Theresa May admits she has failed to secure legally-binding time limit on backstop from EU, just a day before pivotal vote in parliament
Follow live updates on the eve of the meaningful vote
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May made a last-ditch attempt to convince MPs to back her Brexit deal, as she warned that parliament could block Britain's withdrawal from the EU.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow's "meaningful vote" on her proposed agreement, the prime minister admitted she had failed to secure a legally-binding time limit on the controversial Northern Ireland backstop.
But she insisted her plan was the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit and guarantee that Britain exits the EU as planned.
Delivering a speech at a factory in Stoke, Ms May claimed some in Westminster would use “every device available to them” to “delay or even stop Brexit”.
She hailed letters of clarification on the backstop that were published by EU leaders Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk on the eve of the vote, but admitted she "did not achieve" a time limit on the controversial backstop.
“What if we found ourselves in a situation where parliament tried to take the UK out of the EU in opposition to a Remain vote?” she said.
“People’s faith in the democratic process and their politicians would suffer catastrophic harm.”
As it happened...
Welcome to The Independent's coverage of today's events from Westminster.
A trio of senior backbenchers will publish a bill tonight that would allow MPs to frame a "compromise" Brexit deal if Theresa May fails to come up with a plan B, former Tory minister Tory Nick Boles has revealed.
Nick Boles, who plans to vote for Theresa May's Brexit deal, told BBC Radio 4's Today:
This bill would do the following: it would give the Government three more weeks to get a compromise deal, a plan B, through Parliament so that we are leaving the EU on time on March 29 with a deal.
If that failed, it would then ask the Liaison Committee, which is the committee of all the chairs of select committees and other parliamentary committees, it would give the Liaison Committee the responsibility to try and come up with its own compromise deal, which would have to go back to the House for a vote.
If the House passed that compromise deal, then the Government would be legally required to implement whatever it was that they had.
The Prime Minister has received "assurances" from the European Union and will seek to make a statement to the Commons today, Liam Fox has told BBC Radio 4's Today.
The Prime Minister will seek to make a statement in the House of Commons today outlining the assurances she had had from the European Union following discussions over the last few days and I hope my colleagues will listen to those and recognise the best way forward is to support the Government's agreement because it delivers on the referendum result and does so in a way that minimises the risks to our economy.
Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has called on Theresa May to go back to the EU and demand a better deal for the £39 billion divorce bill if she loses the vote on her Brexit deal.
Esther McVey told BBC Breakfast the civil service have been "working incredibly hard on no deal planning preparations", adding that many of the fear stories do not exist.
We have got the licences in place so that medicines can come to and fro. We also know that because we will be in charge of our borders things will be imported into the country because we are in charge of that.
A Labour MP has declared he will back Theresa May's Brexit deal, warning the referendum result must be respected or the party will face "dire" consequences at the ballot box.
Sir Kevin Barron said the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement is the only option on the table that "truly enacts the promises that I made to my constituents and avoids the horror of a no-deal Brexit".
Speaking to LBC this morning, Boris Johnson said he was not sure that Ralf Speth, the CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, knows more about car manufacturing than he does.
Dominic Grieve has described the prospect of the UK crashing out with no-deal as “national suicide”.
“It would lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom for a start, that seems to me to be a form of a national suicide,” he told the BBC Radio 4’s Today.
“The economic damage it will do to us will be immense and the most vulnerable in our society will suffer most.”
Dominic Grieve dismisses claims of a “conspiracy” that he is working with the speaker as “total nonsense” and calls for “grownup politics”.
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