Folks, it’s time to wrap up the blog for the night.

I’ll be back in a few hours to launch a new Politics live blog, bringing you all of Thursday’s Brexit and other political news. A reminder of what’s on the agenda for Thursday:

Parliament will vote on a motion that sets next Wednesday as the deadline for MPs to pass a Brexit deal. It says, if a deal is passed by then, the government will seek an extension of article 50 until 30 June. But if the deal is not passed by then, then the government will need a longer extension, requiring the UK to take part in European elections.

Thanks so much for your company and your comments. See you soon.

‘The best turd we’ve got’ - and other attempts to explain Brexit

There have been some remarkable turns of phrase from commentators and politicians in their attempts to capture just what exactly has gone on in British politics in the last few days.

The most quotable quote from an MP on Brexit in a while (forever?) came from Conservative backbencher Steve Double who said in parliament on Tuesday:

This is a turd of a deal, which has now been taken away and polished, and is now a polished turd. But it might be the best turd that we’ve got.

This is also pretty good from Tom Peck at the Indy, who says:

The House of Commons was a Benny Hill chase on acid, running through a Salvador Dali painting in a spaceship on its way to infinity.

It has got us wondering about the best Brexit analogies, or attempts to explain Brexit that have come out over the months/years. Any favourites? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

This one springs to mind:

And a little more from Varadkar’s speech, in which he says that Ireland needs its friends in the US “more so than ever”.

While others may make a different decision, we see ourselves at the heart of the common European home which we help to build.

We want to maintain and enhance the transatlantic relationship and we are determined to protect the Good Friday Agreement and everything that flows from it.

So whatever happens in the coming months, we are sure about our place in the world, we know where we are going, and as a country we are confident about the future.

Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach of Ireland, has been in Washington DC, where he delivered a speech at a gala dinner. Gavan Reilly, the political correspondent for Virgin Media News in Ireland, was in attendance and says Varadkar received two spontaneous interruptions for applause as he says Ireland will remain a committed member of the EU and guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement.

UKIP in Northern Ireland has called Wednesday night “a defining evening” in which the “game-playing political class” brazenly defied the very people who elected them.

I’m quite intrigued to know what they mean by the ominous use of an ellipsis at the end of the tweet. It’s quite a menacing bit of punctuation.

And Sarah Wollaston has reiterated the calls from the Independent Group for a People’s Vote. A reminder that they are tabling an amendment calling for a “public vote in which the people of the United Kingdom may give their consent for either leaving the European Union on terms to be determined by Parliament or retaining the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union”.

Photographs of the proposed amendment are being widely shared by MPs on Twitter tonight.

Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes, formerly of the Conservative Party now of the Independent Group, has been watching Peston and is unimpressed by Angela Rayner’s performance. She says both major parties have failed to deliver, which is why we are seeing, what she describes as, “broken politics”.

Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, has shared four videos explaining to her constituents what went down today. It’s an interesting summary of the day’s events, as well as giving a sense of how the day unfolded from the perspective of one of the players in the “complete parliamentary madness” of the day, as Creasy describes it.

Creasy says she will be supporting amendments that give Britain a longer extension before it has to leave the EU, saying the country needs more time to “sort this out”.

Creasy says she was unsurprised that as Theresa May left the House today it was to shouts of “resign”, saying that any other prime minister who had failed to carry parliament with her, and indeed her own party with her, would not still be in Downing Street, adding that she thinking “the country will suffer as a result” of May’s refusal to step down.

If you’ve got seven minutes, the four videos are worth a watch.

Also, thank you to starsmurf for this lovely comment, I can confirm that our moderators are indeed very long-suffering, as well as being brilliant, dedicated and all-round lovely people. They are also often unsung, so I’m taking this opportunity to share your praise of them above the line:

Thank you mods and all those updating ATL.

We really need to have a crowdfunder set up for the poor long-suffering mods plus Andrew Sparrow and the others who have kept this going pretty much 24 hours a day over these last few days. We can keep them in coffee for when they’re working and something stronger for when they’re off duty or when it all gets too much. Cakes and other sources of sustenance could be provided too. We all win because journalists with plenty of sugar and caffeine in their systems can cope with the political chaos while the mods can deal with the trolls and Putinbots. A well-fed mod is a happy mod.

And while we don’t have a crowd-funding campaign for sugary and caffeinated goodness, the Guardian runs on a membership model. So if you love us, make sure you’ve joined up.

Hello everyone.

This is Kate Lyons taking over the blog from my colleague Jedidajah Otte, which means we have come full circle on a huge day of Brexit news. I started this blog at about 5:30 on Wednesday morning and will keep it ticking over through the wee hours of Thursday morning, until there is no more news to report.

I sincerely hope for your sakes that none of you have been reading the blog that entire time (if you have, please go to sleep), though I wouldn’t blame you if you had been glued to it for that time, given the day that has just been and the stellar work of my colleagues in bringing the news to you.

I’ll be bringing you reaction from MPs, the papers and commentators. For now, here’s how the last few day’s Brexit happenings have been seen by the newspaper cartoonists of Australia:

I’m now handing over to my colleague Kate Lyons, who will continue rounding up reactions.

David Davis, who voted for the unsuccessful Malthouse agreement earlier, wants to “help” Theresa May deliver Brexit.

Sarah Newton MP, the 15th member of the government to quit over Brexit, has provided a statement:

“At the last general election I was given a mandate by my constituents to deliver Brexit, with an orderly transition to a new, close and special relationship with the EU. To deliver Brexit with a deal not a no-deal Brexit. I believe the withdrawal agreement and the future political declaration deliver on that manifesto pledge and will continue to support it.

Today, I resigned from the government so that I could vote for a motion that honours my commitment to my constituents, to leave the EU with a deal.

Like many of my constituents, I have been inspired by the personal courage and resilience of the prime minister and will continue to support her Herculean effort to secure enough support from across the house to leave the EU with a deal.”

According to HuffPost UK’s Paul Waugh, things could indeed be entirely up to Speaker John Bercow from here on.

For now, Jacob Rees-Mogg seems unwilling to concede defeat, as the bill required to actually rule out a no-deal scenario does not exist yet.

