Brexit: Government-backed customs amendments scrape through as minister resigns - as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May survived a backbench rebellion and a ministerial resignation to push through a bill on Britain's post-Brexit customs arrangements.
The prime minister had been warned her Chequers deal was "dead in the water" after seemingly caving and accepting amendments by influential pro-Brexit Conservative faction the European Research Group (ERG) on tariffs and VAT policy.
Two ERG amendments were passed with a majority of just three, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing defeat for Ms May after as many as 14 Tory MPs rebelled in divisions on Monday evening.
Among them was defence minister Guto Bebb, who resigned from government after defying the whip to vote against the ERG's new clause 36, requiring HMRC not to collect tariffs for other nations without a reciprocal dealing being in place.
The third reading of the bill was approved by 318 votes to 285, meaning it will now progress to the House of Lords.
Read the recap of how our live coverage unfolded throughout the day
Dominic Grieve, leader of an influential group of Tories backing a soft Brexit, says the white paper is the “first sensible document to found a proper negotiation” with Brussels.
However, he is not without criticism for the prime minister’s blueprint for exiting the bloc.
“It talks about the common rule book and then says ‘don’t you worry, we will be escaping the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice',” he says.
“We will escape its jurisdiction, but I am the first to accept that the reality is we are going to be bound by its jurisprudence without the ability of influencing how that jurisprudence develops, that is one of the costs we are paying as a result of voting to leave.
“In exactly the same way, there are other costs that come from leaving that we tend to brush under the carpet, including the economic costs, which are going to come to this country. If we are going to make rational choices, we need to avoid continuing with exercises in self-deception.”
MPs have begun voting on amendments to the customs bill, Labour Whips' Twitter account has broken down the divisions:
The government has won its first vote, defeating the Labour amendment calling for the UK to remain in "a customs union" with the EU by 289 to 316 - a majority of 27.
A second Labour amendment, this time calling for extra parliamentary scrutiny of the final Brexit deal, has also been defeated, this time by 316 votes to 291, a majority of 25.
A third amendment, this time by the SNP, which would have forced the government to seek the approval of the Scottish Parliament before using various different powers under the bill, has been defeated.
The margin of victory for the government this time was 36, winning by 316 votes to 280.
Next is the vote on new clause 36, which has been tabled by Tory Brexiteers from the influential ERG and was accepted by the government.
If passed, it will require HM Revenue and Customs not to collect tariffs for other nations without a reciprocal deal being in place.
Unlike the previous three divisions, this is no formality. There is the possibility Conservative rebels could side with Labour MPs in order to vote down NC36.
The government has scraped by with a majority of just three to pass NC36, 305 votes to 302 as a number of pro-European and "soft" Brexit-supporting Tory MPs rebel over Theresa May's apparent collapse to the demands of the party's "hard" Brexiteers.
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