This is what Brendan Cox, whose MP wife Jo was murdered by a far-right terrorist last year, tweeted this morning. It is fairly obvious to whom he is referring.

Passion in politics is essential but dehumanising those with alternative views poisons the whole system.
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) December 14, 2017

Updated at 5.41pm GMT

5.13pm GMT

In an article in the Evening Standard defending her decision to vote against the government last night, the Conservative former education secretary Nicky Morgan says the government should drop the amendment to the EU withdrawal bill fixing 29 March 2019 as Brexit day before it gets debated next week. She says:

There will be another vote next week, on an amendment as to whether Britain will leave the EU on March 20, 2019. We want the government not to move the amendment about the date. As we saw last week, negotiations aren’t always completed on time so having an exit date could be unhelpful.

Nicky Morgan. Photograph: David Hartley/REX/Shutterstock/DAVID HARTLEY/REX/Shutterstock

5.11pm GMT

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson (2nd left) and defence secretary Gavin Williamson (right) alongside their Japanese counterparts defense minister Itsunori Onodera (2nd right) and foreign minister Taro Kono at the National Maritime Museum in London, where they were holding talks. — Foreign secretary Boris Johnson (2nd left) and defence secretary Gavin Williamson (right) alongside their Japanese counterparts defense minister Itsunori Onodera (2nd right) and foreign minister Taro Kono at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, where they were holding talks. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Gavin Williamson (left), Itsunori Onodera (2nd left), Taro Kono (2nd right) and Boris Johnson examine a selection of historical naval artifacts in the Queen’s House gallery in Greenwich. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

5.01pm GMT

This is how Anna Soubry, one of the Tory rebels, responded to the Daily Mail front page last night.

Yes. We put our country first exerting British principles of democracy and free speech. You should try it sometime. pic.twitter.com/qxZmOxE5MB
— Anna Soubry MP (@Anna_Soubry) December 14, 2017

And she reveals that Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail journalists have been calling councillors in her constituency - not, one suspects, because they are fishing for compliments.

Daily Telegraph is calling Conservative Cllrs #Broxtowe. It’s all part of their juvenile “Mutineers” campaign which backfired.
— Anna Soubry MP (@Anna_Soubry) December 14, 2017

#DailyMail #bullyboys ringing Tory #Broxtowe Cllrs demanding quotes.They won’t publish positive ones or stop me putting #CountryBeforeParty
— Anna Soubry MP (@Anna_Soubry) December 14, 2017

4.47pm GMT

Highlights from the Waspi women debate

Earlier this afternoon MPs were debating a backbench motion tabled by the Labour MP Grahame Morris about the so-called Waspi (Women against state pension inequality) women. These are the women affected by government decisions to equalise state pension ages for men and women (an increase for women) and the to raise it beyond 65. As the Press Association reports, plans to increase the state pension age for women between 2010 and 2020 were initially set out in 1995. But this process was speeded up by the coalition government in 2011, resulting in the state pension age for women due to increase to 65 in November 2018 and to 66 by October 2020. This decision was controversial in itself, but it received wide publicity and led to many women who had not been notified about the 1995 law change discovering they would get their pension six years later than expected.

Here are some of the highlights from the debate. I’ve taken the quotes from the Press Association copy.

Several Conservative MPs strongly criticised the policy. Opposition parties have been campaigning on this for some time, but the debate showed that Tories are unhappy about what is happening to the Waspi women too. The Conservative MP Scott Mann said:

My view is the changes in 2011 were rushed and wrong and brought in at speed. I would the ask the minister to sit down me and look through these figures to see if there’s a satisfactory solution to this current problem. We should consider a sensible way forward.

Fellow Conservative MP Peter Aldous said:

It is clear that a particular group of people have been unfairly penalised. I thus support the motion and I urge the government to find a way forward that is fair, fully considered and affordable.

Another Tory, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said:

The personal stories of financial adversity faced by my constituents has been beyond frustrating for me to have to listen to. Too many women have told of the inefficiency and inconsistency in the treatment of their cases by the department.