Gina Miller has predictably called for exactly this bill to be passed without much further ado.

Or, as one Simon Schama puts it:

As Tory Brexiters have suffered a major blow tonight, a number of pundits suggest that ERG MPs might support May’s deal in a third “meaningful vote” next week. However, it is not certain that Speaker John Bercow will allow MV3 if the deal is submitted again without any changes, as Ian Dunt, editor of Politics.co.uk, points out:

Greetings, I’m taking over from my colleague Andrew Sparrow and will gather some reactions to tonight’s events in parliament.

And what an evening it’s been.

The DUP are not minded to flinch, according to the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment.

This is from Sky’s Faisal Islam.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who pushed the Spelman amendment to a vote, has issued this statement about tonight’s votes. She said:

The House of Commons has voted decisively tonight against the chaos of no deal. We are in this position because the prime minister has refused to consult or build consensus, and refused to allow votes on other Brexit options. That needs to be urgently sorted out now. The government should come forward with plans to hold indicative votes on different options, including a customs union, so we can get on with this. If the prime minister won’t sort this out and build some consensus on the way forward then parliament will need to instead.

This is from BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham.

Those ERG MPs obviously don’t include Steve Baker. See 9.07pm.

The People’s Vote campaign, which wants a second referendum, has accused Theresa May of trying to blackmail MPs into supporting her deal. It issued this statement from the Tory pro-European Guto Bebb. He said:

Tonight another government minister has resigned on principle rather than be part of a process designed to browbeat parliament into accepting a broken Brexit that the whole country knows fails to honour the promises of 2016 and would leave people poorer.

But, within minutes of losing key votes on this issue, the government has decided to deploy a new false threat. The effort to turn a necessary and sensible extension to the Brexit deadline into a bogeyman that will scare MPs back into line is both irresponsible and unedifying. It deserves to be treated with the same contempt that greeted previous efforts to browbeat or blackmail MPs into supporting a Brexit deal that neither they nor the country want.

Some of us did not always find it easy following the parliamentary proceedings tonight. According to my colleague Heather Stewart, we were in good company ...

Unlike Steve Baker, the deputy chair of the ERG (see 9.07pm), Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG chair, hinted tonight that he could be persuaded to back the PM’s deal.

Asked if he would continue to vote against it, he replied:

We will have to see if there is any change.

There are discussions today in relation to what Geoffrey Cox has had to say to the DUP and, crucially, what may be put in the withdrawal and implementation bill which could have an effect on how people vote.

So I’m not the immovable object facing the irresistible force.

Here is a mini profile of Sarah Newton, who resigned tonight from the government to vote to rule out no deal for good, from the Press Association. (See 9.04pm.)

Sarah Newton’s quiet rise within the Conservative ranks was dealt a fatal, self-inflicted blow, following her decision to vote against the government over Brexit. In doing so, she became the second minister from Cornwall to resign over the issue in a fortnight, after Leave-backing George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth) opted to return to the backbenches from the agriculture brief “to be free to participate in the critical” Brexit debate.

History graduate Newton, a former director of Age Concern England, was among the 2010 intake of MPs, becoming the first person to win the newly created seat of Truro and Falmouth as boundary changes meant Cornwall increased its MPs from five to six. She has held it ever since.

And in 2012, at the height of the furore surrounding the introduction of the so-called “pasty tax”, the Cornish MP spoke in the Commons about the cherished delicacy.

Issuing a warning to then-chancellor George Osborne, she said: “There is growing concern throughout Cornwall about the possible unintended consequences of the Budget and about the undoubtedly real threat to the Cornish pasty of the pasty tax.”

From May 2015 to July 2016, Newton was a Government whip with departmental responsibility for Defra, and moved to the Home Office as parliamentary under-secretary of state for crime, safeguarding and vulnerability.

The mother-of-three, who backed Theresa May in the Tory leadership election in 2016, was later appointed minister for disabled people, health and work, before becoming work and pensions minister in November 2017.

She resigned on Wednesday evening, moments after defying the whips to vote for the cross-party amendment rejecting a no-deal Brexit.

Steve Baker, the Tory Brexiter and deputy chair of the European Research Group, told Sky News that he would continue to vote against the PM’s deal, regardless of her threat to seek a long Brexit delay. He explained:

I’ll say to the government now, when meaningful vote three comes back, I will see to it that we keep voting this down however many times it’s brought back, whatever pressure we’re put under and come what may. Please don’t do it. Keep going back to the EU and say, ‘It wont pass.’

The Brexiter Mark Francois has told Sky News that collective discipline in the party has collapsed.

Downing Street also said it had no plans for indicative votes on Brexit alternatives. The prime minister’s spokesman said:

We have no plans for indicative votes, I think I’ve said that on a number of occasions. What you have seen in parliament in recent weeks is a series of plans being put before parliament by opposition parties and they have all been rejected.

This is from David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, explaining why he was one of the 11 ministers who abstained in the final vote (see 8.49am), instead of voting against ruling out no deal for good, as Tory MPs were supposed to.

The pound just briefly hit a 22-month high against the euro, over €1.18 for the first time since May 2017. It also extended its gains against the US dollar to a nine-month high of $1.3380, before dipping back.

Tonight’s drama in parliament has driven the pound up to a two-week high against the dollar.

Sterling has just hit $1.33 for the first time since 28th February. That’s a gain of over two cents, or 1.8%, as the currency enjoys its best day of 2019.

As you can see, the pound’s having a volatile week - rising on Monday as Theresa May headed for talks with Jean-Claude Juncker, then plunging on Tuesday when attorney general Cox didn’t change his legal advice on the backstop.

Naeem Aslam of City firm Think Markets says traders are relieved that MPs voted not to accept no deal tonight. However....

The fact is that it is comforting to know that no deal Brexit scenario is off the table, but at the same time there is no table. This is because May’s party is in more disarray and Brexit has become a laughing matter for everyone.

Here is a Guardian guide to how MPs voted on the main motion (as amended) tonight.

This is from my colleague Dan Sabbagh, who has been at the Downing Street briefing.

Here is the text of the government motion being debated tomorrow.

The division lists for tonight’s three votes should be on the Commons website here (although it has been crashing).

