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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Frances Perraudin, Ben Quinn and Kevin Rawlinson

Brexit legislation 'paused' after MPs reject Boris Johnson's timetable - as it happened

Closing summary

That’s all from us this evening. Here’s a summary of the day’s events:

  • Brexit looked set to be delayed until next year at the earliest after the prime minister suffered another major Commons defeat. The European council’s president, Donald Tusk, said he would recommend the extension be signed off and it was suggested that 31 January 2020 would be set as the new deadline, though it would be superseded if there was an earlier ratification of Brexit by MPs.
  • Boris Johnson paused his attempt to get his deal through parliament after MPs refused to allow him to fast-track it. Despite MPs having decided to pass the legislation that would implement the deal to the next parliamentary stage, Johnson took it off the agenda because they refused to agree to accede to his demand for a three-day timetable.
  • Downing Street indicated the PM was likely to push for a general election, rather than continue trying to get his deal through parliament. Johnson had promised to pull the bill altogether if MPs did not go along with his fast-track timetable, as well as to seek an election. While the former did not materialise, his intention to pursue the latter was underlined in anonymous late-night briefings from No 10.
  • The chancellor suffered a squeeze on public spending in the run-up to next month’s budget after an increase in borrowing to £9.4bn in September. A spending increase across Whitehall departments and the rising costs of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners pushed borrowing beyond last September’s £8.8bn, dealing a blow to Sajid Javid’s plans to inject billions of pounds into public services and infrastructure projects in his first budget on 6 November.

If you’d like to read yet more, my colleague Heather Stewart has the full story:

Updated

If, as expected, Brexit is delayed until the end of January, a general election would have to follow, the Press Association reports, citing an unnamed No 10 source.

Parliament and Corbyn have repeatedly voted for delay. On Saturday, parliament asked for a delay until January and, today, parliament blew its last chance. If parliament’s delay is agreed by Brussels, then the only way the country can move on is with an election. This parliament is broken.

The public will have to choose whether they want to get Brexit done with Boris or whether they want to spend 2020 having two referendums on Brexit and Scotland with Corbyn.

The prime minister did not use his opportunity at the dispatch box following his Commons defeat to refer to such a plan, preferring only to confirm he was pausing the passage of his bill, and the comments above are not attributable to an official No 10 spokesperson.

But the language deployed closely follows that used by Johnson when he made a similar warning to MPs earlier today.

LBC’s political editor has this take:

The shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, has said:

Johnson is the author of his own misfortune. He only tried to bounce his deal through parliament because he knows it will not withstand scrutiny. A Brexit deal driven by the ideology of deregulation must be stopped.

Updated

The European council president, Donald Tusk, has said he will recommend the EU accept the UK’s request for a Brexit extension.

As we reported earlier, it is thought the EU will favour a delay until 31 January 2020:

Updated

Donald Tusk has tweeted to say he will recommend accepting the UK’s request for a Brexit extension:

Updated

The Tories are trying to sell this evening’s votes as a victory for the prime minister on the substance – and a refusal by Labour to then let him make the progress he wants to:

Labour, on the other hand, are calling it a victory for those who simply don’t want to allow the deal to be rammed through parliament without proper scrutiny:

And, as has become traditional on such nights, the European parliament’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, has his own unique take:

Updated

Labour MPs who voted for the government’s Brexit deal at second reading this evening have called for more time to discuss it at committee stage. Gareth Snell has said:

The injury inflicted this evening was a mere flesh wound, and if the Leader of the House was willing to bring forward a motion tomorrow with a more considered timetable for committee stage, it would pass this House.

Some of us voted for second reading precisely so we could get on to the next stage for more scrutiny, and didn’t support the programme motion because we did not believe there was sufficient time.

His fellow Labour MP, Ruth Smeeth, said:

All we’re asking for is the opportunity to ensure that the deal which was only presented to us last night works for our constituents and my local economy – we need slightly more time.

Speaking in the Commons, Lucy Powell told the Leader of the House:

We could have a lot longer on committee stage and he could bring forward tomorrow morning a fresh programme motion which allows us longer in committee for us to actually put amendments in a timely fashion.

Jacob Rees-Mogg replied:

I am not unsympathetic to the point about time, it is simply the deadline of 31 October which was set by the European Union and, therefore, we are compressed in the time available to get this bill delivered, which is why I was willing to support the programme motion and felt that it was reasonable under the circumstances.

Confronted with a similar claim from the government benches earlier in the evening, some MPs have pointed out that, despite the tight deadline, the prime minister sought to prorogue parliament.

Much has been made of the significance of the prime minister’s decision to “pause” his bill, rather than pull it altogether – as well as that of his decision not to explicitly refer to 31 October when telling the Commons the UK will still leave the EU under the terms of his deal.

The leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has now said it is “very hard to see how it is possible” for the withdrawal agreement bill to pass by that date. The Conservative MP and ardent Brexiter, Peter Bone, asked:

Leader of the House, can we interpret from what you are saying that it is now impossible to get the deal through this House and the other House prior to 31 October, and in that case it is effectively dead for approval before that date.

Rees-Mogg replied:

Impossible is a very strong word, but it is very hard to see how it is possible.

And here’s a little more from the lobby on what, exactly, happened this evening and what, exactly, it means:

The Times’ political correspondent has another take:

We’re getting some reaction now from senior EU27 figures. The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said:

It’s welcome that the House of Commons voted by a clear majority in favour of legislation needed to enact withdrawal agreement. We will now await further developments from London and Brussels about next steps; including timetable for the legislation and the need for an extension.

Then there’s this from the European commission spokeswoman, Mina Andreeva:

Sky News’ Europe correspondent reports that the EU is ready to offer a delay until the end of January 2020:

We reported similar earlier this evening:

But the BBC’s Europe editor has this:

Updated

The division list for the programme motion shows just five Labour MPs rebelled to support it. They were joined by 285 Tory MPs and 18 independents in supporting the motion. Those Labour MPs are:

  • Kevin Barron
  • Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Caroline Flint
  • Kate Hoey
  • John Mann

The list showed 233 Labour MPs opposed the motion along with 35 SNP, 19 Lib Dem, 10 DUP, four Plaid Cymru and the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas; as well as five Independent Group for Change MPs and 15 independents.

No current Tory MPs rebelled but nine of those 15 independents were recently kicked out of the party for rebelling against the government. They are:

  • Guto Bebb
  • Ken Clarke
  • Justine Greening
  • Dominic Grieve
  • Philip Hammond
  • Richard Harrington
  • Anne Milton
  • Antoinette Sandbach
  • Rory Stewart

Updated

No current Conservative MPs voted against the government on the withdrawal agreement bill. But three former Tory members from whom the whip was withdrawn last month did:

  • Dominic Grieve
  • Justine Greening
  • Guto Bebb

Updated

In all, 19 Labour MPs rebelled to support the prime minister’s withdrawal agreement bill. They were:

  • Kevin Barron
  • Sarah Champion
  • Rosie Cooper
  • Jon Cruddas
  • Gloria De Piero
  • Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Caroline Flint
  • Mike Hill
  • Dan Jarvis
  • Emma Lewell-Buck
  • John Mann
  • Grahame Morris
  • Lisa Nandy
  • Melanie Onn
  • Stephanie Peacock
  • Jo Platt
  • Ruth Smeeth
  • Laura Smith
  • Gareth Snell

Barring Barron, Cooper, Fitzpatrick, Flint and Mann, none of those supported May’s deal during any of the three meaningful votes on it.

