MPs have reacted after Theresa May announced she will be asking the EU to reopen the Brexit withdrawal agreement - which she signed up to last year - and will push for changes.

Labour MP Liz Kendall called it a "total farce".

Meanwhile, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas says the Malthouse plan - backed by some Tory MPs - is "nothing but a fast track to no deal".

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

"This is a big day in the struggle between the government and Parliament over who controls the Brexit process," says BBC political correspondent Ben Wright.

"It is another big day for the Speaker, John Bercow, and the amendments he selects could have a very big bearing on the course that Brexit takes.

"There are 15 on the order paper. Precedent and convention would suggest the speaker will pick amendment that are directly aligned to the motion in question but also ones that command a good degree of cross party support."

Read more about the amendments.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

"Mrs May seems to have averted a threatened revolt by Tory Brexiteers who - only last night -were saying they were going to rebel because they thought her approach to renegotiation of the backstop was frankly too flimsy and not good enough.

"Now they're all lovey-dovey, with Boris Johnson saying he'll gladly support the prime minister.

"Why? Because Mrs May has taken an almighty hop, skip and jump in the direction of the Brexiteers by telling cabinet this morning she will go to Brussels and ask them to reopen the withdrawal agreement and to agree to legally binding guarantees against the backstop - what the Brexiteers have demanded for yonks she should do and the European Commission has consistently said no to."

Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya has been sentenced to three months in prison after being convicted of perverting the course of justice last December, meaning she will not be voting in the Commons this evening.

The DUP - the Northern Irish party which Mrs May relies on for a majority in Parliament - has been speaking to the government this morning.

The DUP says that if the PM promises to seek legally binding changes to the backstop - the last resort part of the Brexit deal which guarantees no hard border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland - they will back Sir Graham Brady's amendment.

Sir Graham's amendment calls for an alternative to the backstop, and Conservative MPs have been told to back it.

BBC News Channel

"24 hours ago, Theresa May was facing a likely revolt by some of the leading Tory Brexiteers because they were distinctly unimpressed with her plans to renegotiate the backstop.

"Now, this morning, they are all happy bunnies. Most of them are absolutely on board. And the reason they are on board is a fundamental re-positioning by Mrs May.

"This morning - she hasn't said so yet, but I expect her in the Commons - she will say that she's going to tell the EU they've got to reopen the withdrawal agreement, they've got to agree to legally-binding guarantees.

"This is absolutely what Tory Brexiteers have been demanding she try to do for months and months. In short, she has thrown in her lot with the TB.

"But she may be running at high speed into the brick wall of the EU.

"Because yesterday, we heard from the deputy chief negotiator who said the negotiations are over, it's finished. But for now, Mrs May has got her Brexiteers on board."

Labour's Rachel Reeves says, although the Malthouse plan unites Conservative MPs over Brexit, the public cares more about getting a good deal.

"This is not about uniting the Conservative Party, this is about getting the best deal for the country," she says.

But Justice Minister Rory Stewart says in order to do the right thing for the country, Parliament needs to agree in a majority.

House of Commons
Parliament

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride says that the government will be "transparent" as they make decisions on the transformation of the HMRC estate.

He states that the government will be "getting out of a substantial number of PFI contracts" in the move to these new estates.

"There is a purpose to this," he says, and HMRC are operating in a "lean" and "efficient" manner.

There's going to be an awful lot of discussion this afternoon about amendments proposed to the prime minister's Brexit motion.

An amendment is a change to the wording of a bill or a motion that is proposed by an MP. After being put forward, the amendment needs to be selected by the Speaker (who chairs debates in the Commons) and MPs then vote on whether to accept it.

A majority of MPs need to support an amendment for it to be made.

In today's case, the motion has been moved in neutral terms - which normally would mean it isn't amendable and actually has relatively little power.

However, these rules were changed before Christmas and MPs can now propose changes to the motion - effectively instructing the government what to do next, or taking control of what happens next out of the government's hands altogether.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Treasury minister Anneliese Dodds complains she was given limited time to prepare for the statement on new HMRC centres, only being informed of it when she was already in the Commons chamber.

Staff are leaving jobs because they are unable to travel to the new regional areas Mr Stride is "trumpeting" today, she says.

Many specialist staff have already left or are already leaving, which is leading to a loss of expertise and "huge inefficiency".

According to Reuters, Theresa May's spokesman said: "The prime minister said that in order to win the support of the House of Commons, legal changes to the backstop will be required, that would mean reopening the Withdrawal Agreement."

"She said a vote of the Brady amendment makes it clear that the current nature of the backstop is the key reason that the House cannot support the deal."

Sir Graham Brady's amendment is calling for Parliament to require the backstop to be replaced with "alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border" but would otherwise support the prime minister's deal.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Our reporter in Brussels says the European Commission will not give anything away moments before the vote.

This is because there is great concern that one of the 27 other EU leaders will say something, that "may influence the vote by giving hope that the withdrawal agreement could be open."

Prime Minister Theresa May has told the cabinet that she will ask the EU to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.

She said that legal changes to the agreement are needed. Mrs May will have informal contact with the EU today

Theresa May will hold informal talks with EU leaders today, the PM's spokesperson has confirmed.

Journalists have been told the PM will hold conversations with Brussels but would not say whether this would be before or after today's votes.

The BBC's chief political correspondent Vicki Young tweets...

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride says HMRC has successfully secured sites for 13 new regional centres, and will receive the keys for the first office next month.

He says this is "a significant milestone", ensuring each area of the UK will be better served from a hub in closer proximity to their community, and "importantly moving services out of London and the South East".

He adds that HMRC, using technology more efficiently, can become "a more highly-skilled organisation maximising revenue and reducing the tax gap".

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

The Malthouse plan is a compromise between rival wings of the Conservative Party - including Remainers and Brexiteers. It's nicknamed the Malthouse Compromise after Kit Malthouse, the minister who got the MPs from different sides working together.

The compromise replaces the backstop with a "free trade agreement-lite" and extends the transition period by a year.

According to the associate editor of the Daily Telegraph, Camilla Tominey, this morning the Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said the cabinet had expressed "cautious interest" in the plan.

But Justice Minister Rory Stewart said: "What the prime minister decides to do on the Malthouse plan C is something we'll find when she makes her speech.

"Whether it's Malthouse plan C or anything else, it needs to be very specific.

"It needs to say to the European Union - if we are to have any hope - we need to have a majority almost signed in blood saying [make] the following three changes, and we'll vote for it. That's the only way of getting it across the line."

Laura says that the Theresa May will discuss re-opening the Brexit divorce deal, which took the prime minister, her officials and the EU two years to put together, is a "very big deal".

House of Commons
Parliament

Treasury questions is finished and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride is now giving a statement on HMRC estates transformation, which proposes to redeploy civil servants outside London and the South East.

We won't know which amendments will be debated until around 13:45.

But two amendments appear to have already sparked discussion in the Commons corridors this morning. So what exactly are the Brady and the Cooper amendments?

'The Brady amendment'

Tory backbencher Graham Brady's amendment to the Brexit deal calls for the planned Irish backstop to be replaced with "alternative arrangements".

The government hope this change could win the support of pro-Brexit Conservative rebels and help pass Theresa May's deal.

Image source, Rex Features

'The Cooper amendment'

Devised by Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory MP Nick Boles.

If it wins the support of the Commons today it would lead to a draft bill which would require the Government to delay Brexit if no deal has been agreed by MPs by 26 February.