There is a 30 per cent chance Brexit will be cancelled according to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council.
Meanwhile work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd has warned a no-deal prime minister “would not be able to command a majority” in the House of Commons.
Esther McVey became the third Tory to announce she would stand for the Conservative leadership when Theresa May steps down.
The former work and pensions secretary became the third Tory openly to declare her ambition to be prime minister, after Andrea Leadsom and Rory Stewart.
Follow how the news from Westminster unfolded throughout the day:
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's events in Westminster.
Amber Rudd has warned a no-deal prime minister "would not be able to command a majority" in the House of Commons, as Esther McVey became the third Tory to announce she would stand for the Conservative leadership when Theresa May steps down, following Andrea Leadsom and Rory Stewart.
"Parliament is a hung Parliament at the moment," Ms Rudd told BBC Two's Newsnight. "We know that it is an incredibly difficult group of MPs to influence and to control and to get a majority at the moment.
"So whoever makes the pitch in the future is going to have to convince everybody that they can hold that majority together."
Ms Rudd said she believed Theresa May should be given the time to meet her commitment to complete the first stage of Brexit before standing down as prime minister.
"We need to hold our nerve and allow her to do that. Brexit is a complicated procedure and the numbers in the House of Commons make that even harder," she said.
"But I believe that she has a plan now, hopefully to do a deal with Labour, if not to bring forward indicative votes. We need to back her on that."
Jeremy Corbyn has said a second referendum could be a "healing process" to bring the Brexit process to a conclusion, as the Labour leader launched his party's manifesto for the European election. My colleague Ashley Cowburn has the full story:
Corbyn says new Brexit referendum could be 'healing process' at EU election campaign launch
Labour leader also accuses Theresa May of making ‘no big offer’ in cross-party Brexit talksYesterday, Theresa May held a meeting with senior members of the Democratic Unionist Party at her Chequers country residence.
The DUP, which props up the prime minister's Conservative Party in parliament, opposes her Brexit deal with Brussels and has helped defeat it three times.
Ms May's spokeswoman described the talks between MS May and DUP leader Arlene Foster, deputy leader Nigel Dodds and chief enforcer in parliament Jeffrey Donaldson as a "private political meeting".
Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney has said a new prime minister would not change the "realities" that a no-deal Brexit would mean border checks between the UK and Ireland.
"Realities do not change," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "This is not a personality based issue."
Britain's failure to leave the EU almost three years after the referendum is "utterly unacceptable", a Cabinet minister said after she confirmed a week-long recess for MPs.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom made no mention of key Brexit legislation as she announced the business for next week, adding that the government hoped cross-party agreement could be achieved to implement the Withdrawal Agreement.
Ms Leadsom added it was "absolutely essential" Brexit was delivered although failed to say if the Withdrawal Agreement would come back to Parliament for a fourth time next week after being pressed by Labour.
Britain's chief negotiator jokingly asked if he could have Belgian citizenship after Brexit, his EU counterpart has claimed. Read Jon Stone's article for the full story:
UK's chief negotiator ‘joked that he would want EU citizenship after Brexit’
Olly Robbins said he didn't want to come back to the UK after Brexit, according to Guy VerhofstadtFrance will not tolerate repeated extensions of the Brexit deadline, a French presidential adviser has said.
The adviser expressed hope the European parliament elections in Britain would jolt parties into reaching a deal on leaving the European Union.
"We won't get into repeated extensions, that's for sure," the adviser said. "Our message is clear: a solution must have been found by 31 October."
France warns UK it will not tolerate another extension of Brexit deadline
France has warned the UK it must leave the European Union by 31 March as it will not tolerate repeated extensions of the Brexit deadlineEuropean parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt has joined Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable on the campaign trail in London.
Mr Verhofstadt insisted his presence was not foreign interference in the UK's European Parliament elections as he was "a Lib Dem" and was backing the party because it opposed Brexit.
Sir Vince said he was campaigning to combat "ugly populism".
Labour "doesn't exist to stop Brexit", an ally of Jeremy Corbyn said as he defended the party's approach to the European elections.
The party is seeking to appeal to both sides of the Brexit debate, insisting that the real divide in the country is between normal workers and the wealthy rather than Leavers and Remainers.
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon acknowledged it was a "difficult road" that the party had chosen "but it's the right thing to do".
