A Scottish judge has rejected a bid to have Boris Johnson's plan to shut down parliament declared illegal.

The case was brought to the Court of Session in Edinburgh by a cross-party group of 75 parliamentarians, who argued the PM had exceeded his powers.

But Lord Doherty ruled on Wednesday that the issue was for politicians and voters to judge, and not the courts.

He also said there had been no contravention of the law by the government.

Read our breaking story here

Scotland's judge rejects bid to have PM's plan to shut down parliament ahead of Brexit deadline declared illegal

Victoria Derbyshire

Richard Benyon, one of the 21 Tory rebels who helped to wrest control from the prime minister's hands in the Commons last night, said he had been in "turmoil" deciding what to do about the vote.

"I'm not by nature a rebel," he said. "I've been a serial loyalist... and it was only close to the vote that I decided to vote the way I did."

Mr Benyon said he received a "very apologetic telephone call" from a party whip ahead of the vote, explaining he would be deselected if he rebelled.

Following the vote, he had another phone call to confirm he had had the whip withdrawn.

Press Association

We heard from Aberavon Labour MP Stephen Kinnock earlier about plans to amend the Brexit delay bill to bring a version of Theresa May's withdrawal agreement back on the table.

He's doing the media rounds this morning - and has just told PA his thoughts on the 21 Tory rebels who have had the whip removed for defying the prime minister last night.

"I congratulate them for standing up for their principles. I think this is what happens when people are bullied and intimidated - they push back," he said.

"It was a good day for democracy yesterday," he added.

BBC News Channel

BBC News Channel headed to Philip Hammond's constituency in Runnymede and Weybridge to gauge reaction to the ex-chancellor being deselected from the Tory party for defying the prime minister in last night's vote.

There's a mixed response from people across the constituency.

One local said: "I have no sympathy for him due to his poor voting record," while another said: "I think it's the best thing that Hammond has done for the constituency for years. He's actually shown a bit of backbone."

Another third said the party was "tearing itself apart" while a fourth said Brexit was "full of surprises".

Sophie Calvert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

Cheshire MP Antoinette Sandbach said rebelling against Boris Johnson was hard but "there are critical times when you have to do what is right, external".

The Eddisbury MP was one of 21 Tory MPs who voted against the government last nightin a move designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

It means another vote today that could force the prime minister to seek a delay to Brexit and the latest 31 October deadline.

Following the result, Ms Sandbach tweeted that the whip had been taken away from her, effectively expelling her from the parliamentary party.

She added she had rebelled "no matter what the personal consequences" and "most of my constituents would have supported, external a "soft" Brexit however they voted not a no deal".

Rob Mayor
Political reporter, BBC WM

Stourbridge MP Margot James said voting against the government last night was "the most difficult decision I've ever had to make".

The former minister was one of 21 Tory MPs in rebelling as the Commons voted to take control of the Brexit agenda and try to bring a bill today asking for a delay.

"I've only rebelled once against a three line whip in all the nine years I've been in Parliament. I am by nature loyal to my party and my colleagues," she said.

After the vote, Mrs James told BBC WM she was called by the chief whip to tell her the whip was being removed, effectively expelling her from the parliamentary party.

She said she hadn't decided if she would stand as an independent candidate in the next election, but didn't want to stand down from Parliament.

Image source, Reuters

Oh, What A Night

The Brexitcast team discuss posturing, nose-picking, eye-rolling and scraping off barnacles.

Click here to listen now on BBC Sounds.

BBC News Channel

The director of legislative affairs at No 10 under Theresa May has said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expecting fewer MPs to rebel against him than did so last night.

"They were expecting perhaps 10 to 15 rebels," Joe Moor said.

"For 21 Conservatives to defy the whip causes them a much bigger problem than I think they had."

"These are moderate MPs who have been in the party for a very long time, have always shown extreme loyalty," he added.

"To not only remove the whip from them, but for them to defy the whip themselves, shows the gravity of the situation."

Faisal Islam
BBC Economics Editor

Image source, Getty Images

The big message the government will try to send with its spending round is about the austerity decade ending.

In particular the thing it will want to get across is that funding is pouring into those public services most visibly problematic for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election, ahead of yet another fairly imminent visit to the polls.

Health, education, and the police will be boosted just in time.

Total departmental spending will rise for the first time since before the crisis.

Read more here.

John Mann explains why he was one of two Labour MPs (the other was Kate Hoey) to vote against his party last night.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

During an interview ahead of the fourth Ashes test, Australian ex-cricket captain Shane Warne offered his view on Brexit.

"You've made the decision, it's done," the spin bowler said, before pleading with MPs: "It's a great country - just get on with it."

BBC Business News

Image source, PA Media

Sterling is up 0.5% against the dollar at $1.2147 in early trade.

"The pound edged higher as Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy appeared in disarray," says Neil Wilson, of Markets.com

"The move higher only serves to underscore the kind of headline risk and volatility we can expect to see over the coming weeks which will make sterling a tough currency to trade. And it is worth noting that at least a portion of the rally is down to the drop in the US dollar following that weak ISM manufacturing reading."