Updated

Following the programme motion vote, the SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, told MPs:

The facts of the matter are this is yet another humiliating defeat for the prime minister this evening who has sought to railroad through this house legislation that requires proper scrutiny.

Furthermore, it is absolutely clear what must now happen, because there is legislation passed by this house, it is the law of the land. On the basis of not agreeing a deal, that the prime minister is instructed – instructed, prime minister – to seek an extension.

The Father of the House, Ken Clarke, said:

Can I ask the prime minister and everybody else to reconsider the suggestion he made that we pause the progress of the bill tomorrow?

I can’t quite see the logic of pausing progress on the bill when the whole house is expecting the next two days to be spent on it.

It would enable us to see how quickly the house is actually proceeding, what sort of time is being looked for, it may enable then, if people start filibustering, which I hope they won’t, for the government to get a majority for a timetable motion if it came back which was a modest adjustment to the one he had, because I think three or four days more would certainly do it.

Updated

The leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, is on his feet setting out how the government intends to proceed. He tells MPs there will be a debate on the Queen’s speech on Wednesday and Thursday and that the Commons will not sit on Friday.

The shadow leader, Valerie Vaz, reiterates Labour’s offer to work to find a consensus on the Brexit bill’s timetabling.

Updated

Following the defeat of the programme motion, the prime minister told MPs:

Can I say in response how welcome it is, even joyful that for the first time in this long saga, this house has actually accepted its responsibilities together, come together, and embraced a deal?

I congratulate honourable members across the house on the scale of our collective achievement because, just a few weeks ago, hardly anybody believed that we could reopen the withdrawal agreement, let alone abolish the backstop. That is indeed what they were saying.

And certainly nobody thought we could secure the approval of the house for a new deal and we should not overlook the significance of this moment.

And I pay particular tribute to those members of the house who were sceptical and who had difficulties and doubts and who decided to place the national interest ahead of any other consideration.

I must express my disappointment that the house has again voted for delay, rather than a timetable that would have guaranteed that the UK would be in a position to leave the EU on 31 October with a deal.

And we now face further uncertainty and the EU must make up their minds over how to answer parliament’s request for a delay. And the first consequence, Mr Speaker, is that the government must take the only responsible course and accelerate our preparations for a no-deal outcome.

Updated

The Commons Speaker has indicated that the government intends to set out in a business statement shortly how it wants to proceed.

Updated

Here’s a little more on the comments made by Jeremy Corbyn immediately after the government’s crucial defeat on the programme motion. He told MPs:

On Saturday, this house emphatically rejected the prime minister’s deal. Tonight, the house has refused to be bounced into debating a hugely significant piece of legislation in just two days with barely any notice and analysis of the economic impact of this bill.

The prime minister is the author of his own misfortune. So I make this offer to him tonight.

Work with us, all of us, to agree a reasonable timetable, and I suspect this house will vote to debate, scrutinise and, I hope, amend the detail of this bill. That would be the sensible way forward, and that is the offer I make on behalf of the opposition tonight.

• This entry was amended on 23 October 2019 because Corbyn said “amend”, the detail of the bill, not “commend” as an earlier version said.

Updated

Responding to this evening’s votes, the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has said:

This is not a done deal, and I won’t stop fighting for our place in the European Union. Liberal Democrat MPs will always fight to keep the best deal we have as members of the European Union.

Boris Johnson tried to ram his Brexit deal through Parliament tonight, because he knows it’s a bad deal.

But he was thrown a lifeline by Labour MPs who voted for his deal, despite all the damage it will do to our economy, our NHS and our environment.

Now parliament has rejected his timetable, it is clear that the prime minister needs to get an extension so that we can have a People’s Vote and offer people the chance to remain in the European Union.

Ken Clarke asks the prime minister to reconsider pausing the deal, saying he cannot see the logic of pausing progress on it when the Commons is looking for time to debate it.

Johnson 'pauses' Brexit legislation

Boris Johnson has confirmed he will set aside the bill that would implement his deal, despite the fact the Commons has just backed it, after his proposal to fast-track it through parliament was rejected by MPs.

He says he does not want a delay and will continue to discuss with EU27 leaders until they decide whether or not to grant one.

Updated

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, says the Commons has refused to be “bounced” into passing the prime minister’s deal. He repeats his party’s offer (see 5.58pm) to work with Johnson on the timetabling.

The prime minister rises to say it is a positive development for the Commons to have backed a deal in a vote for the first time. He thanks those MPs who had concerns, but still voted with him.

But, he says, he is disappointed the Commons has voted for a further delay.

MPs reject Johnson's Brexit timetable; a major defeat for the PM

MPs have voted to reject the government’s timetable for the passage of the bill that would implement the prime minister’s Brexit deal.

They voted against by 322 to 308; a majority of 14.

Boris Johnson said earlier today he would withdraw the bill and seek a general election if he lost the vote.

We’re getting some speculation in the Commons on whether or not the government will win this crucial vote.

We’ll know for sure very soon.

The ERG chairman, Steve Baker, who backs the PM’s deal, tweeted: “It feels like there will be a candidate selection in Runnymede shortly.” The tweet appeared to be a reference to former chancellor Philip Hammond.

Here’s a little reaction from Westminster correspondents to that first result tonight:

MPs move immediately to vote on the programme motion. And, as they do, Sky’s Beth Rigby has this:

Withdrawal agreement bill passes in Commons

MPs have voted to allow the government’s withdrawal agreement bill to pass to the next stage of the parliamentary process.

They voted by 329 votes to 299; a majority of 30 on the second reading.

Updated

On that last-minute offer from the government, Buckland said he would bring forward an amendment to the bill to ensure that MPs can vote on any extension to the transition period. He told MPs:

This issue has been concerning members right across the house: What is to happen if there is to be potential with regard to an extension of the implementation period? We believe that we can negotiate in the time that we have now, but we accept … that parliament has a legitimate role to play.

I can bring forward an amendment to that effect that would allow parliament to have its say on the merits of an extension of the implementation period. And the government will abide by that.

Updated

Before concluding his remarks, Buckland had an offer for soft Brexit-backing MPs:

And then the Speaker calls for MPs to vote on the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill. We’re expecting a result in about 10 or 15 minutes.

Updated

The justice secretary, Robert Buckland, is on his feet in the Commons. He’ll be the final speaker before MPs vote, he says.

Buckland notes that he was a remainer during the referendum campaign and says he has just heard the word “traitor” muttered. He calls for the tone to be raised, saying: “It’s not easy but we’re here to do ‘difficult’.” Buckland adds that he is being told by voters: “For the love of God, get on with it.”

