UK MPs to debate amendments to Brexit deal before main vote
Commons speaker rejects motion that could have narrowed loss
May's plan looking set to suffer catastrophic defeat
UK MPs started their final day of debate on Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement, with four amendments selected for a vote that could redefine or defeat the deal.
There was some disquiet about the rejection of an amendment tabled by Conservative MP Andrew Murrison, which supported May's deal but changed it so the contentious Irish backstop would expire on December 31, 2021.
The government was sympathetic to Murrison's change, although it wasn't openly supporting it. Had it been accepted and passed it may have persuaded more MPs to support the final motion, make the likely defeat less severe, and give May some negotiating room with the EU.
Speaker John Bercow selected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's amendment, which rejects the agreement and a no-deal exit, because it fails to provide a permanent customs union and "strong single market deal".
A frontbench amendment jointly tabled by the SNP and Plaid Cymru opposes the deal on the basis it “would be damaging for Scotland, Wales and the nations and regions of the UK as a whole” and call on the government to extend Article 50.
Two backbench pro-Brexit amendments were also selected but would only be voted on if the first two are defeated.
The first, by the eurosceptic Tory MP Edward Leigh, wants to define the Irish backstop as a “temporary arrangement” and “calls on the government to terminate the withdrawal agreement by 2022 if no new relationship is agreed”.
The final amendment, tabled by fellow Conservative MP John Baron also looks at the backstop, calling on the government to terminate it without the EU's permission.
The amendments will be taken in order – Labour , SNP/Plaid Cymru, Leigh and Baron. If one is successful the full, amended motion will immediately be put to the vote without any subsequent amendments being considered, Bercow said.
Earlier in the day May told Cabinet ministers at their weekly meeting she would respond "quickly" to the result of the main vote, her spokesman said.