This is from Alasdair de Costa at the Institute for Government showing how cabinet ministers voted on the main motion.

This is from the BBC’s Adam Fleming.

Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit committee, says he agrees with May about the need for the Commons to show it is in favour of something. He says the government should hold indicative votes, as his committee proposes.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory Brexiter, asks the speaker to confirm that a motion of the house does not override statute law.

John Bercow, the speaker, confirms that is the case.

Jeremy Corbyn says May must work with MPs to find a solution to Brexit.

From the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford

This is from the Telegraph’s Anna Mikhailova.

This is from the SNP’s Hannah Bardell.

Here are some Labour MPs on the vote.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

MPs are now voting on the main motion, as amended.

But this is basically a re-run of the first vote. The result is likely to be very similar although it is possible that, because some MPs may not have expected Spelman to win first time round, they might vote differently now.

This is from Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt.

After the vote on the Green amendment, we should get a vote on the main motion as amended - ie, potentially a combination of Spelman and Green.

MPs are now voting on the Green amendment (aka the Malthouse compromise one).

This is what it says.

At end, add “; notes the steps taken by the government, the EU and its member states to minimise any disruption that may occur should the UK leave the EU without an agreed withdrawal agreement and proposes that the government should build on this work as follows:

1. That the government should publish the UK’s day one tariff schedules immediately;

2. To allow businesses to prepare for the operation of those tariffs, that the government should seek an extension of the article 50 process to 10.59pm on 22 May 2019, at which point the UK would leave the EU;

3. Thereafter, in a spirit of co-operation and in order to begin discussions on the future relationship, the government should offer a further set of mutual standstill agreements with the EU and member states for an agreed period ending no later than 30 December 2021, during which period the UK would pay an agreed sum equivalent to its net EU contributions and satisfy its other public international law obligations; and

4. The government should unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK.”

Theresa May’s decision to allow Tories a free vote on the main motion, and on the Malthouse compromise one, is in line with a proposal she made when she was shadow leader of the Commons in 2003, the Hansard Society’s Ruth Fox has just pointed out on the BBC.

Here is Yvette Cooper on why she pushed the amendment to a vote.

The Labour MP Debbie Abrahams thinks the Spelman amendment will be defeated.

If that is right, it will be because Tory MPs who voted for it in January won’t vote for it tonight – because they think it is more important for the government motion to be passed by a huge majority (which would be a snub to the hard Brexiters).

To get that result, they have to defeat Spelman, because if Spelman were to pass, there would be no vote on the motion, which it would replace.

This amendment is word-for-word the same as one passed by the Commons in January, after the first Brexit “next steps” vote. It was passed by 318 votes to 310 – a majority of eight.

Here is the list of 17 Tory rebels who voted for this amendment in January: Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire), Guto Bebb (Aberconwy), Nick Boles (Grantham and Stamford), Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe), Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon), Justine Greening (Putney), Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield), Sam Gyimah (East Surrey), Phillip Lee (Bracknell), Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford), Oliver Letwin (West Dorset), Mark Pawsey (Rugby), Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury), Anna Soubry (Broxtowe), Caroline Spelman (Meriden), Edward Vaizey (Wantage), and Sarah Wollaston (Totnes).

And there were three Labour rebels who voted against: Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), and Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton).

If the Spelman gets passed, there will be no vote on the government motion - because the amendment would replace it.

This is what the Spelman amendment says.

Line 1, leave out from “house” to end and add “rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a withdrawal agreement and a framework for the future relationship.”

Fox says the Commons contracted out its decision-making to the people at the time of the referendum. The Commons is honour-bound to accept the result. He says the Lib Dems may not care about the views of the public, but he does.

The British people have given parliament a clear instruction.

It is time for us to determine who is the boss.

Fox is refusing to take an intervention from Ken Clarke. Labour MPs start jeering at Fox, but Fox continues to refuse to give way. Clarke had longer to speak than he has got, he says.

He says Yvette Cooper earlier said she wanted to know if the result of this vote would mean the UK would not leave the EU on 29 March without an agreement. That is the position, he says. But he says in the longer term the only way to take no deal off the table is to have a deal. Having no Brexit would be even worse, he says.

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, is winding up for the government.

He says some of those opposed to a no-deal Brexit want to reverse Brexit.

He says the government motion focuses on 29 March. At that point the UK either has to leave with a deal, or leave without a deal, or have an extension.

An extension is not in the gift of the UK. All 27 EU countries would have to agree. And it is not clear what price the EU might extract for an extension.

He says what Labour wants is impossible. It wants to stay in the customs union, but it also wants an independent trade policy. You can’t have both, he says.

He says for much of the debate he did not recognise the country being described. The UK is in control of its own future, he says.

Pennycook says the way the government worded its amendment (see 3.10pm) is unsatisfactory. At worst it is ambiguous, at best it is contradictory.

That is why Labour favours backing the Spelman amendment, he says.

Pennycook asks why any responsible government would contemplate an entirely avoidable act of self-harm.

And it would be a measure that does not have majority public support, he says.

He says, by repeating the mantra “No deal is better than a bad deal”, the government desensitised people to the risks involved.

• Pennycook says May’s “No deal is better than a bad deal” slogan desensitised people to the risks involved.

Matthew Pennycook, the shadow Brexit minister, is winding up the debate for Labour now.

He says it is hard to overstate how damaging a no-deal Brexit in just over a fortnight would be. It would be “nothing short of a national disaster”, he says.

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told Radio 4’s PM programme this evening that she was “not inclined” to vote for the no-deal Brexit motion tonight. Tories have a free vote, so she does not have to. She said:

I’m going to vote to keep no-deal on the table.

She also said she thought May’s deal was still viable. She explained:

I think it is still alive, I do. Ultimately, when you look at the alternatives - which are a customs union, no Brexit or no-deal - Theresa May’s deal is more attractive than those other three options.

I think that’s the conclusion MPs will ultimately come to.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish leader, has said that if the UK government did go ahead with its plan to avoid customs checks at the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it would soon end up having to set up a backstop-type arrangement anyway. He explained:

I don’t think the UK’s proposals will be workable for very long. They propose to treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK.

