Brexit news: Theresa May mocked over 'Groundhog Day' as she unveils plan B almost identical to original plan
A look back at today's events in Westminster
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May was mocked for dragging MPs into Brexit "Groundhog Day" after her anticipated plan B for leaving the bloc appeared very similar to her original blueprint.
The prime minister was forced to come to the Commons after her Brexit deal was comprehensively rejected by MPs last week by a record 230 votes to present her new plan for leaving the European Union.
Her "neutral" motion will be debated and voted on - along with any amendments tabled by MPs - on 29 January but has been widely criticised for being extremely similar to her initial plan.
Ms May vowed again to seek changes to the Irish border backstop – despite the EU repeatedly insisting it will not budge.
Business leaders united to criticise the statement describing it as “another bleak day”, as it appeared the UK was now one step closer to crashing out of the EU with no agreement on 29 March.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged her to drop her "red lines" to win support from parliament, amid pressure for her to seek changes to the controversial Irish backstop part of her Brexit deal.
See below for updates from throughout the day
Conservative minister Richard Harrington has urged Theresa May to rule out a no-deal Brexit, as the prime minister prepares to outline her alternative plans to parliament.
The business minister, who repeated his threat to resign should the government oversee such a scenario, said he was “afraid” firms such as Jaguar and Mini could close in the UK under the “absolute disaster” of a disorderly exit.
Mr Harrington echoed demands made by Jeremy Corbyn, who has insisted in recent days the prime minister must take no deal off the table before engaging in cross-party talks over Brexit.
More here:
Another big story this morning from our social affairs correspondent May Bulman. Tens of thousands of EU nationals living in Britain could become undocumented migrants after Brexit in a crisis bigger than the Windrush scandal, campaigners have warned.
Read more here:
Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he would be open to the idea of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage joining the Conservative Party in the future.
Mr Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), told LBC radio: "If the Conservative Party could reunite with the reasonable elements of Ukip that would be very good news and Nigel would be part of that."
He said that such a move would "be much easier now than it would have been when he was still a member of Ukip", because of the eurosceptic party's new links with Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage quit Ukip last year over current leader Gerard Batten's association with Mr Robinson, the co-founder of the English Defence League.
Mr Rees-Mogg added: "It may be a little bit early, though personally I hold Nigel in the highest regard and think he was one of the people who was instrumental in delivering Brexit... but perhaps a little bit more purdah is required."
In an interesting bit of timing, European leaders are meeting in Brussels for the EU's Foreign Affairs Council.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas told reporters: "We are all quite keen to see what we will hear from London today.
"It is about time. We know what London doesn't want, now we must at last find out what they want and what there is a majority in parliament for, so we can sit down with our colleagues from London and talk about how we avoid a hard Brexit, a Brexit without an agreement.
"It appears that everyone wants that, so it must be possible."
Asked if he had confidence in Theresa May, Mr Maas replied "Of course". But asked whether it was now "too late", he said: "I don't really know."
He added: "It is important that the outcome is not a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, because as we saw this weekend, nerves are on edge there.
"Europe is a peace project and Europe cannot do anything which leads to conflicts breaking out again in a part of Europe where they have long since been laid to rest.
"It's a very sensitive issue and therefore it's an issue which in the discussions to come I cannot imagine there will be much change."
Germany's economics minister suggests that the EU's patience must not be wasted on "party politics".
New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern, who is visiting London for talks with Theresa May said that a no-deal Brexit would be "very difficult" for her country.
She told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire: "As a very important trading partner for us, at the point the UK is ready to do so, we are very keen to enter into a free trade agreement.
"We are ready and willing and I think we're an excellent potential future partner for that. For us, you're still a significant trading partner... We would consider it to be a real priority for us."
Ms Ardern said it was a matter for the UK to decide on the nature of its withdrawal from the UK, but she added: "From our perspective, and from New Zealand businesses' perspective, no deal would be very difficult."
A group of pro-EU MPs has gone into the Cabinet Office for meetings with Theresa May's de-facto deputy David Lidington. They include Tory health committee chair Sarah Wollaston, fellow Conservatives Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen, and Philip Lee - as well as Labour's Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker and Chris Leslie.
Labour has asked the BBC for unseen footage of last week’s Question Time and demanded a correction during next week’s episode as a row over the show’s treatment of Diane Abbott deepened.
The party has made a formal complaint to the broadcaster over what it called the “unacceptable” treatment of Ms Abbott, the shadow home secretary.
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One of the groups expected to amend Theresa May's Brexit plans today includes senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory former minister Nick Boles, who are seeking time for a bill to suspend the Article 50 withdrawal process if there is no new deal by the end of February.
Ms Cooper told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she believed the PM was hoping parliament would rule out no deal on her behalf.
She said: "I think she (Mrs May) knows that she should rule out no deal in the national interest because it would be so damaging. She's refusing to do so and I think she's hoping that Parliament will do this for her - that is not leadership."
Downing Street has dismissed reports that the PM was considering rewriting the Good Friday Agreement in order to break the impasse over the vexed issue of the Irish backstop.
Asked if the Good Friday Agreement could be rewritten, Theresa May's spokesman said: "No. The PM has been clear on multiple occasions that we are committed to upholding the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and to delivering a solution that avoids a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland."
On the prospect of a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Ireland, the PM's spokesman said: "It's not something we are looking at."
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