Brexit vote result - LIVE : Theresa May offers Tory MPs free vote on no deal after her revised plan suffers second crushing defeat
MPs have inflicted a devastating defeat on Theresa May's Brexit deal after last-minute assurances from the EU failed to convince Brexiteers and the DUP.
On a day of high drama in Westminster, parliament voted against the prime minister's blueprint by 149 votes.
Ahead of the Commons showdown, a hoarse Ms May desperately appealed to MPs to back her blueprint after she secured “legally binding” changes during an eleventh-hour trip to Strasbourg on Monday night.
But attorney general Geoffrey Cox dealt a significant blow to her efforts, issuing legal advice that said the UK could still be trapped in the Irish backstop, which is so despised by Tory Brexiteers.
The prime minister must now let MPs decide whether to rule out a no-deal Brexit and has been forced to allow her ministers to vote.
It means over the next 48 hours cross-party groups of MPs will probably table plans for delaying Brexit for different periods; for leaving on different terms; and for giving the British public a Final Say referendum.
May's deal has not been well received by pro-European Tory Dominic Grieve.
He said he will vote against the prime minister because the deal "bears no resemblance" to what was debated in the 2016 referendum, and that the "proper thing" to do was back a second people's vote.
The former attorney general told BBC Breakfast:
To drag the country out of the EU on these terms seems to me a very unsatisfactory and undemocratic thing to do.
If the public want to leave on these terms... so be it. But for us to leave on these terms, which I have to say take us into a second-rate relationship for the future and one which I think will do this country economic harm, I am unwilling to do without the public confirming their view.
I'm not prepared to see someone sign off something which in my view is going to be very damaging for our country's future."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded to Mr Starmer's tweets, saying "he's right", and called on MPs to vote against the deal.
"Though the bigger problem with the Withdrawal Agreement, in my view, is that it takes Scotland out of the EU against both our will and our interests - and with no clarity on what comes next. A bad, blindfold deal. The Commons should reject it."
Everyone is waiting for the reaction of the DUP - Sammy Wilson speaking on LBC has given an indication of what they might say later today. Speaking about May's new agreement he said:
It seems to fall short of what she herself has promised. But we want to give due diligence to what has been said."
David Davis is currently on TalkRadio and appears to be putting his weight behind Ms May's deal.
This is a way to deliver a proper Brexit - it’s a lot worse than what I would have hoped for - it’s significantly better than what was presented in December."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described the outcome of last night's meeting between the Prime Minister and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as "positive".
The Taoiseach said the deal agreed on Monday night was "complementary" to the Withdrawal Treaty, which could not be re-written.
Mr Varadkar said: "The further agreement yesterday provided additional clarity, reassurance and guarantees sought by some to eliminate doubt or fears, however unreal, that the goal was to trap the UK indefinitely in the back stop.
"It is not, these doubts and fears can be put to bed."
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4's Today that Brexiteer legal experts were examining the detail of the documents.
He said concessions on the backstop were needed in order to strengthen the position in the next phase of talks on a future UK-EU trade deal:
If it is correct that this backstop is both temporary and we can leave it at the moment of our choosing, that means we become a balanced partner in the negotiations.
That is how critical this really is. What we decide today will decide whether or not we will get a good relationship afterwards or whether we get spoon fed what the EU wants us to be."
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer MPs, has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. the "Star Chamber" of lawyers was about to examine the deal:
I'm not sure that the agreements with the EU are a major change, that they continue to be promises of goodwill, and we have heard what the Irish have to say.
So my focus will be on whether the unilateral declaration is genuinely unilateral."
He added that "many Conservatives will be heavily influenced by the DUP's view".
The controversial Brexit backstop has not been rewritten or "undermined" by new clarifications presented to Theresa May, the Irish prime minister has said.
The controversial Brexit backstop has not been rewritten or "undermined" by new clarifications secured by Theresa May on Monday evening, the Irish prime minister has said. Speaking in Dublin Leo Varadkar reassured the Irish media that the accords – presented by the British government as significant legally binding changes – were simply "guarantees and further reassurances to
