Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Yvette Cooper’s Bill to prevent No Deal passes Commons by one vote MPs have voted to force the Prime Minister to request an extension of Article 50 after a series of knife-edge votes in the Commons. In an extraordinary day in Parliament, MPs considered all stages of a backbench bill tabled by Yvette Cooper, a Labour MP, in the space of an afternoon and evening. The passage of the legislation through both the Commons and the Lords, which usually takes months, is now likely to be concluded in a matter of days. Ms Cooper’s bill requires the Prime Minister to table a motion seeking MP’s approval for an extension of Article 50 to a date of her choosing. However the motion will be amendable, meaning that MPs can table amendments to change the length of the extension requested by the Prime Minister. MPs approved Ms Cooper’s bill at first reading by 312 votes to 311, a majority of just one. At second reading it passed with a majority of five by 315 to 310. At the final reading it passed again by just one vote with 313 for and 312 against. During the votes yesterday MPs delivered a first tie in a Commons vote since 1993 as a proposal to allow a third round of indicative votes on Brexit alternatives was rejected. – Telegraph (£) MP bid to delay Brexit again passes by one vote – and wrestles control of EU exit out of Theresa May’s hands – The Sun MPs opt by majority of 1 to seek delay to Brexit – FT (£) ERG’s Steve Baker urges peers to examine the Bill properly – Express > Today on BrexitCentral: Yvette Cooper’s Bill to demand an Article 50 extension passed by a majority of 1 – how every MP voted > WATCH: Highlights from the European Union Withdrawal Bill Debate Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn remain far apart on Brexit after over two hours of talks seeking a ‘national unity’ deal Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn remained far apart on Brexit last night after more than two hours of talks for a ‘national unity’ deal. The PM enraged Tory Brexiteers by inviting the Labour leader into her Commons office yesterday afternoon in a bid to thrash out a compromise plan that a majority of MPs could pass. The duo have just four days to come up with a softer Brexit agreeement, in a breakneck timetable ahead of an emergency EU summit next week. Both sides said the talks were “constructive”, and set up negotiating teams for technical talks all day today. But Mr Corbyn revealed afterwards that no progress had been made in bridging the jumbo gap between them, and neither would reveal their red lines to eachother. The Labour leader said: “There hasn’t been as much change as I expected. There was no deal offered. There was no deal offered by us either. We just discussed where we are at. She reiterated where she is at at the present time. So red lines in the future didn’t come up.” Mrs May’s national unity Brexit bid sparked a second day of Tory party turmoil, splitting in down the middle. – The Sun May and Corbyn kick off ‘constructive’ Brexit talks – FT (£) Brexiteer ministers Nigel Adams and Chris Heaton-Harris are the latest to quit the Government Theresa May was last night struggling to hold her Government together as two ministers quit in protest at her “national unity” Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn – with 15 more ready to go. The PM’s decision to compromise with Labour for a softer Brexit that will pass the Commons split the Conservative Party down the middle yesterday. While loyalists defended the plan – that also delays Brexit until at least to May 22 – as the only way to guarantee Britain does leave the EU, Leavers accused her of bitter betrayal. The Sun has been told that 15 Brexiteer ministers are “on the edge” of also walking out – 10 junior ministers, five in the Cabinet. One of those ministers said: “Many, many colleagues in government are just seething and a lot of us are on the edge now – some over a customs union, others over European Parliament elections. What’s for sure is if she asks for a long extension next week it will mean mass resignations.” International Trade Secretary Liam Fox signalled last night he is one ready to quit if Mrs May watered down her red lines, telling MPs he is prepared to dump “none” of the party’s manifesto promises. – The Sun Tory Party ‘at war’ after May’s Brexit betrayal Blue-on-blue infighting spilled out of Westminster and into the Tory shires on Wednesday as calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation intensified following her bombshell Brexit u-turn. Having been expected to back no deal following Tuesday’s marathon seven hour cabinet meeting, Theresa May incurred the wrath of her MPs and Tory voters by opting instead to extend