He implores MPs to vote for both motions because “the one will not work without the other”. Buckland says the deadline of 31 October was not chosen by the government, but by the EU, and that the Commons must respect their negotiating partner.

Buckland is asked what Brussels might think, in that context, of the lengthy prorogation the prime minister tried to impose on parliament when it could otherwise have been debating Brexit. He replies that the broader process has been going on for years, though he leaves out that the deal has only just been formally proposed.

The Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has raised concerns about the “plight” of UK citizens living in the EU, their pension rights and healthcare, saying he has received “harrowing” emails from individuals around Europe expressing their fears about what they might face. Reading the withdrawal agreement bill, he said:

Scour as I could, I found not one word of comfort for UK citizens living abroad in Europe.

Sir Roger said he had spoken to the prime minister this afternoon, adding:

I’m pleased to say that he has taken this onboard immediately and courteously and I am assured that the rights and the concerns of UK citizens will be taken into account and that a confirmatory letter to that effect will be with me in the next couple of days.

He said he hoped consultations would deliver something “that will be of great comfort to some very frightened elderly people” and that it would enable him not to have to move his amendment he had in preparation.

Sir Roger spoke after a parliamentary committee was told British pensioners in in continental Europe are struggling to make ends meet and fear further poverty because of Brexit:

Updated

The SNP MP, Joanna Cherry, will vote against the second reading and against the programme motion, she has said. Cherry told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme:

What we believe should happen is that an extension should be obtained from the European Union in order to enable either a general election or a second referendum to take place.

She called the programme motion for the bill: “Frankly ludicrous for such complex legislation,” adding that some people who have read the document are “deeply troubled by many aspects of it, not just for Scotland, but for the whole of the UK”.

Updated

Trade groups have expressed concern as it emerges that businesses shipping goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain would be burdened with yet more Brexit red tape under the prime minister’s proposed deal.

The news that such goods would require exit declarations comes after the government’s risk assessment on the Brexit deal flagged that the profitability of businesses trading to and from Northern Ireland could be affected by the cost of checks and administration.

Businesses shipping from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are already facing customs and regulatory checks. On Monday, the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, acknowledged that products moving the other way will also encounter added paperwork in the form of exit summary declarations, having previously insisted the route would be frictionless.

Seamus Leheny, of the Freight Transport Association, called on the government to explain why the exit declarations were part of the Brexit deal, as he claimed the EU had not insisted on the measure. Leheny said transport companies in Northern Ireland would face an added administration cost.

This is another layer of administration and red tape which we were promised Brexit would remove. One of the reasons for Brexit was because of red tape, but all we are seeing for the last two and half years is the likelihood of more and more red tape.

I think everyone was caught off guard by this because the EU weren’t pressing for this to be implemented.

When myself and other business groups met the EU about a year and a half ago, it was one of the things the EU said OK, yes, we can row back on, as part of ensuring frictionless trade from NI to GB.

So, it’s something the UK government has decided to implement, if it does. What it is, is an unwelcome administration burden on transport providers.

Ann McGregor, the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also expressed concern.

The new deal includes a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea, bringing with it the concept of export summary declarations. It is still unclear what exactly these will look like, they will be discussed and agreed by the joint committee during the transition period should the prime minister’s deal pass.

It is, however, clear that there will be some paperwork for goods going both ways (NI to GB and GB to NI). Whatever these forms turn out to be, it will be very different from what we have now – adding a further administrative burden to businesses and slowing down the on-time delivery model that many companies operate.

Updated

Labour has said it will seek a consensus with the government on the timetable for the withdrawal agreement bill, but that it will not accept the three-day process the prime minister is trying to force through.

Updated

Michel Barnier has fuelled fears of a no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020 after suggesting future negotiations on a trade deal might require more than three years of talks, our Brussels bureau chief, Daniel Boffey, reports.

Speaking to the European parliament, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator appeared to concede the 14-month transition period would not allow time to reach agreement on a new trade and security arrangement. He said such talks could take “three years or more”.

The current transition period, during which the UK will stay in the single market and customs union but not be part of the EU’s decision-making bodies, finishes at the end of December 2020.

The withdrawal agreement allows for the transition period to be extended by “one to two years” but Boris Johnson has said he will not trigger such a prolongation.

Updated

The FT’s politics team has calculated that Boris Johnson is just two votes off passing his programme motion, which will force the Brexit bill through parliament in three days.

Updated

The Irish Mirror is reporting that the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is keen to get Brexit done by 31 October because he has tickets to see Cher on 1 November.

“He has tickets for the pop legend in Dublin’s 3Arena on November 1 and wants to enjoy it properly,” the paper reports.

“Mr Varadkar is a self-confessed Kylie Minogue fan who sent her a personal letter and got a selfie with the Aussie when she performed here last December.

“But he is also believed to love Cher and has been looking forward to the concert for months.”

Updated

From the Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief:

Updated

The Guardian has published this piece by an anonymous civil servant who works on the government’s Operation Yellowhammer, which is responsible for preparing for a no-deal Brexit.

More and more civil servants are being pulled in to work on the project, they say:

The official reason we are given for this new phase is that the UK, thanks to its self-hating parliament, can’t be sure that the EU will grant a Brexit extension, thus making no deal more likely. But the real reason, of course, is to help to terrify craven MPs into voting for the deal by carrying out a pre-Halloween dress rehearsal of what no deal will actually feel like.

They go on to say:

Much of this Yellowhammer shtick is just for show. As a civil servant I’m angry about that – and so should you be. There’s a risk, though, of anger giving way to boredom. Even this week, the prime minister is counting on MPs just being too bored to scrutinise the dense legalese of the 110-page withdrawal agreement bill within three backbreaking days.

It’s well worth a read.

Updated

The DUP’s Sammy Wilson is now speaking. He says he would love to be voting for a bill, but he simply can’t. He says he has no desire to stay within the EU, but he does insist that Northern Ireland leaves on the same terms as the rest of the UK.

He says:

We will be left in an arrangement whereby EU law on all trade, goods etc will be applied to Northern Ireland. We will be in a situation where we will be subject – despite what the prime minster says – to the full implementation of EU customs regulations and that means that goods moving from GB into Northern Ireland will be subject to declarations, checks, tariffs being imposed.

And now we find out yesterday that, despite the promise of unfettered access to the UK market, checks will occur in the opposite direction for those thousands of firms in Northern Ireland that currently export to GB and don’t face any impediments or costs at the moment.

Updated

Dominic Grieve is speaking. He says we are at the end of a long process and we are “very tired and very weary”.

He says that the Brexit bill related to an international treaty and, as such, changing it unilaterally was out of the question. “We can provide some safeguards,” he says. “We could put in a referendum lock and I will vote for that in due course.”

He questions the PM’s assertion that the arrangements will “melt away” once a free trade agreement is signed. But Grieve says that it is all a matter for negotiation with the EU.

“The suggestion that we can get a satisfactory free trade agreement for ourselves and then insist that Northern Ireland be included in it, is simply wrong,” says Grieve. He adds that this is an extraordinary thing for a unionist party to do.