And the former children’s minister Tim Loughton said:

We need to find a solution; the government needs to listen and get round a table and discuss. There are many different transition arrangements that we could bring in. Scaremongering that it’s going to cost tens of billions of pounds is really not helpful.

The Commons passed Morris’s motion without opposition. It says the government should publish plans to provide “a non-means tested bridging solution” to the problem. But the vote is not binding on the government.

Morris said the government should introduce a non-means tested bridging pension for the Waspi women, paid as a percentage of the full state pension and covering the period between age 60 and the new state pension age. Some 3.8m women would benefit, he said

Norman Lamb, a Lib Dem former health minister, suggested bringing forward the point at which the state pension age increases to 68 to generate money to help the Waspi women. He told MPs:

I’ve discovered from the House of Commons Library that bringing forward the proposed increase in the pension age from 67 to 68 from 2037 to 2036 would in itself raise £7.5bn approximately, which would go some considerable way to helping these women address the injustice that they face.

Campaigners in the public gallery shouted “Shame on you” at the work and pensions minister Guy Opperman before storming out. The shouts could be heard from the floor of the chamber, but Opperman appeared undeterred by the remarks.

Opperman said that the government had listened to concerns when the 2011 bill was going through parliament and watered down its plans, at a cost of £1bn. He said offering “full compensation” to the women affected would cost more than £70bn.

The Conservative MP James Cartlidge proposed further reform of the pension system, moving from a pay-as-you-go scheme to a fully-funded model. He said the problems facing the Waspi women should not be seen in isolation. Although people thought they were paying into a pension pot, there was no such thing, he said:

When they say they’ve paid in, it doesn’t exist: it is just a mathematical fact - that’s not a nefarious thing, the system was not designed for this ageing population that we have, the demographic change that we now have. And the duty on us in Government and in this place is to be open and honest about that and try and come up with reforms that address it. And in my view, and it’s a big deal: we should try and move to a funded pension system.

4.18pm GMT

Dominic Grieve reveals he has received death threats after leading Brexit rebellion

Dominic Grieve, the Conservative MP, has faced death threats after leading a parliamentary rebellion that resulted in the prime minister’s first defeat on Brexit.

The former Tory attorney has reported incidents to the police. Other colleagues who rebelled have also come under pressure. Grieve told the Guardian:

The thing which continues to cause me concern is not that people will disagree vigorously with the positions we take but that the atmosphere is so febrile that it leads firstly to people not listening to what the debate is about, secondly suggests that any questions around Brexit amount to an intention to sabotage and thirdly result in some people expressing themselves in terms that at times include death threats.

Death threats should have no part in the political process of a democracy.

Grieve also questioned the response of some newspapers to the vote, including a front page story from the Daily Mail that claimed 11 Tory “self-consumed malcontents” had betrayed their leader, party and 17.4m Brexit voters and had increased the “possibility of a Marxist in No 10”. Grieve said:

The form of reporting that the Daily Mail adopts is an incitement to obscuring what the issues actually are. That then adds to the atmosphere.

DAILY MAIL: Proud of Yourselves? #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/sQ3o6P1kNZ
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 13, 2017

4.05pm GMT

Robert Peston, ITV’s political editor, thinks the government will withdraw its amendment to the EU withdrawal bill fixing 29 March 2019 as Brexit day rather than risk defeat next week.

.@theresa_may will not risk another defeat and will withdraw her own EU (Withdrawal) Bill amendment that would put into law the Brexit date of 29 March 2019. Or at least that’s what Tory MPs tell me. We’ll see. Very high risk to press ahead. Tory rebels showing no remorse
— Robert Peston (@Peston) December 14, 2017

3.41pm GMT

Scotland’s highest earners will pay an extra £164m in income tax next year to help fund pay rises for public sector workers, give £400m extra to the NHS and cut taxes for lower earners, Severin Carrell reports.

