Environment Secretary Michael Gove and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox are pictured leaving Downing Street this afternoon, along with Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

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Downing Street says it is awaiting a judgment from Speaker John Bercow on whether Friday's proposed motion is compliant with parliamentary convention, before pressing ahead with the formal procedure to stage the debate.

The business motion enabling the House to sit on Friday must be passed before the Commons rises at around 17:00 GMT on Thursday.

Image source, Getty Images

Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom revealed on Thursday that the government would be putting a motion forward about the PM's Brexit deal on Friday.

But the exact details remain foggy.

The government is expected to table a motion to be debated in the Commons. But unlike previous occasions, where MPs have been considering the entirety of Theresa May's deal, this time it may be just one of two elements.

Part one is the withdrawal agreement - the legally binding document that sets out the terms of the UK's departure from the EU. This includes the controversial backstop, or the insurance policy that aims to prevent a hard border returning to the island of Ireland.

Part two is the political declaration - the non-legally binding document that outlines plans for the future relationship between the UK and the bloc after exit day.

It is thought the government will only put part one - the withdrawal agreement - to the Commons for a vote. Read more here.

A team of more than 300 police officers set up to respond to incidents relating to Brexit has been "very heavily deployed" since it started last week, Police Scotland says.

The dedicated unit for Brexit-related emergencies has been busy dealing with protests and "increasing febrile" behaviour in the streets, according to Police Scotland deputy chief constable Will Kerr.

The reserve force, made up of 300 officers and 12 public support units, started early on 18 March, he tells a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority.

Mr Kerr says the reserve force "has already proven to be quite a prescient decision because it's been operationally very heavily deployed and busy over the course of the last week and a half".

He adds: "Last Friday alone there were three almost flash protests at sites across Edinburgh..."

Scotland's chief medical officer and chief pharmaceutical officer warn shortages of medicines "may occur" in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

But in a letter sent to NHS board chief executives, local authority leaders Dr Catherine Calderwood and Rose Marie Parr say: "Members of the public, GPs, community pharmacies and hospitals should not stockpile.

"Shortages may occur, but the NHS will manage the situation and if necessary provide suitable alternatives or other treatment while supply is restored to normal levels."

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox was the first into Number 10 at around 15:00 GMT.

He was followed by Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Chief Whip Julian Smith.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson are the latest to arrive at Downing Street.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd says it is “just indulgent” of her Conservative colleagues to start thinking about a leadership contest “at a time when we have this national crisis going on”.

She says people should “focus entirely on the really difficult issue we have in hand, which is trying to get this withdrawal agreement through".

She adds: "I want my colleagues to stop thinking about that future and to focus on the alternatives that we have got in front of us, because if we don’t get a deal, we just don’t know what those alternatives are."

Speaking on the future of the prime minister's Brexit deal, she adds: "When you look at the alternatives to the withdrawal agreement, none of them are as good as the agreement that we have in front of us.”

Image source, Parliament.uk

A petition calling for Brexit to be cancelled has passed more than 5.9m signatures.

The petition on the UK Parliament's website calls on the government to revoke Article 50, the two-year process which is triggered when a country wants to leave the EU.

It is the most-signed petition ever to be submitted on the website.

In the 2016 EU referendum, 17.4m voters opted to leave the bloc, while 16.1m voted to remain in it.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans says MPs are in the dark about what they will be voting on when another Brexit vote is held on Friday.

He tells the BBC News Channel: “All we know about tomorrow is it is called Friday.”

He says that winning the support of the DUP MPs is crucial for the PM’s Brexit deal but will be very difficult.

“I spoke to the DUP last night and they weren’t for budging – even the ones that I call reasonable were digging their heels in, and we do need them on board to try and win the smaller group of Conservatives who are not wanting to back this either."

However, he says the PM’s chances of getting just the withdrawal agreement passed were “10 out of 10” if the DUP came onside.

Image source, EPA

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has urged UK MPs to "be for something and not just against something".

"The citizens and businesses of the remaining EU member states as well as of Great Britain rightly expect to have certainty as soon as possible on how things should now go forward," he writes on Twitter.

Mr Kurz says a hard Brexit would "harm the EU, but even more the UK, and must therefore be avoided".

"We as the EU27 are still hoping for a positive vote on the withdrawal agreement," he says.