The ERG - the Conservative group of Eurosceptic backbenchers - may support the PM's steps forward now, but it might not be the same in a fortnight, Laura Kuenssberg says.

BBC News Channel

Labour MP Hilary Benn, whose own proposal for a series of "indicative votes" will not be debated, tells the BBC he will be backing plans put forward by his party colleague Yvette Cooper to rule out no-deal.

"It avoids disaster," he says, adding that "we are facing a crisis as a nation".

Mr Benn said the Commons Exiting the European Union committee, which he chairs, concluded that "a no-deal Brexit could not be a policy of any responsible government".

"We all know what the consequences would be, the government knows it, I don’t in my heart believe the prime minister will take us over the cliff. But we can’t be sure, which is why we need Yvette Cooper’s amendment."

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer says that the PM today has taken a "radically different course" by supporting an amendment which "cuts across the very deal that she negotiated".

"It's one thing for backbenchers to lay an amendment at odds with the PM's deal," he says. "It is quite another for the prime minister to support it."

He says she has agreed to the Brady amendment for temporary unity.

He says that "she is raising expectations that she could never fulfil".

"No deal would be catastrophic for jobs and living standards," he says, "no deal is not a way to prevent a hard border, it is a way to guarantee it".

"There is still a swathe of legislation that needs to pass," he warns, "it is simply not credible to pretend this could all be forced through in the remaining time".

"The prime minister is now out of time and Parliament must take control," he finishes.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is wrapping up the debate for Labour.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will sum up for the government, with votes from 7pm.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Theresa May has resumed her position on the front bench ahead of the wrapping up of this debate on the EU Withdrawal Agreeement.

After the debate concludes, MPs will vote on amendments to the Brexit motion.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Stella Creasy says that Parliament is becoming a "pantomime".

She says she will support the Cooper amendment, Spelman amendment and Grieve amendment, although she fears this will result in "little progress".

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result," she says.

Conservative Mark Harper says he wants to give the PM "the best opportunity" to go back to the EU and secure the deal that is needed.

"I don't want to make her task more difficult," he says, adding that the Commons should not rule out a no-deal exit.

BBC News Channel

The BBC's Europe editor, Katya Adler, says EU leaders are watching events in the Commons very closely.

"What Jean-Claude Juncker, I've been told, has made very clear to Theresa May - as frankly he has done in the past - is to say 'no, we will not reopen the withdrawal agreement and no, we will not be making big changes to the backstop'.

"One contact I spoke to here today just said 'how many times do we have to repeat the same thing'.

"We know the EU sometimes insists something is impossible and then they end up doing something different. But the backstop - this guarantee over the Irish border - really is a particularly sensitive issue."

She added: "Don't forget the text of the backstop is the fruit of 18 months of painful negotiations... and this text is very difficult to fudge."

Meanwhile, both Leave and Remain supporters have been outside the House of Commons all day - and remain there for tonight's votes.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

BBC News Channel

Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell and a supporter of another referendum on Brexit, tells the BBC that events in Parliament are "verging on displacement activity"

"Nothing fundamentally has changed here. There’s been an outbreak of a rather superficial understanding between different wings of my party," he says, adding that Brussels has already ruled out the proposals in the Brady amendment.

"We’re just going round in circles," he says.

"We need a Brexit that is legally and practically deliverable and then put that to the public. It won’t be the Brexit that was sold on the back of a bus."

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Green MP Caroline Lucas says Dominic Grieve's amendment allows Parliament to take over from a government "that is in disarray".

The amendment is a vital way to allow us to avoid the catastrophe of no-deal, she adds.

On the Brady amendment, Ms Lucas says "it takes fantasy into a new art form", as she doesn't understand how many times the EU has to say they will not renegotiate before MPs listen.

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer says MPs are now "limited in options" and that he shares worries about no-deal; however, taking it away "means we have nothing to fall back on".

