The PM has set out a challenge to those who oppose the draft Brexit agreement agreed by her cabinet, according to Thursday's front pages.

"My deal... or no Brexit" is how the Daily Express sees it, while the Metro sums up the dilemma for restive Tory MPs as: "Back May or sack May."

Meanwhile, the Guardian ponders how to secure ministers' backing the prime minister had to overcome a cabinet split that is reflected across the nation as a whole.

A fair proportion of leader writers and columnists believe the draft agreement is "a bad deal".

Read more from Thursday's newspapers here...

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, education correspondent

If this was an exam paper, there would still be a lot more questions on the page than answers for universities in the UK.

They have been worried about losing access to EU research funding – worth about 100bn euro (£87bn) in the next round.

• Beyond a confirmation that existing funding up to 2020 is assured, there is still no detail on how the UK might take part in future EU research partnerships. The expectation is that the UK will negotiate to rejoin the club as an external partner. But the terms – and potential cost – are not really any clearer

• There are no signals about the place of EU academics at UK universities – who can be a quarter of staff in some institutions. That’s for future discussion as part of immigration rules
• There is a section on the status of EU students in the UK – with no obligation to provide them with “grant maintenance aid for studies… consisting in student grants or loans”. But that remains open to interpretation as to whether that means an end to tuition fee loans – or only refers to living costs.

Either way, nothing will change until 2020, and the door seems left open for further negotiation, clarification and reciprocal arrangements.

Keeping the UK attractive to EU students and staff isn’t only about money. It’s about culture, competition and maintaining an international status.

More homework and revision are likely before the shape of any final relationship emerges.

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Diplomats from the 27 EU countries must now pore over 585 pages of the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement with lawyers to ensure all will be to each government's liking.

The 27 member states (and Theresa May) also still have to agree what should be in the political declaration on the future EU-UK relationship.

This part of the divorce treaty is not legally binding - but it is symbolically important. At the moment the text is solely made up of a series of bullet points and headings. So the pressure is definitely on.

• Read Katya's full blog

Leaving the EU is proving to be a complicated business.

If you somehow haven't found time to wade through the 585-page withdrawal agreement, or if you have read the lot and are still baffled, our latest Reality Check might help you out.

It explains some of the more contentious features of the treaty, such as the "single customs territory", the role of the European Court of Justice and why the "backstop" is proving so controversial.

Theresa May faces another high-pressure day, as she attempts to begin the process of selling her Brexit deal to Parliament.

The prime minister is due to give a statement to the House of Commons on Thursday morning, having secured the backing of her cabinet.

Image source, PA

But much of the attention will be on the dissenting figures in her party, from cabinet ministers said to be on the verge of quitting to backbenchers reportedly planning a bid to remove her from No 10.

As our political editor Laura Kuenssberg puts it: "The threat of resignations is still live... And it is possible that the Parliamentary postman will be extremely busy on Thursday with letters that might trigger a challenge to Mrs May."

It's late. So, for those of you planning to curl up in bed with a mug of malted milk and that 585-page Brexit opus you've been waiting for, here's a quick recap of an eventful day:

• The cabinet has backed a draft withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU, Theresa May said in a statement delivered outside No 10 this evening
• The prime minister said the five-hour meeting that secured the cabinet's backing involved a "long, detailed and impassioned debate"
• She said it was a "decisive step" in the progress of Brexit, and would allow the agreement to be finalised

The deal has been welcomed by some European leaders.

• The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said it was in both sides' interests and that “the UK and EU will still be friends and allies”
• Irish PM Leo Varadkar says the deal “satisfies all key Irish priorities”

However, it's fair to say the reaction at home hasn't been overwhelmingly positive.

• Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described it as a "bad deal which isn't in the interests of the whole country".
• Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg described it as "rotten"
• SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon expressed disgust at there being no mention of Scotland in the withdrawal agreement
• And Mrs May's backers, the Democratic Unionists, made clear their concerns its implications for Northern Ireland in a "frank" meeting with the PM

Although the cabinet declared its collective support, several ministers are understood to have spoken out against the agreement, with papers reporting that Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey was furious to be denied a cabinet vote on approving the draft.

Reports also suggest that some ardent Brexiteers from the European Research Group, chaired by Mr Rees-Mogg, are plotting a vote of no confidence in the PM.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems continue to call for a further referendum on the final deal.

In spite of all this, government Chief Whip Julian Smith remains “confident a deal will get through Parliament”.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Business secretary Greg Clark and Chancellor Philip Hammond thanked business leaders tonight for helping to highlight the economic damage a no-deal scenario might do to the economy. That prospect helped focus minds among cabinet ministers in a marathon and fractious meeting at No 10, according to sources present.

“When evidence and facts met hopes and aspirations, the evidence and facts won,” said one minister.