Article 50 while seeking a customs union compromise with Jeremy Corbyn. Within minutes of making the 6pm statement from Downing Street, Conservative MPs reacted with incredulity, flooding the party’s various WhatsApp groups with expletive-ridden vitriol as a full-scale Tory rebellion was mounted. One MP said the PM had “gone mad and needs sectioning”. Another implored: “How the hell do we get her to resign?” Summing up the mood, one MP posted a picture of the Tories’ famous “Coalition of Chaos” poster, with the nostalgic caption: “The good old days”. Having once mocked Corbyn, now the Conservatives appeared to be getting into bed with him. – Telegraph (£) MPs launch angry revolt over leaders’ Brexit talks – The Times (£) > Rebecca Ryan on BrexitCentral today: Grassroots Tory Brexiteers are seething at Theresa May’s subcontracting Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn Every region of England and Wales happy to leave the EU without a deal (except London) Every English and Welsh region outside the M25 is happy to leave the European Union without a deal if no agreement can be reached by the end of next week. The study by YouGov asked voters “if Britain has not agreed a deal by April 12th, what do you think should happen?”. The research found that only people living in London did not want to leave without a deal. In London 48 per cent of voters agreed that “Britain should withdraw our application to leave and remain in the EU” against 26pc who backed leaving without a deal. The picture was reversed outside London however. In the rest of the South of England 44pc were in favour of no-deal against 34pc who wanted to revoke the decision to leave. In the Midlands and Wales the proportion in favour of no-deal was 46pc – 31pc, and 41pc – 34pc in the North of England. The proportions mirrored London in Scotland with just 28pc in favour of no-deal against 47pc who wanted to stay in the EU. The research also found that the overwhelming majority of Conservative voters – 72 pc – wanted to leave without a deal, against 15pc who said Article 50 should be revoked. – Telegraph (£) Brits living outside the M25 are happier to leave the EU with No Deal, poll shows – The Sun Jean-Claude Juncker attacks no-deal Brexit supporters and urges MPs to ratify withdrawal agreement Jean-Claude Juncker has attacked supporters of a no deal Brexit and warned British MPs they must ratify Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement by next Friday to avoid a long delay to Britain leaving the EU. The president of the European Commission said that no deal on April 12 was “now a very likely scenario”. He warned there was no such thing as a “managed no deal” and that the EU would insist Britain paid the £39 billion Brexit bill and guarantee no hard Irish border even if the UK crashed out. “The only ones who will benefit from a no deal are those that are against a world order based on rules,” he said in European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, “The only ones that will be strengthened will be the populists and the nationalists. The only ones who will be delighted will be those who wish to weaken the EU and of course the UK,” Mr Juncker said. On Wednesday night Mrs May said she would work with Jeremy Corbyn to try and find a majority to pass the Brexit deal and that she would ask EU-27 leaders for a long extension at an April 10 summit, just two days before the no deal deadline. The extension, which would mean Britain taking part in European Parliament elections, would have with a cut-off date of May 22 if the withdrawal agreement was passed. – Telegraph (£) Philip Hammond says ‘confirmatory referendum’ deserves to be tested in Parliament Philip Hammond has said there is a “perfectly credible” case for giving the British people a Final Say on Brexit. The chancellor suggested although he was unsure there was currently a majority in parliament to allow for a second public vote to be facilitated, it “deserved to be tested”. Asked on ITV’s Peston programme about negotiations between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock in Parliament, Mr Hammond refused to be drawn on details of the talks. However, he said it was common knowledge a fresh referendum had been “one of the issues that has been debated.” He added: “It’s a perfectly credible proposition, some ideas have been put forward that are not deliverable, they’re not negotiable. But the confirmatory referendum idea, a lot of people will disagree with it, I’m not sure there’s a majority in parliament for it, but it’s a perfectly credible proposition and it deserves to be tested in parliament.” – Independent ‘Credible case’ for referendum on Brexit deal, says Chancellor Philip Hammond – ITV News Jeremy Corbyn faces Shadow