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The EU must recognise that the Conservatives need the support of the DUP and move over the issue of the backstop, pro-Brexit Tory MP Nigel Evans says.

He says the government cannot rely on support from Labour to get a Brexit deal through Parliament.

“If that happened and it still upset the DUP, all that means is they get some treaty over the line, but we can’t govern for the next three years," he says.

“The reality for the EU is they have got to understand the political complications."

He adds that the EU "don't want to move" but the "ball is in their court".

Image source, EPA

Arriving for the meeting in Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron, tells reporters the draft Brexit deal can not be renegotiated.

He says it is up to the British prime minister to explain what further assurances she needs.

"I think it is important to avoid all ambiguity," he says. "We cannot re-open a legal agreement.

"We cannot renegotiate what has been negotiated over several months.

"We can have a political discussion in this context.

"And it is up to Theresa May to tell us what the political solution is that she believes will bring about a (parliamentary) majority for this agreement."

*Translated from French

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP

The number of MPs who did not support Theresa May in the confidence vote "can't easily be dismissed", a former Brexit minister says.

Steve Baker, who is deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, says although he now accepts the prime minister's leadership, the result was "the worst of all possible outcomes because the number of people against her was large enough to be taken seriously".

Mr Baker resigned over the government's Brexit plan in July and was one of the 48 MPs to submit a letter of no confidence in the prime minister.

He tells BBC Radio 4's World at One: "It’s a matter of fact that the prime minister now has 12 months without a challenge but the problems with the withdrawal agreement and the destination which the prime minister is aiming at have not gone away.”

Nick Eardley
BBC political correspondent

Let's start with what we know.

Wednesday's confidence vote means the prime minister is staying in the job for now and the Conservatives can't force another confidence vote for a year.

In terms of certainty, that's about it, because the result - 200 backing the PM, 117 opposing her - illustrates how deep divisions in the Conservative Party are.

Theresa May's supporters insist that the issue has now been put to bed - it's time for the party to fall in line.

But the tally was not as comfortable as the PM's supporters wanted.

Her allies admitted before the declaration that anything over a hundred against her would be a bad result.

Some spoke of a big win to "lance to boil" of internal dissent. That did not happen.

Read more from Nick here.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says the EU can provide a "better explanation" of the declaration on future relations with the UK.

"There will be no new negotiation of the withdrawal agreement. There will be a readiness on our side to find some better explanation of the future relationship," he says, going into the EU summit.

"I think there is room to discuss the future relationship and have a better interpretation of what we agreed on."

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, UK Parliament

Former science and universities minister Sam Gyimah says that if the prime minister attempts to put her withdrawal deal to a parliamentary vote in January, it is likely to be defeated.

Mr Gyimah, who resigned earlier this month over Theresa May's Brexit deal, tells BBC Radio 4's World at One: "I support the prime minister in trying but all the indications are it’s likely to be a futile effort.”

There is not a majority for any option in Parliament he adds.

“It seems to me that the logic of where we end up is having to go to a referendum, not because anybody desires it…but it may be the best way to resolve this," he says.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson, a pro-Brexit Tory who was among those writing letters of no confidence in Mrs May, says the party's base is clear on what it wants.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, arriving at the EU summit, says: "I think the withdrawal agreement was very well negotiated. I don’t see that the deal can be changed, but we’ll see if there can be additional assurances.

"We want to maintain good ties with the UK after its withdrawal," she says.

John Pienaar
BBC deputy political editor

BBC deputy political editor John Pienaar says Theresa May faces divisions both inside and outside of her cabinet.

“There are definitely members of the cabinet if not actively pulling in opposite directions then waiting to do so," he says.

He suggests the prime minister may be biding her time.

“A lot of people suspect that for Theresa May it’s about running down the clock until we get so close to the end of the line, to the possible exit from the EU with no deal, that those who are against her, or at least enough of them, have no choice but to fall into line," he says.

But he adds that does look “a little bit like a fall on hope".

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says this evening's Brexit discussions will aim to provide "clarifications", to "demystify" the controversial backstop provision for Northern Ireland.

"It will be impossible to break open the negotiated withdrawal agreement, because of the red lines that you in the UK drew. Given all those red lines, this is the only deal possible," he tells reporters in Brussels.

"We have to seek clarifications, particularly on the backstop… I can assure you there is nobody in their right mind in the EU who wants to trigger the backstop."

He names the British "red lines" as: no border in the Irish Sea; no membership of the EU customs union and no free movement of people.