Brexit news - live: MPs pass emergency law forcing prime minister to avert no deal by one vote
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Your support makes all the difference.A cross-party bid to block a no-deal Brexit has cleared the Commons after Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn met for last-ditch talks to break the deadlock.
In a series of late-night votes, MPs backed the bill, tabled by Labour's Yvette Cooper, which was rushed through in a single day to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal next Friday.
It comes after Ms May was hit by two ministerial resignations over her decision to hold talks with Mr Corbyn, which also sparked fury among Tory MPs.
Mr Corbyn said the meeting in the prime minister's Commons office was "useful but inconclusive", adding: "There has not been as much change as I expected".
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Those hoping Jeremy Corbyn will go into Brexit talks with Theresa May looking for a second referendum should not hold their breath, writes political editor Joe Watts.
Speaking after prime minister’s questions, the leader’s spokesman was asked whether it would be one of Mr Corbyn’s demands, and answered that Labour’s position is to call for a new public vote to stop a “damaging Tory Brexit” or a no-deal situation.
If Mr Corbyn were to agree to a deal however, he would presumably not think it was a damaging Tory one. It would also mean that no deal had been avoided – and so the logic of Labour’s position would mean there is no referendum in that situation.
When the Labour leader’s spokesman was asked to confirm this logic, he simply restated the position.
The lack of enthusiasm should not come as a surprise. Earlier this morning shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said: “If we get exactly what we want....then I would struggle to find a reason to put that to a public vote.”
But it does serve to underline the on-going split over giving the public a Final Say on Brexit that continues to burn at the heart of the shadow cabinet.
Let’s not forget shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said only ten days ago that “no one should doubt” his commitment to the Labour policy adopted at party conference, that a referendum would remain an option should the party fail to force a general election.
“What the party has said is there must be a public vote and we said we’d either put down an amendment ourselves or support an amendment, and that needs to be between a credible leave option and remain,” he said.
The EU would refuse to open trade talks with Britain after a no-deal Brexit until the UK decided to sign up to the main elements of the withdrawal agreement anyway, the European Commission has said.
Speaking in the European Parliament on Wednesday Jean-Claude Juncker said the Irish border, citizens rights, and the divorce bill would need to be agreed before any other negotiations could begin.
The announcement pours cold water on Brexiteer hopes that the UK could get a better deal by refusing to pay the unpopular £39 billion financial settlement or sign up to the controversial backstop, and then negotiate a separate trade agreement.
More here from our Europe correspondent Jon Stone.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom says the government opposes the business motion. She says the PM has already committed to extending article 50 and avoiding European elections.
She says the legislation is not necessary and ministers cannot support tearing up Commons rules to allow backbenchers to seize control.
Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith has written to Gavin Williamson demanding he condemn reports of British army soldiers using a picture of Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said he hopes Jeremy Corbyn will show leadership and come up with a compromised Brexit plan with Theresa May.
Speaking in the Irish parliament, Mr Varadkar said: "I don't wish to comment too much on the internal politics in the UK but I do agree that the Prime Minister's offer to engage with the leader of the Labour Party, with Mr Corbyn, on Brexit to come to a compromise is timely.
"I don't know if Mr Corbyn will rise to the occasion, whether he will show leadership and be able to come up with a compromised plan with Prime Minister May.
"I hope he does, but we will see if that happens in the next couple of days."
Any Brexit deal agreed between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn would "make the country poorer", Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The Scottish first minister said a cross-party compromise plan would be a "cobbled together least bad option" that "satisfies nobody" and could be "unpicked" by a future Eurosceptic prime minister such as Boris Johnson.
Read more here.
BREAKING: Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris has resigned. In his resignation letter to Theresa May, posted on Twitter, he said the prime minister's refusal to take Britain out of the EU without a deal had made his job "irrelevant". The UK should have left the bloc on 29 March, he said, adding that delays to Brexit "diminish faith in our political system and the good people, from all political parties, who serve within it".
Shadow Scottish minister Paul Sweeney has caused confusion over Labour's Brexit policy after he insisted that support for a second referendum is one of the party's "red lines".
He was speaking just hours after Jeremy Corbyn's spokesman said Labour only supported a fresh referendum to prevent a "damaging Tory Brexit" or a no-deal outcome, and suggested that a deal with cross-party support would not necessarily need to be put to a public vote.
Mr Corbyn is meeting Theresa May this afternoon for talks over a possible cross-party compromise on a Brexit deal.
Ahead of the talks, Mr Sweeney said:
"Labour has clear red lines - we want a customs union solution, a dynamic relationship with the single market, and to be subject to a public vote. Any decision by Parliament needs to have a check democratically. She needs to move towards those positions if Labour is going to begin to entertain her position."
He said he had been with Mr Corbyn on Tuesday night when Theresa May delivered her statement reaching out to the opposition leader and that Labour had been surprised by the prime minister's decision. He said:
"Last night was quite bizarre because I was sitting with Jeremy Corbyn at the time in a meeting when we watched Theresa May's statement come in.
"We didn't expect the prime minister to react in that way - to ask for the leader of the opposition to bail her out."
While Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have been holding talks on Brexit, the leaders of the smaller parties have also been meeting to discuss their approach.
In a joint statement released afterwards, the leaders of the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Plaid Cymru, plus The Independent Group's Chuka Umunna, said:
“The UK is in the midst of a Brexit crisis led by a government dictated by incompetence.
“Given everything we now know - and the detrimental impact Brexit will have on the UK’s economy, job opportunities and people's livelihoods, the priority must be bringing the issue back to the people in a People’s Vote – with the option to remain on the ballot paper.
"We are in agreement that there is no such thing as a good Brexit and that people across the UK face being worse off.
“We have shown over the past three years we are willing to find a compromise position to end the impasse.
“Time is fast running out and any compromise that is reached must be brought back to the people through a fresh referendum, and keep the option to revoke Article 50 on the table to avoid a no-deal Brexit.”
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