House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, hoc

Mrs May says the treaty "is now clear" that the backstop "can only ever be temporary".

She says she is "clear" that these elements "do not offer a sufficient number of colleagues the assurances they need".

She says she will now go back again to EU leaders to discuss her next options.

She adds that she is in "absolutely no doubt that this deal is the right one".

This is the "best deal that is actually negotiable with the EU," she says.

She states that the backstop will be her focus in the days ahead.

House of Commons
Parliament

Theresa May says the backstop is a necessary guarentee to the people of Northern Ireland and there is no deal available that does not include the backstop.

She says there are inescapable facts: that Northern Ireland has a border with another sovereign state, that hard-won peace has been built in Northern Ireland over the last two decades over a seamless border, and that after Brexit, the Northern Ireland/Ireland border will be the external frontier of the EU's single market and customs union.

"These challenge posed must be met not with rhetoric, but with real and workable solutions," she says.

The prime minister says: "The people do not want a return to a hard border, and if this House cares about preserving our union, they must listen to these people, because our union will only continue with their consent."

Theresa May says she hopes the changes made will ensure people that the UK will never be trapped in the backstop arrangement permanently, and that the EU won't want it to come into use or persist for long.

House of Commons
Parliament

Prime Minister Theresa May begins her statement.

She says that after three days of debate on the withdrawal agreement in the Commons and much discussion outside Parliament, it is clear that there is "broad support" for many of the key aspects to the deal.

However, there remains widespread concern about the backstop.

This would result in defeat for the deal, she says, were MPs to vote on it.

Therefore, she says the government has made the decision to defer the vote.

House of Lords
Parliament

The Lords has voted to adjourn, temporarily, until Theresa May has given her speech and there is further understanding of the current situation.

The results were...

Contents: 201

Not contents: 163

Majority: 38

They will return at 5:30pm in order to hear Theresa May's speech to the Commons repeated, to which they will be able to respond.

House of Commons
Parliament

Theresa May begins her Brexit statement to a packed House of Commons.

Adam Fleming
Reporter, Daily Politics

Theresa May is seeking a legally-binding commitment from the EU that the Irish border backstop will not have to be used, according to an official from a member state whose leader received a phone call from her this weekend.

The idea would be to go beyond the language in the Withdrawal Agreement of using “best endeavours” to reach a trade deal.

This makes sense considering paragraph 16 of last week’s legal advice from Geoffrey Cox which said that despite the "best endeavours" language, the EU isn’t legally compelled to conclude an agreement that avoids the backstop.

“I am not sure what she is seeking is on offer,” said the official.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Theresa May is due to give her speech to the House of Commons shortly.

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg says she understands that the PM will tell colleagues she has heard people's concerns and worries when it comes to the backstop.

Now, she is going to talk to the EU again to make the language clearer and ensure that the UK won't be locked in it forever.

But it will not be the first time the issue has come up - it has been there throughout negotiations.

Laura Kuenssberg said she is not sure why Mrs May thinks she will get a different answer.

Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok has said the EU would be willing to "look carefully" at any new proposals Mrs May might put forward.

However, he warned that further talks would not be easy.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour's Lord Foulkes of Cumnock says that it is "ridiculous" that the Lords can not stop debating something the Commons has decided not to.

Lib Dem leader Lord Newby proposes that the House of Lords adjourns until 5:30pm, when they will have heard the Prime Minister's statement.

Labour's Baroness Smith of Basildon says that the current situation is "unsustainable". She calls for an adjournment for two hours.

The Lords divides to vote on if it should adjourn until the prime minister's statement. The result is expected at 3:35pm.

House of Lords
Parliament

Image source, HoL

The House of Lords are sitting today and they're now continuing their debate on Brexit, in which there are 163 speakers.

They started the debate on Wednesday last week.

Leader of the Opposition, Baroness Smith of Basildon, says that she offered to adjourn and delay the Lords vote on the deal to the government Chief Whip, but she says that this offer was "refused".

She says that for today the Lords "has to continue as planned" and suggests that maybe the Lords Whips Office "didn't get the memo".

She says later on today she still intends to "examine the wider issues of the deal" and provide "advice on the deal".

Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, Lord Newby, says that the the UK has a government "in name only". He thinks that the debate should be adjourned.

Government Whip Lord Taylor of Holbeach says that the Lords "should proceed with the debate".

The chair of the 1922 committee, Graham Brady, says: "Unless we get the agreement to a point where it can have a majority in the House of Commons, there is no point in having a vote tomorrow."

He says Conservative MPs were "looking for progress" on the deal so that it reaches a point where it can get through Parliament.

The 1922 Committee is made up of backbench Conservative MPs.