"We cannot capitulate and accept a bad deal," Mr Mercer says, noting that the Brady amendment is the "final option".

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Nick Boles says he is determined to make the best of Brexit for his constituents.

"I am seriously committed to making a success of Brexit," he says, but there are two parts - Brexit and success.

Brexit on 29 March with no-deal will not be a success, it will be a disaster, he says "and I cannot have that on my conscience".

He adds that the Cooper amendment - which he supports - rules out no-deal on 29 March not forever. "We seek to buy ourselves a little time to make a success of Brexit."

Mr Boles says if the amendment is not successful, it is because the prime minister made a pledge to come back with a motion on 14 February, and if this takes place, he will push for the Cooper amendment to be tabled again.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Liz Kendall says she doesn't know if the prime minister really believes that the EU is ready to renegotiate.

She says it could all be "a charade," as she suggests it could be that Mrs May wants to continue to "run down the clock".

"The first step has to be to rule out a no deal," she states, any extension to Article 50 must be for a "purpose" including speaking to members of the public truthfully on the next steps.

Conservative Brexiteer Sir Edward Leigh says that the best way to avoid no-deal is to vote for the deal, "we only won by 52 to 48," he adds, "so we have to settle for most of what we want".

He describes himself as a "measured Brexiteer".

"Let's push this deal over the line," he urges.

House of Commons
Parliament

The SNP's Angus MacNeil says "Westminster has got to take a step back and see the nonsense it is finding itself in".

He says "a lot can be done" to prevent the "trouble" that will come when the UK leaves the EU. He adds that whichever government is in power on either 29 March or the end of the transition period will be damaged.

"They had an agreement, they're now scared of the agreement," he says of Conservative MPs.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Charles Walker says his speech will be "a three minute cry of frustration".

He says he is keen to leave the EU, as he has been for three years, and that members need to realise it is "impossible" to find a deal that everyone likes.

What we can do is find a deal that 80% of the country supports, he adds, noting that he will support the Brady amendment to give the prime minister further instruction to go back to Brussels and find a deal his constituents can get behind.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Lisa Nandy says "we urgently have to build common ground", which Yvette Cooper's amendment seeks to do, along with others that were not selected by the Speaker John Bercow.

Attitudes are hardening around the country, she says, with people's willingness to compromise reduced and a subsequent rise in hatred.

The prime minister has pledged to support workers' rights, Ms Nandy says, but she points out that she has also committed to a watering down of these protections.

House of Commons
Parliament

Conservative Ed Vaizey says that he voted to implement Article 50 and he supported the withdrawal agreement with "no offers of gold or jobs".

He states that he will "continue to support the prime minister".

"I will vote for the Grieve amendment," as it allows Parliament to say what it wants, he says.

He adds that he also supports the Cooper amendment as it allows the prime minister more time to get the agreement right.

He will not support the Brady amendment, he states.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Jack Dromey, who has tabled amendment (i) along with Tory Dame Caroline Spelman, calls for MPs to "show a good degree of humility" and recognise the warnings of businesses and experts about no-deal.

There is a duty to honour the result of the referendum, he says, but there is also a duty to say no to no-deal when it is clear that the deal available will not pass through the Commons.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Priti Patel says all efforts must be concentrated on delivering the referendum mandate, and questions what discussions the government has had with the EU 27 that makes them think getting legally binding assurances will now be possible.

She adds that she will be supporting Graham Brady's amendment later, but says the priority is for Theresa May to go back to Brussels and "deliver for Britain".

House of Commons
Parliament

Plaid Cymru's Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts says that "two years later, we are still debating whether or not we still need a backstop to prevent the dangerous chaos of a hard border".

She asks for the PM to forgo party loyalty and to speak to MPs on opposition benches.

"Brexit is a thinly veiled assumption from the British government of their right to centralise and concentrate wealth," she states.

"Economic disparity between Wales and London is already the worst in the European Union," she adds.