The whole world wants the UK to avoid a no-deal Brexit, Japan's PM has claimed, after talks with Theresa May. Shinzo Abe pledged total support for the withdrawal agreement she has negotiated with the EU, which faces a crunch vote in the Commons on Tuesday.
Rebel Conservative MPs joined forces on Wednesday with Labour to inflict a fresh blow on Theresa May's government in a Commons Brexit vote. It means the government will have to come up with revised plans within three days if Mrs May's EU withdrawal deal is rejected by MPs next week.
Parliament must be given a veto over any trade deals the UK signs after Brexit, a committee of MPs has urged. Ministers hope to begin negotiating deals with key partners once the UK leaves the EU in March and start implementing them from 2021 onwards.
Vladimir Putin has urged Theresa May not to succumb to calls for a second referendum on Brexit. Speaking at his annual question and answer session with journalists, the Russian president questioned whether re-running a vote could be construed as democratic.
The leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he was calling for a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Theresa May — a largely symbolic gesture — for not putting her Brexit plan to a vote by lawmakers immediately.
European Union leaders have said the Brexit withdrawal agreement is “not open for renegotiation”, despite appeals from Theresa May. She wanted legal assurances on the Irish backstop to help her deal get through Parliament after she delayed a Commons vote in anticipation of defeat.
Brexit's economic effects will be the focus of a Commons debate later, as government whips work behind the scenes to gain support for Theresa May's deal. Ministers will say it creates a unique partnership with the EU, while Labour argues it will make people poorer.
Theresa May has suffered three Brexit defeats in the Commons as she set out to sell her EU deal to skeptical MPs. Ministers have agreed to publish the government's full legal advice on the deal after MPs found them in contempt of Parliament for issuing a summary. And MPs backed calls for the Commons to have a direct say in what happens if the PM's deal is rejected next Tuesday.
The UK government may have broken Parliamentary rules by not publishing Brexit legal advice, the Commons Speaker has said. John Bercow said there was an “arguable case” that a contempt of Parliament has been committed.
UK faces a constitutional crisis if Theresa May does not publish the full legal advice on her Brexit deal on Monday, Labour has warned. The PM says the advice is confidential. But some MPs think ministers do not want to admit it says the UK could be indefinitely tied to EU customs rules.