Dominic Grieve speaking in a debate on the Brexit bill.
Dominic Grieve speaking in a debate on the Brexit bill. Photograph: Parliament TV

Updated

The shadow international trade secretary getting some shut-eye before tonight’s late sitting of parliament.

Updated

This from the FT’s political editor –

Oliver Letwin – who this weekend successfully tabled an amendment to withhold approval of the Brexit deal until the withdrawal bill is passed – has said he will back the programme motion that pushes the bill through in three days.

Sinn Féin: united Ireland poll could happen in five years

Sinn Féin’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, has suggested that a border poll on Irish unity is likely to happen within five years due to Brexit upheaval, the Press Association reports.

O’Neill said polls show the necessity for debate and planning to begin on preparations for a border poll, and then beyond that to a united Ireland.

Sinn Féin has said they want a border poll on a united Ireland within five years, but O’Neill said Brexit could cause it to happen sooner.

Speaking in Dublin, she said the collapse of the Berlin Wall and subsequent reunification of East and West Germany shows that major political events such as Brexit can speed events up.

Everything is moving in that direction. I believe it was moving there even before Brexit, but clearly Brexit has become a catalyst for it. What is important to note is the German example. I think with the Berlin Wall, Germany was reunited within a year ... the fact that events overtook and the country was unified within a year.

Updated

The shadow chancellor tweets that the prime minister and Dominic Cummings are in a state of panic.

Updated

From the Guardian’s deputy political editor:

Updated

The DUP’s Emma Little Pengelly said earlier that she has “serious concerns that there has been some mistake in relation to the printing of the withdrawal agreement”.

She says she can’t find any reference to the proposed arrangements disappearing as soon as a free trade deal has been signed. “Perhaps my copy has some sort of missing pages,” she says.

Labour’s Catherine McKinnell says she had also noticed that the PM made reference to checks and declarations on GB/NI goods being “transitory and melting away unless a majority of Northern Ireland choose to retain them”. She says she shares concerns that that is not correct.

Perhaps there has been some confusion between the future decision in relation to the single market and being in a customs union, and does it not highlight the challenge that we have, Mr Speaker, that not only does the prime minister appear to need additional time to consider the real implications on the decisions being taken …

Updated

Back to the debate, the SNP’s Ian Blackford says the bill will impact on people across the UK and that the government has a duty to negotiate will all of the devolved administrations. He says he regrets the SNP hasn’t had the opportunity to work with the government on a compromise.

“Mr Speaker, what on earth are we doing pushing this legislation through in a couple of days?” he says.

Anna Soubry says that she can’t find a single part of the Brexit bill that meets a promise made by the leave campaign in the referendum.

Updated

An interesting prediction on what might happen next from the FT’s political editor.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn says the bill sets out a deeply damaging deal and that the prime minister knows that. “Which is why he’s trying to push it through without scrutiny,” he says.

So Mr Speaker, Labour will seek more time to scrutinise. We will seek a very clear commitment on a customs union, a strong single market relationship, hard-wired commitment on workers’ rights, non-regression on environmental standards and loopholes closed to avoid the threat of a no-deal Brexit once and for all.

Lastly, Mr Speaker, the prime minister’s deal should go back to the people to give them, and not just the members of this house, the final say.

They always say, Mr Speaker, that the devil is in the detail and having seen the detail it confirms everything we thought about this rotten deal. A charter for deregulation across the board, paving the way for a Trump-style trade deal that will attack jobs, rights and protections and open up our precious public service [...] to even more privatisation.

Updated

The Guardian’s political editor, Heather Stewart, reports that shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has clashed with shadow cabinet colleagues over Labour’s stance on a second referendum.

She writes:

At the weekly shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer suggested Labour policy meant the party must support any amendment to the government’s withdrawal agreement bill calling for a referendum on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal – and then campaign for remain.

But in a debate that became testy at times, according to two people present, Starmer faced a backlash from colleagues including Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett. One witness said Lavery accused Starmer of “ramming this policy down my throat for 18 months”.

Jim Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse, asks Corbyn for reassurance that Labour members “who exercise their conscience this evening and don’t follow the whip, will not have that whip removed any more than he had it removed when he exercised his conscience”.

Corbyn says he believes in the power of persuasion, but doesn’t directly answer the question. “I would like to persuade my honourable friend,” he says. “Come with us. Vote against this bill and vote against the programme motion.”

Updated

Here’s our story on Boris Johnson’s threat to pull the Brexit bill and seek an election.

Boris Johnson has threatened to pull the Brexit legislation and seek an election before Christmas if MPs vote to stop him rushing it through the House of Commons in three days.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the prime minister said a vote against his timetable would delay Brexit for three months if the EU decides to grant the extension.

Lady Hermon pays tribute to Tony Blair, who she says was the architect of the Good Friday agreement. She says she knows the Labour party has anxiety that the new Brexit deal undermines the agreement and asks Corbyn to explain that.

Corbyn says the deal creates a different trading relationship with the EU in the UK and Northern Ireland. He says while there might not be an aspiration at the moment to introduce physical custom points on road borders, that the “direction of travel is not a good one”.

Updated

Steve Baker, a leading Eurosceptic Tory MP, says to Corbyn that he cherishes the memory of the interview they did together on Sky News before he became leader, where they agreed the UK should leave the EU on democratic grounds.

Corbyn says that parliament needs time to do its job and scrutinise the bill. He also says that as a former trade union organiser he learned that “you don’t give up what you’ve won”. He says the bill undermines workers’ rights.

Updated

Gloria De Piero, the MP for Ashfield, says she is also minded to support the Brexit bill “not because I support the deal, but because I don’t”. She says she wants the opportunity to amend it in parliament.

Corbyn says he understands her concerns and that “she is a great MP”. He says he hopes that she will understand why he isn’t backing it and says that she should join him in voting against the programme motion.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn says Labour is challenging the bill. He says that, in government, Labour would renegotiate a deal with the EU and would put that to a referendum. He says the deal on the table would leave open the possibility of crashing out at the end of next year.

Lisa Nandy, one of the Labour MPs set to rebel and vote for the second reading of the Brexit bill, asks him whether he understands her position and that of the other rebels.

He says he does understand the concerns in the heavily leave-voting constituencies that MPs like Nandy represent. “My recommendation would be to vote against this bill,” he says. (Lisa Nandy is the MP for Wigan.)

Corbyn speaks in debate about Brexit bill.
Corbyn speaks in the debate about the Brexit bill. Photograph: Parliament TV

Updated

Government to pull Brexit bill if timetable is not agreed

David Linden, the SNP MP for Glasgow East, asks the prime minister about reports on Twitter (see below), that the government will pull the withdrawal bill if the programme motion is not passed.

Johnson says:

I will in no way allow months more of this. If parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen and instead gets its way and decided to delay everything until January or possibly longer, in those circumstances [the government cannot] continue with this ... I must say that the bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election. I will argue at that election: ‘Let’s get Brexit done’. And the leader of the opposition will make his case to spend 2020 having two referendums – one on Brexit and one on Scotland …

Mr Speaker, there is another path. That is to accept, as I have done, that this deal does not give us everything that we want. And all of us can find clauses and provisions to which we can [object], as we can in any compromise. But it also gives us the opportunity to conclude that there is no dishonour in setting aside the entirely legitimate desire to deliver the perfect deal in the interest of seizing the great deal that is now within our grasp.

