Brexit vote live: European Commission says passing withdrawal agreement sufficient for Brexit to happen
Welcome to our live blog as Theresa May seeks to get her withdrawal agreement through parliament today – at the third time of asking.
Please refresh this page manually for the latest updates
Here's what you need to know:
- The Prime Minister has split up her Brexit deal to increase the chances it is passed
- A debate on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement is set to begin at 2.30pm
- Two previous attempts saw May lose by 230 votes and 149 votes respectively
12.27am: European Commission says passing just the withdrawal agreement is sufficient for Britain to leave with a deal
The European Commission (EC) has said that parliament passing the withdrawal agreement, without the political declaration, is “both necessary and sufficient for the orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU”, according to Sky's Tom Rayner.
Earlier Michel Barnier, chief Brexit negotiator for the EU, said on Twitter that approval by MPs of the withdrawal agreement by 29 March would secure an extension of Britain's membership of the EU until 22 May, the date selected to give Britain enough time to pass the requisite laws before it leaves the bloc.
https://twitter.com/MichelBarnier/status/111156582510912307
The withdrawal agreement has a better chance of passing on its own today than the agreement and the political declaration did together when they were voted down in so-called meaningful votes.
Dominic Raab, the former Brexit secretary who resigned rather than back the deal he helped negotiate, has become the latest in a line of former Tory antis to today say they will back the deal.
However, the likelihood of it passing remains low, as crucially the DUP are still opposed.
11.19am: IDS signals support for May's Brexit deal as she chases 76 votes
Iain Duncan Smith has now committed to backing Theresa May’s deal.
The former Tory leader said he will encourage other Conservatives to back the deal too.
He told the Commons: “I am going to do it for a very simple reason. That I think nothing has hugely changed in the nature of the bill… but I do think what has changed is the balance of risk.
“As politicians, not lawyers, we need to appraise ourselves of what that balance means."
IDS added: “I genuinely believe the way to stand up for the 17.4m [who voted to Leave] is now to get to the bill.
“We can then still make a judgement as to whether this bill represents the way in which we think we should leave.”
Brexiters Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg have also committed to the deal as a last resort, but it is unclear how many MPs they can bring with them.
11.10am: How many votes does Theresa May need for her Brexit deal to pass?
Let’s do the maths: With 634 votes to win, May needs 318 in order to secure support for her withdrawal agreement today.
However, last time she only won 242, with 391 voting against, suffering a loss by a margin of 149 MPs.
A vote in December saw the government fall to a historic defeat – by a margin of 230 votes.
That 242 total means May must find another 76 votes to hit the magic number of 318 – but where will they come from? Conservative MPs are divided over the deal, and even if they were all won round – as Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg say they have been – that’s still seven votes short.
Northern Ireland party the DUP has said it will vote against the deal – losing May 10 potential votes.
Meanwhile Labour is whipping against the deal – but reports are swirling through parliament that some MPs will defy leader Jeremy Corbyn’s instructions and support the deal in a bid to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
10.45am: DUP to vote against Brexit deal
The DUP reiterated plans to vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal today over the inclusion of the backstop which would mean Northern Ireland is treated differently from the rest of the UK.
DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr said the backstop will cause "irreversible damage" and "will be lasting on our precious union forever".
9.59am: Cox says 'this is not a meaningful vote'
The attorney general told parliament that this afternoon's vote is not a "meaningful vote".
"What this choice will mean is that it will bring certainty to thousands of businesses and millions of individuals throughout this country," he said.
"And to 1m citizens of our country residing in the European Union. That is not an inconsiderable benefit."
9.50am: Jacob Rees-Mogg condemns 'great failure' that Brexit won't happen today
Jacob Rees-Mogg said this morning that it is a “great failure” the UK is not leaving the EU today.
Instead, on the UK’s original deadline for departing from the EU MPs are preparing for a third vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.
Brexit hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “We should have left without a deal at 11 o'clock, that's what people expected.
“I'm not giving any message to people. It's a very difficult decision and people will make up their own minds according to their feeling as to whether Theresa May's deeply unsatisfactory deal is closer to Brexit than potentially a two-year delay, and that's the dilemma facing people.”
9.45am: Today 'should be the day we quit the EU'
Attorney general Geoffrey Cox said that today “should have been the day we left the European Union”.
“I do not intend to review how and why we have arrived at this point but to explain the motion which the government is placing before the House,” he added.
He told MPs: “This is therefore the last opportunity to take advantage of our legal right.
“And the government has taken the view that it would have been wrong to allow that time and date to expire without giving this House the opportunity to consider whether it should avail itself of the legal right, or whether it should move into the position where any further extension would be in the hands of the 27 European leaders.”
Meanwhile yesterday EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc will take control of the next steps if May’s deal doesn’t pass today.
9.03am: Liam Fox warns against 'betraying' Brexit voters
International trade secretary Liam Fox said not passing May's deal today would leave Brexit voters "betrayed".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: "This is a great historic moment for our country, this is about whether Parliament does what Parliament wants or whether Parliament does what the people want.
"There are a lot of Labour MPs in seats that heavily voted Leave who would like to do… what they believe is their democratic duty, but party politics has got in the way of that."