Cabinet backlash after resisting calls to push for second Brexit referendum Jeremy Corbyn is facing a backlash from his shadow cabinet after resisting calls to demand a second referendum during his talks with Theresa May. The Labour leader was told by Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, and Tom Watson, the party’s Deputy Leader, that any deal agreed must be subject “confirmatory” public vote. However Mr Corbyn said that he will only pursue a second referendum to “prevent crashing out” or “prevent leaving without a deal”. Both Labour and Downing Street described the talks as “constructive” and will continue with further technical talks today. The two sides are expected to attempt to reach a deal on plans for a Customs Union with the EU after Brexit, previously a central Labour policy but a red line for Mrs May. Oliver Robbins, the Prime Minister’s chief Brexit negotiator, was also in attendance. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Corbyn said: “I said this is the policy of our party, that we would want to pursue the option of a public vote to prevent crashing out or to prevent leaving with a bad deal. – Telegraph (£) Senior Shadow Cabinet ministers launch revolt to force second referendum as price for backing ‘unity Brexit’ – The Sun Emily Thornberry tells Labour MPs: “Any deal must be subject to a public vote” – New Statesman DUP anger after May cosies up to Corbyn in bid to get Brexit deal passed Mrs May said she would seek an extension beyond the current April 12 date to allow talks with Mr Corbyn aimed at ensuring the UK leaves the European Union “in a timely and orderly way”. She said the offer to Labour was an attempt to “break the logjam” after MPs rejected her withdrawal agreement three times and failed to back any of the alternative proposals considered so far. Mr Corbyn said he would be “very happy” to meet the Prime Minister in a bid to offer “certainty and security” to the British people. Should Mrs May find common ground with Mr Corbyn, it could remove the DUP’s ability to affect the outcome of key Brexit votes and reduce its influence in Parliament. In a furious statement the party said: “The Prime Minister’s lamentable handling of the negotiations with the EU means she has failed to deliver a sensible Brexit deal that works for all parts of the United Kingdom.”That is why she has not been able to get it through Parliament. “Her announcement therefore tonight comes as little surprise.Though it remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily. “We want the result of the referendum respected, and just as we joined the Common Market as one country we must leave the EU as one country. – Belfast Telegraph Nicola Sturgeon warns Corbyn against striking ‘tawdry’ Brexit deal with May… Nicola Sturgeon has lobbied Jeremy Corbyn not strike a “tawdry” Brexit deal with Theresa May amid anger from Scottish Tory MPs about the Prime Minister’s new strategy. Speaking following meetings with both the Labour leader and the Prime Minister, Ms Sturgeon said she thought Mr Corbyn “understood the risks” of a deal and would “drive a hard bargain.” But she said she hope Labour did not “sell out” for a bad Brexit compromise and warned him that he risked “becoming the handmaiden of a Tory Brexit.” Ms Sturgeon emphasised during her London discussions with Mr Corbyn that any deal should be the subject of a second referendum, with Remain also on the ballot paper. Nicola Sturgeon has lobbied Jeremy Corbyn not strike a “tawdry” Brexit deal with Theresa May amid anger from Scottish Tory MPs about the Prime Minister’s new strategy. Speaking following meetings with both the Labour leader and the Prime Minister, Ms Sturgeon said she thought Mr Corbyn “understood the risks” of a deal and would “drive a hard bargain.” But she said she hope Labour did not “sell out” for a bad Brexit compromise and warned him that he risked “becoming the handmaiden of a Tory Brexit.” – Telegraph (£) …and tells him to secure a second referendum Nicola Sturgeon yesterday demanded that Jeremy Corbyn secure a second EU referendum on any Brexit deal he negotiates with the British government as tensions thawed between Labour and the SNP at Westminster. The first minister said she held “positive” talks with Mr Corbyn, with whom she had an online spat last week, and speculated that Theresa May was underestimating the leader of the opposition as Brexit negotiations take place. Ms Sturgeon, who also met Mrs May at Downing Street yesterday, said that the prime minister had “not been particularly open about where her red lines might be removed” and warned Labour against “selling out” in the rush to secure a deal. “In my view it is absolutely essential that a second referendum is part of what Labour