Efforts to persuade MPs to back Theresa May's Brexit deal will continue on Thursday, a day after she promised to quit as PM if it was approved. Her pledge brought some on-side, such as ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
Dozens of normally loyal Conservative MPs could rebel against the government in a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit, Downing Street has been warned. Leaders of the Brexit Delivery Group of both Leavers and Remainers say MPs may back alternatives if Mrs Theresa May's reworked deal cannot command a Commons majority.
Theresa May will return to Brussels on Wednesday to continue talks on her Brexit deal. She will meet the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. Earlier, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay updated Cabinet on talks with the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.
The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier says the Irish backstop is part and parcel of the UK's Brexit deal and will not be renegotiated. Speaking at the European Parliament, Mr Barnier said it was a realistic solution to preventing a hard border.
There is a high risk of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal by accident, the EU's deputy chief negotiator Sabine Weyand has said. She added there was “full ownership of what was agreed” in the EU, but “no ownership” of it in the UK Parliament. And it was a challenge to see how a majority for any deal could be built among MPs, she added.
An extended Brexit transition period is not an alternative to the EU’s backstop proposal, Irish premier Leo Varadkar has warned. The Taoiseach said he is open to the idea of an extension but it fails to resolve the border issue.