Northern Ireland will become a back door to the European single market and I think that in a matter of months that will lead to the need for checks at Northern Ireland’s ports.

So those that opposed the agreement may find that something very akin to the backstop is applied by the UK government in a few weeks’ time.

Jack Dromey, the Labour MP who jointly tabled the no-deal amendment with Caroline Spelman, has just told Sky News that he does not intend to move the amendment. Earlier Spelman said she would not be moving it either. (See 3.43pm.) Dromey said MPs had already backed the amendment (in January – tonight’s is word-for-word the same) and that what was important tonight was for MPs to vote, by a massive majority, for the government motion, ruling out a no-deal Brexit on 29 March.

Asked if there would be a vote on the motion, Spelman told Sky News she did not know, because any MP who signed it could push for a vote.

But, given what Dromey is saying, and what Yvette Cooper said earlier (see 5.34pm), it looks as though there won’t be a vote on it.

Sky’s Jon Craig tells the programme that Spelman was “nobbled” and that, having decided to whip against the amendment, No 10 did not want a vote because some pro-European ministers would have voted in favour.

Leading Eurosceptics are lobbying right-of-centre governments in the EU27 to veto any British request for an extension to article 50 to ensure the UK drops out of the EU at the end of the month without a deal, my colleague Patrick Wintour reports. His story goes on:

In theory, only one country is required to wield its veto for any British request to be rejected.

It is highly unlikely this lobbying will succeed as the governments in countries such as Hungary, Italy and Poland have other more important battles to fight with the EU. But the lobbying underlines the precariousness of the British position.

And here it is in full.

Here are two Europe correspondents on the Malthouse compromise amendment.

From the Telegraph’s Peter Foster

From the Independent’s Jon Stone

Labour’s Jess Phillips is speaking in the debate now. She says she thinks Theresa May is “terrified” of the Brexiters in her party. Sir Nicholas Soames, the Conservative pro-European, intervenes. He says he has studied May, and he thinks May is “respectful” of the Brexiters, not frightened of them. Phillips says Soames knows May better than she does – partly because May does not speak to her, she says – but she insists that May looks like a “rabbit in the headlights” in her dealings with the Brexiters.

The Labour MP Yvette Cooper is speaking now. Heidi Allen, the Independent Group MP, asks Cooper if she will move the Spelman amendment herself in the light of the fact that Caroline Spelman won’t move it. (See 5.20pm.) Cooper says she will listen to what Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, says in his winding-up speech. If it is put to a vote, she will support it, she says. But she says tonight is about ruling out a no-deal Brexit on 29 March.

Damian Green, the Tory former first secretary of state, is speaking now. He has tabled what is known as the Malthouse compromise amendment. (See 3.10pm.)

Referring to the most controversial part of the amendment, paragraph 3, he acknowledges that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said this proposal (a transition without the UK having to agree to the backstop, basically) is unacceptable. But he says if the government just did everything Barnier said, it would never get anywhere.

He urges MPs to back the amendment, saying it offers a way forward.

This is from my colleague Jessica Elgot on the Spelman amendment. (See 5.20pm.)

Dame Caroline Spelman, the Conservative who has tabled the amendment ruling out a no-deal Brexit, is speaking now.

Hopefully she will address reports that the government whips are trying to get her to pull her amendment.

This is from the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment.

Earlier John Bercow, the Speaker, said that at some point in the future he could end up having to rule on whether to allow another vote on the PM’s deal - or whether to block it on the grounds that parliamentary rules say the Commons should not be asked to vote on a matter it has already considered. (See 3.43pm.)

Sky’s Lewis Goodall points out that this could end up being explosive. He has more detail here.

Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s Europe spokesman, is speaking in the debate now. He says that a no-deal Brexit should have been ruled out straight after the referendum. The Scottish government brought together experts to come up with a compromise plan for Brexit, he says. But the UK government failed to do this, he says.

The Green MP Caroline Lucas says going for a no-deal Brexit is the action of a rogue state. Gethins agrees.

Nicky Morgan, who used to be seen as one of the most pro-European backbenchers in the Conservative party, has told Sky News that she won’t vote for the Spelman amendment. (See 3.10pm.)

The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope thinks he know why.

The Labour MP Emma Reynolds has said she welcomes Michael Gove’s hint that the government could support MPs being given indicative votes on Brexit. (See 3.57pm.)

The FT’s Sebastian Payne says the Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwin and Labour’s Yvette Cooper are planning an indicative votes amendment for tomorrow.

Here is George Osborne, the Evening Standard editor and former chancellor, on Philip Hammond’s call in his spring statement speech for consensus on Brexit. (See 1.36pm.)

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has written a blog about Hammond comment too. Here’s an extract.

The PM could compromise to get a hypothetical softer Brexit through the Commons - but days later find out that she could no longer govern.

In this febrile atmosphere when the chancellor makes a call, as he has just done, for a “consensus” across parliament to find a way out of this hole, he is also hinting very publicly to the prime minister that it might be time now to think about making that sacrifice.

It’s important to remember that Mr Hammond’s preferred option all along has been to back the prime minister’s deal, to try to get it through.

But a mild-sounding call for compromise just now, is not necessarily politically mild at all.

In the debate Ken Clarke, the Tory pro-European, is speaking in the debate now. He is restating his support for a Norway plus Brexit.

Starmer ends his speech by saying that he hopes the vote tonight will “bury no deal so deep that it never resurfaces”.

Here is the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Gove’s suggestion that the government could back “indicative votes” on Brexit alternatives. (See 3.57pm.)

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw asks Starmer to reaffirm Labour’s commitment to a public vote.

Starmer says he can do so. The Labour manifesto said it would accept the referendum result. But it also said it would not accept May’s red lines.

Labour lost that election, he says.

He says the goverment is in a “hopeless” position.

The PM’s red lines, and no deal – the two things Labour rejected in its manifesto – are still on the table, he says. He says that is why a people’s vote is still on the table.

Anna Soubry asks if Labour will support a people’s vote now.

Stamer says Corbyn said two weeks ago Labour would table an amendment, or support one. That remains the position, he says.

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is responding to Gove in the Brexit debate.

The Tory Brexiter Mark Francois intervenes to say Gove implied the government will bring May’s deal back to the Commons for a third meaningful vote. He says he is willing to bet Starmer £50 that that vote will take place on Tuesday 26 March.