seeks to discuss and to do that on a timescale that allows the House of Commons to look carefully at a compromise and then put that to the people,” she said. However, the SNP leader would not bend her own Brexit demands as she ruled out backing any deal that agreed to a customs union without single market membership. – The Times (£) Ireland and Germany to hold crunch Brexit talks in attempt to thwart No Deal Crunch Brexit talks between Irish leader Leo Varadkar and Germany’s Angela Merkel are set to be held today in what is being seen as an attempt to thwart a no deal Brexit. The German premier will visit Farmleigh House, Dublin, where meetings will discuss the latest Brexit developments before next week’s special European Council talks. People from Northern Ireland are also scheduled to voice their opinions on the current plan for the border area after the UK leaves the EU. A spokesman from the Irish government said: “Ahead of their formal meeting, the Taoiseach and Chancellor will participate in a round-table discussion with people from Northern Ireland and the border area, who will share their personal experience and perspectives on the impact any return to a hard border would have on border communities and businesses. “These are people for whom the border is a very real issue – people from communities along the border, from business, and with direct personal experience of conflict before the Good Friday Agreement. It is important to hear their voices as we work together to deal with the challenges that Brexit presents.” He added that the German Chancellor was a “strong and unwavering ally of Ireland”. – Express Riot police reportedly on alert for no-deal Brexit chaos More than 10,000 riot police are on standby in case of disorder and looting following a no-deal Brexit. Officers will abandon lower priority work to quell any unrest and plans are in place to protect ports and infrastructure, Charlie Hall, Hertfordshire chief constable and a National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman, said yesterday. Mr Hall said that businesses stockpiling goods in case of shortages of fuel, medicine and food would be expected to have proper security. Dog handlers, armed police, search-trained officers and other specialists could be called upon if needed, Mr Hall said, but he added that there was no intelligence to suggest a risk of rioting or large-scale theft. More than 1,000 officers have had extra training so that they can be deployed to Northern Ireland if needed. They have been trained to use armoured Land Rovers and water cannon, which are not used on the mainland. The number of crimes linked to Brexit, although small, has more than doubled in a fortnight, with 26 last week and 11 the week before. About half were malicious communications, while the remainder included verbal abuse, harassment and protest activity. – The Times (£) Gisela Stuart: Remainers were in charge of Brexit from the start – don’t let them water it down any further “Why do you spend so much time talking? Why don’t you just make decisions?” was a question put to me by an 11-year-old pupil from a local school on their visit to parliament when I was still an MP. At the time I explained that the democratic process is as much about seeking consensus across the divides as it is about walking in the Aye or the No lobby and making a decision. I should have added that, while the talking is very important, at some stage a decision has to be made. For that to happen, divisions need to be healed and compromises have to be found. The Prime Minister’s deal is not what I had hoped for, and to support it, which I do, has involved a substantial compromise both for me and for many on the Leave side. It does not in my view deliver in full on the referendum, but it is the only deal we have. But Parliament has rejected the deal. Three-quarters of MPs voted to Remain. They gave the decision on EU membership to the people, but now face voting for something they don’t believe in and didn’t want. Many Remain MPs feel that in doing so they are making a compromise. – Gisela Stuart for the Telegraph (£) Nigel Adams: I had no choice but to resign, we are now entrusting the final stages of this negotiation to Jeremy Corbyn When I was eight years old, my parents received a letter from Michael Alison, the late former MP for Selby. My parents had been refused a grant for central heating by the local council but Mr Alison’s intervention overturned that decision and our MP ensured that winters would no longer be chilly in the Adams household. My dad still treasures the letter on House of Commons notepaper. At the time, this son of a school caretaker and home help never imagined he’d end up on the green benches, representing his home