3.09pm GMT

According to RTE’s Tony Connelly, the Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar also delivered a rebuke to unionists when he arrived at the EU summit.

Leo Varadkar in Bxl asked for his message to unionists: “I would hope that some of the people who supported Brexit and campaigned for it would realize, or at least acknowledge, that they’re the ones who created this problem and I’m one of the people who is trying to resolve it.”
— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) December 14, 2017

Leo Varadkar arriving at the EU summit. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

3.05pm GMT

This is from Sky’s Tom Boadle.

Nothing has changed according to Boris: "Brexit is unstoppable... I cannot believe for the life of me that when it comes to it Parliament will vote to stop or reverse the Brexit process or frustrate the will of the British people, that's just not going to happen." pic.twitter.com/7Rq65wdVvI
— Tom Boadle (@TomBoadle) December 14, 2017

3.05pm GMT

Boris Johnson says Brexit is unstoppable

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has been speaking at a press conference with the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, and their Japanese counterparts. And, according to the BBC’s Norman Smith, he said Brexit was “unstoppable”.

Brexit is unstoppable - @BorisJohnson
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) December 14, 2017

Parliament will not vote to frustrate the will of the people - @BorisJohnson
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) December 14, 2017

2.56pm GMT

May says she's 'on course to deliver on Brexit' despite last night's defeat

Theresa May has arrived at the EU summit in Brussels. And she insisted that, despite last night’s Commons defeat, the government was still “on course to deliver on Brexit”.

Asked about the vote, she said:

I’m disappointed with the amendment. But actually the EU withdrawal bill is making good progress through the House of Commons and we are on course to deliver on Brexit ...

We’ve actually had 36 votes on the EU withdrawal bill and we’ve won 35 of those votes, with an average majority of 22. So the bill is making good progress, we’re on course to deliver Brexit, we’re on course to deliver on the vote of the British people.

Theresa May arriving in Brussels. Photograph: Sky News

2.28pm GMT

This is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg who is in Brussels for the summit.

So far among leaders seems quite a lot of sympathy for May - they are all politicians after all who know what it’s like to be beaten, to fear losing, or to have to deal with grumpy parties
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) December 14, 2017

2.26pm GMT

UK-EU trade talks may not start until after March, says Irish PM

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has said that he still trusts Theresa May to be able to strike a deal on Brexit. He made the point in a breif interview with Sky News. Here is a summary.

Varadkar said he had “absolute confidence” in May.

I have absolute confidence and trust in the prime minister and the British government that they will stand by the political agreement that was made last week.

He said the trade talks with the EU might not start until after March. Although the Brexit talks are due to move to phase two, he said the first priority would be to turn what was agreed last week into a “legally-binding international agreement”. Then they would talk about the transition. And only then would they move on to trade, he said. Asked how long this would take, he said:

There’s no exact timetable at the moment. But the indicative timetable is that we will spend the next three months or so working on the withdrawal agreement, putting into a legal, international agreement what was agreed last week, talking a bit about the two-year transition phase. And once we have that done, we can then talk about the new trading relationship.

He said he wanted the UK to have as much access to the single market as possible.

Certainly, from my point of view, we would like to see the United Kingdom having as much access as possible.

He said Ireland regarded the EU27 countries, not the UK, as its closest friends. Although Ireland wanted a friendship with the UK, he said its “very closest relations” were with its EU partners, “just as they were our best friends in the weeks gone by” (a reference to how the EU27 stuck with Ireland on the border issue in the phase one talks).

2.06pm GMT

Arriving at the EU summit the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said there were “still a few questions remaining open” about the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, but there was “a good chance that the second phase can now begin”.

As the Press Association reports, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, said the summit was “not simply a council about Brexit”, stressing that his focus was on issues of EU defence and migration policy being discussed tonight.