Updated

Stephen Hammond, the MP for Wimbledon (and one of the Tory MPs to have had the whip removed), asks the PM to reconsider the “arbitrary deadline” for EU citizens to apply for settled status in the UK. He says he has one of the highest concentrations of EU citizens living in his constituency.

Johnson responds that the settled status scheme is “proceeding apace” and they have every hope that the 3.4 million EU citizens in the UK will register by the time of the deadline.

Updated

The prime minister’s brother, Jo Johnson, stands up and says: “I congratulate the prime minister on getting a deal. I never doubted it for a minute.” (He resigned over it, remember.) He asks for reassurance that after the bill has received royal assent, the prime minister will work tirelessly to get the closest possible relationship with the EU over science and research funding.

“I thank my honourable friend, and brother,” says the PM, before going on to reassure him.

Updated

Johnson continues:

They said that we couldn’t change the withdrawal agreement in the 90 days that we had. They said that we’d never get rid of the backstop. They said we wouldn’t be able to get a new deal. We did get a new deal. We got a great deal ... And we will get a great new free trade agreement and a new partnership for our country. That is the project that lies before us.

The Green MP Caroline Lucas asks about “the trapdoor” in the deal where if the UK hasn’t negotiated an arrangement with the EU by the end of next year, we will “crash out”. Johnson says there will be no crashing out “because we will negotiate a great new friendship and partnership”.

Updated

Simon Hoare, the Tory MP for North Dorset, says that squaring the circle of delivering Brexit under the umbrella of the Good Friday agreement and maintaining peace on the island of Ireland was always going to be difficult, but that no communities are now fearful of a return to violence under the proposed deal. He says the prime minister should be congratulated.

Johnson says thanks. “I do intend to bring the whole house into the process of decision making,” he says.

Updated

The BBC’s political editor reports that the government will pull the withdrawal agreement bill if MPs don’t agree to its proposed timetable later this evening, and will try again for a general election.

Updated

Labour’s Don Valley MP, Caroline Flint, who has said she will vote for the WAB, asks for reassurance that the bill will protect the climate emergency. Johnson says: “I can make that commitment.” He says that if the EU brings forward new environmental legislation, parliament will be given the opportunity to bring forward laws that mirror it.

My colleague Helen Pidd visited Flint’s constituency this weekend and found many of her constituents supported her stance on the withdrawal bill.

Updated

Johnson says there will be no checks on goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, just some “light touch measures”. “The most important point is that even these measures automatically dissolve unless the majority of Stormont vote to keep them,” he says.

Johnson says the bill will allow the government to take action against “employers and agencies who undercut our laws, including agencies that bring in overseas labour – particularly from the EU”.

He says the bill would realise “our vision of dynamic high-wage, low-tax economy”.

MPs debate the withdrawal agreement bill.
MPs debate the withdrawal agreement bill. Photograph: Parliament TV

Updated

Tracy Brabin, the Labour MP in Batley and Spen, raises the issue of workers’ rights. Johnson acknowledges that people need reassurance that the UK will not regress on the issue. He says that if the EU decides to introduce new protections, the UK parliament will automatically consider introducing them too. “In essence, it takes back to this house the powers to decide these matters,” he says. Johnson adds that we shouldn’t lack confidence in “our collective ability” to use these new powers for the public good.

Updated

Owen Paterson, the Tory MP for North Shropshire, asks for a “categorical assurance” that we will not use our fish stocks as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

“I can confirm that we will take back 100% control of the spectacular marine wealth of this country,” says Johnson.

Updated

Lady Hermon, the independent MP for North Down, says the prime minister must not take the people of Northern Ireland for fools and must explain the implications of the deal to the people there.

The prime minister says the vast majority of the Northern Irish economy will leave the EU with the rest of the UK.

Updated

Dominic Grieve says the PM must recognise that the arrangements for Northern Ireland do not deliver “the recovery of sovereignty” to that country.

Johnson says: “Yes, of course there are transitory arrangement for some aspects of the Northern Ireland economy, but those automatically dissolve and are terminated after four years” unless it is the majority decision of Stormont for them not to. “The principle of consent is at the heart of these arrangements,” he says.

Updated

Johnson says the deal “is the biggest restoration of sovereignty in our history”.

Asked by Labour’s Catherine McKinnell about the government’s economic impact assessments, he says that getting the deal done would “unleash a great tide of investment” and a “powerful shot in the arm” for the country.

Updated

Boris Johnson is up to open the debate on the withdrawal agreement bill. (You can watch the live feed at the top of this blog.)

The prime minister says he wishes the house had voted for the deal on Saturday, and that he still has “the utmost respect” for Oliver Letwin, though he disagrees with him.

He says he regrets being forced to ask for an extension, but today is an opportunity to put that right by getting “Brexit done”.

The prime minister opens debate on the withdrawal agreement bill.
The prime minister opens debate on the withdrawal agreement bill. Photograph: Parliament TV

Updated

MPs are taking their seats in preparation for the debate on the withdrawal agreement bill. Boris Johnson is set to open the debate, with Jeremy Corbyn opening for Labour.

This is the latest from Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt

Updated

It’s Frances Perraudin here, taking over from Ben Quinn for the afternoon. MPs in parliament are still debating the issue of British children trapped in Syria. The Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, has been watching the debate. The debate on the withdrawal agreement is scheduled to begin when this is finished.

Updated

Lunchtime summary

• Soft-Brexit Conservatives could back Boris Johnson’s plan to push through his deal in three days if the government agrees to close a loophole that would allow the UK to crash out on World Trade Organization terms at the end of next year.
Rory Stewart, one of the 21 Tories who had the whip withdrawn, said he and some of his fellow rebels had been negotiating “through the night” to give parliament more control over the next phase of the Brexit negotiations, including being able to vote for an extension to the talks.

• Donald Tusk has in effect confirmed the EU will grant a Brexit delay beyond 31 October, with the terms of the extension of UK membership depending on developments in Westminster.
As MPs prepare for their first vote on the revised Brexit deal, the president of the European council told the European parliament that the EU’s final response to Boris Johnson’s letter seeking an extension would be given in the coming days.

• The chancellor has suffered a squeeze on public spending in the run-up to next month’s budget after an increase in borrowing to £9.4bn in September.
A spending increase across Whitehall departments and the rising costs of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners pushed borrowing beyond last September’s £8.8bn, dealing a blow to Sajid Javid’s plans to inject billions of pounds into public services and infrastructure projects in his first budget on 6 November.

• The Scottish government has recommended that consent from Holyrood for the new Brexit deal should be withheld.
The Scottish government’s Brexit secretary described the attempts of the UK government to pass its new withdrawal agreement bill (WAB) as “irresponsible and disrespectful” to the devolved administrations.

Updated

The pro-EU movement has grown in numbers and developed its own political identity based around opposing Brexit, but could it now be running out of road?