seat, but when I am asked why I became an MP it is this letter that I reflect on. For me, Members of Parliament have a job that is simultaneously a huge responsibility and an immense privilege. That responsibility is to help our constituents with issues that make a difference in their everyday lives, and it is a responsibility I am conscious of every day. Six years after I was first elected, Britain went to the polls to make what we were told would be a ‘once in a lifetime’ decision. On 24 June, 2016, the country awoke to the news that the decision had been made to leave the EU. In my constituency of Selby and Ainsty in North Yorkshire, this decision was made with particular clarity, with a percentage vote to leave greater than both the Yorkshire wide and national percentages. – Nigel Adams MP for the Telegraph (£) Nick Timothy: Labour have no reason to rescue May – they can relax and watch the Tories implode Since erasing her Brexit red lines, Theresa May has struggled to avoid the fate of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth century prime minister who split the Tories and consigned them to opposition for three decades. But the offer she made to Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday – to decide the terms of Brexit together – risks blowing the Conservatives to smithereens. Despite the anger Mrs May’s statement caused among Conservative MPs, the talks are unlikely to amount to much. Corbyn will not facilitate a so-called Tory Brexit. He wants to avoid responsibility for any kind of Brexit. He deliberately faces both ways on Britain’s departure from the European Union, while watching the Tories tear themselves apart. As a Eurosceptic who leads a party dominated by Remainers representing a mix of Leave and Remain constituencies, his policy of obfuscation has been a cynical success. – Nick Timothy for the Telegraph (£) Michael Fabricant: I am a party loyalist, but I can no longer support our reckless PM and this watered-down Brexit Theresa May’s response to Brexit has resulted in falling opinion polls, a drop in donations to the Tory Party, and collapsing membership. I am über loyal to Conservative Prime Ministers. I have been über loyal to Theresa May. But no longer. I have become exasperated with this decent, kind, hardworking, but stubborn Prime Minister who is cursed with a political tin ear. On Tuesday, the Cabinet met for a tortuous 7 hour session. As they entered No 10, their phones were confiscated and put in the little pigeon holes to the left of the door. During the course of the meeting, 14 Cabinet members argued hard to Leave on April 12th, without a Deal but cushioned by legislation already in place on both sides of the English Channel. Only 10 agreed to negotiations with Jeremy Corbyn. Yet they are the ones who prevailed. “This is not Cabinet Government as I have ever known it” one exasperated senior Cabinet minister told me. In agreeing to meet Jeremy Corbyn – this self-confessed Marxist and apologist for the IRA, Hezbollah and Hamas – she increases the risk of propelling a hard Left-Scottish Nationalist coalition into Government. Not only would this destroy our nation’s economy, it could lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom. – Michael Fabricant MP for the Telegraph (£) Rory Stewart: Corbyn is wrong about almost everything – but we can find common ground with him on Brexit A Brexit deal is not just a deal for this month, or this government – it is the foundation for the next 30 years of Britain’s relationship with the world. So it must be a stable and enduring Brexit. Reaching out to other parties on this issue was difficult and controversial. But it was right. It was necessary to deliver a Brexit deal, and avoid the problems of No Deal. But it was also necessary strategically to heal divisions, and provide investors and international partners with the certainty that the deal can be sustained through the changes of government and party over decades ahead. The alternative – a No Deal Brexit next week – would not have been a destination, but a failure to reach a destination. There is no transition under No Deal. We would have crashed out with the Irish border issues, our payments to the EU, and citizens’ rights unresolved – and our entire web of relationships with the EU severed. Almost all our current agreements with the 70 nations with which the EU has free trade agreements (including Japan and Canada) would have ceased to operate and we would have been forced to revert to the basic ‘schedules’ of the World Trade Organisation – by definition the highest tariff rates possible for any goods in any country. We would have dropped into the margins of the world’s trading system. – Rory Stewart MP for ConservativeHome Ruth Lea: Of