Theresa May's former chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, tweets, external he is an "eternal optimist" and is "hoping MPs use this time to get out of their trenches and unite around a compromise".

"Business needs an end to the uncertainty and the country needs bringing together before untold damage is done to some of our most important institutions," he says.

"To those who favour leaving with no deal or not leaving at all (either by revoking Article 50 or holding a second referendum) surely you can see that if you get exactly what you want a significant chunk of the country is never going to accept it?"

House of Commons
Parliament

What has been a very eventful and at times rowdy session draws to a close after more than 90 minutes.

In response to a question from the SNP's Drew Hendry, Mr Cox defends the independence of the judiciary again.

The Supreme Court's ruling, he adds, was perfectly "proper and legitimate" with which people are free to disagree.

Then in a point of order, Labour's Emma Hardy urges the attorney general to "moderate his language. She is particularly upset with his use of the phrase "have you stopped beating your wife" during one of the exchanges.

In response, he says it is an "old saying" used in court to describe a "cross-examination technique" in which lawyers ask a question "assuming the premise".

He says he apologises for any offence caused. Speaker John Bercow says it is a matter of great sensitivity and where "mores have changed" parliamentarians should be careful about the language they use.

Labour's Barry Sheerman makes a furious speech, calling the attorney general's statement "a disgrace".

Labour MPs have been criticising Mr Cox on Twitter for some of his comments in the Commons today.

Wirral South MP Alison McGovern suggests Mr Cox, in speaking of a "dead Parliament", should remember Jo Cox, the MP who was murdered in her constituency in 2016.

In response to a question in the Commons, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has said that a general election motion will be "coming before the house shortly".

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Conservative MP Charles Walker has said next week’s party conference in Manchester will go ahead even if the Commons continues to sit, but he will not attend.

He said of the annual event: “Of course it will happen I just don’t know who will be there if the house sits next week.”

Normally, Parliament is recessed for party conferences, allowing MPs to attend without missing votes or debates in Westminster.

But Tuesday’s Supreme Court judgement has thrown the possibility of a recess into doubt.

Asked whether it could end up just being him and a couple of his Conservative colleagues at the conference, Mr Walker said: “It won’t be me, but it might be others.”

He added: “I’m not a big conference goer. I won’t be missed… they are dreadful. It will have to happen, people have invested millions in it.”

House of Commons
Parliament

A succession of Conservative MPs are calling for a general election - sentiments that Mr Cox is all too happy to agree with.

Interestingly, while the chamber was pretty full when proceedings began, it is beginning to thin out - particularly on the Tory benches.

House of Commons
Parliament

An important intervention from the former work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd, who upbraids the attorney general for having claimed Parliament is dead.

She warns Mr Cox against using language that "pits Parliament against the people".

The current Parliament, she observes, reflects the outcome of the 2017 election and the "divisions within the country, communities and families" over Brexit.

She says what Parliament has failed to do is reach a "compromise" over Brexit.

The attorney general says he used the language he did advisedly and suggests he was "driven to it" by the actions of the opposition, adding that no-one did more than him to try and get Theresa May's deal through Parliament.

He then doubles down on the matter, saying the current Parliament "is not worth the candle" and, reprising Oliver Cromwell's famous words about the so-called Rump Parliament in 1653, says it "should be gone for any good it is doing"

Labour MP Angela Eagle is reading between the lines of Mr Cox's pledge that the government will comply with the law preventing a no-deal Brexit.

She says on Twitter, external that "they’re looking for a way to wriggle out of it".

Ms Eagle was picking up on comments from the attorney general that there was "legitimate consideration" taking place in government as to what obligations the law places on it.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Conservative MP Charles Walker has pointed out that the Commons chamber is less than full.

“This is the greatest constitutional crisis we are told but isn’t it interesting: Parliament is not full. It is not full,” he told the BBC’s Politics Live programme.

Highlighting empty benches on both sides of the chamber, he said: “It should be standing room only. There is shortage of about 250 colleagues. I think a lot of colleagues have had enough. They want to get out [of the EU].”

“The house should be packed, it should be rammed. Your viewers can see it is not packed,” he added.

But Labour MP Lisa Nandy said she had friends travelling down to Westminster and that some MPs had to arrange childcare before returning to Parliament.

House of Commons
Parliament

Tory MP Julian Lewis questions how the Supreme Court could have reached a 11-0 verdict against the government when three of England's most senior judges, sitting in the High Court, reached an opposing view a few weeks earlier.

Labour's Pat McFadden takes Brexiteer MP to task using a football analogy.

He says the reaction seems to be "because they won the semi-final they should have been awarded the trophy".

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

The Liberal Democrats are pushing for new legislation to force the prime minister to ask for an Article 50 extension earlier than planned.

A spokesman said MPs can’t afford to wait until 19 October to see if Boris Johnson will obey the law.

The Lib Dems will also vote against any move to allow the Commons to go into recess for the Conservative Party conference.

Tory MP John Stephenson asks whether Parliament should have a say in the appointment of Supreme Court justice in the future.

Cries of "no" are heard in the chamber when the question is posed.

But Mr Cox does not dismiss the idea entirely saying it is a matter that this House "in the coming weeks and months may want to reflect upon" depending on wider reforms to the constitution that might happen in future.

In the United States, the president selects Supreme Court judges subject to confirmation hearings in the US Congress.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Academic and author Matthew Goodwin observes that Tuesday’s Supreme Court judgement could play into Boris Johnson’s apparent long-term strategy for a “people versus Parliament election”.

Mr Goodwin told the BBC’s Politics Live programme: “There are probably still lots of voters out there who will not necessarily interpret yesterday’s events as being those of a weak prime minister who had overstepped his mark.

“There will be lots of voters out there who will see this as another attempt to put an obstacle in the way of what was decided three years ago.

“Ultimately that might play into [Mr Johnson’s] long-term strategy of wanting that people versus Parliament election.”

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has theatrically challenged opposition MPs to vote through a "one-line bill" which would call a general election.

He accused them of being "cowards" for refusing, but there are some on his own side of the House who are also reluctant.

BBC chief political correspondent Vicki Young says some cabinet ministers are dubious too, because that bill could be amended by MPs to include provisions they might not support.

House of Commons
Parliament

After a period of heated exchanges, there is a note of consensus in the House.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas says recent events show the need for a written constitution to protect the UK's democracy from "dangerous populists".

Mr Cox says he has a "certain degree of sympathy" and says there is a case for the UK's constitutional arrangements to be looked at once the UK has left the EU.

The attorney general also agrees with Labour's Chris Bryant who suggests future prorogrations should only go head if voted on and approved by MPs.

Mr Cox says the idea is "constructive" and suggests it is typical of the MP who he says is aspiring to higher office - a reference to Mr Bryant's bid for Speaker.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Labour MP Lisa Nandy has told the BBC's Politics Live programme that a lack of compromise among opposition parties is frustrating voters.

She said: "Compromise is a word I hear a lot when I go home to Wigan, I don’t hardly ever hear it in Parliament. That is one of the things that is frustrating people.

"I would rather see Ken Clarke or Harriet Harman leading the government than Boris Johnson that is certainly true.

"But we do have a constitution and Jeremy Corbyn is leader of the opposition and there ought to be compromise there and a level of understanding that that is the case that the people put him there."