In a week that could determine the Brexit outcome, Jonathan Freedland joins Anushka Asthana to discuss this and more on the the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast.

With the numbers looking very tight, this tweet from Newsnight’s Nick Watt suggests the prime minister has an eye on taking the bill off the table if it doesn’t go his way. General election territory then?

Updated

A fierce row broke out at the a meeting of the shadow cabinet earlier today about whether to back a Kyle-Wilson type amendment on a second referendum, according to the Guardian’s political editor, Heather Stewart.

Updated

In the House of Commons, the foreign office minister, Andrew Murrison, is responding to an urgent question on British children trapped in Syria.

The debate on the withdrawal agreement is scheduled to begin afterwards.

Updated

Soft-Brexit Conservatives could back Boris Johnson’s plan to push through his deal in three days if he agrees to close a loophole that would allow the UK to crash out on World Trade Organization terms at the end of next year, the Guardian’s political team reports.

It is understood No 10 is preparing to concede on some amendments but is putting pressure on the former Tories not to block the programme motion, arguing this would delay Brexit.

There are believed to be only a handful of the group of former Tory MPs still threatening to vote with the opposition parties to give parliament more time to scrutinise the bill.

Margot James, one of the whipless Tories, told the Guardian she was planning to support the government on all votes.

Ed Vaizey, another former Conservative, also indicated he was planning to vote for Johnson’s timetable, although he said he may change his mind if Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, continued to send “ludicrous tweets” saying “a vote against the programme motion is a vote against Brexit”.

Updated

Dozens of Labour MPs will back the “concept” of the Brexit bill at second reading later today, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

The Daily Mirror’s Dan Bloom meanwhile has this shot of the customs union amendment which was expected to be tabled to the bill:

The Guardian’s Rowena Mason reckons that the amendment could pass if the DUP, SNP and Lib Dems row in behind the Labour and Tory support for it.

On the question of the DUP, the Guardian’s Rajeev Syal has this:

Updated

The Scottish Government has recommended consent from Holyrood for the new Brexit deal should be withheld.

Under the devolution settlement, a legislative consent motion (LCM), also known as a Sewel motion, must be lodged in the devolved parliaments when the UK Government is looking to pass a law on a matter for which Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland has power.

An LCM has now been lodged in the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish government’s Brexit Secretary, Mike Russell.

An LCM is a political convention that does not provide the devolved administrations with the legal ability to veto decision made at Westminster and therefore is not needed for the UK Government to pass legislation.

Russell has described the attempts of the UK Government to pass its new Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) as “irresponsible and disrespectful” to the devolved administrations.

Writing to Westminster to announce the lodging of the LCM, Mr Russell said: “It is essential that it should receive scrutiny in all of the UK’s legislatures, that there should be the proper opportunity for civil society to consider it and for citizens to understand its meaning and significance, and for all constitutional conventions, including the Sewel Convention, to be respected during its passage.”

Britain will be “living a free country” in nine days if MPs vote for the bill, according to Mark Francois, the deputy chair of the Tory party’s hardline pro-Brexit grouping, the European Research Group.

The emperor has no clothes and it is now nakedly obvious that half of the House of Commons will never support Britain leaving the European Union, he added on BBC.

Francois was followed by the Liberal Democrat’s Brexit spokesperson, Tom Brake, who had tabled an amendment in relation to the issue of settled status of EU27 nationals.

The safeguards the government had brought forward were clearly not adequate given that it had emerged that EU27 nationals faced the prospect of deportation if they did not apply under a government scheme.

The crunch point will come around the programme motion, used by the government to timetable the bill’s progress.

Updated

An organisation representing EU nationals in the UK is calling on MPs to vote down the government’s timetable today to allow extra time for debate and, in its words, “deliver on the referendum promises to EU citizens”.

Maike Bohn, the co-founder of the3million, said there are many outstanding issues on EU citizens’ rights that have not been addressed properly.

The most important one is to prevent innocent people from falling into the hostile environment and even potentially face deportation.

After leaving EU citizens in limbo for over three years, the government now intends to railroad through potentially life-changing legislation with just three hours of committee scrutiny.

Updated

An update on timing. The debate on the Brexit bill now is not likely to start until about 1.15pm, or perhaps a little bit later.

The Speaker has selected an urgent question on British children trapped in Syria, which is timed for 12.30pm.

The second reading of the vote is still scheduled for 7pm, along with the second reading vote and programme motion.

Updated

ONS figures suggest budget spending plans under pressure

The chancellor has suffered a squeeze on public spending in the run-up to next month’s budget after an increase in borrowing to £9.4bn in September.

A spending upturn across Whitehall departments and the rising costs of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners pushed borrowing beyond last September’s £8.8bn, knocking Sajid Javid’s plans to inject billions of pounds into public services and infrastructure projects in his first budget on 6 November.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed borrowing for the first half of the financial year was up by more than a fifth, confirming that a decade-long trend of deficit reduction has come to an end even before the costs of Brexit have taken their toll.

Read on.

The chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, leaves No 11 Downing Street on 21 October
The chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, leaves No 11 Downing Street on 21 October. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex/Shutterstock

Updated

The Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick says he has not read the bill, nor has he tried to … but will be voting for it.

Perhaps that doesn’t matter. The MP for the London constituency of Poplar and Limehouse elaborated on this position to the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire, telling her that this was a vote in principle.

“I will have read it by seven o’clock tonight, I hope. I will be studying it this afternoon,” he added.

Updated

Some more whisperings regarding the potentially decisive position of Boris Johnson’s erstwhile partners, the Democratic Unionists. Gordon Rayner of the Telegraph tweets:

And Frances Elliott, the political editor of the Times, has this from Labour sources:

Updated

That qualified support from some of the 21 Tory rebels appears to be on fairly fragile ground, however.

Ed Vaizey, the former culture minister, tweets his distaste of some of the way Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the House of Commons, has framed the choices facing MPs today:

Updated

The 21 MPs expelled in September from the parliamentary Conservative party after they rebelled in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit appear to be split on how they will vote today.

The Guardian’s deputy political editor, Rowena Mason, has been speaking to the former minister Margot James, and tweets:

Updated

The UK housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has insisted three days is sufficient time for MPs to debate the government’s withdrawal agreement bill – and anyone who votes against it in Tuesday’s crunch debate is trying to thwart Brexit.

The House of Commons will hold two key votes late on Tuesday: one on the second reading of the bill – effectively on the principle of whether it should proceed – and another on the government’s fast-track timetable for pushing it through parliament.

If MPs reject this plan, it will be all but impossible for the prime minister to meet his promise of leaving the EU by 31 October, though he will blame the failure on parliament.

The 110-page bill was published on Monday evening – and the chancellor, Sajid Javid, has said he does not intend to carry out an economic impact of it, because it is “self-evidently” in the UK’s interests to end uncertainty about Brexit.

Read the story here:

Updated

The influential Labour backbencher Hilary Benn has been flagging up his concerns around clause 30 of the bill, which MPs first saw last night, and how the prospect of a no-deal Brexit still looms.