course staying in the Customs Union would scupper an independent trade policy Somewhat bizarrely, there now seem to be voices claiming that an independent trade policy and a “soft” Brexit, involving Customs Union membership and possibly Single Market membership too, are compatible. To suggest otherwise, so goes the argument, is an urban myth invented by Brexiteers as a curious diversion. Suffice to say, these voices are sadly misinformed or, if not misinformed, dishonest. There is little doubt that continued membership of the Customs Union, with or without the Single Market, would all but scupper our ability to strike our own trade deals. As all customs unions, the EU’s Customs Union has no internal tariffs but has a Common External Tariff (CET), or Common Customs Tariff (CCT), on imports of goods from third countries. It is materially different from a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in which members have no internal tariffs but, crucially, maintain their own tariffs with third countries. The EU’s Trade Commissioner negotiates all trade deals for EU members, covering quotas and regulatory matters for example as well as tariffs, having a seat in the WTO on behalf of all the members. This is not the case with FTAs. Canada has an FTA with the EU but the EU most certainly does not determine Canada’s trade policy. – Ruth Lea for the Telegraph (£) John Lichfield: Could Macron knock Britain out of the EU next week? Brexit has been blocked by the most head-banging of Brexiteers. Leavers are now hoping for a sweet paradox of their own. They are looking to President Emmanuel Macron, a remainer super-hero, to boot Britain out of the European Union next week. Recent remarks made by the French president suggested that he might summon the spirit of Charles de Gaulle (vintage 1963 and 1967) and veto – come what May – extended British membership of the EU at the Brussels summit on 10 April. Will he? Before a meeting with Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar, on the steps of the Élysée Palace on Tuesday, Macron blew hot and cold. “Should the United Kingdom be unable … to propose a solution backed by a majority, they will de facto have chosen themselves to leave without a deal,” he said. “We cannot avoid failure for them.” Le Brexit dur, then? No, not really. Macron went on to say that “credible justifications” for an article 50 extension did exist. They might include an election, another referendum or softer proposals for Britain’s future relationship with the EU. He and other EU leaders would be “open” to clear ideas if Theresa May would only put them forward at the emergency summit in Brussels next Wednesday. – John Lichfield for the Guardian The Sun: If the Europhile establishment want a second referendum, let’s give them one: No Deal vs the PM’s Deal The Tories are already at war. If Theresa May even hints at buckling over a second referendum, it’s game over for her party. But Jeremy Corbyn is now under massive pressure to demand just that of the Prime Minister as they seek common ground today on Brexit. Senior Labour Remainers, including Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, insist he must. So do the unions. Corbyn is resisting, knowing what damage it would do him in Leave seats. That surely can’t last — Labour is openly a Remain party now. Its members and many of its voters are desperate to stop Brexit at any cost. But this is one red line Mrs May can NEVER cross. Negotiating a permanent customs union will be bad enough. A new referendum, backed by the Government, would tell 17.4million Leavers the Tories are annulling their victory. That all the promises about respecting it were lies. That to get Brexit they must beat the europhile establishment twice, while Remainers need only win once. Tory poll ratings are already in freefall. A second referendum would blow the party apart for ever. Unless, that is, Remain was not on the ballot — as it has no right to be. – The Sun says Brexit in Brief May-Corbyn customs union is constitutional nonsense and a total victory for Brussels – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Telegraph (£) Treacherous Theresa May has surrendered our freedom… and her honour – Quentin Letts for The Sun Steve Baker: “I’m never tasting surrender again” – Patrick Maguire interviews Baker for The New Statesman As Labour MPs who support Jeremy Corbyn, we urge him to make a referendum his bottom line in talks with Theresa May – Clive Lewis MP for the Independent An evenly split Commons – John Redwood’s Diary Politicians and campaigners should avoid language that could incite disorder over Brexit, says police chief – Telegraph (£) Macron’s Brexit anger: ‘English stopped us from building United States of Europe’ – Express