With so many votes going on, a lot of parliamentary language has been bandied about.

Whip: A whip is a sort of party manager. They are appointed by each party and their job is to make sure all their MPs or members of the House of Lords vote the way their party wants.

So on Wednesday, when the government told its MPs to vote against the motion, the whips' job would be making sure MPs obey the instructions.

Free vote: A free vote is when a party allows its MPs to make up their own minds on how to vote, rather than following the orders of the whips, or party managers.

Division: Votes in the House of Commons are called "divisions", because MPs physically walk to separate areas according to which side of the argument they are on. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.

"Ayes to the right, the noes to the left": This is what the Speaker - the MP who chairs the debates - says as MPs go off and vote.

When MPs vote, they literally walk into two separate areas. The Aye (yes) lobby is to the right of the chamber (near where the government sits), and the No lobby is next to the opposition's side. When the MPs walk through, clerks record their names and then they are counted up.

"Lock the doors": Eight minutes after first asking the question, the Speaker orders the doorkeepers to lock the entrances to the voting lobbies, and no MPs can get into vote after that. He shouts "unlock" once the vote is done.

House of Commons
Parliament

Mr Lidington says that the government will allow the Commons to hold indicative votes in the event of a long extension being sought after to Article 50 after the EU summit.

He says that if a long extension is requested, then the UK would have to start preparing for EU elections early next month.

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Speaking on Politics Live, Housing Secretary James Brokenshire tells Andrew Neil that he believes the prime minister's deal will come back to the Commons, unchanged, for a third attempt next week.

Sarah Newton, who resigned as a work and pensions minister after voting against the orders of the whips on Wednesday to back the no-deal motion, says the prime minister's Brexit agreement must be passed by MPs.

But she tells the BBC cabinet ministers who defied the whips and abstained should "absolutely not" stand down as they were "offered the opportunity to abstain".

"These colleagues in the cabinet are hugely experienced at such a challenging time in our nation's history, preparing for whatever type of Brexit we have. It is essential they stay in the cabinet, continuing to support the prime minister to get her deal over the line."

The Truro and Falmouth MP says she stood at the 2017 election on a mandate to leave the EU with a deal.

Mrs Newton tells the BBC: "I chose to resign and vote the way that I did because I made very specific commitments to my constituents, and I think it is really important that MPs honour those commitments."

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The DUP leader has confirmed her party is in talks with the government and is speaking to the attorney general about reaching agreement on the Brexit deal.

Speaking from Washington, Arlene Foster says her party wants to ensure the UK leaves the EU with a deal, but sets out the tests it would have to meet in order for the DUP to support it:

"It's very simple - what it will take to get the DUP over the line is the fact that Northern Ireland is not left behind, the constitutional integrity of the UK is the same, and we have a strong say in the future,” she says.

James Shaw
BBC Scotland reporter

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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says there should be a lengthy postponement of Brexit so that the issue can be put back to voters.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, she says the prime minister should accept that her deal has been rejected and the UK government needs to change the law to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

She agrees with the Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, that there is a real and immediate danger of the UK crashing out of the EU.

The first minister urges Mr Leonard to encourage Jeremy Corbyn to get behind the idea of another referendum on membership of the EU.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington, who opened the debate on a potential Brexit delay, says that extending Article 50 is not something the government "ever wanted to do".

Because the Commons has rejected the deal, he says, an extension to the Article 50 leaving period is now necessary.

"This means facing up to some difficult choices," he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

Image source, HoC

Conservative Brexiteer Mark Francois asks Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington to announce whether the government will oppose amendment H and will whip its MPs accordingly.

Amendment h, tabled by a cross-party group of Remainer MPs, requests an extension to Article 50 in order to have another referendum.

David Lidington says "the government's policy with regards to a second referendum has not changed".

BBC Radio 2

Image source, UK Parliament

Conservative Andrew Bridgen tells Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 that no deal "was our last negotiating chip".

He says a lot of MPs want to stop Brexit but "haven't got the guts to tell their electorate".

"In our Parliament we've got too many sheep and not enough lions," he says.

"That is probably a product of 46 years in the EU when we haven't been making our own laws.

"I think we need better MPs."