“What happens if the government doesn’t propose an extension?” asked Benn, whose name has been unofficially attached to the act that required Boris Johnson to request a three-month Brexit delay unless he can pass a deal or get MPs to approve a no-deal exit by 19 October.

“Parliament would have no say and we would exit the transition period on the 31 December 2020 even if a trade agreement hadn’t been reached by then with the EU; ie no deal.”

Now read this thread from the Daily Telegraph’s Europe editor, Peter Foster:

Updated

A good way of getting up to speed on what’s been happening this week - and what’s likely to happen - is to take a look at the Guardian’s weekly Brexit briefing, which this week is written by our Brexit correspondent, Lisa O’Carroll.

As a recap for today, she writes that MPs face two votes – one on the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill (WAB) at 7pm, then another immediately after, the programme motion.

This promises to be a major flashpoint, as it will deliver or crash the government’s dramatically accelerated timetable.

If Johnson gets his way he will be on course for a Brexit on 31 October, albeit with a likely short extension, now being considered by EU leaders.

If he fails, he could abandon the bill altogether and try to engineer a vote on a general election.

Either way it is likely that an extension to article 50 will be granted. The French are against it, but Germany is keeping the door open.

Pro- and anti-Brexit protesters wave flags and hold banners outside parliament.
Pro- and anti-Brexit protesters wave flags and hold banners outside parliament. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

For those who like to read the Brussels runes, there’s a bit more from Donald Tusk, who has been addressing the European parliament, regarding Boris Johnson’s unsigned, half-hearted extension letter

Updated

The SNP’s parliamentary leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, tweets news of an amendment lodged by the party. Looks like they’ve decided to take a sideways look at it (sorry).

Updated

But are MPs really that scared of an election? This piece in Tribune by James Meadway, a former adviser to John McDonnell, urges Labour to believe that Boris Johnson can be beaten.

To win, Labour must determine the economic agenda in an election, he writes.

We want Tories chasing around after us and our announcements – just as they had to two years ago. So that means taking the 2017 manifesto as our starting point, and looking to build on it.

Of course, we’re going to end austerity. Of course, we’re going to nationalise water, rail, and the rest. This is just political common sense now: the entire political terrain has moved.

Updated

Boris Johnson should ask for an extension and show that he has listened to parliament’s desire for more time, writes the Conservative commentator Iain Martin on his Reaction website (£).

He adds: “There is deep disquiet among MPs about the government allowing only three days of debate. They may, later today, defeat the government’s ‘programme motion’ - throwing the whole thing into chaos.”

“The government will then demand an election, which MPs seem in no mood to grant, because they are terrified of the voters and the epic kicking they have stored up.”

The question of time aside, Isabel Hardman of the Spectator reckons meanwhile that the government is currently losing the ‘air war.’

Verhofstadt: EU27 nationals perils must be solved before MEPs consent

The status of EU nationals in the UK has been highlighted by Guy Verhofstadt, Brexit co-ordinator at the European parliament, where MEPs would be expected to vote on the deal later this week after it is ratified by MPs.

He compared the situation of EU nationals to those Britons caught up in the Windrush scandal.

Updated

We heard earlier that Rory Stewart and others had been negotiating “through the night” with Downing Street. Steven Swinford from the Times sheds some more light on what’s being sought.

Updated

British MEPs have been giving short addresses at the European parliament, where the Labour grouping’s leader, Richard Corbett, said that there should be no mistake that the UK government was attempting to force through a “hard Brexit”.

“It will be damaging to Britain’s economy and damaging to the European Union’s economy,” he added.

Nigel Farage has also been on his feet, telling the parliament that the deal reduces the UK to the status of a colony of the EU.

“[Boris] wants to bounce us into this new treaty before we wake up. It’s the same story every time. It’s about the Tory party, not the country.”

Updated

Juncker: Brexit a waste of time and energy

Jean Claude-Juncker has been speaking in the European parliament – “the beating heart of European democracy” apparently – as his five-year term as president of the European commission comes to an end.

“In truth, it has pained me to spend so much of this mandate dealing with Brexit when I have thought of nothing less than how this union could do better for its citizens … a waste of time and a waste of energy,” he said.

“I will always regret the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union but at least we can look at ourselves in the eye and say we have done all in our power to ensure that this departure is orderly.”

There was applause from MEPs as he added that MPs in Westminster had to first ratify the deal before MEPS did so: “First London, then Strasbourg.”

Updated

The fact is that most MPs “don’t read most of the words of most of the legislation most of the time”, the former Conservative MP and commentator Matthew Parris has said on the BBC.

But it is about the principle, he added. Here’s some reaction from those who would have liked more time:

… and a slightly hypnotic – I’m thinking 1990s MTV music videos – Conservative party tweet hammering home that slogan

Updated

Tusk: Brexit extension request depends on what MPs decide

The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, has told the European parliament that he is consulting EU leaders on how to respond to the UK’s request for an article 50 extension.

The deal reached with the UK is based on the deal agreed with Theresa May’s government, Tusk added, but the changes concern the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, formerly known as the backstop

“Prime minister Johnson’s acceptance to have customs checks at the points of entry into Northern Ireland will allow us to avoid border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and will ensure the integrity of the single market.

“The revised deal was possible and acceptable to the EU because: firstly, it had the support of Ireland; secondly, it had the support of the European commission, ensuring that all our negotiating objectives were met; and thirdly, because it avoids a chaotic no-deal Brexit.”

“The situation is quite complex following events over the weekend in the UK, and the British request for an extension of the article 50 process.

“I am consulting the leaders on how to react, and will decide in the coming days. It is obvious that the result of these consultations will very much depend on what the British parliament decides, or doesn’t decide. We should be ready for every scenario.”

“But one thing must be clear: as I said to prime minister Johnson on Saturday, a no-deal Brexit will never be our decision.”

European council president Donald Tusk speaks at the European parliament in Strasbourg on 22 October
European council president Donald Tusk speaks at the European parliament in Strasbourg on 22 October. Photograph: Patrick Seeger/EPA

Updated

The Labour MP Lisa Nandy, one of a number of MPs whose votes could make the difference for Boris Johnson, has written this piece for Labour List on why she’s voting for the withdrawal agreement bill at second reading.

Politics is nothing if not the hard graft of negotiating through difficult choices in the interests of the many.

The rest is protest. It’s time all MPs from every party stopped holding out for our perfect outcome and found the route to compromise.

Nandy adds that MPs could, as one Labour colleague put it to her, “keep our hands clean”, and stand on the sidelines watching the bill go through to the detriment of those they represent. Or they could allow it to be debated at second reading “to fight for the vision of the future we want”.

She adds:

If we can’t get the numbers, if we can’t win support, if we can’t win our argument in parliament, then we have to take this argument to the country in a general election and put a real alternative to the people. This is the reality of where we are. It’s time we faced it.

Updated

Raphael Hogarth, an associate at the Institute for Government, has been tweeting analysis of the bill, which he describes as having “amusingly weak provisions on workers’ rights”

“Not so much a non-regression clause as a ‘non-regression, unless the minister wants regression’ clause,” he reckons.

