attorney General Dominic Grieve says there is a convention that a major treaty change requires an "affirmative" vote in Parliament.

And shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer says the government has "prerogative power" over sending UK troops into battle but recent convention has enabled a vote of MPs on military action.

ITV's political editor tweets:

The Daily Politics

A minister has suggested that the Government may soon publish a paper setting out its Brexit negotiating strategy.

Speaking to the Daily Politics, George Eustice said it was “quite likely” that a green or white paper would be published.

Asked if a white paper would be published, the Agriculture Minister said: "That’s quite possible yes. We’re doing a lot of work at the moment and closer to it it’s quite likely that we will have a green paper, white paper, discussions of this sort."

The BBC reported earlier this week that the Government had changed its mind on plans to produce a Green Paper with the broad outlines of its Brexit objectives this autumn.

Mr Eustice also refused to rule out the possibility of Britain continuing to make payments to the European Union after Brexit.

"These are all issues that can be discussed," he said. "If you look at countries like Norway, they participate in some elements that go wider than the EU and they make a payment for those bits that they participate in."

"It’s wrong to say this is a contribution to the EU Budget, this is a contribution to areas where you work jointly. These are all issues that could be considered."

MPs must be allowed a vote on the government’s Brexit negotiating strategy before triggering Article 50, Conservative MP Stephen Phillips has said.

Mr Phillips – a Leave supporter – said there should be a debate lasting several days on the “broad negotiating position” the government intends to adopt, followed by a vote.

“The implications of the government not having the support of the House are that it will get to the end of the process and it may not secure the approval of Parliament for everything it needs to do to unpick our relationship with the European Union,” he said.

“So it’s actually in the government’s interests at this stage… to come to Parliament and get Parliament’s approval as to the broad negotiating position it intends to adopt.”

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Labour's Sir Keir Starmer says a number of models for the UK outside the EU exist: "The Norwegian model, the Swiss model, the Turkish model and the Canadian model."

He adds that it is unlikely that the UK's deal would be the same as any of those "and nor should it".

Therefore, he argues, the terms of any deal should be subject to a vote in Parliament, otherwise: