Brexit: Leo Varadkar warns Theresa May not to renege on promises over Irish backstop to win over Conservative rebels
European leaders say they can clarify aspects of Withrawl Deal with Theresa May, but cannot re-open negotiations
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has played down expectations of a Brexit breakthrough from EU leaders after surviving a bruising no-confidence vote triggered by Tory rebels.
The prime minister travelled to Brussels to seek fresh concessions to get her Brexit blueprint "over the line" in parliament, in the wake of her decision to shelve a crunch Commons vote on the deal over fears of a catastrophic defeat.
Ms May also confirmed she would not lead her party into the 2022 election - but failed to say if she would stand down after exit day in March 2019.
See below for live updates
Civil service boss Mark Sedwill is giving evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee for the first time. He took over from the late Jeremy Heywood, who recently died of cancer.
Mr Sedwill says the civil service is in “reasonably good shape” for a no-deal Brexit, as it has been been ramping up preparations in recent months.
However he said the big dependencies are outside government in the private sector. Much of this will depend on the decisions of EU countries.
John Manzoni, chief executive of the civil service, says first half of £2bn of no-deal preparations cash has been spent and the second half is in the pipeline.
The civil service has hired about 10,000 people already, 5,000 are in the pipeline and 5,000 more would be hired if there is a no-deal.
He admits a disorderly Brexit is an “enormous task” to prepare for.
He says the civil service "cannot hire people fast enough" and it will have to redistribute staff from different Whitehall departments.
Interesting - Commons leader Andrea Leadsom sets out the parliamentary business for next week - and Theresa May's Brexit deal is not on the agenda.
Back at Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Brexiteer David Jones has a testy exchange with both mandarins, saying the use of words such as “disorderly Brexit” makes it look like the government is unprepared.
He says: “Contingency of leaving without a deal should have been planned for.”
John Manzoni says there are consequences that will “not be fully mitigated” in a no-deal Brexit.
Mark Sedwill says it is important that decision-makers understand that “however much we had prepared and however long we had to prepare for it - and two years isn’t very long to prepare even for that - we don’t have complete control over the circumstances under which that would happen.
“It is challenging. We are preparing as best we can.
"I think we are in the best possible shape we can be but it’s not possible to run two entirely parallel policies for a transition moment.”
Jones says lots of planning has gone on.
Manzoni hits back: "It might be inconvenient but I'm here to tell you what I think is really going on."
If government is behind with planning, was it "a deliberate act of policy" asks Jones.
Manzoni says they are trying to make political points and he's just trying to get on with implementing Brexit.
Some government departments have "paused" domestic policy work to focus on preparing for Brexit, Mark Sedwill told the committee earlier.
Asked about the impact of Brexit by Tory committee chairman Bernard Jenkin, he said: "Some departments have, for example, paused some of their other domestic policy agenda in order to focus their attention on planning for March 29.
"That partly reflects the nature of their Brexit portfolio compared to others ... each department essentially needs to make its own judgment between the secretary of the state and the permanent secretary about what their capacity is to deliver.
"But essentially the Brexit agenda is incorporated alongside the rest of the department's agenda.
"In some cases we have increases in resources ... but then they have to prioritise within that and mainstream as much as they can of the work to navigate their particular portfolios through the Brexit transition."
Shocking moment in the Commons. Jess Phillips reads out sexually explicit texts sent by Tory MP to female constituents.
Also, read our piece on the row over the whip being restored to Andrew Griffiths and Charlie Elphicke. Mr Elphicke was referred to police over the allegations against him, which he strongly denies.
Back at committee, Mark Sedwill says he has launched a crackdown on the prolific leaks from cabinet meetings.
Instead of doing individual inquiries every time it happens - which is currently every week - he said he is doing intelligence-led inquiries into "prolific" culprits.
Dominic Raab says Theresa May can no longer “lead us forward”, warning fellow Tories that her Brexit strategy is bringing a Jeremy Corbyn government closer.
The former Brexit secretary increased pressure on the prime minister to go, despite her winning last night’s vote of no confidence among Conservative MPs.
Mr Raab confirmed he had voted to topple Ms May, saying: “I didn’t think her position had been tenable.”
Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, has said he "will consider" publishing his legal advice on any changes to the Brexit deal.
Theresa May is currently seeking fresh concessions from the EU on her deal after surviving a confidence vote with Tory MPs.
Shadow solicitor general Nick Thomas-Symonds, speaking in the Commons, said: "The PM said last night on the steps of Downing Street that she is seeking, and I quote, 'legal and political changes' to the Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop.
"As a matter of honour if nothing else, if the Attorney General advises on any changes or additions the PM brings back, will he disclose his advice upon that to this House?"
Mr Cox responded: "The government will consider very carefully, particularly in the light of this House's expressed wishes for assistance on these matters, what assistance it and I as attorney general can give."
Theresa May has spoken to reporters in Brussels, where she confirmed she will not fight the next election.
The PM admitted yesterday's confidence vote made for "a difficult day" and said she was grateful for the "significant support" shown by colleagues.
May will be talking to leaders "about what we need to get this deal over the line" and promises she will be "showing the legal and political assurances we need" to win MPs over to the plan.
Asked when she would stand down, she said: "I have said that in my heart I would love to be able to lead the Conservative Party into the next general election.
"But I think it is right that the party feels that it would prefer to go into that election with a new leader."
Asked whether she had a date in mind to stand down, Mrs May said: "No. People try to talk about dates. What I'm clear about is the next general election is in 2022 and I think it's right that another party leader takes us into that general election."
Interestingly, the PM says she does not expect "an immediate breakthrough" but hopes she can "start to work as quickly as possible" on getting those assurances.
Local authorities will be given the power to increase council tax by an additional 3 per cent next year, communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced.
Mr Brokenshire, announcing the local government finance settlement, said council core spending is forecast to increase from £45.1bn in 2018/19 to £46.4bn in 2019/20 - a cash increase of 2.8%.
He told MPs, to shouts of "fudge" from the Labour benches, that it was a settlement to allow councils to "rise to new opportunities and challenges" and "to grow their economies and ensure there is opportunity for all".
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