Brexit news - live updates: Theresa May offers MPs chance to vote on delaying Article 50 if no deal agreed with EU

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Theresa May gives parliament opportunity to take no-deal Brexit off the table

Theresa May has told MPs that parliament will be given a vote on whether or not to opt for a no-deal Brexit if her proposed withdrawal plan is rejected next month.

The prime minister said that, if MPs again vote down her proposed deal, the Commons will be given a say on whether to approve or reject a no-deal outcome. If they choose to reject it, another vote would be held on whether to extend the Article 50 period.

Ms May was responding to numerous Remain-backing ministers threatening to quit if she failed to give parliament the right to block a no-deal Brexit.

She insisted she did not want to see Article 50 extended and refused to be drawn on how long any extension might be, saying only that she would want it to be "as short as possible". She also declined to say how Tory MPs would be ordered to vote on the matter of whether to accept a no-deal Brexit or delay leaving the EU.

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Announcing the guarantees in the Commons, Ms May said: "They are commitments I am making as prime minister and I will stick by them, as I have previous commitments to make statements and table amendable motions by specific dates."

She added: "Let me be clear, I do not want to see Article 50 extended. Our absolute focus should be on working to get a deal and leaving on March 29."

The confirmation that MPs would be given a vote on no-deal was enough for some potential rebels, with one of the main architects of a plan to force the government to guarantee a Commons vote saying he was "satisfied" there was no longer any need for the amendment.

Former minister Oliver Letwin said Ms May's offer "does what is needed to prevent a no deal exit on 29 March and enables MPs to forge a cross-party consensus on a new way forward if the PM's deal does not succeed on 12 March". There was now "no need" for the motion he was due to table with Labour's Yvette Cooper, he added.

Key Points

• Theresa May forced to give MPs vote on delaying Brexit in major climbdown
• Key architect of plan to force Commons vote says he is 'satisfied' with prime minister's guarantee
• Major boost for second referendum as Jeremy Corbyn gives Labour's backing
• Jeremy Hunt under pressure to raise Khashoggi murder on trip to Saudi Arabia
• Foreign office minister accuses UN of 'misuse of powers' over Chagos Islands

[26 February 2019 13:06 · Benjamin Kentish]

Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke asks how long the prime minister would be willing to extend Article 50 for, saying an extension to the end of June would not be enough time and would see the current "pantomime performance" continue.

May says merely that she does not want to see Article 50 extended and would want any extension to be "as short as possible".

[26 February 2019 13:13 · Benjamin Kentish]

Theresa May paraphrases, erm, the meerkat in the car insurance adverts, telling the SNP's Ian Blackford that if he wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit he should "vote for the deal...simples!".

[26 February 2019 13:18 · Benjamin Kentish]

Labour's Yvette Cooper, who has tabled an amendment to give MPs a vote on whether or not to approve a no-deal Brexit, asks what the government's position would be if the choice is between no-deal and extending Article 50.

The prime minister dodges the question.

[26 February 2019 13:31 · Benjamin Kentish]

Dominic Grieve says May's deal is a "second rate outcome for our country".

He accuses the prime minister of "brow-beating" the Commons, saying she was "inaccurate" in claiming the only options for avoiding a no-deal Brexit are to vote for her plan or revoke Article 50. He says the prime minister could also go back to the public in a second referendum.

May says another poll would not change the fact that the only three options are leaving the EU with a deal, leaving with no deal or not leaving at all.

[26 February 2019 13:56 · Benjamin Kentish]

Business minister Richard Harrington, who had threatened to resign in order to vote to block a no-deal Brexit, has said he is "satisfied" and will not be quitting

He told the BBC said: "I'm satisfied because for the first time she has acknowledged in a statement that Parliament will be allowed to vote on ruling out no deal, which of course it overwhelmingly will."

[26 February 2019 14:08 · Benjamin Kentish]

Labour MP Gareth Snell says he will definitely vote against a second Brexit referendum, telling the BBC:

"If I was being a bit unkind, part of me thinks this has been what Keir [Starmer] wanted all along, to move the Labour Party to a point of so much confusion this seems to be the only way forward.

"Which is disappointing, because in the early days I thought he really wants to speak to those of us in leave areas who have real concerns, not just for what this means for our party but what this means for the connection our party has with those communities."

[26 February 2019 14:12 · Benjamin Kentish]

Jeremy Hunt under pressure to raise murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he visits Saudi Arabia this week

[26 February 2019 14:31 · Benjamin Kentish]

Theresa May's spokesman has refused to say how the government would whip Tory MPs to vote on the matter of a no-deal Brexit or an extension of Article 50.

He said:

"I think what you heard in the Commons was the prime minister’s absolute determination to get a deal over the line in a way that the House of Commons can support it. That is her focus and that is what you would expect.

Questions on whipping on what may or may not follow that are for another day. I think it’s important that we set these things out in order."

[26 February 2019 14:53 · Benjamin Kentish]

ITV's Robert Peston suggests the amendment that would give MPs a vote on whether to pursue a no-deal Brexit may not be moved, with some its Tory architects said to be happy with Theresa May's reassurances today 

[26 February 2019 14:57 · Ashley Cowburn]