Theresa May under growing pressure as minister resigns in protest at 'humiliating' plan to extend Article 50
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Theresa May faced fresh pressure over her Brexit strategy after farming minister George Eustice resigned from government to oppose any delay to Britain's exit day next month.
Mr Eustice said he had backed the prime minister through "a series of rather undignified retreats" but he was afraid that the prospect of a vote on extending article 50 would lead to the "final humiliation of our country".
His resignation came after MPs overwhelmingly voted to lock in the prime minister’s promise to give parliament a veto over a no-deal Brexit, while Ms May opened the door to a "limited" delay to Brexit.
In a letter to Ms May, Mr Eustice wrote: “Developments this week will lead to a sequence of events culminating in the EU dictating the terms of any extension requested and the final humiliation of our country.”
He continued: “If the position of parliament is now that we will refuse to leave without an agreement then we are somewhat stuck,” he wrote.
“This is uncomfortable for everyone, but we cannot negotiate a successful Brexit unless we are prepared to walk through the door.”
Meanwhile, Labour confirmed it will table bid for second referendum - and shadow chancellor John McDonnell said there was a chance of the vote could be won.
He told ITV: "“We are still going to argue that we want a general election, we are still going to argue we think our deal that we have put up was the best option.”
“But we realise... we have got to break this deadlock.”
It came as the row over antisemitism in Labour rumbled on, with Tom Watson, the party's deputy leader, saying Liverpool Wavertree MP Luciana Berger's decision to quit Labour over anti-Jewish abuse was the "worst day of shame" in the party's history.
As it happened...
The government was urged to back a no-deal Brexit by Tory Brexiteer Sir Desmond Swayne.
The New Forest West MP said: "In the event of the withdrawal agreement being defeated a second time the government must be committed to voting in favour of a no-deal Brexit, otherwise it will have in effect taken no-deal off the table, won't it?"
Mr Barclay replied: "The key issue here is we need to give businesses certainty and we need to secure the deal.
"Unlike him, I am more optimistic there's an opportunity for the House to come together on the areas that we do agree, because this is about the winding-down arrangements."
Brexit Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has claimed the defeat of an SNP amendment meant MPs were now in favour of retaining the option of no-deal.
SNP MP David Linden said: "Surely the best way of taking no-deal off the table is for the Government to just say they're taking no-deal off the table.
"So, why then last night when the SNP put an amendment to parliament did they whip their MPs, including Scottish Tory MPs, to walk through the lobby and not take no-deal off the table?"
Mr Heaton-Harris replied: "Interestingly this now means, if you were to take the result of this literally, there is a majority of 36 in this House for keeping no-deal on the table."
Our big story overnight looked at how Jeremy Corbyn’s office directly intervened to prevent Chris Williamson being suspended from the Labour Party despite his comments on antisemitism that sparked outrage among colleagues.
Multiple sources told The Independent that the party’s chief whip, Nick Brown, was ready to suspend the MP until the leader’s team interceded, resulting in a temporary reprieve for Mr Williamson.
EU net migration has plummeted to the lowest level since 2009, as citizens from central and eastern European countries leave Britain ahead of Brexit.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said net migration from outside the EU had risen to the highest level in 15 years in the same period.
More here:
Tom Watson has been all over the airwaves today talking about problems in Labour - but he is also making a speech about problem gambling today.
The Labour deputy leader says the issue should be treated as a "public health emergency" as he calls for an online crackdown for limits on spend and stake.
We've previewed his speech here:
On the migration statistics - released today - the prime minister's spokesman has just told a briefing of journalists: “What the figures show you this that the UK is continuing to attract and retain highly-skilled workers, including more doctors and nurses, while talented international students are benefiting from our world-leading universities and boosting our economy.
“But we will continue to reform routes from outside Europe as we build a new immigration system that works in the best interests of the country
“And, as you know, we are committed to reducing immigration to sustainable levels and that means the tens of thousands.”
Here is the story on the latest migration statistics
Speaking about the votes in Westminster on Tuesday night, Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy PM, said it had become clear to Theresa May that there was a majority in her parliament that want to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
"This now comes down to the negotiation between the UK and EU over the next few weeks and the build-up to the 12th of March, or some time before that potentially, where the British Prime Minister will try to get ratification from her parliament for any final deal," he said.
"I think the EU parliament wants to work with the UK to try to give the reassurance and clarification to get that done, particularly around the protocol on Ireland and the Irish backstop," he said.
MPs will receive a 2.7 per cent pay rise next year, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) has announced.
The increase will take the standard salary from £77,379 to £79,468.
The chairs of Commons select committees will receive an additional £15,509 - up from £15,235 this year.
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