Angela Merkel looks at France’s President Emmanuel Macron as they arrive to attend the first day of the EU summit. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

2.00pm GMT

Speaking to reporters at the EU summit, the Austrian chancellor Christian Kern has suggested he would like to see Brexit reversed. These are from the Open Europe thinktank and the Express’s Nick Gutteridge.

Kern: The #Brexit discussion is not yet finished in the UK, they might be discovering that it wasn't the best decision for the country
— Open Europe (@OpenEurope) December 14, 2017

Outgoing Austrian chancellor Christian Kern asked if Brexit can be reversed: 'I hope that it could be reversed because there will be a lot of big issues challenges not easy to solve and there will be a lot of tensions in domestic political area in GB so who knows.'
— Nick Gutteridge (@nick_gutteridge) December 14, 2017

Austria's Kern adds: 'Now it’s very important to go to the next phase because if we don’t do that this would have huge confusions on the capital markets, on the whole European political scenery.'
— Nick Gutteridge (@nick_gutteridge) December 14, 2017

1.43pm GMT

Lunchtime summary

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has escaped the possibility of being held in contempt of parliament over the non-existence of Brexit impact assessment papers, but was criticised by the Speaker, John Bercow, for being unclear to MPs when he discussed the matter.

Key Tory rebels who inflicted a Commons defeat on the government’s flagship EU withdrawal bill have warned Theresa May that she could be embarrassed again unless she concedes more ground. Dominic Grieve and Stephen Hammond have both said May will face another rebellion next week if she presses ahead with a government amendment specifying 29 March 2019 as the Brexit deadline.

Britain has been warned that the EU will not renegotiate a Brexit deal agreed by the government if it gets rejected by the Commons. Some MPs argue that last night’s Commons vote means MPs will now get a “meaningful vote” on the final deal. But some EU figures have challenged this, saying the EU would not be willing to rethink a deal agreed by Theresa May but rejected by parliament. (See 11.26am and 12.10pm.)

David Davis has said the government is still considering how to respond to last night’s defeat on the EU withdrawal bill. Speaking during Brexit questions in the Commons, he said:

Let me first make an observation on last night’s outcome, as he describes the result. The effect of it is to make the powers available under section 9 deferred until after, as we see it, we get royal assent to the withdrawal agreement and implementation bill, which means there will be a very compressed timetable.

Now those who want to see a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union hopefully will want to see a working statute book. So we will have to think about how we respond to it, but as always we take the House of Commons’ view seriously and will continue to do so.

During the session Davis also said that last week’s Brexit deal mean the the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal had become “massively less probable”. And he said the government would seek to “conclude the substantive portion of the negotiation” over a future trade deal with the EU before Brexit took place. This contradicts the view of EU leaders, who think only the preliminary aspects of a trade deal will be agree by March 2019.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has hinted that 30% of Scottish income tax payers will see their tax bills rise next year, under the draft Scottish budget being published by the Scottish finance secretary Derek Mackay at 2pm today. (See 12.35pm.)

Justine Greening, the education secretary, has said the government will “relentlessly target” resources at schools and nurseries in deprived areas. Announcing a new plan to tackle regional inequality with “no community left behind”, she said reducing regional inequality will help make Brexit a success for Britain. As the Press Association reports, Greening set out “four ambitions” to boost social mobility, including a focus on early years, school attainment, post-16 technical education and career aspirations.

The number of households accepted as statutorily homeless and those living in temporary accommodation in England has increased, government figures show.

The archbishop of Canterbury has called for a “ceasefire from insults” in British politics in order to make a success of leaving the European Union.

1.32pm GMT

Dutch PM says UK now has to 'make up its mind' what it wants from Brexit

The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has arrived at the EU summit in Brussels, and he had some reassuring words for Theresa May. Here are the main points from his brief interview on the way in.

Rutte said that he was confident that May had the authority to deliver a Brexit deal. Asked about her standing, he said there was “widespread support for a reasonable negotiated exit” in the UK. He said she had “formidable stature” in Brussels. He went on: “Friday showed all of us we should not underestimate May, she’s a formidable politician.”

