As it happenedended

Brexit debate live: MPs to vote to vote on EU nationals' status after Brexit

Theresa May said she wants the nationals' issue sorted out at the start of negotiations

Wednesday 08 February 2017 11:10 GMT

Prime Minister Theresa May speaking in the House of Commons (PA/UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor)

MPs are debating Brexit and will consider amendments about the fate of EU nationals in the UK after Brexit. They are also expected to approve what could be the last Commons hurdle of the Article 50 Bill – giving the Government the power to begin Brexit.

The latest updates are:

MPs to vote on amendment to guarantee EU nationals' status
Third reading vote also due this evening
Senior Labour ally to Corbyn hints at quitting over Brexit vote
Government 'dupes' MPs into clearing the way for hard Brexit
Starmer says May 'won't dare' come back empty-handed
Tory Brexit rebels hail ministers' climbdown
Labour dismisses Corbyn quit date claims

The Government was last night accused of “conning” MPs into backing their plans for Brexit without offering them a meaningful vote on any deal to leave the European Union.

Tory rebels and Labour had been due to gang up in Parliament tonight in an attempt to force ministers to give MPs the power to send Theresa May back to the negotiating table if she fails to secure a good deal.

The Government headed off the rebellion by 326 votes to 293 after earlier promising that MPs would in fact be given a vote on the deal. Brexit minister David Jones had sought to satisfy would-be rebels by saying that MPs would be given a vote before negotiations were concluded and the final deal was put to the European Parliament.

The move was enough to stop wider scale backing for a Labour amendment calling for parliamentary approval of any new relationship with the EU.

But critics have suggested that parliament had been “duped” by the apparent concession.

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson confirmed to journalists at an official briefing that the Government had in fact not changed its position and was only offering a “take-it-or-leave-it” vote. The rejection of any deal at that stage would see the UK crash out of the EU and make it subject to World Trade Organisation rules – making it of no meaningful use to opponents of hard Brexit.

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Corbyn is going very local here. He says he has been leaked text messages about a special deal on council tax in Surrey, suggesting a special memorandum of understanding has been reached with the government. Many cabinet MPs are based in Surrey.

May says all councils have the opportunity to channel the increase in council tax into social care.

She says social care across the country is in better financial care under the Tories than it would be under Labour.

Corbyn says a second text from Surrey's county council leader suggests the government offered Surrey money to call off a referendum on council tax.

May says every county council has the right to raise its own precept.

She calls what he has claimed "alternative facts" - and says what they really need is an "alternative leader".

Adam Withnall8 February 2017 12:13

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Hospital wards are overcrowded, Corbyn says. "Every day the PM fails to act, this crisis gets worse" he says.

He urges the Government to provide the social care funding that is needed to plug the gap.

She repeats the line that every council gets a deal on council tax spending on social care.

She accuses Labour of always wanting "more money, more spending". May says you can only fund the NHS and social care with a strong economy.

May says Government will spend £500bn on the NHS this Parliament - while Labour wants to borrow that amount.

Adam Withnall8 February 2017 12:15

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Angus Robertson of the SNP says Scottish parliamentarians last night voted overwhelmingly against the Government's Brexit plans. He asks if May will take this into account.

May says she will work with the devolved administrations on the Brexit discussions.

Robertson says May said she would "not trigger Article 50 until she had an agreed UK-wide approach" to Brexit. He says she does not have this.

May says she is working with the Scottish Government going forward with Brexit. She says Scotland does not have a veto on the triggering of Article 50.

And she adds that an independent Scotland would not be in the European Union.

Adam Withnall8 February 2017 12:22

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Shortly before PMQs got underway, we heard more details on a possible escalation of the Labour rebellion over Brexit.

Clive Lewis, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, has provided a strong hint he could resign from Labour’s Shadow Cabinet later today over the party’s stance on the Government’s Brexit bill.

It follows the Labour leader’s decision to impose a second three-line whip – the strongest possible instruction – on the third reading of the Government’s EU withdrawal bill on Wednesday. It is the legislation needed in order to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin the Brexit negotiations.

Asked by Sky News whether he will resign as he left his home on Wednesday morning, Mr Lewis replied: “I don’t know. I’m going to make my mind up. [There’s a] lot on my plate, a lot on everyone’s plate, a lot to think about, and we’ll see what happens in the lobbies today.”