European Parliament
Brussels

Image source, EBS

Charlotte Knobloch, former President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, warns MEPs that anti-Semitism is "rearing its ugly head again" throughout Europe, and the number of witnesses to the Holocaust is decreasing every year.

The confidence of the Jewish community is "being eroded", she says, with an increase in both verbal and physical attacks on Jews.

She criticises the UK Labour party's record on anti-Semitism under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, saying the party is now one of the "most striking problem cases in Europe".

The party, she says, has been "transformed" in recent years and has "left the political centre far behind".

House of Commons
Parliament

Home Office Minister Ben Wallace is now introducing a debate on the remaining stages of the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Bill.

This bill will allow the police to apply for a UK court order to get stored electronic data directly from a company or person based outside the UK in countries with which the UK already has judicial cooperation.

It notes that an application for data would only be granted if the judge was satisfied that the data was likely to be of substantial value to the criminal proceedings or investigations, and that it would be in the public interest.

The bill received broad support in the House of Lords, but was amended to ensure sufficient parliamentary scrutiny of future international cooperation agreements, and to provide safeguards against UK service providers being required to produce evidence in cases in which the death penalty may be imposed.

You can read more about the bill here, external.

The backstop is a position of last resort, to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing an all-encompassing deal.

At present, goods and services are traded between the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland with few restrictions.

The UK and Ireland are currently part of the EU single market and customs union, so products do not need to be inspected for customs and standards.

But, after Brexit, all that could change - the two parts of Ireland could be in different customs and regulatory regimes, which could mean products being checked at the border.

The UK government does not want this to happen. The EU has also said it does not want any hardening of the border.

However, the UK's current red lines, which include leaving the customs union and the single market, make that very difficult.

Image source, .

Speaking earlier today, Irish Deputy PM Simon Coveney says the EU Withdrawal Agreement represents the "best and only way" for an orderly Brexit. The agreement will not be reopened.

The political declaration could be changed, he says, but there are currently no realistic alternative arrangements to the backstop.

The issue has been "explored endlessly" in the negotiations, but those alternatives tested have been "found wanting".

"We need a backstop based on legal certainty rather than wishful thinking."

There is a united desire across Northern Ireland not to return to the conflict of the past, he says, and the Irish government will not allowed that to happen, whatever the consequences.

"Some things are more important than economic relationships," he says.

The vote last night "signalled a turning point" from Theresa May on the backstop, he suggests, and this has been met with disappointment in Dublin and in Northern Ireland.

The narrative put forward by the DUP does not represent the entirety of views held in Northern Ireland, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke opposes his fellow Tory Dr Sarah Wollaston's proposed bill, saying that MPs must respect the result of the referendum.

A second referendum with the options of the prime minister's deal or remain would be "a travesty of democracy", he adds, "the people in this country did not vote for remain they voted to leave."

Mr Elphicke says people should not be told they were "stupid or ill-informed" as "people made up their minds on the EU over many years".

He says he suspects if the people were asked the same question again "they would make the same decision".

"To turn our country 180 degrees would make us the laughing stock of the world," he says, "a second referendum would be endless Brexit and endless uncertainty."

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

The BBC's Deputy Political Editor, John Pienaar, says that Theresa May has previously been "privately happy" with Jeremy Corbyn's "intransigence" towards cross-party talks on Brexit.

He adds that the "expectation" around Westminster is that of no-deal, as the chances of a breakthrough are "very very bleak" and it appears that Brussels is not going to "soften" the approach to the UK.

He says some Brexiteers could now fear "losing Brexit altogether". He adds that keeping the Conservative party together "is a very steep climb" as one wing of the party will always end up unhappy, whatever the end result of the current situation.

BBC Radio 5 live

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative MP Dr Sarah Wollaston is now introducing her European Union (Requirements Relating to Withdrawal) Bill.

The bill is being kept as a "legislative back-up plan in case Commons allies fail to make any of their proposals stick", according to BBC parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy.