Updated

Jenrick was asked in a BBC interview about a lack of guarantees on workers’ rights in the bill, and replied that it would be for MPs to decide in the future.

“We are saying that parliament will decide, and that’s the point of taking back control, isn’t it?” he added. “Trusting parliament to make important decisions on workers’ rights or the environment.”

The secretary of state said the government was likely to improve rights “further and faster” than the EU.

“We have no intention of falling behind Europe and I suspect we are going to go further and faster than our European friends,” he said.

Using the analogy of buying a house, he said he saw no reason why MPs could not “move quite quickly” to approve Brexit.

“If I had been thinking about buying that house for three years, if I’d been debating it with my wife and family for 500 hours, I think I might be able to move quite quickly when the opportunity arose,” the cabinet minister told the BBC.

Some reaction.

Updated

Minister: MPs will get future vote on UK-EU relationship

The government minister, Robert Jenrick, has said that MPs who want to “pore over the details” of the Brexit bill will have time to do so but the “big seismic questions about our future relationship” will be for the future.

The comments from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on Sky News have struck some as odd, given the urgency which Downing Street has sought to inject into proceedings.

Tamara Cohen, Political Correspondent at Sky News, tweets:

Updated

The Scottish first minister and SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has been having a go at sections of what the withdrawal act says on workers’ rights, and tweets this warning at Labour MPs thinking of voting for it:

Updated

The Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief, Dan Boffey, has been listening to EU officials speaking at a European parliament gathering in Strasbourg, where Donald Tusk has referred to Boris Johnson’s Brexit extension request.

Updated

On the schedule in Brussels, the European council president, Donald Tusk, and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, are to speak today in a debate in the European parliament in Strasbourg on the outcome of the last summit of European leaders.

The EU’s negotiator, Michel Barnier, will also be in attendance but, perhaps most significantly, we’re likely to hear the first public comments from Tusk on Boris Johnson’s extension request.

Updated

Away from Westminster, among those poring over the details of the Brexit deal were loyalists in east Belfast who gathered to discuss what meeting organisers described as the “betrayal act”.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that one of the speakers was the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who said it was opportunity for unionists and loyalists to voice their anger.

“They can take that message back to Boris Johnson. For three years Leo Varadkar and the Irish government went to the European parliament and everywhere else and said we can’t have a border on the island of Ireland because it’s a threat to peace, but it’s OK, we’ll just shaft the loyalists and put a border in the Irish Sea.

“I think they are entering very dangerous territory.”

The Northern Irish political commentator Sophie Long tweets her concerns:

Updated

The withdrawal agreement bill was published last night at 8pm, giving MPs preparing to vote only 12 hours to digest details of one of the biggest constitutional changes to the UK’s status in decades.

But hey … it’s just 115 pages long, with an extra 126 pages of explanatory notes.

The Guardian’s political correspondent, Peter Walker, has been reading the bill, or WAB, and has penned this useful summary of what it says:

Main purpose

As the explanatory notes say, the bill is intended to “implement, and make other provision in connection with, the agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU” over Brexit – it gives Johnson’s deal legal status.

Transition period

As planned, this would last until the end of 2020. This can be extended by ministers for up to two more years. However, while such an extension would require the approval of parliament, the bill gives no provision for MPs to seek an extension.

Rapid ratification

Normally international treaties – and this is such a treaty, under law – must be before parliament for at least 21 sitting days in order to be ratified. This minimum time period is laid down in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (Crag) of 2010. But this provision is lifted for the purpose of the WAB, to allow the 31 October deadline to be met.

Future relationship

MPs will be given some oversight of the aims for this and must first approve a “statement on objectives for the future relationship with the EU”.

There’s a lot more – on workers’ rights, Northern Ireland and citizens rights – which you can read here.

Updated

Stewart: Tory rebels in negotiations with Downing Street

Another early morning intervention has come from Rory Stewart – the former Tory MP and one-time leadership candidate – who said he and others thrown out recently by Boris Johnson had been negotiating “through the night” to give parliament more control over the next phase of the Brexit negotiations.

He said that “central role” in the trade negotiations would be more important than guaranteeing that the UK remains in a customs union with the EU, which Labour is looking to secure.

Stewart, who is standing to be mayor of London, added that he a and other rebels had been negotiating for such a role with Downing Street “yesterday and through the night to try”.

“I think there is a bigger prize which is making sure that any parliament that is sitting has proper control over the mandate for the future trading negotiations,” he added on Today.

Rory Stewart speaks to a demonstrator outside the Houses of Parliament on October 21.
Rory Stewart speaks to a demonstrator outside the Houses of Parliament on 21 October. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

Updated

Voters should have another say in the form of a public vote on whether Britain should leave the European Union, Labour’s shadow education secretary has said.

In an early morning salvo giving a taste of the choppy waters that await the government’s attempts to get the legislation through today, Angela Rayner, said also that parliament must be given an opportunity to properly scrutinise the government’s Brexit bill.

“Parliament has to be at the centre of everything that happens because that’s what we were doing, weren’t we? Taking back control,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“And therefore the control is not for Boris Johnson to have his own little games, it’s about parliament being able to scrutinise and have a say on what happens.”

The shadow cabinet minister said the public should have another say on leaving the European Union now a new deal had been struck.

“I also think the British people are being locked out of this. Democracy doesn’t stop and end at one particular point – it continues,” she said.

“I think people are much more aware of the concerns and what could potentially happen to them and their lives. This is jobs, this is people’s livelihoods.”

Updated

Good morning and welcome to Politics Live for day two of a potentially game changing week at Westminster for Brexit.

I’m Ben Quinn and will be taking you through all this morning’s developments before handing over to my colleague Frances Perraudin this afternoon.

Boris Johnson will make a final bid on Tuesday to force Brexit through by the 31 October “do or die” deadline, amid growing signs he will make a renewed push for a general election whether his deal passes or not.

It comes after plan to hold a “meaningful vote” on his deal on Monday was blocked by the Speaker, John Bercow, who said it would be “repetitive and disorderly” to go over the same ground as Saturday’s vote.

Johnson has already requested a delay to Brexit, by sending the letter to Brussels required by the backbench Benn act after MPs declined to support his deal on Saturday – something he said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than do.

But if the government can force its Brexit bill through parliament in time, the UK could in theory still leave the EU by next Thursday’s deadline.

The prime minister will ask MPs to back him in two crucial votes today:

• On the withdrawal agreement bill, enshrining the deal he struck in Brussels last week

• And on his plan to ram it through the House of Commons by the end of Thursday.

Today’s parliamentary schedule allows for questions on business, energy and industrial strategy questions at 11.30, followed by space for urgent questions.

That means MPs are expected to start debating the Brexit deal bill – the ‘European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill’ - at 12.30pm.

A second reading vote on the legislation – in which MPs would indicate their support or otherwise in principle – would then be expected at 7pm.

Following that, the next hurdle Johnson would be a vote on a sped-up timetable for debating and passing the bill.

Having cleared that, the legislation risks being knocked off course, or even out, as votes take place on amendments that could include attempts to link it to a new referendum.

You can read our full story teeing up today’s drama today:

Updated

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