Starmer says he does not gamble.

Turning to Gove’s speech, Starmer says Gove was blaming the opposition for the failure of May’s deal.

But the government has failed to reach out to other parties to find a plan acceptable to the Commons, he says.

This is what Michael Gove said in his response to Emma Reynolds, when she asked about indicative votes:

I think that, depending on how the house votes today, we may have an opportunity to vote on that proposition tomorrow. But one of the things that I think is important is that we, as quickly as we possibly can, find consensus.

Ken Clarke, the Tory pro-European, asks if the government will revoke article 50 if the EU refuses to extend article 50.

Gove says the UK cannot revoke article 50 and then trigger it again. The European court of justice has said that is not allowed, he says.

Labour’s Hilary Benn asks why it is democratic to keep asking MPs to vote on the same idea, but undemocratic to ask the public if they want to change their mind.

Gove claims the deal being voted on last night was significantly different from the one voted on in January.

And he says Labour originally opposed a second referendum.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper asks Gove to confirm that, if the government motion is approved, the UK won’t leave the EU on 29 March without a deal.

Gove says that that is what the motion is designed to prevent.

Gove says the government motion does not take no deal off the table. The only way you can do that is by passing a deal, or revoking article 50, he says.

The SNP’s Stewart McDonald says Gove is one of the senior authors of the mess he has just described. (See 3.24pm.) Does he feel any sense of responsibility? Will he apologise?

Gove says he voted for the deal last night. The SNP did not. He accuses the SNP of sectional posturing.

Gove says farmers would face “very, very challenging circumstances” in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

He says many businesses have made the preparations necessary to be able to carry on trading with the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The government can do many things to mitigate against the impact of no deal, he says.

But he says the UK cannot tell the EU what tariffs it must impose, and it cannot tell ports such as Calais what checks they should and should not impose.

Dominic Grieve, the Conservative former attorney general, asks Gove to confirm that, if the government motion is passed, it will amend the EU Withdrawal Act to amend the date of Brexit.

Gove says May has given that commitment.

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw says May promised free votes last night. So why are Tory MPs getting a free vote on Green, but not on Spelman.

Gove says Labour should give its MPs a free vote too.

Gove says, following the defeat of Theresa May’s deal, MPs face a number of unattractive choices.

All are worse than May’s deal, he says.

Anna Soubry, the former Tory who is now an Independent Group MP, says Gove has confirmed that the government motion does not take the no-deal option off the table. But MPs were told they would get a vote today on taking no deal off the table. She asks Gove to confirm that Tory MPs are getting a free vote on the Green amendment, but are being told to vote against the Spelman amendment. She suggests that Spelman will not push her amendment to a vote because of the government’s stance.

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is opening the debate.

He starts with a tribute to Theresa May. Here is some commentary from political journalists.

This is what a Treasury source said about suggestions that Philip Hammond’s comments at the end of his spring statement speech (see 1.36pm) implied he was not backing Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The source said:

[Hammond] has been very clear that he supports the PM’s deal but he has also been saying for months that compromise is how we get through this and he is calling for compromise.

The Commons Brexit committee has released a short, emergency report following last night’s vote, renewing its call for indicative votes in the Commons on future Brexit options. Hilary Benn, the committee chair, said:

After another historic defeat for the prime minister, the UK will now have to apply for an extension to article 50. The extension will need to be of sufficient length to allow parliament to reach agreement on a proposal that it is prepared to support.

The clock has now been run down to the point where there is no alternative left given that leaving with no deal cannot be the policy of any responsible government.

Parliament must now be given the chance to hold a series of indicative votes as quickly as possible or else we will not find out what there might be support for as an alternative to the prime minister’s deal which has now been rejected twice by large majorities.

This is from Business Insider’s Adam Bienkov, with a line from the Number 10 briefing.

This is from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn.

(Presumably these would be the same Brexiters who make the point that Commons motions are not binding, eg, Jacob Rees-Mogg at 8.56am.)

UPDATE: And this is from the FT’s Laura Hughes.

Figures released by the National Records of Scotland today, showing that the birth rate across the country has fallen to its lowest level since civil registration began in 1855, sharpen concerns about the impact of Brexit on the country’s significant demographic challenges.

The predictions are pretty stark – all of Scotland’s population growth over the next 25 years is projected to come from migration. But a recent report from an independent expert panel warned that changes set out in the Westminster government’s white paper could reduce net migration to Scotland by 50% over the coming two decades. The report also found that if the UK government ends free movement Scotland’s working-age population could decline by up to 5%, noting that 63% of workers in Scotland earn less than the proposed £30,000 post-Brexit salary threshold for skilled immigrants, with sectors sicj as textiles, social care, leisure and travel worst affected.

It’s hard to overstate how concerned businesses are about post-Brexit staffing, especially in the care and tourism sectors and those based in the Highlands.

Meanwhile, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has today announced £2m for Brexit support grants, previously only open to exporters, to help small and medium-sized businesses prepare for leaving the EU.

The Daily Mail’s political editor, Jason Groves, thinks that Philip Hammond’s comment at the end of his spring statement speech (see 1.36pm), combined with what Stephen Barclay has been saying today, suggests the government is moving towards “indicative votes” - allowing the Commons to vote on a series of Brexit options.

Rupert Harrison, who worked as George Osborne’s chief of staff when Osborne was chancellor, says he thought that was implied in what Theresa May said last night, after her deal was defeated.

For the record, this is what May said last night.

But let me be clear. Voting against leaving without a deal and for an extension does not solve the problems we face.

The EU will want to know what use we mean to make of such an extension.

This house will have to answer that question. Does it wish to revoke article 50? Does it want to hold a second referendum? Or does it want to leave with a deal but not this deal?

These are unenviable choices, but thanks to the decision the house has made this evening they must now be faced.

This is from Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman, commenting on an Instagram post from Donald Tusk, the European council president.

Theresa May was due to open the Brexit debate today, but Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is going to do it instead. Given the state of her voice, that’s understandable.

