Theresa May has repeatedly refused to rule out a no-deal Brexit ahead of a critical vote next week, as MPs ramp up the pressure on the prime minister to change course.
Jeremy Corbyn has urged the prime minister to take a “devastating” no-deal exit off the table during a tense prime minister’s questions clash, where Ms May accused the Labour leader of being prepared to "meet Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRA" but declining to meet her to discuss Brexit.
It comes as a prominent Conservative MP condemned Liam Fox, after he suggested those backing a move to extend Article 50 were motivated by “having no Brexit at all”.
Hitting back at the international trade secretary, Anna Soubry said Dr Fox’s comments were “not true” while another Tory MP said he "has never been very good at detail".
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Cabinet ministers push for Theresa May to back time-limited backstop plan
Theresa May is under pressure from her cabinet to back a plan to secure a time limit on the Irish backstop hated by so many Tory MPs.
Three senior ministers are pushing for her to support the move to let parliament vote on introducing a sunset clause to the backstop.
They argue it would give her leverage to extract concessions from the European Union, but there is reticence to explicitly back the plan in Downing Street because it could go down badly in Brussels, as it contradicts the deal Ms May spent 19 months negotiating.
Britons travelling to EU face delays and questioning after no-deal Brexit
Britons travelling to EU countries face major delays and questioning by border officials if there is a no-deal Brexit, a leaked official document reveals.
The UK would also suffer a “degradation of border security”, after losing access to a crucial EU database with details about suspected criminals, the Border Forceagency warns.
There would be “disruption to commercial flight schedules, leading to flights arriving out of sequence”, its memo also says – triggering big queues at airports, as well as to board the Eurostar.
In the presentation, the key Home Office agency admits for the first time that it will be unable to distinguish between EU residents in the UK and new EU arrivals, said Sky News, which obtained it.
It says there is the possibility of “disruption”, “loss of data” and an “additional clandestine threat” emerging from less co-operation with EU countries.
EU confirms it would enforce a hard border in Ireland in event of no-deal Brexit
The European Union has confirmed it would enforce a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The European Commission said it was “pretty obvious” that new infrastructure would be needed at the sensitive border if the UK crashed out of the EU without a deal.
The comments blow a hole in claims by Brexiteers that there would definitely not be a hard border in Ireland regardless of whether there is a withdrawal agreement or not.
A cross-party bid for parliament to “take control” to block a no-deal Brexit has received a big boost after Labour said it is “highly likely” to back it.
Opposition support would all-but guarantee that the plan – to force Theresa Mayto seek an extension to the Article 50 process until the end of 2019, unless her deal passes by the end of February – will win Commons approval.
John McDonnell described the backbench bill, put forward by Labour's Yvette Cooper and Conservative Nick Boles as “sensible”, ahead of a crucial vote next Tuesday.
Dr Fox, who is currently at the world economic forum in Davos, said that some amendments tabled by backbenchers presented a "real danger" constitutionally.
He said that "there are many who talk about delaying Brexit when what they really mean is not having Brexit at all", saying that would be the "worst outcome".
Asked if he believed that a delayed Brexit - via an extended Article 50 period - was worse than a no-deal Brexit, he said: "You need to think about the political consequences as well as the short-term economic consequences.
"There is no doubt that leaving with a deal and minimising disruption both to the UK and our EU trading partners is in our best interest.
"But I think the most calamitous outcome would be for Parliament, having promised to respect the result of the referendum, to turn around and say it wouldn't."
But he has been criticised for his comments, with the prominent Tory MP Anna Soubry, suggesting his claims were wrong about those supporting the amendment to extend Article 50, and prevent a no-deal Brexit.
A second Conservative MP also had some comments for Dr Fox after his appearance on the BBC.
Wetherspoon’s profits to fall despite higher sales as boss insists no-deal Brexit will help pub chain
JD Wetherspoon is expecting profits to fall in the first half of this year, despite sales rising by 7.2 per cent so far this financial year.
The company reported like-for-like sales growth of 7.2 per cent for the first 12 weeks of the second quarter, while like-for-like sales in the year to date have risen 6.3 per cent.
However, costs in the first half have been “considerably higher” than the previous year, particularly for labour, which is up by around £30m.
Jeremy Corbyn wrong about European Union state aid restrictions, says IPPR
Jeremy Corbyn’s fears about the potential for European Union state aid rules to thwart Labour’s manifesto reforms are unfounded, according to an analysis by the IPPR think tank.
The Labour leader said last month that the EU rules on industrial support to certain sectors “need to be looked at again” and some close to the leadership have argued that Labour should embrace Brexit on the grounds that a total repture with the EU is necessary to achieve the party’s economic goals.
But the IPPR, which had close links to Labour in the past, argues in a new report that the UK has more scope to deliver state aid in the EU than is ”generally understood”, including subsidising the railways.
“Successive UK governments have said their hands are tied in developing more proactive industrial policy by European Union rules. But it appears that this is not, in fact, true,” said Marley Morris, an IPPR researcher.
The report points out that state aid is permissible under EU law when it assists regional rebalancing, small companies, research and development and the environment.
The release of legal advice to Cabinet on the Brexit deal last month should not be seen as a precedent for future guidance from Government law officers to be made public, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has warned.
Mr Cox warned that the prospect of their advice being picked over by TV news channels would impact on the way law officers deliver their opinions on sensitive legal points to the Prime Minister.
The Government agreed to publish Mr Cox's confidential advice on the controversial Brexit backstop after MPs found ministers in contempt of Parliament on December 4 for failing to comply with an earlier instruction to release it.
The Attorney General told the Commons Justice Committee the move was an "exceptional" departure from the principle that law officers' advice is never revealed by the Government.
Asked whether it should be seen as a precedent for future attempts by MPs to obtain confidential advice, he replied: "No, I would argue not, because the principle is so vital to the conduct of good government, even more acutely so in circumstances of great public interest and controversy."
Mr Cox warned: "If every time the Attorney General now has to consider whether or not his advice is going to be put up on a 24-hour rolling news programme and pulled apart in a 45-second analysis - without the nuance, without the context, without the bits that weren't in bold, and only those bits in bold accentuated - he is going to have to consider how does he express himself in future."
The Attorney General's advice, published on December 5, was seized on by Brexiteers because it confirmed the backstop arrangements required by the EU to keep the Irish border open could be "indefinite".
He told the cross-party committee: "I published my advice on this occasion because of the very exceptional circumstances at that time.
"I took the view that it was vital that Parliament at this particular time should not go on feeling - as a majority plainly did - that it was being denied a useful assistance and that it was important we should be able to work with Parliament.
"I have the greatest respect for the House's judgments. It was a situation of acute regret for me personally that the House should have come to the conclusion that the Government was in contempt.
"I took the view that there was a public interest in the House's standing being upheld that, having reached a judgment that the Government was in contempt, in those circumstances the Government should comply."
Mr Cox told the committee the convention that law officers' advice remains private is "a crucial constitutional principle".
EU will never accept Theresa May's Brexit 'plan-B', Michel Barnier says
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has ruled out ever accepting Theresa May's Brexit ‘plan-B’, in a major blow to the prime minister’s bid to get MPs to back her deal, writes Europe Correspondent Jon Stone.
Michel Barnier said repeated requests for a time-limit on the controversial backstop had already been discussed and rejected twice by EU leaders.
In a joint interview to continental newspapers Mr Barnier said “we cannot tie the backstop to a time limit” as suggested by the prime minister.
He said the withdrawal agreement on the table was “the only possible option” for Britain and also ruled out the possibility of a so-called “managed no-deal” as advocated by some Tory Brexiteers.
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