Theresa May has been at loggerheads with her ministers as several openly contradicted each other over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
After MPs refused to support the prime minister’s plan in her latest Commons defeat, EU ministers said it made the current situation even more difficult.
Andrea Leadsom, the commons leader, insisted the option of leaving without a deal remained on the table, but foreign office minister Alastair Burt insisted this was not possible.
A dozen or more ministers could quit if Ms May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period beyond 29 March and veers towards a no-deal scenario, former attorney general Dominic Grieve said.
Margot James became the latest minister to rule out remaining in the government if that situation occurred.
The digital minister told Channel 4 News: “I could not be part of a government that allowed this country to leave the European Union without a deal.” Downing Street insisted Ms May would continue with her negotiating strategy, with ministers dismissing yesterday’s vote as no more than a “hiccup”.
Here is how we covered the day’s events:
Tory minister accuses Brexiteers in his own party of 'treachery'
Richard Harrington also dismisses the so-called Malthouse compromise, which is intended to bridge Tory divisions"It complicates even further the situation. It's very, very difficult to be optimistic about Brexit under these circumstances.
"It is not foreseeable [that there will be] any kind of reopening of negotiations, because it took us two and a half years to reach the agreement we have now.
"I cannot exclude a miracle. Miracles happen, but I cannot see what kind of miracle it is that could save the day."
Ministers clash over no-deal Brexit after after right-wing Tories inflict humiliating defeat on Theresa May
'We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you'd better agree on one,' says foreign office ministerAt least a dozen ministers could resign in order to vote against a no-deal Brexit, Dominic Grieve has said.
The pro-EU Tory rebel said "a dozen or even more" ministers could quit, including "up to half a dozen" from the Cabinet.
Asked if this could bring down Theresa May's government, Mr Grieve, a former attorney general, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
"Yes it could, and this isn't a desirable outcome.
"The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent government. But the truth is we're finding it harder and harder to do.
"It starts to bring into question whether in fact the government is able to operate in the national interest at all.
"We are facing a great crisis and we are not really looking at all the options for trying to resolve it."
Scottish government demands lost EU funding be ‘replaced in full’ by Treasury after Brexit
Welsh Assembly also seeking reassurance over future cash flow and pensions
Theresa May loses another battle – but zigzags towards winning the war
The PM seems to have been persuaded to tack towards her soft-Brexit wing by a group of ministers who are threatening to resign"No matter what happens we know that Northern Ireland citizens will have the right to travel anywhere in the EU from Athens to Athenrye. It is regrettable for British citizens that will not be the case.
"What's been remarkable is the solidarity from the EU, despite attempts to divide the 27, it has remained resolute."
The Dutch government's Brexit mascot is now a blue monster
This is all to raise awareness. We have said this a lot in debates and now we are saying it with humour,' foreign ministry says"I think it is extraordinary and unbelievable really that the British parliament and British government have let it come to this.
"I do, however, believe that Theresa May is sincere and does want to protect the Good Friday Agreement.
"42 days out until Britain is due to leave, there is still divisions in a political party causing Ireland to spend hundreds of millions of euro to prepare for no deal."
"My message is clear: if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad, I will not hesitate to prevent your return. If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted."
"Ireland has always said we will not be an obstacle to an extension if it was reasonable to do it."
Opinion: Is no-deal Brexit dead? Depends which Tory minister you're talking to
Yet something like 600 MPs are against no deal and would dump it tomorrow if they could
Thousands of schoolchildren walk out of classes to protest over climate change
t'Unless we take action, the future’s looking bleak for those of us that have grown up in an era defined by climate change'"I am now writing to you to ask whether the Honours Forfeiture Committee would meet, and by taking away Sir Philip's knighthood, show that the mere fact of having huge wealth does not exempt individual honours holders from conducting their ownership of business, or private life within a business, from the standards of behaviour that ordinary men and women are expected to fulfil in the conduct of their public and private lives."
