Summary

  • MPs continue debate on the government’s Brexit deal

  • They will vote on whether to approve the deal next Tuesday

  • MPs usually debate private members' bills on a Friday

  1. What happens now that a deal's been done?published at 18:49 Greenwich Mean Time 30 December 2020

    The UK and EU begin a new relationship on 1 January 2021.

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  2. What happens after Brexit?published at 09:42 British Summer Time 13 July 2020

    Brexit officially happened on 31 January but the UK is now in a transition period until the end of 2020.

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  3. Grieve: Delay Brexit if deal is rejectedpublished at 17:26 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    Tory rebel Dominic Grieve says the PM should strike 29 March as Brexit day from UK law if her deal is voted down.

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  4. That's it from the Commons...published at 14:35 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    With the completion of the debate on Brexit, the Commons adjourns until next week.

    On Monday, the Brexit debate continues after questions and any urgent questions or statements.

    Then, on Tuesday, it's the final day of debate followed by the big vote on whether or not Parliament approves the agreement reached between the UK and EU.

  5. EU citizens' rights protected - Huntpublished at 14:35 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Jeremy HuntImage source, HoC

    Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt says that the government "has made it clear" that EU citizens rights will be protected whether or not the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

    He says he thinks that he agrees with Julia Lopez, who said that people will no longer trust politicians if Brexit is not delivered.

    He urges Labour MPs to "stop playing games" and reminds them that leave-voting Labour members will "never forgive them" if they try to stop Brexit.

    He adds that there will be no limit on the number of international students who can study in the UK.

    He concludes by saying that "we are now in the final stages" of leaving an organisation which "has been central to our national life for 46 years".

    "Let us rise to the moment," he finishes.

    With that, the Commons moves on to the adjournment debate.

  6. Debate has remarkable 'deja vu'published at 14:22 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Emily ThornberryImage source, HoC

    Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry says that maybe it's the flu she's suffering, but the debate seems to have a remarkable air of "deja vu" about it.

    She says that the prime minister is "running around Europe obtaining invisible concessions on Brexit" and she says there is "nothing new" to this document that has changed since 5 December.

    "This deal jeopardises all the co-operation we've come to rely with the EU," she states.

    She says that the deal "cedes control to Europe" on many areas of UK law.

    "Nothing has been achieved from five weeks of delay," she adds.

  7. 'There is no such thing as a jobs first Brexit' - Labour MPpublished at 13:55 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Mike GapesImage source, HoC

    Labour's Mike Gapes says it was the Labour government of Tony Blair which made "such an impact" on the development of the European Union.

    In 1975 he says he was putting out anti-Common Market leaflets the day before a Cambridge final exam, "the Labour Party is in a bizarre position...we are going for a sensible Brexit," but he adds, "there is no such thing as a jobs first Brexit, it is entirely about mitigating the damage".

    He says he doesn't believe that any government would be able to negotiate anything different to what has been proposed. He'll be voting to stay in the European Union if the Commons gets the chance, he adds.

    'Rebelling with a heavy heart'

    Conservative Michael Tomlinson says his constituents have been saying for "a number of months" that they just want "to get on with it".

    He adds that the proposal "does not get on with it". He says that it is not "taking back control".

    He states that while the UK will not be subject to the CJEU, it will still have "leverage" in the UK, and he describes the court as "highly political".

    "The proposal threatens the integrity" of the UK, he continues.

    "I have never rebelled against the government...and I do so with a heavy heart, but with a clear head," he adds.

  8. Political class 'could soon find itself despised'published at 13:51 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Julia LopezImage source, HoC

    Conservative Julia Lopez says that the political class "could soon find itself despised" if it does not do what has been requested in the referendum.

    The agreement will lead to another "two years" of "discord and indecision" from warring factions. The UK will "have given up all our negotiating leverage", she adds.

    Labour's Martin Whitfield says "the big problem is" that there is no plan for where the country is going.

    "Once upon a time were told we'd hold all the cards, and it would be easy," he states. He says that "there is no disrespect in re-evaluating" a decision when the facts become known.

  9. Tory MP says constituents want to 'get on with Brexit'published at 13:22 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Another Conservative MP Peter Heaton-Jones says he will also be supporting the prime minister's deal, saying it best represents the desire of the people he represents.

    He says he and his constituents want to "get on with it".

    Labour's Thangam Debbonaire says she wants an immigration system that Remain and Leave voters can trust.

    She says she does not believe anyone will be satisfied with the government's proposed immigration system.

    "I want to talk about immigration," she says. "I want to see an improved response to refugees...but I don't think I've come across anyone who thinks our current system is working well."

  10. Rule out no-deal scenario - Labour MPpublished at 13:12 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative Sir Mike Penning says he will not "Vote for anything that doesn't protect the union".

    He calls on the PM to return to the EU to "sort the backstop out".

    Next is Labour MP Ian Murray, who says there are 77 days to go and "the stakes could not be higher".

    He calls on the government to rule out a no-deal scenario. He says the prime minister has united Leavers and Remainers against the deal, by sticking to the red lines she set down.

    He calls for a 'People's Vote' on the deal.

  11. Tory MP also signals support for May's dealpublished at 13:03 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    Kemi BadenochImage source, HOC

    Conservative Kemi Badenoch says she will be supporting the prime minister's deal.

