House of Commons
Parliament

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says the withdrawal agreement is a "failure".

"It fails the red lines, it fails Labour's six tests, it failed to impress the new Northern Ireland minister who just hours before being appointed said the deal was dead.

"Instead of giving confidence to Leave and Remain voters... this half-baked deal fails to give any hope to bring the country together again."

But Mrs May again accuses him of "playing party politics", whilst she continues to focus on "the national interest".

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Andrew Rosindell is straight in there with a direct appeal to the PM to change course on Brexit.

The cheers for the PM seem muted…..

Jeremy Corbyn follows up with a question about whether Britain might leave with no deal, quoting assorted cabinet ministers who still seem to want changes….

And a nice jibe about whether the post of Brexit Secretary is “entirely ceremonial”.

The new incumbent, Steve Barclay smiles a seraphic smile.

This is turning into an awkward little interlude for the PM.

House of Commons
Parliament

Jeremy Corbyn brings up the transition period that the business secretary said earlier this week could be extended to 2022.

He said that being outside of the EU and with no leverage, "does she think she is fooling anyone" that she will get a free trade agreement by the end of 2020?

Theresa May says the future relationship will set out "the structure and scope" of the deal.

She adds: "He hasn't even read [the agreement], he doesn't know what's in it. He says there is a problem and he would do it differently...

"He is playing party politics, I am working in the national interest."

House of Commons
Parliament

Jeremy Corbyn takes a dig at new Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay.

He notes that Theresa May is heading to Brussels this afternoon, rather than him.

He calls Mr Barclay another "non travelling" Brexit minister and ponders whether the post was now "entirely ceremonial."

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asks whether the withdrawal agreement was finalised or whether there will be changes.

Mrs May says it is "part of a package" with the political declaration on the future relationship with the European Union.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Jeremy Corbyn asks his first question and, perhaps unsurprisingly, starts with Brexit.

The Labour leader says that now a number of government ministers have said they won't vote for a no deal, is that ruled out?

But Mrs May says no.

"The point that has been made is very simple," she said. "If you look at the alternative, it will either be more uncertainty, more division or could risk no Brexit."

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Andrew Rosindell has the first question. He says the people of Romford are unhappy by the prime minister's proposed EU deal.

He says "it does not represent the Brexit they voted for" and asks Theresa May to think again.

Theresa May says the deal delivers an end to free movement, the end of the jurisdiction of the ECJ, and the end of contributions to the European Union that can be spent on the NHS.

She says the EU remains a close trading partner, and she wants to see the UK continue to trade with the bloc.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

The Speaker began today with a ticking off for a few MPs who had a kickabout and posed for pictures in the Chamber.

There's been plenty of response on Twitter...and apology from three of the MPs concerned...

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Last week she was a prime minister at bay; this week, might we see Theresa the Triumphant?

The PM will definitely be boosted by the failure of her hard Brexiteer critics to muster the 48 supporters needed to trigger a confidence vote in her leadership….

But the small snag is that her government was forced to duck a series of Commons votes for fear of defeat and looks vulnerable to Norman Lamont’s stinging criticism of John Major; of being in office, but not in power.

So does the micro-politics of the Conservative benches shape the political mood, or the government’s increasingly precarious position in the Commons.

Expect Jeremy Corbyn and the SNP’s Ian Blackford to focus on the latter. But might the PM feel emboldened to attack the ambiguities of Labour’s stance on Brexit?

Today’s list of questioners does not include any Scottish Conservatives, but with the Fisheries Bill due to be debated this afternoon, and the whole issue of fisheries rights now one of the most sensitive aspects of the Brexit negotiations, it will be interesting to see if one of their number tries to catch the Speaker’s eye, and seek assurances on behalf of an industry which could swing vital votes in many of their constituencies.

Mr Blackford or one of his flock may target the same issue, or maybe the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Neil Parish; the Conservatives gains in Scotland in 2017 are an important reason why they remained the largest party in the Commons – so the Scottish fisheries vote has an importance way beyond the plain numbers involved.

Another interesting moment lurks towards the end of the list of questioners – Labour’s Angela Smith has recently been no-confidenced by her constituency party. Will the PM make some sympathetic comment? Will she be “hear-heared” by sympathetic colleagues? The atmospherics will be interesting.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

The DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly says the withdrawal agreement ignores their "red line" over Brexit.

Speaking to BBC Politics Live, she said: "Our position has been very clear to the prime minister. We are not going to support a bad deal.

"We could have been very, very difficult on a whole range of issues. But what we said to the prime minister was that we have one red line.

"We have tried to say that repeatedly and very clearly to her that our red line was to respect the integrity of the United Kingdom. We have looked at this withdrawal agreement and it doesn’t do that."

She added: "A confidence and supply agreement must be about working together and if our positions aren’t going to be respected, if our positions aren’t going to be listened to, then we cannot expect to have the cooperation we had before."

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s spokesman on Europe, has hit out at Theresa May's deal and accused the government of being in "extraordinary chaos".

He told BBC Politics Live: "So far so good? So far two and a half years on, and actually not so good.

"We are in extraordinary chaos. You have got a government that is preparing for medicine stockpiling, that is preparing for food supplies to run out, that is talking about deploying the army in peace time.

"That is a subject of colossal political failure."

He added: "We think this is the wrong deal, it is the worst of all worlds."

Adam Fleming
Reporter, Daily Politics

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has cancelled a working trip to Spain as discussions continue in Brussels over Brexit.

He had been due to attend a summit of the outermost regions in the Canary Islands on Thursday and Friday.

But he has scrapped it to deal with “the many important events taking place at the moment”.

Image source, Getty Images

Caroline Lucas has also responded to Amber Rudd's comments about MPs being sure to block a no-deal Brexit happening.

The Green Party MP said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that MPs from both sides of the House of Commons recognise that a choice between this miserable Brexit proposal or a ‘no deal’ departure is no choice at all.

“Parliament can vote to proceed with the Brexit on offer from the Government - which satisfies pretty much no-one - or it can vote the deal down and allow the people to have the final say."

John McDonnell says the Queen should give Labour a chance if Theresa May loses key Brexit votes.

BBC News Channel

Tory MP Justine Greening says there is no option on the table for Brexit that would receive majority backing from the House of Commons.

Speaking to the BBC about Amber Rudd's earlier comments on there being no majority for a 'no deal', the Remain campaigner said: "There is no majority in this house to support a no-deal crashing out of the European Union, but the problem is this place works on majorities and there is no majority for any route forward.

"That means that parliament is gridlocked – that is just the simple, honest truth of it. And if you are in a gridlock, you have to find an alternative route forward.

"That’s what people in this country need parliament now to do."

Ms Greening supports calls for a referendum on Mrs May's deal.

"It is an alternative way to make sure we actually get a decision on Brexit taken and then we can move forward to all the other issues that effect day to day lives that people want this place focused on," she said.