Hammond has also managed a Brexit joke. Announcing money for a new super-computer at Edinburgh University, which will be five times faster than the existing one, he says that, with the right algorithms, it might even be able to come up with a solution to the Northern Irish backstop.

Here is some Twitter comment on Philip Hammond’s no-deal warnings.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From CityAM’s Owen Bennett

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the Guardian’s Richard Partington

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

During PMQs Theresa May accused Jeremy Corbyn of not referring to Labour’s second referendum commitment in the Commons yesterday.

Labour’s Dawn Butler has accused her of lying, because Corbyn did refer to the policy in his main speech.

But, as HuffPost’s Paul Waugh points out, May seemed to be referring to the fact that Corbyn did not mention a public vote in his statement to MPs after May’s deal was defeated.

The Brexit debate is due to start at around 3.30pm. Theresa May will be opening it. It will run until 7pm, when MPs will vote.

There are six amendments on the order paper (pdf). And two more manuscript amendments have been tabled.

PMQs is now over. And Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is about to deliver his spring statement.

I will cover any Brexit-related news from the statement, but our main coverage of the statement will be on my colleague Graeme Wearden’s business live blog.

The Tory MP Alberto Costa says the media call his place a failing parliament. But there was nothing failing when it passed his amendment on the rights of British citizens in the EU three weeks ago. What has May done to get EU leaders to agree to this?

May says she has spoken to a number of EU leaders about this.

Mark Pawsey, a Conservative, asks about Rugby council’s housebuilding programme. May says she is please to hear it is providing more homes.

Mark Francois, the Tory Brexiter, says on 29 January the Commons, and most Tory MPs, voted for the Brady amendment (saying the backstop should be replaced). Brady was designed to facilitate the Malthouse compromise. If the Malthouse compromise amendment is called later, will Tories get a free vote, and how will May herself vote?

May says she addressed this earlier. (See 12.33pm.) She says her agreement with the EU says alternative arrangements for the backstop should be worked up. That is what Malthouse was asking for, she says.

The Tory MP David Tredinnick asks May if Labour should allow a free vote on no deal tonight.

May says it would be better if all MPs had a free vote.

The Tory MP Peter Bone asked May about the Malthouse compromise amendment. In her response, May said the government had already accepted two of its four demands (1 and 4 - see 11.22am for the full text) and that MPs were getting a vote on an article 50 extension. But on the key demand (number 3), she said it was unacceptable to the EU.

Corbyn says Owen Paterson said during the referendum: “Only a madman would leave the single market”. With May’s deal decisively rejected, what is May now for? Labour’s plan is the only credible show in town.

May says Corbyn says he opposes no deal, but he votes to bring it closer. Labour’s plan has been rejected several times by this house. She says she may not have her own voice, but she understands the voice of the country. People want to leave the EU, end free movement, have their own trade policy, and ensure laws are made in UK courts. Corbyn used to believe in this too. Why is he now against it?

Corbyn says May no longer has the ability to lead. It is rudderless. He says, where the PM has failed, the house needs to listen to the country. He says British citizens face uncertainty. May needs to show leadership. So what is her plan?

May says MPs will vote on no deal today, and then on extending article 50 tomorrow if no deal is rejected. MPs have to make choices. She says Corbyn does not agree with government policy, or even Labour policy. He has nothing to offer this country.

Corbyn says the CBI have described a no-deal Brexit as as sledgehammer to the economy. Manufacturing is now in recession. May’s deal has been decisively rejected. When will May accept that there must be a negotiated customs union with the EU.

May says the CBI says Labour’s policies would lead to a drop in living standards. Corbyn claims to be in favour of a second referendum. But he did not even refer to that last night.

Corbyn says May’s answer will not reassure people worried about their jobs. Food producers are also in despair. Will she now back close alignment to the single market to back their industry?

May says her deal does include access to the EU on the basis of no tariffs. It would help if Corbyn had read it.

Jeremy Corbyn also sends his condolences to those affected by the crash in Ethiopia.

He says May says the only choice is between her deal and no deal. Last night her deal was finished off. And she will not whip her MPs on no deal. How will she vote?

May says she will vote for the government motion.

• May confirms she will vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 29 March.

Corbyn asks why May is still ambivalent about a no-deal outcome.

May says she wants a deal. Businesses want that too. One thing they worry about more than no deal is a Corbyn government.

John Baron, a Tory Brexiter, says the UK trades with countries outside the EU profitably on WTO terms. Does May accept that a no-deal Brexit is the default position, and better than a bad deal.

May says she wants to leave with a good deal.

Theresa May get a loud cheer when she stands up. But her voice does not seem to have improved since yesterday.

She sends her condolences to those killed in the crash in Ethiopia.

Ireland ’s agriculture minister has said the UK’s decision to impose high tariffs on beef and cheddar in a no-deal scenario are “potentially a disaster” for Irish farmers.

Michael Creed also said that the logic of introducing a different regime for Northern Ireland defied Brexiter logic and accused the UK of being “selective” about tariffs to put pressure on the Irish to buckle over the backstop. He told RTE radio’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show:

It is interesting in the context of what is published today the UK contemplating bespoke arrangements for Northern Ireland, if we had the bespoke arrangements that are in the withdrawal agreement we would avoid a hard border.

He said the department of agriculture had modelled the impact of a full World Trade Organisation schedule would have add €1.7bn to the costs of products.

Ireland is the fifth largest beef exporter in the world with a trade with 50% of the meat going to the UK, a market worth €2.5 billion (£2.15bn)

Angus Woods, the Irish Farmers Association, national livestock chair told RTE.

The idea that Irish farmers and businesses would be able to pay a tariff and compete with the likes of South American goods into the UK market just wouldn’t work.

It doesn’t take a whole lot, targeting 50 or 60 container loads of the high value steak cuts into the UK market would be enough to drag the whole marketplace down and make it unviable for Irish farmers in the UK market.

This is from the BBC’s Norman Smith.

Here is Stewart Jackson, the former Tory MP who was chief of staff to David Davis when he was Brexit secretary, on the Malthouse compromise amendment (see 8.55am, 9.11am and 10.32am.)

Turning back to the government’s announcement about what tariffs would apply in the event of a no-deal Brexit, David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project, has written a good blog with a preliminary analysis here.

Here’s an extract from his summary.