However, one attendee described the backstop arrangement - the fallback position if a trade deal is not secured by December 2020 - as unsatisfactory. Not in the sense it gave the EU too much power, as some pro-Brexit politicians have complained, but in that it might result in unwelcome additional checks and oversight of goods travelling between the UK and Europe.

Offsetting that threat was the specific possibility of extending the transition period beyond December 2020. However, ministers said they did not expect firms to alter their planning for a no-deal outcome in March, given the challenge of getting this deal through parliament.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

There is however some ambiguity over whether the European Arrest Warrant extradition system will work anywhere near as smoothly as it does presently.

Under a special caveat (Article 185), nations could tell the UK that can no longer send suspects to face trial because their own constitution may not allow them to do so. Germany has an explicit ban on sending its citizens to face trial outside the EU.

And once transition ends, so does the access to data.

The deal includes an explicit article that will lock the UK out of all EU databases and systems at the end of 2020.

The UK will be able to temporarily continue to request access to systems that will provide intelligence on suspects - but largely only in relation to investigations that are already underway.

As for what follows, the Outline Political Declaration on the future relationship makes clear that the UK wishes to remain part of all the existing security arrangements - including a new form of extradition and database sharing. That will require a special security treaty.

But the document also acknowledges that there may be legal roadblocks that prevent the EU sharing data with the UK on anything like the current scale.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The proposed transition deal allows the UK to remain part of a number of hugely important policing and security arrangements - for now.

There is no certainty over what happens after 31 December 2020.

Under the proposed transition deal, the UK will still be allowed to:

• Use the European Arrest Warrant to send criminals to face trial in the EU - and bring suspects to justice in the UK
• Use powerful EU databases to check for alerts for missing people, arrest alerts and look for matches to DNA, fingerprints and vehicle number plates. These systems are used more than a million times a day by British police
• Continue to take part in a large number of ongoing cross-border policing operations which are co-ordinated by the EU's policing agency, Europol, where the UK is one of the leading partners
• Check quickly for the criminal records of any foreign suspects arrested in the UK.

Greener UK, a group of 13 major environmental organisations including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace said there were still "vast uncertainties" on whether Brexit will be green.

But it was "good" that the UK and EU had mutually pledged not to weaken current environmental protections.

Amy Mount, head of Greener UK, said: "The test of the UK's commitment to this will be whether the government provides a truly independent and powerful green watchdog that can take public bodies to court, with access to a range of sanctions including fines."

The Confederation of British Industry, the CBI, says the agreement was "progress" as it moved away from the "nightmare precipice of no deal".

The City of London Corporation said the draft deal provided "clarity", adding it is vital the transition period happens to allow the sector time to work through the "complex process".

Meanwhile the National Farmers' Union says the deal is "important progress", adding "free and frictionless trade is absolutely critical".

And the British Chambers of Commerce said businesses will be looking "carefully and deliberately" at what the deal means in the real world.

David Shukman
Science editor, BBC News

Nothing is settled yet but the outline agreement envisages Britain’s future relationship continuing with the EU along very similar lines in some key areas.

On energy, the document talks of a "framework" so electricity and gas networks can co-operate and supplies can continue to flow through the "interconnectors" that run under the Channel.

On nuclear fuel, a "wide-ranging" agreement will be underpinned by commitments “to existing high standards of nuclear safety”. In other words, a system of British safeguards will essentially pick up where the European ones left off.

And the UK will participate in EU programmes on science and innovation – subject to "conditions" that are yet to be agreed. Getting a mention will be welcomed by Britain’s leading science figures.

But it will not answer their long-standing plea for certainty as the future of research looks unclear and many scientists themselves wonder whether to continue their work in the UK or look elsewhere.

Newsnight

Justice Secretary David Gauke has been defending the draft deal on BBC Newsnight.

He said the five-hour cabinet meeting was a "full, open, honest frank discussion" allowing everybody set out their views, although "some at greater length than others".

"The prime minister set out her conclusion and as far as I'm concerned nobody stormed off," he said.

Asked whether it will make Britain richer, he said: "It's a deal that honours the referendum result" and will allow "the UK to gain control over our borders, laws and money".

"If we can complete this process with a deal as we appear to be able to get then I think we are well placed as a country," he said.

"We will grow as a country. Our economy will grow over the years ahead."

Andrew Walker
BBC World Service economics correspondent

The arrangements for Northern Ireland have been described as a backstop, to be used if the two sides can't reach an agreement for the long term to ensure there are no border controls on the island of Ireland.

The draft would mean that the UK couldn't impose lower tariffs than the EU on imported goods - severely restricting the UK's scope for its own trade policy.

In addition Northern Ireland would apply some areas of EU law, which some see as compromising the UK's integrity.

Both sides hope not to use this backstop, that the long term arrangement will make it unnecessary.