Dr Wollaston says the bill would allow MPs to express their views on what could command the support of the whole of the Commons through a series of indicative votes on:

• the withdrawal agreement and framework or future relationship, option of leaving with no-deal
• changes to the backstop
• the option of a Canada style deal
• the option of joining the EEA or remaining in a customs union or a variation of this
• and would seek approval for a public vote to return the decision to the British people giving them the opportunity to say which Brexit they want, or whether they wish to stay in the EU.

Dr Wollaston says these indicative votes are necessary as it is "unlikely" Theresa May will achieve changes to the Withdrawal Agreement, and because MPs have voted against no-deal.

"This bill allows the House to say there are other routes forwards," she adds.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

And the winner was…. ennui.

It was a pretty underwhelming PMQs, and the main exchanges revealed nothing new.

The MPs in the chamber clearly thought so, too, because they began to drift away once the Corbyn-May joust was over.

And by the time the DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds rose to speak, a considerable acreage of unoccupied green benches was visible.

Perhaps buoyed by her victories the previous evening, the prime minister seemed a smidge more confident. Jeremy Corbyn asked the right Brexit questions, but didn’t threaten to get past her defences.

Perhaps the most eye-catching thing about this session was the performance of the third big PMQs player – Mr Speaker.

John Bercow’s extravagant slapping-down of Culture Minister Michael Ellis, which was followed by a direct rebuke to the government front bench, was a reversion to the combative habits which create so much Tory resentment.

But the only real takeaway is that it is hard to imagine that Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are going to find some Brexit consensus over Earl Grey and Battenberg cake in the PM’s office, this afternoon.

Radio 4 PM

On BBC Radio 4's PM programme today, the BBC's Europe Editor Katya Adler and Carolyn Quinn will be answering listeners' questions about Brexit from 5pm.

If you have a question you would like answered email pm@bbc.co.uk or tweet @EvanHD.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

BBC deputy political Norman Smith says Prime Minister Theresa May will have a conversation with European Council President Donald Tusk later today, as well as seeking to gain support of EU leaders as she attempts to amend the withdrawal agreement.

Before that however, she'll meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to discuss Brexit.

Both leaders are facing questions.

Mr Corbyn's previous failure to force a general election and failure in his party's support for the Cooper and Greive amendments last night means he'll be facing questions about what he does next.

On top of that, there appears to be a clutch of Labour MPs who seem determined to support the prime minister in delivering Brexit.

Theresa May's internal opponents, the Tory Remainers in Parliament, will be asking similar strategic questions, following the rejection of their attempts to prevent no-deal and delay Brexit in the Commons last night.

But the prime minister has her own issues, with the EU remaining united in their opposition to reopening the withdrawal agreement or budging on the Norther Ireland backstop.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Dutch customs expert Hans Mason tells BBC Radio 4's the World at One that the EU requires checks at outside borders, but there "are facilities that can be used" to provide customs checks but without formal checks.

He states that "existing administrative techniques" could be used for customs declarations. He adds that checks could take place away from the border.

Dublin City University professor of economics Edgar Morgenroth says that the avoidance of a hard border is not economic but is political.

He says that any economic border or divergence of rules will be seen by dissident republicans as an abandonment of the peace process.

Brussels looks set to stand firm - for now - and wait for the UK to offer a realistic alternative.

Sky News deputy political editor adds...

Image source, HoC

Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins is answering questions in the Commons from MPs, responding to Labour MP Stella Creasy's urgent question on the Domestic Abuse Bill.

Under the Domestic Abuse Bill, which aims to greater protect victims, the first legal definition of domestic abuse will be extended to include non-physical and economic abuse.

The draft bill will also:

• Create new powers to force perpetrators into behaviour-changing rehabilitation programmes
• Make victims automatically eligible for special protections when they are giving evidence in criminal trials
• Set up a national "domestic abuse commissioner" tasked with improving the response and support for victims across public services
• Clarify the workings of "Clare's Law" - a measure introduced four years ago to permit police to tell a member of the public if there are concerns over about previous violence committed by their partner.