He said May now had to tell EU leaders what sort of trade deal with the EU she wanted. He said May had been “holding her cards close to her heart” until now, in terms of the overall outcome that she wanted, and that this was “probably a wise negotiating tactic”. But he went on:

But of course having now hopefully passed the mark of phase one, I think we need from her to understand how she sees this relationship with the European Union. It is now for the UK to make up its mind.

He said that David Davis’s comment on Sunday about the UK-EU deal being a “statement of intent” rather than something that was legally binding had caused concern. Davis subsequently said he was misunderstood. Rutte said it was now important to convert the agreement into “legally-binding text”. Asked about Davis’s comment, he said:

An eyebrow was raised here and there because of that comment. But I think it makes it more necessary to have as soon as possible that deal of last Friday in legally-binding text, so that we cannot have a misunderstanding what was exactly agreed.

Updated at 1.45pm GMT

12.46pm GMT

Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, has said that the Brexit transition period needs to be closer to five years than two. Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, he insisted that businesses need time to adapt to any new realities in the context of Brexit. As the Press Association reports, he also said that, in his view, the commitments that the UK government has made to Ireland and the rest of the EU were “cast-iron”.

12.35pm GMT

Sturgeon hints Scottish government will raise taxes for 30% of taxpayers

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has hinted that 30% of Scottish income tax payers will see their tax bills rise next year, under the draft Scottish budget being published by the Scottish finance secretary Derek Mackay at 2pm today.

Sturgeon has repeatedly hinted her government plans to raise taxes modestly for higher earners, using Holyrood’s new freedom to set income tax rates and bands, to help fund her election pledges and mitigate cuts in the Treasury’s grant to the devolved government.

Pressed on her tax plans at first minister’s questions by Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, Sturgeon said 70% of Scottish income tax payers and 83% of all Scotland’s adults would “pay no more tax than they do today.”

Nicola Sturgeon. Photograph: Ken Jack - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

12.32pm GMT

This is from Sky’s Faisal Islam in Brussels, where Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, and Andrej Plenkovic, the Croatian prime minister, have arrived for the EU summit.

Juncker just photobombed my question with Andrej Plenkovic...
The Croatian PM said of UK:
“We followed the vote we will hear the explanations today from Mrs May today” pic.twitter.com/h6uxfm4mAg
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 14, 2017

12.29pm GMT

David Davis has shown 'contempt' for evidence-based policy making, says Institute for Government

David Davis may have escaped censure from the Commons speaker, but the Institute for Government thinktank is not so forgiving. Bronwen Maddox, its director, has put out this statement in response to the announcement from John Bercow earlier. (See 11.12am.) She said:

The speaker has found the secretary of state for exiting the EU, David Davis, not to be in contempt of parliament. However, the government has shown contempt for the principle of making decisions based on thorough evidence and analysis.

David Davis said to the Commons committee on exiting the EU that the government had not undertaken formal impact assessments of Brexit. This not only appeared to contradict previous ministerial assertions but also showed a disregard for the principle of making decisions based on thorough evidence and analysis.

This is no way to approach such a profound change in the UK’s relationship with close trading partners and allies. Brexit will affect businesses and the UK economy more than any other decision made by government in recent years. To forge ahead and enter negotiations with the EU without the benefit of extensive analysis of the potential risks, costs and benefits is reckless.

12.10pm GMT

EU will not renegotiate Brexit deal if UK parliament rejects it, says Luxembourg PM

Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, has said that if the Brexit deal agreed by the British government gets rejected by parliament, the EU will not be willing to renegotiate. These are from the Financial Times’ Mehreen Khan.

Luxembourg' PM Bettel asked if EU will renegotiate exit deal if rejected by parliament: "No". pic.twitter.com/e7t7TgDTc0
— Mehreen (@MehreenKhn) December 14, 2017

Luxembourg's Bettel: "I really believe that to think that Theresa May will negotiate something, we will negotiate something and then again Theresa May will go back to Westminster, is not good for the position of the negotiations."
— Mehreen (@MehreenKhn) December 14, 2017

This is the same messsage my colleague Jennifer Rankin picked up from Danuta Hübner, the Polish MEP who chairs the European parliament’s constitutional affairs committee. (See 11.26am.)

