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| Brexit deal: May wins cabinet support but hints at ministers' reservations – Politics live | Brexit deal: May wins cabinet support but hints at ministers' reservations – Politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| And here is the second document out tonight - a seven-page outline of the political declaration on the framework for the future relationship (pdf). | |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the European Research Group, which represents Tory MPs pushing for a harder Brexit, must be a speed reader. He has just released the text of a letter he is sending to all Conservative MPs urging them to reject the draft Brexit deal. He gives four reasons why. | |
| First, he says it will involve giving the EU £39bn and getting “little or nothing in return”. | |
| Second, he says the agreement would treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK. | |
| Third, he says it would lock the UK into an EU customs union and EU laws. | |
| And, fourth he says that keeping the UK bound by the rules of the customs union would contradict what was in the 2017 Conservative manifesto and that this would be “profoundly undemocratic”. | |
| And here are the main points from May’s statement. | |
| May said the cabinet had taken the “difficult” decision to back the draft Brexit deal. | |
| She said the cabinet had taken a “collective decision” to back it. She did not say ministers supported it unanimously. | |
| She said the alternatives to the deal were a no deal Brexit, or not leaving the EU at all. This has been seized on by anti-Brexit campaigners as an acknowledgment that Brexit could be stopped. | |
| She described the deal as “the best that could be negotiated”. | |
| She said there would be “difficult days” ahead. She did not say for whom, but she implied for the government, and herself. | |
| She said she firmly believed, “with my head and my heart”, that the deal was in the national interest. | |
| Here is the text of the draft withdrawal agreement (pdf). It runs to 585 pages. | |
| Here is the full text of Theresa May’s statement. | |
| The cabinet has just had a long, detailed and impassioned debate on the draft withdrawl agreement and on the outline political declaration on our future relationship with the European Union. | |
| These documents were the result of thousands of hours of hard negotiation by UK officials and many, many meetings which I and other ministers held with our EU counterparts. | |
| I firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best that could be negotiated and it was for the cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks. | |
| The choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland backstop, but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration. | |
| This is a decisive step which enables us to move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead. | |
| These decisions were not taken lightly but I believe it is a decision that is firmly in the national interest. | |
| When you strip away the detail the choice before us is clear. This deal, which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings us back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security and our union, or leave with no deal, or no Brexit at all. | |
| I know that there will be difficult days ahead. This is a decision which will come under intense scrutiny, and that is entirely as it should be, and entirely understandable. | |
| But the choice was this deal, which enables us to take back control and build a brighter future for our country, or going back to square one, with more division, more uncertainty, and the failure to deliver on the referendum. | |
| It’s my job as prime minister to explain the decisions that the government has taken, and I stand ready to do that, beginning tomorrow with a statement in parliament. | |
| Let me end by just saying this; I believe that what I owe to this country is to take decisions that are in the national interest and I firmly believe, with my head and my heart, that this is a decision that is in the best interests of our entire United Kingdom. | |
| The text of the withdrawal agreement, and the outline political declaration on the future framework, will be published later this evening, we’ve been told. | The text of the withdrawal agreement, and the outline political declaration on the future framework, will be published later this evening, we’ve been told. |
| May says it is her job to explain decisions. | May says it is her job to explain decisions. |
| She will do that tomorrow in parliament. | She will do that tomorrow in parliament. |
| I firmly believe with my head and my heart that this is in the best interests of our entire United Kingdom. | I firmly believe with my head and my heart that this is in the best interests of our entire United Kingdom. |
| And that’s it. | And that’s it. |
| I will post the words soon. | I will post the words soon. |
| Theresa May is speaking now. | Theresa May is speaking now. |
| She says the cabinet had had a “long, detailed and impassioned debate”. | She says the cabinet had had a “long, detailed and impassioned debate”. |
| She says the draft withdrawal agreement was “the best that could be negotiated”. | She says the draft withdrawal agreement was “the best that could be negotiated”. |
| The collective agreement of cabinet was to agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline future framework, she says. | The collective agreement of cabinet was to agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline future framework, she says. |
| May confirms cabinet has agreed draft Brexit withdrawal agreement - but the decision was “not taken lightly”, she says. | May confirms cabinet has agreed draft Brexit withdrawal agreement - but the decision was “not taken lightly”, she says. |
| From the Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner | From the Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner |
| I am hearing that the Cabinet has agreed to Theresa May's proposed Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Statement from Prime Minister expected any minute now | I am hearing that the Cabinet has agreed to Theresa May's proposed Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Statement from Prime Minister expected any minute now |
| From the Times’ Sam Coates. | From the Times’ Sam Coates. |
| Gavin Barwell apparently seeing junior ministers in 10 minutes | Gavin Barwell apparently seeing junior ministers in 10 minutes |
| Gavin Barwell is Theresa May’s chief of staff. | Gavin Barwell is Theresa May’s chief of staff. |
| Theresa May is about to speak outside Number 10. | Theresa May is about to speak outside Number 10. |
| Statement from the PM 2 mins out pic.twitter.com/IjxcXAU7CM | Statement from the PM 2 mins out pic.twitter.com/IjxcXAU7CM |
| Cabinet is over, the BBC’s Katy Searle reports. | Cabinet is over, the BBC’s Katy Searle reports. |
| Cabinet is over. PM statement shortly. | Cabinet is over. PM statement shortly. |
| From the Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable | From the Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable |
| If Theresa May is still struggling to get this deal past her own cabinet in No. 10, how will it win support in Parliament or the country? There’s a sensible way out of this mess: go back to the country for a People’s Vote | If Theresa May is still struggling to get this deal past her own cabinet in No. 10, how will it win support in Parliament or the country? There’s a sensible way out of this mess: go back to the country for a People’s Vote |