Brexiteers refuse to back Brady amendment which would send May back to renegotiate Irish backstop
Updates from Westminster as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May is under pressure to seek fresh concessions over Irish backstop as MPs gear up for a series of critical votes that could alter the course of Brexit.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said his Eurosceptic allies will not support a compromise amendment to remove the backstop tabled by Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady – despite Conservative MPs being ordered to vote for it on Tuesday by the government.
The prime minister is scrambling to find a plan to unite the Commons, after MPs overwhelmingly rejected her Brexit deal by 230 votes earlier this month.
Meanwhile Labour found itself under pressure over its position on the government’s immigration bill.
At first the party issued a one-line whip to abstain and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott announced the party would not oppose the bill during its second reading, insisting they would seek amendments at committee stage.
But ninety minutes later, after facing widespread criticism, the leadership issued a single-line-whip - which is not binding – for its MPs to vote against.
Labour MP Chris Leslie described the situation as an “utter shambles”.
During the debate home secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that there would be no “targets” in the immigration bill but reaffirmed a commitment to “bring net migration down to more sustainable levels.”
He revealed that, under the new legislation, EU citizens would be able to come to the UK for up to three months without a visa before being required to apply for leave to remain.
Mr Javid went on: “They will be allowed to work temporarily but will need to apply for leave, and pay an application fee if they want to stay longer.
“We plan to grant them three years leave subject to identity, security and criminality checks, this will give us the time needed to run our EU settlement scheme for EEA and Swiss nationals that are already living here, and ensure there is no sudden shock to UK businesses as the future system is put in place.
“But the leave will be strictly temporary. It cannot be extended and those who wish to stay will need to meet our future immigration requirements.”
See below for our coverage as it happened.
The Commons will sit from 2.30pm today, starting with housing questions. Urgent questions will run from about 3.30pm on Venezuela and teacher recruitment.
Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are among a host of large retailers to warn MPs that a no-deal Brexit in March would put the UK's food security at risk
Britain will be "less safe" in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a former head of MI5 has said.
Baroness Manningham-Buller said there was a wide range of security issues - from terrorism to the threat from Russia - which were best dealt with in a "European context".
She said that she believed a no-deal Brexit should be "avoided at all costs".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World At One, Baroness Manningham-Buller said:
If we leave without a deal we are going to be less safe.
We have a very serious terrorist problem in this country, very serious other security issues - the rise of Russia, its interference in our elections.
I am pretty queasy that Putin is so in favour of Brexit - I think that should give us all pause.
There is a range of other security issues - we all face the same ones - which are dealt with better in a European context than not."
Baroness Manningham-Buller said she was "desperately worried" about the impact of Brexit on the situation in Northern Ireland.
I am desperately worried. Much of my career was spent working on Provisional IRA, the loyalist terrorist groups in Northern Ireland," she said.
I can remember when it was thoroughly unpleasant to go through the border and now, if we go back to that, it cuts off the increasing links between Northern Ireland and the Republic which are an important part of the message of the peace process.
It will alter dramatically the whole sentiment and politics of Northern Ireland."
Throughout the time there has been those who don't agree with the peace process, who are continuing to mount attacks - generally small scale.
But I don't think it is over in Northern Ireland. The danger is that it gets much worse again."
Just a reminder of the parliamentary schedules for today:
1530 An urgent question on the situation in Venezuela
1615 An urgent question on teacher recruitment and retention strategy
1700 Immigration and Social Security Co-Ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill - second reading
2215 Proxy voting motions
DUP MP Sammy Wilson wants Theresa May to "exploit the chaos" to push for a better Brexit deal:
The farming industry's confidence for the coming few years has hit an all-time low amid the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, an industry poll suggests.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said uncertainty was making it "almost impossible" for any food producing business to plan properly, as its latest member survey showed farmers' confidence was falling.
More than a fifth (21%) of the 732 farmers and growers across the country quizzed for the survey said they were intending to reduce investment over the next 12 months as a result of Brexit.
Away from Brexit, our sketchwriter Tom Peck has taken a sideways look at former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg's new job at Facebook.
Read his take here:
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