A serious attempt to balance the different interests at play, UK producers and consumers, developing countries, and future trade agreements ...

The hit to UK producers will primarily come from their inability to export tariff free, which will significantly affect competitiveness, though in some cases increased tariff free imports will also affect this;

Probably little effect on consumer prices overall, these are in any case downward-sticky when tariffs are reduced (quality at the same price tends to rise though), but cars likely to be a big exception, where prices will rise, and bikes may be an exception in the opposite direction.

And here is the Times’s Sam Coates on what happened at this morning’s cabinet.

The Telegraph’s Steven Swinford says Theresa May has been told she will face government resignations unless she gives Tory MPs a free vote on the Malthouse compromise amendment - the one favoured by Brexiters (see 8.55am and 9.11am.)

Last night Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said it was a “dangerous illusion” to think that the Malthouse compromise plan was on offer from the EU.

Earlier in the European parliament’s debate Melania-Gabriela Ciot - Europe minister of Romania, which currently holds the European council’s presidency - said EU leaders wluld expect a “credible justification” for any extension requested by the UK and for its duration. She said:

The UK government and the British parliament have to come out with a clear sense of direction as to where there is a majority and timing as to when it will materialise.

In the meantime, the only certainty we have is an increased uncertainty for citizens and for businesses with an already clear economic impact in terms of level of activity, investment and - more importantly - jobs.

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European parliament, and the parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman, is speaking now.

He starts by telling Henkel (see 9.45am) that Henkel needs to address his remarks to his Conservative party colleagues in the European Conservatives and Reformists group.

He says a long extension of article 50 would mean Nigel Farage staying on as an MEP. He would continue to get his salary, which he could pay into his offshore company, and he would continue to be able to do his “dirty work” in the EU.

Verhofstadt says he would be opposed to any article 50 extension unless the UK has decided what it wants.

Hans-Olaf Henkel, the German MEP who is vice chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European parliament, says the best solution would be for the UK to stay in the EU.

He says the commission should help those in the UK who are campaigning for a second referendum.

And it should offer reform on immigration rules. That would make a difference, he says.

He says the EU will never be complete without the UK.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the centre-right European People’s party in the European parliament, and its candidate to be the next European commission president, is speaking now.

He says Brexit has let down a whole generation of young Europeans.

And he repeats the point Barnier made; the EU can only grant an article 50 extension if it knows what the UK wants. He says “the Brits” must clarify this at the next EU summit.

Brexit was made by populism, by easy answers. But the Brexiters cannot provide any easy answers now, he says.

Barnier is now speaking in English.

People ask if he is disappointed after last night’s vote, he says.

But he says his answer is always the same. The EU remains respectful of the UK, and it will remain calm and united in these negotiations, defending the EU and its citizens.

And that is it. Barnier has now finished.

Barnier says the EU is not being inflexible in relation to the Irish backstop out of dogma.

It is a matter of practicalities, he says. It is about protecting the single market.

Barnier says the next stage of the Brexit negotiation, the one dealing with the future trade relationship, will be more important than the current one.

He says if the UK wants an orderly Brexit, then the treaty already agreed is the only available one.

In the European parliament Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is speaking now.

There is a live feed here.

Barnier says last night’s Commons vote just prolongs and makes worst the deep uncertainty about Brexit.

Responsibility for the Brexit decision belongs solely with the UK, he says.

This is from the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

Boris Johnson tells LBC that MPs will be debating the “very good” Malthouse compromise amendment last night.

Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, is holding an LBC phone-in.

Nick Ferrari, the presenter, reads out a quote from Johnson saying it would be easy to negotiate new trade deals.

Johnson says he does not regret this. But only a handful of deals, to rollover the benefits of exiting EU trade deals, have been agreed, Ferrari says.

Johnson claims there is still time to get a better deal from the EU. He says the EU always agrees deals at the last moment. Or the horses change in the final furlong, as he puts it.

I covered a lot of EU summits, I have been to a lot of them in my time, I have seen how the EU works.

The horses always change places in the final furlong, it’s always at five minutes to midnight that the real deal is done.

In Brussels the real fix is always in at the end.

Rees-Mogg says the most likely thing now is the UK leaving on 29 March without a deal.

But he says people who want to delay Brexit, like Yvette Cooper and Dominic Grieve, want to stop it entirely.

And that’s it. His LBC interview is over.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, has called for parliament to reach a consensus deal on leaving the EU.

Speaking to the Today programme she called on the prime minister to give MPs a free vote on all of the options out of the current impasse. She said:

There are very very common areas between Labour’s position and the position that has been set out by a number of Tory MPs ... to having a customs union deal and a strong single market deal.

She also appeared to play down the option of a second referendum. Long-Bailey said:

We haven’t ruled out a people’s vote, but our priority is securing a deal, but we also stated that we would keep all options on the table to avoid a damaging Tory Brexit and a no-deal Brexit.

She added:

We need to move the prime minister’s red lines towards a deal that would secure a parliamentary majority. First we need to rule out no deal. Secondly we need to look at the extension of article 50 for a short period of time in order to give us the opportunity to renegotiate a deal.

I’m sure that there will be a number of amendments put forward in the next few days outlining the direction of travel that parliament should take, because it is clear that the prime minister is not capable at this time of trying to find that consensus.

Asked about another vote of no confidence in the government, Long-Bailey said:

Of course it is something that we may consider in the future, but our priority at the moment is looking at ruling out no deal, making sure that we get that extension and we use it wisely to renegotiate the deal going forward.

Tariffs will be slashed to zero on 87% of imports to the UK as part of a temporary no-deal plan to prevent a £9bn price shock to business and consumers, the government has announced today.

But tariffs will apply to certain goods including beef, lamb, pork, poultry and some dairy products to “support farmers and producers who have historically been protected through high EU tariffs”.

MPs will be voting later on Wednesday to reject a no-deal Brexit after a humiliating 149-vote defeat for Theresa May’s deal in the Commons on Tuesday.

The government described today’s announcement as a “modest liberalisation” of tariffs designed to minimise disruption to business and price shock in the supermarkets.

On the new tariff regime, Barclay told Today it was a “modest liberalisation” of trade.

