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Brexit news: Government finally publishes full legal advice as Theresa May accused of 'inadvertently misleading' parliament

Follow all the latest updates, as they happened

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
,Lizzy Buchan
Wednesday 05 December 2018 19:10 GMT
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Theresa May accused of 'inadvertently misleading' parliament in PMQs clash

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Theresa May has been accused of "inadvertently misleading" parliament over Brexit in an angry prime minister's questions clash, as the government was forced to publish the full legal advice on her deal.

Her administration became the first in modern political history to be found in contempt of parliament over its refusal to hand over the advice on a bruising day in the Commons, where Ms May suffered three significant defeats.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the advice had to "dragged out" of ministers and claimed Ms May had been misleading MPs, before he was rebuked by the Speaker.

Meanwhile, home secretary Sajid Javid acknowledged the deal is not "perfect in every sense" as he opened the second day of debates, which will culminate in a Commons showdown next week.

To follow events as they happened, see our live coverage below

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Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 10:18
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My colleague Rob Merrick has been watching Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, appearing in front of a Commons committee. Here are some highlights: 

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 10:21
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Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 10:33
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Chris Skidmore - who advocated Remain at the EU referendum - has been appointed universities minister - after his predecessor Sam Gyimah quit the government on Friday in protest at Theresa May's plans for Brexit. 

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 10:43
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In an attempt to shore up support for the PM's deal, Downing Street has been promoting the agreement on social media - to the tune of £50,000 - according to the Press Association. 

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who obtained the figures with a parliamentary question, has said taxpayers' money has been thrown "down the drain". 

No details were given of how the money was spent, but a series of clips promoting the deal have been released on the @theresa-may and @10DowningStreet Twitter feeds and the Prime Minister's Facebook page with the hashtag £BackTheBrexitDeal.

This was between 20 August and 20 November - five days before the EU agreed to the deal, meaning the final figures are likely to be much higher.

Releasing the figures in a written reply, Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith stressed that the £52,509 spend amounted to less than 0.02% of the total Government communications budget of £300 million a year.

Ms Moran, a supporter of the Best For Britain campaign for a second EU referendum, said: "It beggars belief that the Prime Minister is spending over £50,000 of taxpayers' money promoting a deal that literally no-one wants.

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 11:00
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Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 11:22
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Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer appears to have had a first glance of the legal advice, which hasn't yet been published online. He has just posted this:

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 11:41
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The government's legal advice that was presented to cabinet when the Brexit deal was reached at an official level has just been released to some MPs.

This comes after Theresa May's administration was yesterday found in contempt of Parliament - an unprecedented move - for failing to publish the legal advice when the chamber demanded ministers did so two weeks' ago.

Helpfully, Labour's Brexit team has started tweeting it out

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 11:48
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Prime Minister's Questions has now started - just minutes after the government's legal advice was published. Jeremy Corbyn kicks off the session with the word "Brexit", but says we must not ignore rising poverty in Britain, citing a recent UN report on the issue. 

The PM says "we do not agree with this report". 

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 12:06
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Corbyn says universal credit is turning into "universal discredit" and demands for the rollout to be halted. But May says the government has "made changes as we have gone through those changes". 

"We've listened and made changes - a system that delivers for people," she says.

Ashley Cowburn5 December 2018 12:08

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