Updated at 12.23pm GMT

12.02pm GMT

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, said that Brexit had been a test of EU27 “unity” when he arrived for the EU summit in Brussels. That unity would be tested even more next year, he said.

By the way, I have no doubts that the real test of our unity will be the second phase of the Brexit talks.

Donald Tusk arriving for the EU summit. Photograph: EU

11.49am GMT

Since David David is in the news, it is worth plugging this interview/profile that Tom McTague has just written for Politico Europe which is well worth reading - all 5,000 words of it.

Here’s an excerpt.

Davis’ rise to the top of the dining-with-royalty Tory establishment was not ordained. Born David Brown on December 23, 1948, to a disabled single mother in York, his father disappeared when he learned of the pregnancy.

The pair lived in what he would later describe as a pre-fabricated “asbestos box” on the outskirts of the city, until his mother met Ronald Davis, “a good but rather tough-minded man,” who adopted him when he was in primary school.

“The biggest influence of my life was my grandfather,” he told Desert Island Discs. “A communist, a hunger marcher, he’d been to prison for his beliefs. He was a great man. A good role model. Very, very sure of himself.” Davis believes real men stand for things and don’t doubt themselves.

There’s a theory — first put forward by the British writer Lucille Iremonger — about the drive for power and control among children who were abandoned at an early age. Writing in 1970, Iremonger noted that 67 percent of U.K. prime ministers from the start of the 19th century to 1939 had lost a parent before the age of 16.

Others have remarked that 12 U.S. presidents, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, lost their fathers while they were young. Theresa May lost both parents in her 20s.

Davis not only fits this pattern perfectly; when the theory is mentioned, he’s immediately familiar with it. “It’s called the fight-on complex,” he says. “Lucille Iremonger wrote about lots of orphaned, or illegitimate children.”

Does Davis have this fight-on complex? “I don’t know,” he says. “I think people are what they do.”

11.26am GMT

UK will not be able to re-open Brexit deal after October 2018, even if MPs vote against, says leading MEP

The British parliament will be confronted with a ‘take it or leave it’ choice on the Brexit divorce deal, if MPs vote after October 2018, according to a leading MEP.

Danuta Hübner, a Polish MEP, who chairs the European parliament’s constitutional affairs committee, argues it would be too late for British parliamentarians to have a meaningful say on the final treaty after October 2018 because formal negotiations would have already been completed.

EU negotiators have long said Brexit negotiations must be completed by October 2018 to allow time for the ratification of the treaty before the UK’s departure day on 29 March 2019. Asked if October 2018 was the final deadline to influence the agreement, Hübner told the Guardian:

Once it is finalised and it is signed by both parties, then any change to it means reopening negotiations, meaning we will not make it within the two years [the article 50 deadline], meaning there is a hard Brexit.

Stressing it was “purely a British decision” to decide how MPs will have a say on the withdrawal agreement, she said even the smallest change to the treaty would mean resuming negotiations.

Once anybody changes a comma or a dot or one-word, then there is no opinion, this has to go back to the negotiations.

The MEP was speaking before last night’s dramatic vote in the House of Commons, where MPs voted for parliament to have a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal.

The six-month window from October 2018-March 2019 is intended by the EU allow the treaty to be translated into the EU’s 24 official languages and scrutinised by committees in the European parliament, before the final plenary vote.

This view jars with the perception of some Tory rebels, such as Stephen Hammond, who told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday: “If [the Brexit deal] is concluded by October next year, that gives six months if things go wrong.”

The MP, who was sacked as a Tory vice chairman overnight, also pointed to the flexibility in the article 50 process, which could give the UK a few extra weeks beyond departure day. However, any extension would have to be approved unanimously by all 27 EU governments.