In comments which could cause further tensions within Labour between those calling for a second referendum and others who want to secure a soft Brexit deal, Mr Burgon insisted the party was not trying to prevent the UK's exit from the European Union.
"The Labour Party doesn't exist to stop Brexit," he told BBC Two's Newsnight. "Other parties have been formed that think that is their only purpose politically."
Politicians have been urged to eradicate hate speech in the run-up to the European parliament elections by charities, trade unions and community groups. Read more from Benjamin Kentish:
Charities, trade unions and community groups urge politicians to stop hate speech ahead of EU elections
TUC, Amnesty International and Stonewall among groups calling on political parties to act against candidates who 'sow hatred and division'Nicola Sturgeon has sent an "unequivocal message" to Theresa May that "Scotland does not want Brexit", as she launched the SNP's campaign for the European elections.
The first minister joined the party's six election candidates in Edinburgh for the launch, and demanded any Brexit deal must be put back to the people in a second referendum.
She said: "Let me make the SNP position crystal clear: if a Brexit deal is agreed at Westminster, it must be put back to the people. No ifs, no buts, the people must have the final say."
Discussing the position of Labour and the Conservatives, Ms Sturgeon claimed both want a hard Brexit and she described their closeness as "depressing".
She warned against "shady backroom deals" between the prime minister and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and added: "If the Labour Party becomes the handmaiden of a Tory Brexit, it will never be forgiven. Not in Scotland and not by hundreds of thousands of young people the length and breadth of the UK."
Theresa May will talk to Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein in the coming days about efforts to restore the region's devolved government, her spokeswoman has said.
Representatives of Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the pro-British Democratic Unionists resumed talks this week in their first attempt in more than a year to restore the government, which has been frozen since early 2017.
Labour "doesn't exist to stop Brexit", an ally of Jeremy Corbyn said as he defended the party's approach to the European elections, Ashley Cowburn has the story on shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon's comments.
Labour 'doesn't exist to stop Brexit' says Corbyn ally Richard Burgon
'Other parties have been formed that think that is their only purpose politically'"I think it's important to show that the European liberals and democrats support Vince Cable," European parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said as he joined the Liberal Democrats on the campaign trail.
"Support the Lib Dems in this difficult fight in Britain, in these European elections. Secondly, we want to show by coming here a message to the continent to say never repeat Brexit again.
"I'm a Lib Dem. It's natural that people are looking to the Lib Dems when it comes to European elections. We want to be the alternative for nationalism and popularism.
"What I think is there will be a huge support for Remain. I'm not here as a Brexit negotiator, I'm here as the leader of the liberals and democrats for Europe."
Asked if his presence could be seen as foreign interference, Mr Verhofstadt said: "This is Europe. Europe, it's all Europe."
Sir Vince said: "We are fighting nationalism. We are patriotic people in our different countries, but we are fighting nationalism."
Brexit has a 30 per cent chance of being cancelled, Donald Tusk has claimed.
The president of the European council said Britons would be likely to reject Brexit in a second referendum.
“The referendum was at the worst possible moment, it is the result of a wrong political calculation,” Mr Tusk told Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza (GW), in an interview shared with The Guardian.
“A real debate about the consequences of Brexit wasn’t had during the referendum campaign, but only after the vote. Today the result would probably look different. Paradoxically, Brexit awoke in Great Britain a pro-European movement.”
"I'm here to support the most pro-European party in Britain," Guy Verhofstadt said, as he joined Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable in London for the European parliament election campaign. Watch the video here:
Labour MPs are calling on Jeremy Corbyn to pull out of “toxic” Brexit talks with the government within days.
They warned of fury among MPs and Labour members over the negotiations, which they branded a “millstone around the necks” of Labour candidates for the European elections in less than two weeks’ time.
Opponents in the party of the talks believe the government is not serious about making concessions over a deal and that the talks are being used by No 10 to keep Theresa May on political “life support”.
Another round of negotiations is planned for next week.
Ilford North MP Wes Streeting stressed Labour risked being “crushed” between the Brexit Party and the pro-second referendum Liberal Democrats.
My colleague Sean O'Grady has attempted to explain the "fiendishly complicated" system used to elect MEPs:
This is how the PR system we use to elect our MEPs actually works
The EU mandates systems of proportional representation be used to elect its Parliament, but leaves the detail to member statesPlease allow a moment for the live blog to load
