Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith says some sort of clarity is now beginning to emerge in the next steps of Theresa May's attempts to get her Brexit deal accepted by MPs.

"Last night Mrs May was flat on her back when her offer to resign hadn't won over enough Brexiteers. This morning she seems to be struggling back into the ring... She's going to have another go... A vote on the withdrawal agreement - part of the deal.

"If Mrs May gets the withdrawal agreement through, that means she can bank the extension the EU have offered her until 22 May. In other words, she gets round the danger of us leaving on 12 April with no deal.

"But... the view among her advisers is that that makes 22 May our new final exit date - and the point about that is that it massively cranks up the pressure on those MPs wobbling over whether they should back Mrs May's deal."

House of Commons
Parliament

The Independent Group MP Anna Soubry asks for assurance that everybody working in Parliament will be allowed to go about their business in a safe environment.

Ms Soubry says a young woman working in Parliament has told her she has been spat at.

The Speaker says he is in conversations with the chief superintendent on the parliamentary estate.

John Bercow says individuals entering the estate must go through security and act in a lawful way.

If individuals do not behave appropriately, he says, "preventative action should be taken".

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom says there will be increased security tomorrow.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Diana Johnson says that on 14 March Theresa May said the political declaration and withdrawal agreement were linked and could not be voted on without each other.

There have been rumours today that MPs will debate and vote on the withdrawal agreement tomorrow, aside from the political declaration.

Andrea Leadsom says the motion brought forwards will "comply with the law, the EU Council decision, and the Speaker".

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

Parliament remains deadlocked after indicative votes on eight Brexit options failed to produce a majority in the House of Commons yesterday.

So what happens next? You can read BBC Reality Check's analysis here.

Image source, PA

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says stopping Brexit altogether is "now possible" and has to be "the top priority".

Her comments come as MPs struggle to find a consensus on the next steps in the Brexit process.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, she says: "This whole process, thanks to the Tories, is now such a mess that stopping Brexit altogether must be our top priority.

"And moreover that is now possible.

"The highest number of votes cast in the House of Commons (on Wednesday) was for the People's Vote option."

More on former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab's suggestion that the government should try again to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement with the EU.

Mr Raab, who quit the cabinet last year over what he called "fatal flaws" in the Brexit deal, says the UK should be prepared to leave the bloc without a deal if it refuses to agree to fresh talks.

"If they still don't move I think we should have sensible conversations ... around the suite of no-deal arrangements that can be made to mitigate any of the potential damage on either side: to European jobs and livelihoods and also to UK jobs and livelihoods."

Many MPs say they cannot support the prime minister's deal because of the backstop, which is a controversial arrangement that will apply to the Irish border after Brexit.

The EU Commission says the UK Parliament needs to decide how it wants to move forward in the Brexit process after it failed to find a majority for eight different options on Wednesday.

A spokesman says: “The Commission takes note of the indicative votes in the House of Commons last night. This is part of an ongoing process in the UK which we fully respect.

"We counted eight 'noes' last night, now we need a 'yes' on the way forward.

"We recall that the EU Council last week, in a decision taken in agreement with the UK, stated that if the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified by the end of this week, Article 50 will be extended to 12 April.

"And it is now with the UK government to inform us of next steps."

Still confused about what is happening on Friday?

Here is the full statement from the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons.

"Tomorrow's motion will need to be compliant with both the Speaker's ruling and the EU Council's decision on conditionality relating to exit on 22 May.

"Discussions are ongoing and we will look to table the motion as soon as possible today, in order to avoid asking for another extension and the requirement to undertake European Parliament elections."

House of Commons
Parliament

In the Commons, Labour's Ben Bradshaw is among several MPs to ask Andrea Leadsom to clarify whether the government will be bringing back the so-called "meaningful vote" on the PM's deal for a third time on Friday.

He goes on to wonder whether, instead, there will be "more attempted trickery... by separating out the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration"?

He urges her to bring back a "meaningful vote" and make it conditional on a public vote.

Ms Leadsom says she supported the people's vote in 2016 and she wants to ensure the government delivers on that.

House of Commons
Parliament

More on exactly what Andrea Leadsom has told MPs about the plans for Friday, amid confusion as to whether a third vote on the government's Brexit deal would be taking place.

The Commons leader says there will be a government motion related to Brexit tabled later today that will be debated on Friday.

The Speaker, John Bercow, ruled last week that the PM's Brexit deal cannot be brought back to the Commons for a third time without "substantial" changes.

Ms Leadsom says she recognises that any motion brought forward will need to be compliant with the ruling.

Ms Leadsom adds discussions on this are "ongoing".

She says "it is crucial that we make every effort" to get the Brexit deal passed this week to "ensure we leave in good time".