The European parliament will be asked to approve the article 50 treaty before March 2019, but will be unable to make any changes. Hübner, a member of the parliament’s Brexit steering group, said MEPs were seeking to exert influence in other ways.

That is why we use a period of negotiation to influence the negotiations, to know what is in the mandate, to contribute to the result, but we cannot amend [the treaty] because then it will be a never ending story.

Updated at 11.29am GMT

11.12am GMT

What Bercow said about David Davis, the Brexit impact reports and contempt of parliament

You may have thought that David Davis, the Brexit secretary, had already been cleared of contempt of parliament over the Brexit impact reports. This is because two weeks ago MPs on the Commons Brexit committee, in a vote that split along party political lines, with one Labour MP absent on maternity leave, decided to issue a statement saying that Davis had complied with the Commons motion saying the government should publish its Brexit impact reports.

But the Brexit committee statement only covered one of the two possible contempt charges against Davis, and until today the other matter was unresolved.

Contempt of parliament is a parliamentary term for not treating the Commons with respect. In the 19th century and earlier offenders could get locked up for this sort of behaviour. Today, if the Commons passed a motion finding someone in contempt, that is normally the end of the matter, but for a minister it could, potentially, be career-ending.

There were two things Davis did which laid him open to accusations of contempt.

First, although the Commons passed a binding motion saying the government should hand over its Brexit “impact assessment” reports to the Brexit committee, Davis’s department did not hand over all the documentation it has, and the reports were not proper impact assessments.

Davis said that that was because impact assessments as such did not exist. The committee accepted this.

But that meant he was open to the second charge - that he and other ministers had effectively lied when they repeatedly told MPs, in the chamber and in select committee hearings, that the government had compiled reports looking at the impact of Brexit on sectors of the economy. (David Allen Green has all the examples here, on his blog.)

John Bercow ended up adjudicating because, if an MP wants to accuse another MP of contempt, they have to write to the speaker, and the speaker then decides whether to allow the Commons to vote on the matter.

Today Bercow effectively ruled that, on both counts, Davis was in the clear.

But on both counts Bercow did make some criticisms of Davis.

On the charge that Davis did not comply with the Commons motion, Bercow said:

While it was most regrettable that the secretary of state – a point I made to him privately but I now state publicly – unilaterally excised some material from the paper which he provided, and that it took so long to provide the papers, I also feel bound to pay due attention to the formally-recorded view of the committee that the secretary of state had complied with the order of 1 November.

And on the charge that Davis and other Brexit ministers repeatedly misled MPs, by talking about Brexit impact reports that did not actually exist, Bercow said:

Ministers could, with advantage, have been considerably clearer in their statements, particularly challenging lines of questioning in select committees which were based upon a genuine misconception.

However, from the evidence which I have seen today date I have concluded that the test that I am bound to apply, that there is an arguable case that there has in this matter been a contempt of the house, has not been met in this case.

Updated at 11.16am GMT

10.38am GMT

Speaker says Davis should have been 'clearer' about Brexit impact reports but clears him of contempt

John Bercow, the speaker, is making a statement now.

He says he wants to tell MPs about the replies he has sent to MPs who have accused David Davis of contempt of parliament.

Some MPs said the government was in contempt, he says.

He has considered the representations, and discussed this with the clerk of the Commons.

His decision is whether to give precedence to a motion.

He says ministers could have been “considerably clearer” about the status of the Brexit impact reports, especially when giving evidence to committees.

He says he has also considered the claim that the government did not do what the Commons required when it passed a motion saying the Brexit impact reports should be published.

He says it is a pity that some information was excluded, and that it took so much time for the information.

He says he has judged that there was no contempt of parliament.

He will not take points of order, he says.

David Davis and fellow Brexit ministers cleared of contempt of parliament, John Bercow tells MPs.

