The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Former Labour Foreign Secretary Dame Margaret Beckett says she's voting against the PM's deal.

"This is the beginning, this is the overture. The concert hasn't started yet," she told World at One.

"The big negotiations are all in the future if this deal goes through."

Members of the European Research Group (ERG) have asked Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, to confirm their view that the UK could leave the EU with "no deal" in a year's time even if Boris Johnson's withdrawal agreement is implemented, the Evening Standard reports, external.

The pro-Brexit group apparently thinks this scenario could come to pass in the event that the EU and the government are unable to agree on a trade deal once the transition period ends at the end of 2020.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson has got a target of 320 MPs he has got to get on side.

My assessment is that he is still short of that magic number

One of the reasons for this is some of the long-standing Leave campaigners are taking their lead from the DUP.

They have concerns about a border in the Irish Sea.

This vote will be on an absolute knife edge.

The Welsh secretary urges MPs to back Boris Johnson's deal and honour the referendum result.

The Welsh secretary says Labour MPs in Leave-voting areas will have to "look their constituents in the eye" if they reject Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

Alun Cairns said 80% of MPs were elected for parties pledging to honour the result of the 2016 referendum.

He played down concerns about workers rights, and said the deal could make Wales wealthier.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

The latest gambit by an alliance of anti-no deal MPs could be a real problem for government whips.

Sir Oliver's amendment is a cunningly-crafted proposition which, crucially, could be voted for by MPs who want a deal, but don't trust this one, and don't trust the government.

It rests on the idea that were Parliament to approve the deal for the purposes of the Benn Act now, there might then be a danger that the subsequent legislation to enact it might be, somehow, derailed, resulting in a no-deal exit on 31 October.

With the Benn Act out of the way, they believe that some manoeuvre, some legislative judo move, by factions inside and outside the government, who favour a "clean Brexit" could leave no time for any effective counter… and Britain would be out, with no deal.

This reflects the sheer level of distrust that has accumulated over several cycles of Brexit angst.

Image source, UK Parliament’

Labour MP Jess Phillips says in a tweet: "We are being asked to trust Johnson to care for our constituents when his whole career he has voted to impoverish them, reduce their rights, limit their protections at work..."

James Shaw
BBC Scotland reporter

A court exploring whether Boris Johnson's new Brexit deal is unlawful has adjourned.

Judge Lord Pentland tells the Court of Session in Edinburgh he hopes to give his decision by 1700 BST.

Tory MP Mark Francois, who is a leading member of the Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG) of backbenchers, says he has not decided whether to vote for the Brexit deal tomorrow.

"I still have some concerns about some of the specifics of the deal so I’m going to go in now and discuss them personally with the PM," he said outside Downing St

"I’ll decide what to do when I’ve had a chance to put some questions to the PM."

Mr Johnson will likely need the support of the ERG to pass his deal through Parliament.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

A roundup of newspapers across Europe reveals broad relief at the deal agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Brussels on Thursday - but doubts over whether it will be passed by Parliament on Saturday.

Is Mr Johnson "happy too soon?" , externalwonders the German Bild tabloid. The House of Commons vote will be a real "test of fire", it says.

Irish newspapers say the deal has stopped short of a hard border.

It "amounts to virtually the same thing as Theresa's May's Northern Ireland backstop,, external" according to Irish Times writer Stephen Collins.

Kevin Doyle, of the Irish Independent, writes that "the deal is not everything we wanted but it's a close second.", external

Elsewhere, other commentators argue the UK has accepted a worse deal than before.

"Johnson, despite all his tough talk, surrendered to Brussels in almost everything," says Slovakia's Dennik N, external. "The changes concerning the Irish backstop are only cosmetic."

More from the snap YouGov poll we mentioned earlier.

As well as finding 41% of Leave voters wanted MPs to accept Boris Johnson's new Brexit deal, it found they were more likely to think the deal was good.

Overall, leaving aside their Leave or Remain affiliations, 17% of the general population thought it was a good deal, with 23% saying it was bad.

Some 31% of those identifying as Leave voters said it was a good deal, with just 7% of Remain voters saying the same.

There are a lot of "don't knows" however, with some 45% of the overall population surveyed saying they hadn't seen enough to say either way.

Image source, YouGov

Former Northern Irish first minister and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party David Trimble has urged his fellow unionist politicians to back Boris Johnson's deal.

Commenting on the deal's effect on the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Trimble said: "Yesterday’s agreement is a great step forward.

"Whilst, previously, the people of Northern Ireland were to have an agreement imposed on them, now we have a mechanism for the consent of the people of Northern Ireland. This is fully in accordance with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.

"What we now want to see is for the DUP and Sinn Fein to act together to bring the Good Friday Agreement back to life. This is not the time to be looking for excuses not to implement either the Good Friday Agreement or the new deal."

Boris Johnson returned from Brussels last night, getting home to Downing St at 0330 BST this morning, his spokesman says.

The spokesman also gave details about tomorrow's vote. He said the government did not know how long tomorrow's debates would last as the Speaker could select as many amendments to the deal as he wanted.

He did not respond to suggestions that the new Brexit deal was illegal as it contradicted Northern Irish legislation banning customs differentiation from the rest of the UK.

A snap poll from YouGov shows 41% of Britons want to see Parliament vote to accept Boris Johnson's new Brexit deal.

Some 24% said they wanted to see the deal rejected.

Support for the deal was higher among Leave voters, with 67% wanting MPs to accept it.

YouGov's Chris Curtis said: “While any honeymoon period may end up being brief for this deal, it has so far been well received by the public."

Image source, YouGov

Steve Baker, the chair of the influential European Research Group committee of Brexit-backing Tory MPs, has said there will be "no news" over whether its members will back Boris Johnson's deal until tomorrow.

James Shaw
BBC Scotland reporter

Image source, PA Media

Lawyers for the Speaker of the House of Commons have written to the parties involved in a Brexit court case in Edinburgh warning that they should not interfere in parliamentary business.

Anti-Brexit campaigners are seeking to show that Boris Johnson’s exit deal is unlawful, which might prevent MPs debating the issue at a special sitting tomorrow.

But the government’s lawyer, Gerry Moynihan QC, revealed that he had a letter sent on John Bercow's behalf, raising concern about the proper separation of the powers of the courts and Parliament.

The letter said the court should not make any order stopping debate of any matter before Parliament.

Labour MPs considering voting for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal on Saturday are not being threatened with the removal of the whip or deselection.

We reported earlier how Momentum founder and close Jeremy Corbyn ally Jon Lansman had hinted rebels could face deselection.

But when asked whether the party would take such moves, a Labour spokeswoman pointed to Mr Corbyn's earlier comments.

"I believe in the power of persuasion rather than the power of threat," the Labour leader said on Wednesday.

Court of Appeal judges have rejected a bid by civil rights campaigners for an urgent hearing of their case against Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Brexit.

The group, Liberty, brought the case in an attempt to ensure the government complied with the Benn Act - the law passed by MPs last month preventing a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.

Lord Burnett says the judges will give full reasons for their decision in writing at a later date.