It's potentially a big day for Jeremy Corbyn, who is facing the prospect of resignations from his shadow cabinet over his decision to ask Labour MPs to back the Article 50 bill at third reading.

The Labour leader wasn't saying anything as he left his home earlier.

Before the EU votes, Mr Corbyn will face Theresa May at Prime Minister's questions.

Select Committee
Parliament

Tory MP Peter Lilley says the Spanish government, concerned about an independence movement in Catalonia, has declared that "Spain is going to say no to any special solution for Scotland".

Edinburgh University Nicola McEwen comments that the Spanish government has "very strong views on these issues".

Select Committee
Parliament

"What is meant by the term single market?" asks Conservative MP Peter Lilley.

He argues that many people in fact mean the European Economic Area, asking: "If so, why don't they say so?"

The European Economic Area (EEA) includes the EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Professor Alan Page says the terms overlap to some extent. The EU had an "internal market" following the Single European Act, which is now known commonly as the "single market".

Mr Lilley, a prominent Eurosceptic, argues that continuing membership of the single market outside the EU would bind Scotland to laws but it would "have no say in the making of that law".

He asks why the SNP, which seeks independence for Scotland - and more powers while it is part of the UK - should want to be in such a situation.

Select Committee
Parliament

SDLP MP Mark Durkan asks which EU powers would be expected "to come to Scotland" post-Brexit.

Michael Clancy says the SNP Scottish government has identified areas including "agriculture, food and drink, fisheries, aspects of environmental law... higher education and research".

He adds: "Civil law matters are crucially important." 

This includes business law but also "personal matters" such as family law.

Alan Page, professor of public law at the University of Dundee, adds that powers which are currently devolved would be expected "to remain within the Scottish Parliament's competence".

Select Committee
Parliament

If Scotland remained in the single market while the rest of the UK left, what would that mean for the border with England?

Conservative MP Dominic Raab asks whether "you would apply law enforcement powers to try and curtail" people who have arrived in Scotland under freedom of movement rules but then crossed the border into England.

"If someone was trying to be continually resident in England...then that person would be flagged as a Scottish resident," proposes Michael Clancy from the Law Society of Scotland.

The "implications" of this hypothetical scenario are not yet known, he suggests.

Select Committee
Parliament

SNP MP Joanna Cherry raises the option of Greenland, which is part of EU member Denmark but has considerable autonomy - and is not part of the EU itself.

Greenland left the EU in 1985 following a public vote.

Some have floated the idea of a "reverse Greenland", in which Scotland remains in the EU or the single market while the rest of the UK is outside it.

Politics professor Nicola McEwen says Greenland is "a very small island community" which may not offer parallels with Scotland, which shares a land border with England.

Ms Cherry also notes that Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, is an EU member but not in the customs union.

Select Committee
Parliament

Michael Clancy, director of law reform at the Law Society of Scotland, tells MPs that countries have to be in either the EU or the European Free Trade Association, external (EFTA) to be in the single market.

EFTA comprises non-EU states Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Select Committee
Parliament

The session opens with questions to Michael Clancy, from the Law Society of Scotland; Professor Nicola McEwen from the University of Edinburgh and Professor Alan Page from the University of Dundee.

Chairman Hilary Benn asks about "the Scottish government's proposal" that Scotland remain in the single market after the UK leaves the EU.

UK PM Theresa May has indicated that the UK as a whole will leave the single market as it leaves the EU but the Scottish government supports continuing single market membership for Scotland.

Professor McEwen says the Scottish government has made "a credible proposal that merits examination". It will "depend on what Brexit turns out to mean", she adds.

EU negotiators appear to have the position that any proposals come from the UK first, she tells the committee, suggesting there are "enormous obstacles in the way of political will".

Select Committee
Parliament

Welcome to our live coverage of the day's events in Westminster.

We begin in a few moments with the Exiting the EU Committee, which will question Scottish government representatives, lawyers and academics about Brexit.

