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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
Tommy Robinson has been permanently banned from Facebook and Instagram after repeatedly breaking hate speech policies.
Both pages were removed on Tuesday in response to "organised hate" and the targeting of Muslims.
Protesters have taken to Westminster Bridge to call for the Northern Ireland secretary to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland.
Labour MP Diana Johnson, who has tried to change the law several times, has tweeted some pictures from the event.
This is significant. Oliver Letwin, one of the main architects of an amendment to give MPs a vote on whether to approve a no-deal Brexit, says he is satisfied with Theresa May's assurances and that there is now "no need" for the plan he was due to put forward with Labour's Yvette Cooper.
Jeremy Corbyn is facing a backlash from some of his MPs after announcing that Labour will back a fresh Brexit referendum if its alternative plan is rejected by the Commons tomorrow.
John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, told the BBC:
"Voters won't have it. The last person to renege on their manifesto was Nick Clegg, it didn't end very well for him on tuition fees.
"Our manifesto was unambiguous, we would accept the result of the referendum. A second referendum doesn't do that and the voters - in very, very large numbers - will not accept that."
Responding to Theresa May's announcement that MPs could get a vote on whether to delay Brexit, Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the European Research Group of anti-EU Tory MPs, says:
"If it's being delayed, which is my suspicion, as a plot to stop Brexit altogether then I think that would be the most grievous error that politicians could commit. It would be overthrowing a referendum result, two general elections and would undermine our democracy."
My colleague Rob Merrick has compiled a helpful list of the key Brexit dates in the coming weeks...
Strong words from former shadow minister Lilian Greenwood about fellow Labour MP Chris Williamson, who is facing criticism for hosting a screening of a film by someone suspended by the party over antisemitism
The government has tabled the Brexit motion that MPs will vote on tomorrow. It says simply:
"That this House notes the prime minister's statement on EU Exit of 26 February 2019; and further notes that discussions between the UK and the EU are ongoing."
The UK would have to explain why it wants to delay Brexit if it decides it wants an extension to Article 50, France's finance minister has said.
Speaking after meeting his Irish counterpart in Dublin, Bruno Le Maire said:
"There is an agreement. We believe this is a fair and a good agreement and it is up to the British government to assess the best way of adopting that agreement. If there is a call for an extension of Article 50, we will have to understand what for. It is up to the British government to explain what for."
Labour has questioned the government's decision to ban Islamist group Hezbollah - a move that MPs will vote on later today.
A Labour spokesperson said:
"The Home Office has previously ruled that there was not sufficient evidence that the political wing of Hezbollah fell foul of proscription criteria, a position confirmed by ministers in the House of Commons last year.
"Ministers have not yet provided any clear evidence to suggest this has changed.
"It has also rightly been the view of the Foreign Office for many years that proscribing the political wing of Hezbollah, which is part of the democratically elected Lebanese government, would make it difficult to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, or to work with the government on humanitarian issues, including those facing Syrian refugees, in parts of the country controlled by Hezbollah."
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