But Bercow also says ministers could have been “considerably clearer” with MPs about what the Brexit reports actually said. This is a reference to the way they repeatedly gave the impression that the government had prepared proper Brexit impact assessments. It was only when forced to publish them that ministers made it clear that they were sectoral analyses, not formal impact assessments.

Updated at 10.48am GMT

10.33am GMT

Davis says no deal Brexit has become 'massively less probable' since last week's deal

Davis says a no deal Brexit has become “massively less probable” since the UK-EU Brexit deal agreed last Friday.

9.44am GMT

David Davis is answering his first question. He says an “implementation period” would be in the interests of the UK and the EU, and it would help businesses.

The Tory MP Kwasi Kwarteng says it is important that the implementation period is finite, and that the UK can negotiate free trade deals during that period.

Davis says he agrees.

Labour’s Hilary Benn asks Davis to confirm that the UK-EU trade deal will be negotiated during the transition period, not before as the government has previously claimed.

Davis says the government hopes to conclude a substantial amount of the free trade deal before Brexit.

Updated at 10.02am GMT

9.35am GMT

David Davis takes questions in the Commons

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and his ministerial team are taking questions in the Commons. The session has just started.

9.33am GMT

Key Tory rebels who inflicted a Commons defeat on the government’s flagship EU withdrawal bill have warned Theresa May that she could be embarrassed again unless she concedes more ground, my colleague Jessica Elgot reports. Her story quotes Dominic Grieve and Stephen Hammond who have both said May will face another rebellion next week if she presses ahead with a government amendment specifying 29 March 2019 as the Brexit deadline. MPs are due to vote on it next Wednesday.

Here’s Jessica’s story.

9.17am GMT

Commons defeat 'not going to stop Brexit', says government

According to one report at the weekend, when Theresa May went to Brussels on Monday last week to finalise a Brexit deal, only to see it kiboshed by the DUP, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, reprimanded her with the words: “You can’t come here to negotiate if you don’t have a mandate.” Number 10 deny that Juncker said it, but if he didn’t, he should have done; the phrase summarises well the problems a leader has in an international negotiation if she cannot carry parliament.

That’s one reason why the timing of last night’s Commons defeat was so unfortunate for May. This afternoon she is off to Brussels for an EU summit.

That said, it is important not to over-state the importance of the vote. It may have a significant impact on the parliamentary dynamics in the Brexit process - May now knows she cannot guarantee she will always get her way in the Commons - but in practical terms the impact the Dominic Grieve amendment has on how ministers handle the withdrawal process may be limited.

And this morning ministers are stressing that Brexit carries on. Speaking on the Today programme, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt (a remain voter, but not a “remoaner” - he is now quite enthusiastic about Brexit) said the government defeat would not derail the process. He told the programme:

I don’t think it should be a surprise that in a hung parliament, parliament wants to reassert its right to scrutinise the process. But we should also be clear this isn’t going to slow down Brexit, it’s not going to stop Brexit.

Hunt also played down the idea that, if parliament were to reject aspects of the withdrawal agreement, Brussels would offer a better deal. Asked if MPs could force the government to go back to the negotiating table by voting against what was on offer, he replied:

Parliament can say whatever it wants but of course renegotiation is something that involves two parties.

We will be hearing from David Davis, the Brexit secretary, when he takes questions in the Commons soon. And we will also hear from May herself, who is in Brussels later, and the leading cabinet Brexiter Boris Johnson, who is giving a press conference this afternoon.

Here is the agenda for the day.

8.50am: Justine Greening, the education secretary, gives a speech at a Reform thinktank conference on social mobility.

9.30am: David Davis, the Brexit secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

9.30am: NHS England waiting time figures are published.

2.05pm: Derek Mackay, the Scottish finance secretary, presents his draft budget in the Scottish parliament.

2.30pm: Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, and Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, hold a press conference with their Japanese counterparts after talks in Greenwich.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime, and another in the afternoon.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard’s Playbook. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’ top 10 must reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time.

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Updated at 7.09am GMT

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