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The manager of Europe's largest port, at Rotterdam in the Netherlands, says he feels "definitely relieved" about the Brexit extension, but he is still preparing for the UK to leave on the 29 March.

Mark Dijk says he fears trade would be hit significantly if the UK left the EU without a deal.

“We think we can lose 30% to 40% of the total trade volumes between the UK and Rotterdam," he tells BBC News.

A no-deal Brexit will cost the Netherlands an estimated €2.3bn (£2bn) by 2023, according to the Dutch Court of Audit.

Some 35,000 Dutch companies only export to the current customs union. When the UK leaves, they'll have to deal with customs for the first time.

In an effort to smooth the transition, the Dutch government is hiring more than 900 customs, agricultural and veterinary inspectors.

The European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, welcomes yesterday's decision to allow the UK a short Brexit extension.

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Tory MP Chris Philp says Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement "is the best one".

“In politics, as in life, perfection is never available, you have to compromise and I think the deal does deliver," he tells BBC News.

Asked if he thinks the prime minister's agreement remains a realistic prospect after it was rejected twice by the House of Commons, he says: “At one time or another, pretty much all the options we could taken have been voted down by Parliament.

“I’ve done my duty by voting for something positive which as a whole Parliament has failed to do."

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BBC presenter Andrew Neil tweets a cheat sheet on what Theresa May and the EU agreed on yesterday.

Conservative MPs are airing their views on Theresa May's leadership via Twitter.

Backbencher and Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns says the prime minister should go:

Sam Gyimah, who resigned as universities minister over the PM's Brexit deal, isn't happy with the extension brokered by Theresa May and the EU yesterday.

Adam Fleming
Brussels reporter

This is more complicated than it first appears.

Last night, it wasn't difficult to find an EU representative in Brussels to tell you Theresa May's performance in the room hadn't been great.

Over 90 minutes she had been unconvincing, both in terms of how she was going to get this deal through next week and what she would do if the deal failed a third time.

However, speak to some people who have got a more nuanced view, and they'll say: Was Theresa May ever going to lay out a strategy in a room of 27 people prepared to leak it instantly so that her opponents can then rip it apart?

And was it a personal reflection of the prime minister? Or just a reflection of the arithmetic in Parliament?

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said "people are laughing" at the UK after the EU granted Britain a Brexit extension.

He said he was "disgusted" that the UK had asked for a delay and suggested the majority of the British public supported leaving the EU without a deal.

“We were told we were leaving on 29 March, 500 MPs voted for us to leave on 29 March. One hundred times the prime minister told us it would happen," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"I think there is going to be a very strong sense amongst many millions of people that this is a total failure of leadership."

He continued: “What happened last night was a national humiliation became an international humiliation - people are just laughing at us, but ordinary people aren’t, they’re angry, and I’m angry too.”

Mr Farage, an MEP, disagreed that Brexit-supporting MPs who had blocked Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal deal in the Commons were responsible for the delay.

“[Mrs May's] treaty doesn’t give us Brexit. It’s Brexit in name only, it doesn’t leave us free to do anything, it’s a disaster," he said.

Opinion polling was “very clear” that people wanted to leave without a deal as opposed to extending the Brexit process, he claimed. He did not refer to any specific published poll.

“I just think if we leave with no deal we’re able to get on with the rest of our lives."

Mr Farage reaffirmed his commitment to stand in May's European elections, if they take place in the UK before it leaves the EU.

Asked about claims Brexiteers had whipped up hate and encouraged the abuse of MPs, Mr Farage said: “I’ve had five or six years of that - living under constant assault.

"When it happens to me you couldn’t care less, when it happens to Anna Soubry suddenly it’s a national scandal, we’ve had a growth of this.”

Theresa May needs to "open up" the Brexit process, Labour MP Hilary Benn has said.

Mr Benn, who sits on the Commons Brexit select committee, has tabled a cross-party amendment for Monday that he said was "trying to give Parliament the opportunity to chart an alternative way forward”.

“The significance of last night is we have avoided the serious risk of a no-deal Brexit in a week’s time, but there is still a serious risk in three week’s time, so this is not long for us to try and find a way forward."

The cross-party amendment “in effect, it sets aside time on Wednesday next week when motions can be selected by the Speaker, amendments can be put down and we can try to identify what is a way forward that colleagues across the House might be prepared to support," he said.

“There is a relatively limited range of options - you can have a free-trade agreement like Canada; you can have a customs union; you can have a deal like Norway.”

He said Brexit would not be resolved "if the prime minister is not prepared to move an inch".

"I’m afraid that is the story of the last two and three-quarter years," he said.

“We need to open up this process because we’ve rejected her deal, we’ve rejected no deal, the EU has decided to give us a little bit more time and we’ve really got to get on with it."

Mr Benn said he would “cheerfully” support another Brexit referendum, although he said he didn't think there was a majority in the House of Commons to support the proposal yet.

“We still don’t know in truth what Brexit means, but we have a much clearer idea about the real choices facing us today rather than the fantasies," Mr Benn added.

Image source, Getty Images

The pound is starting the day higher after EU leaders offered to delay Brexit until 22 May if MPs approve Theresa May's deal next week.

It is up 0.30% against the dollar at $1.3154 - although a week ago had been above $1.33 when markets had expected the UK would avoid a no-deal Brexit.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Parliamentarians should ignore their party whips and vote in the national interest, Conservative MP Nick Boles has said.

It comes ahead of what is expected to be a crucial week in deciding the next stages of Brexit in Parliament.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Boles accused the prime minister of "refusing to discuss alternatives and refusing to allow Conservative MPs to vote for alternatives".

Asked if there was some evidence the prime minister might be persuaded to allow free votes on so-called indicative votes, he said: “I don’t know about that, she’s certainly been told by many in her cabinet that she should.”

He then added: “MPs need to start taking responsibility for the national interest and ignoring the whip, if the whip is one that is profoundly contrary to the national interest.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Conservative MP Nick Boles has said "it's a pretty sorry situation when a couple of weeks is something we should be grateful for", after the EU agreed to allow the UK to have an extension to its withdrawal date.

"That’s entirely because of the government’s failure to allow Parliament to debate freely and openly alternatives to the prime minister’s deal," he continued.

It had been “clear for a while that the prime minister’s deal was extremely unpopular", he added.

EU member states have "big sympathy" for Theresa May, the Czech Europe minister Ales Chmelar says.

“We do not want to push the UK into any situation where it wouldn't have a choice," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Asked about reports Mrs May failed to answer questions from EU members about what the UK planned to do with the extra time provided by the Brexit delay, Mr Chmelar says it was "natural" she could not give certainty.

“There are questions that are difficult to be answered by ministers and prime ministers because they depend on the Parliament," he says.

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