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Concluding his speech Mr Benn says: "It would be utterly irresponsible to allow this [a no-deal Brexit] to happen.

"I hope the House will vote for it tonight."

After he wraps up, Speaker John Bercow says he's putting a five-minute time limit on backbench speeches in order to allow as many people to have a say as possible.

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Hilary Benn says the purpose of extending the Brexit deadline has been left "deliberately open".

"I would just say it's very important that we focus on the principal purpose which is to prevent a no-deal Brexit and to keep the coalition that shares that view together."

He continues: "We must in my opinion secure that extension to Article 50 otherwise there is a risk that the election would result in us leaving without a deal, which as it may turn out at 7 o'clock tonight is not what the House of Commons wants and we should respect that."

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Sir Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex, and ardent Brexiteer, says there is no obligation in the bill for the EU to make a conditional offer yet the PM would, under these circumstances, be "forced to accept the terms that are on offer".

"So this is handing the decision not back to this house, but back to the European Union," he adds.

Hilary Benn says he does not agree with Sir Bernard.

"Of course there is no guarantee with any of these provisions that a further request from the United Kingdom for a further extension to be granted by the European Union," he says.

The bill, Mr Benn adds, is aiming to require the PM to ask for a deal and then agree to one.

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"The aim of this clause is to give the government the time it needs to do its job," says Mr Benn, continuing to argue the case for his bill.

"I say that because it is not clear how much negotiation is taking place."

He says it does not seem as if any proposals have been formed.

And, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, the Labour MP adds: "That is hard to understand since I thought the government should have been working flat-out since July."

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Away from the Commons for a moment, Ireland's deputy prime minister has said his country would back a further delay to Brexit if it "made sense" to do so.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said Ireland would agree if the British prime minister could make a "persuasive case" for how a delay would be used to secure a withdrawal deal.

"Ireland's position has always been if it makes sense to extend to try to get a deal, well then we would support that course of action," he said.

Speaking at an event to prepare Irish businesses for Brexit, Mr Coveney also raised concerns that alternatives to the Irish backstop have not yet been proposed by the UK government.

"If you are advocating, as Boris Johnson has done, that we need to remove the backstop from the withdrawal agreement, well then the obligation is on you to make a convincing case that you have an alternative that does the same job," he said.

"This process can't make any progress unless and until the British government comes forward with actual proposals that make sense so that we can interrogate them," he added.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

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The government's modest band of supporters in the Lords are mounting a formidable filibuster operation to prevent the Benn Bill getting to third reading before a possible prorogation of Parliament on Monday.

Labour and the Lib Dems had put down a business of the house motion which lays down a timetable for consideration of the bill.

The government side then unleashed hoards of amendments, to change every possible aspect of the motion and suggest all kinds of measures that should be debated instead (my favourite is the Bat Habitat (regulation) Bill).

Unlike the Commons, where such amendments might be grouped or voted on in a job lot at a set time, the Lords has to debate each amendment.

So the bill's supporters will have to move a closure motion to end the debate on each amendment, and then vote on each amendment.

That will mean two divisions, each probably taking a quarter of an hour, will be forced on each of around 90 amendments.

This morning, many were arriving with suitcases full of overnight gear and supplies.

Read more here.

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Hilary Benn says the bill "gives the prime minister the flexibility that he wants and needs to get a deal, if he can, what it does not render further negotiation pointless".

"It seems to me what does is the prime minister's apparent refusal to put any proposals to the EU if this bill passes, which I can only describe as a very odd state of affairs," he adds.

Boris Johnson, of course, doesn't see things this way. And judging by several interventions so far from some Conservative MPs, they don't either.

One calls it "a political bill" with a disparaging tone.

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Hilary Benn says: "The bill allows the prime minister the opportunity to reach a new agreement with the European Union at the European Council, and to seek Parliament's consent to any such agreement - that is condition one.

"It also allows the government to bring a motion to the House of Commons to seek our consent for leaving without a deal, for example if discussions at the European Council prove unsuccessful."

He says the idea put forward by the PM, that the passing of the bill would render any further negotiation with the EU "pointless", is simply not true.

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Hilary Benn says his bill has been misrepresented by some who have argued that "the EU could propose an extension of any length - for example a millennium - and the prime minister would be require to accept it."

"Not so," says Mr Benn.

"In those circumstance the House could decide," he insists firmly.

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Labour's Jack Dromey intervenes on Mr Benn's speech to argue that a no deal would damage the UK's economy.

He says the "overwhelming and unmistaking voice of the world of work is that a no-deal Brexit would have catastrophic consequences".

He says tens of thousand of workers would lose their jobs and the UK would be "poorer in every sense of the word for years to come".

Mr Benn isn't going to disagree with that - he says "the consequences for the economy and for our country would be highly damaging."

His father, of course, was Labour MP Tony Benn, who sat on the very same benches for 47 years between the 1950 and 2001 general elections.

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Hilary Benn says he "completely understands" why some of his Labour colleagues want an amendment to the bill he is introducing.

A group of 17 MPs wants to amend it to force the publication of a version of the draft Brexit deal produced after weeks of cross-party talks between the Tories and Labour under Theresa May.

"These amendments allow colleagues to rally around the opportunity to push forward with cross-party agreement," the MPs said earlier.

While Mr Benn said he would keep an "open mind" in the debate, he said it was "very important" to focus on the prirority: to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

• It gives the government until 19 October to either get a deal approved by MPs, or get MPs consent for a no-deal exit
• If the deadline passes without one of these two things happening, the bill requires the PM to delay the UK’s departure from the EU.
• The PM will have to ask the EU for an extension to 31 January 2020
• If the EU proposes a different date, MPs will have two days to approve or reject the date
• If MPs approve a deal or a no-deal exit, then the prime minister can withdraw or modify his extension request

Click here for more detail about the bill