Among the witnesses is Michael Russell MSP, the Scottish government's Brexit minister, in charge of negotating with the UK government. 

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The chairman of one of the UK's top housebuilders, Redrow, has rejected accusations of land hoarding by the industry and called the government's housing White Paper "disappointing".

Steve Morgan said the planning system was the biggest barrier to new houses.

The suggestion that housebuilders were sitting on landbanks in order to maximise profits was "completely incorrect", he told Radio 4's Today.

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David Cameron accompanied his mother Mary to the Oldie Magazine awards yesterday.

The former magistrate picked up the Mother Knows Best of the Year award for organising a 10,000-strong petition against the closure of a children's centre in Oxfordshire where she used to volunteer.

Other recipients of awards included the former Labour MP and actress Glenda Jackson and Labour peer Lord Dubs, who has campaigned for the rights of unaccompanied child refugees.

Image source, PA

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Welsh language information for assembly election voters last year was unsatisfactory, the Welsh language commissioner has said.

Meri Huws's report said while there had been "clear progress", the availability of Welsh registration forms continues to be "insufficient".

Three councils only provided guidance in the English language.

She said she expected officials to improve the position before the council elections in May.

The commissioner's review considered the availability of Welsh language information for voters before the assembly and police and crime commissioner elections, held last May. Read more

MPs have said the government must do more to demonstrate the value for money of green energy schemes which are ultimately paid for by bill payers.

The influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was promised in 2014 an annual report on the impact of these policies on energy bills.

But it has not seen once since.

The PAC also repeated previous concerns about over-optimistic forecasting in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The government's Levy Control Framework is supposed to control the cost of three low-carbon generation schemes, funded by levies on energy companies, which consumers pay for through their energy bills.

The PAC concluded that the framework had "suffered from a lack of transparency, rigour and accountability" and the forecasting of its costs had been poor. Read more

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Shadow Brexit Secretary Kier Starmer said it was "fanciful" for the government to say it could get deals on Britain's departure from the EU and the new relationship with the EU by 2019. 

Speaking on Today, he said it would be "a very serious situation for the prime minister" if the government failed to get the backing of parliament for a future deal and if there was still time to renegotiate, it would be "most reckless" for her to "throw the toys out of the pram" and refuse to try to get a better deal. 

He said it would be a "reckless act" for the government to "crash out" of the EU without a deal if it did not get what it wanted.

Mr Starmer said Labour had not got everything it wanted but was still fighting hard. He would not comment on what would happen to shadow ministers who defy Jeremy Corbyn's instruction to support the bill later on Wednesday, saying this was a matter for the Labour leader and the Chief Whip.

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Guy Verhofstadt is the European Parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator, as well as the former Prime Minister of Belgium.

In an interview with the BBC's Business Daily he says:

"If we look to the pressure on the European Union at the moment… [President Trump] is bidding on the designation of the European Union and also Vladimir Putin who wants to divide the European Union, then there’s also the threat of jihadism and then internally we have enormous pressure by nationalists, populists, the whole question of Brexit, so it’s an existential moment for the European Union… it’s now the time to reform, otherwise it could disappear."

The full interview can be heard on Business Daily on the BBC World Service at 08:30 GMT.

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Government ministers yesterday said the UK housing market was "broken"

But Steve Morgan, chairman of house builder Redrow, says: "I actually thought the title of that was quite unfortunate really because it's far from broken."

"If you look at the improvements and the output increases over the last few years, it's been very significant."

He denied that property developers sit on land, rather than developing it, saying the problem is with the planning process.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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The Greek debt crisis is back in the headlines, mainly because of an IMF warning yesterday that the crisis won't be fixed unless some of the debt is written off by the EU.

However, with elections coming up in Germany, the country's politicians are reluctant to do that.

Stephen Clapham of Fenician Capital says: "The politicians are obviously very sensitive about the election. If you're a German politician, you do not want to donate money to Greece, because after all, German train drivers are not going to vote for you when Greek train drivers are retiring earlier on higher pay."