“This is a modest liberalisation, it is a temporary measure, this is for a short term while we engage with business and see what the real-term consequences are,” he said.

The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll tweets the details of the new tariffs:

Steve Barclay (or ‘Steve Brexit’ as John Humphrys called him) is still promoting Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement despite the two crushing Commons defeats.

“The best way of getting Brexit delivered was the vote put before the House last night,” the Brexit secretary said.

Citing a point made by Ken Clarke, Barclay added: “Whatever deal you have you have to have the withdrawal agreement. The EU has been clear on that. And there is nothing in the withdrawal agreement that the Labour party in principle disagrees with.”

His comments suggest the government has not ruled out a third vote on the withdrawal agreement.

Alun Cairns, the Wales secretary, is making similar hints according to Sky News.

Angela Merkel has said that securing EU leaders’ agreement on a Brexit delay up until the end of June will be “easy”, according to senior diplomatic sources.

Attitudes in some of the EU’s capitals towards a possible extension of article 50 have recently hardened, with diplomats complaining that London had been “lazy” and taken a positive decision for granted.

But the German chancellor let it be known at the recent EU-Arab summit in Sharm el-Sheikh that Berlin will not stand in the way, sources have disclosed to the Guardian.

The Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, has been put up to face the media today.

He is asked on the Today programme how he’ll vote in the no deal vote. He dodges and says he’ll wait to see what the amendments are. But faced with a choice between no deal and no Brexit, Barclay says he’d favour no deal.

• Stephen Barclay says he would prefer no deal to no Brexit.

Britain will slash tariffs on a range of imports from outside the European Union if MPs vote to leave without a deal, PA reports.

But some products coming from the remaining 27 EU member states which are currently imported free of tariffs will now face levies for the first time.

Ministers said that, overall, the changes would represent a “modest liberalisation” of the UK’s tariff regime.

Under a unilateral temporary scheme announced by the government, 87% of all imports to the UK by value would be eligible for zero-tariff access - up from 80% at present - while many other goods will be subject to a lower rate than currently applied under EU rules.

In special arrangements for Northern Ireland, the UK’s temporary import tariffs will not apply to EU goods crossing the border from the Republic.

Here is the Guardian’s Rafael Behr on last night’s defeat.

And this is how his column starts.

There might still be ways that Brexit can go badly; unexplored dead ends and byways of failure. But the road to success is now closed. Parliament’s second verdict on Theresa May’s deal is slightly less crushing than the first one in January. But a defeat by 149 votes, just weeks before Britain is due to leave the EU, indicates not only the last evacuation of any authority from the prime minister but a profound crisis in the project that is the only purpose of her government. She had one job, and she cannot do it. Vital questions about the future will now be settled in a state between despondency and panic. There is no strategy, no guiding intelligence. A plan must be salvaged from the wreckage of a bad idea badly executed.

There was a moment, early today, when May thought she saw a way through. A path was briefly visible to the promised land of orderly Brexit. The prime minister had brought legal clarifications from Strasbourg to embellish her deal. But then the road was barred by Geoffrey Cox. The attorney general judged that the UK might still find itself in the notorious backstop – an EU customs union – with no unilateral means of dissolving the arrangement. Indefinite backstop is a deal-breaker for hardliners.

Cox’s judgment spread disappointment well beyond the circle of noisy Brexit ultras. There is a quieter tranche of MPs whose first preference is that Brexitjust be done with a minimum of trauma. Most aren’t that bothered about the detail. But May’s withdrawal agreement, the only existing mechanism to achieve their goal, is just too toxic after so much high-profile scorn.

Yesterday, writing in the Guardian, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd warned that expecting the Commonwealth to fill the trade gap left by the EU, was “utter delusion”.

Today, one of Australia’s top business leaders has cautioned that the trade uncertainty caused by Brexit is hurting its trade partners.

James Pearson, chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the 300,000 businesses it represents were “exposed quite heavily” to export and import markets and the UK was a “significant” trading partner. He said:

[MPs] need to resolve the issues as soon as practical so that we can get on with building and strengthening further the United Kingdom-Australia trade and investment relationship.

It’s got a long history, it’s a very strong and profitable one and a beneficial one for the people and businesses of both countries, so we are looking forward to doing that once this uncertainty is resolved.

The pound rose slightly overnight as traders took the Commons vote as a sign that Brexit is now more likely to be delayed. It is sitting at $1.309 and €1.16.

David de Garis, a director of economics and market at National Australia Bank, told Reuters that he expected today’s no-deal vote to go against the government as well as Thursday’s expected vote to extend the article 50 trigger. That would be “of some comfort to sterling”, he said.

But he added: “It’s still a fast moving environment, with political pressure at understandably extreme levels.”

This graph shows the biggest government defeats in House of Commons. Tuesday night’s comes in fourth; the largest remains Theresa May’s first defeat on her Brexit plan in January.

The interactive that allowed you to see how every MP voted on yesterday’s motion seems to have had a bit of a malfunction when embedded in the blog.

I’ve take it down, but if you’d like to search for your (or any) MP, you can do that here. And we will be updating the interactive with the results from all the Brexit votes this week. So, one to bookmark.

Hello early-rising politics-watchers, welcome to our rolling coverage of today’s politics news.

After yesterday’s thumping defeat of Theresa May’s Brexit deal – which was defeated by 149 votes in the Commons – MPs are preparing to vote on another significant Brexit motion today. This time they will vote on whether or not a no-deal Brexit is possible.

Donald Tusk warned that the outcome of last night’s vote made a no-deal Brexit more likely, saying: “On the EU side we have done all that is possible to reach an agreement ... With only 17 days left to 29 March, today’s vote has significantly increased the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.”

If MPs reject the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, they will vote on the possibility of delaying the UK’s exit from the European Union on Thursday.

Labour has said it will try to force the government to adopt its Brexit stance. After May was defeated, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a general election.

It’s going to be another big Brexit day, in another big Brexit week. We’re glad to have you along for the ride.

Get in touch via Twitter, in the comments, or via email – kate.lyons@theguardian.com – if you have questions, thoughts, or witticisms to share. I’ll be gently shepherding the blog along in the early hours before Andrew Sparrow takes over a little later.