    She says the guarantees it gives on citizens' rights are important, and asks how MPs could vote against the deal, opening the possibility of no-deal and therefore the loss of citizens' rights.

    Labour MP Stephen Pound says he was "seduced" by Margaret Thatcher and voted to join the European Union. He says the EU set global standards for decency, human rights, freedom and environmental legislation.

    If we leave the EU on 29 March this year, we must make sure our European brothers and sisters know that we will work with them. "We will not stop being Europeans," he says.

  12. Labour MP signals move towards supporting PM's dealpublished at 12:53 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative James Duddridge says in voting against the deal he feels he is representing his constituents.

    Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick says the issue has become toxic, as shown by what has been happening outside and inside Parliament this week.

    Conservative MP Anna Soubry was subjected to abuse from protesters as she did broadcast interviews this week, and other MPs have been on the receiving end of abuse and harassment.

    He says he is talking himself into talking Theresa May's deal, because of the danger of a no-deal.

  13. Where can you find out more?published at 12:47 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    We're covering today's debate in the Commons - unusually it's being held on a Friday - and we'll have live page coverage of Monday and Tuesday's debates too.

    If you want to know more about Parliament, and look at every day's order paper, you should visit Parliament's website, external.

    And, of course, the official record of parliamentary proceedings are recorded in Hansard, external.

  14. No-deal Brexit 'would be national suicide'published at 12:45 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    Tory rebel Dominic Grieve says MPs have a duty to stop a no-deal Brexit by backing another referendum.

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  15. 'Cannot vote for any deal that will lead to people being worse off'published at 12:44 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Conservative Andrew Rosindell says that his constituents voted 70% to leave, and that nothing has changed their minds.

    "I truly believe that our nation is up for this," he says.

    Labour's Matt Western says he "cannot vote for any deal that will lead to people being worse off".

    He says that Parliament is "seeing the work of an autocratic tendency" in the prime minister, "this is not a debate, it is neither leadership," he states, referring to how Mrs May says that it is either her deal or no deal.

    Matt WesternImage source, HoC
  16. UK faces Brexit 'paralysis', Hunt warnspublished at 12:25 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    But Tory rebel Dominic Grieve says MPs have a duty to "stop people committing national suicide".

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  17. Constituents 'want an end to this mess'published at 12:18 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Layla MoranImage source, HoC

    Liberal Democrat Layla Moran says that she was elected to try to stop Brexit.

    She says she is regularly stopped in the street by constituents who tell her they "want an end to this mess".

    "We have to be honest with them," she says. "Brexit isn't going to solve" any of the issues that caused people to vote for it.

    "Poll after poll shows that the will of the people has changed since 2016," she says, adding that there was breaking of electoral law.

    "People should be allowed to change their mind," she adds.

    She says that MPs must ask themselves if this new deal is better than the deal we already have from the EU.

  18. 'Less than pleased' on how negotiations have been carried outpublished at 12:12 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Sir David AmessImage source, HoC

    Conservative Sir David Amess says he is "heartily sick of the word Brexit" and is "less than pleased" on how the UK has gone about trying to leave the EU.

    "There are a number of reasons why I cannot support this agreement," one of them being "because it threatens the integrity of the United Kingdom", he says.

    Labour's Jo Stevens says she will be voting against the deal with the "overwhelming support" of her constituents.

    She says that in the past month nothing has changed, like over the past two years of negotiations.

    "The referendum was drenched in illegality by the Vote Leave and Leave.EU campaigns," she adds. The result of the referendum does not apply "in perpetuity", she says.

  19. 'Utterly determined to vote against' dealpublished at 11:35 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Mark FrancoisImage source, HoC

    Conservative Mark Francois says that anyone who would call Remain-supporting MP Sir Nicholas Soames "a traitor" "has clearly never met him".

    Anyone who calls him that should "go away and shut up", he says.

    He states that he has been "fairly consistent" on European matters during his parliamentary career, in speaking against the EU.

    He says that the "political declaration" is "legally completely meaningless", and he adds that it is the "legal equivalent of 'I promise I will respect you in the morning'".

    He adds that he is "utterly determined to vote against" the deal.

    Having just been through "considerable austerity" it is wrong to pay £39bn to the EU for a deal with "no guarantees", he states.

    The UK is also not "taking back control of our laws" as the UK still has to "obey EU laws" but has lost the ability to influence them, under the deal, he says.

  20. Prime minister presenting 'false choice'published at 11:31 Greenwich Mean Time 11 January 2019

    EU Withdrawal Agreement Debate

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Luciana BergerImage source, HoC

    Labour's Luciana Berger says that few of the debates in the Commons have ever had "such an impact" on all constituents across the country.

    She accuses the prime minister of presenting a "false choice" of no deal or May's deal.

    "It is beyond reproach that this [no deal] option has not been ruled out," she criticises the government for spending money on no deal preparations.

    Constituents will no longer be covered by EU Health Insurance Cards when they go abroad, she states.

    The NHS "will suffer as we are are unable to properly recruit from EU countries", she adds.

    A no-deal Brexit would "isolate and hobble Britain's universities", she says.

    There are 1.4m young people who are eligible to vote today who weren't before, 74% of her constituents wants a People's Vote, she states.