vocal that might satisfy the very vocal here in the house of commons. theresa may has got a lot on her plate and there is a lot of confusion out in the country. now it is time for a brexit special. march, or will we be asked to think again? will we leave with a deal or with no deal? and either way, can theresa may survive? we were told again and again that the commons would vote on the prime minister's brexit deal tomorrow. we were told the only choice was between her deal and no deal or no brexit. welcome to westminster on a night when theresa may is still in office but not really in power, on a night when this country seems as far as ever from deciding what our future relationship with europe will be. on a night she had to pull that vote or face a humiliating

and probably fatal defeat. it is clear that while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal... shouting on one issue... on one issue, the northern ireland backstop, there remains widespread and deep concern. as a result, if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. speaker: order! we will, therefore, defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the house at this time. the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray. members call out "hear, hear" its been evident for weeks that the it's been evident for weeks that the prime minister's deal did not have the confidence of this house. yet she ploughed on regardless, reiterating, "this is the only deal available. " so, what next for brexit — will it ever happen or could it be reversed? if it does happen will we leave with or without a deal?

that's what we'll explore in this special programme, starting with theresa may's cabinet ally the work and pensions secretary amber rudd. here, too, the shadow business secretary, labour's rebecca long bailey. jeremy corbyn's alli. good evening to you both. good evening. amber rudd, less than 12 hours since people woke up this morning and turned on the radio or television and were told by your cabinet collea g u es and were told by your cabinet colleagues there will be ideal tomorrow, 100%, one of your collea g u es tomorrow, 100%, one of your colleagues said, what happened? there was an expectation this morning it would go ahead but the nature of the type of votes we have, the type of parliament we have come is that the executive can always reconsider that if it's allowed within the rules and clearly as the prime minister said, she took a look at it and the number of votes and decided to go back to brussels to see if she could accommodate people's concerns over the backstop. is she trying to save her deal or save her skin? this is all about trying to get the right deal for the country and trying to get that

through the house of commons. there isa through the house of commons. there is a majority in the house of commons for leaving the european union. there is a majority in the house of commons for stopping no deal. but at the moment we are struggling to find a majority for the deal that the prime minister has negotiated. you say that she is going back to brussels, you say she wa nts to going back to brussels, you say she wants to find a deal that can get the agreement of mps, yet europe could not be clearer. the president of the european council said tonight, there will be no renegotiation. it's not possible you can have a word here or a word there but the deal is the deal is the deal. actually, he has said a bit more than that, he has said he will try to help the prime minister to get this deal through parliament and look specifically at the backstop. certainly, he said he is not reopening the 585 pages and nor do we expect him to do that because we don't want to start negotiating on fishing in gibraltar and those matters. let's remind ourselves, the backstop is the arrangement designed to avoid a hardboard in northern ireland and only comes into

operation, you have always said, if there is another trade deal with the eu. your real critics in the tory party say scrap it altogether, don't have a backstop. let's be clear tonight, the prime minister is committed to keeping the backstop, shejust committed to keeping the backstop, she just wants a few words to make it feel better. she is committed to keeping the backstop but we have set and the eu have said that the intention of the backstop is that if we get into it it is temporary and within article 50 it is temporary. what she is trying to get now is reassurance for the people who are concerned that it is not temporary, and if you can work with the eu to provide that information, hopefully they can support the withdrawal agreement. so a bit of paper she can wave around and say on this paper it is temporary, i told you so?” wave around and say on this paper it is temporary, i told you so? i don't know what nature it will take, whether it will be an addendum to the withdrawal agreement, or a letter, but she needs to find the right balance to get a reassurance for my colleagues who are concerned about it without opening up the agreement. how soon will mps finally get the vote they were promised for tomorrow? she described it as

deferred so it will be coming. days or weeks? i don't know the answer to that. after christmas? it has to be by january the 21st because that is in the withdrawal act. not tomorrow and not next week but some time afterwards ? and not next week but some time afterwards? some time afterwards. is there anything the prime minister can do when she goes to brussels that will convince the labour leadership to back a version of her deal? the prime minister has known for over two weeks there have been concerns for over two weeks there have been concerns from all corners of parliament about the terms of the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration that was attached to it. she has not sought to address those concerns and at the 11th hour when we have told all of our constituents and every single memberof our constituents and every single member of parliament stated clearly there will be a vote on tuesday and we will get to vote on theresa may's deal and then we will let you know what happens next, it has been pulled, the rug has been pulled from underneath them and quite rightly mps were angry and our constituents will be angry because there is a huge question over what happens next. you are the opposition and are

entitled to mock a government in a mess and it is your duty to mock the government in a mess, but the question remains, are there any circumstances in which you, the labour leadership, might vote for the deal which according to the eu is the only deal possible? what we have stated for a very long time is that theresa may needs to find a deal around which parliament can coalesce. of course, there will be compromises and we stated clearly what we want to see. the answer is no? no circumstances? we have stated our red lines, permanent customs union with britain to have a right to negotiate a future trade deal, we wanted to have a strong single market agreement and a floor under existing rights and protections, not just that but i guarantee we would go beyond that. a whole series of things that the eu have made clear they are not about to find they have said this is the deal but we might give some clarification. let's be clear, you are willing, are you, the labour leadership to vote with the likes of boris johnson labour leadership to vote with the likes of borisjohnson and jacob

rees—mogg, to vote with the dup, because you want an election and to embarrass the tory government? that's not the case, the deal we have on the table will leave britain poorer and the government's treasury analysis showed gdp will shrink by 3.9% and that wasn't even an analysis of theresa may's deal, that was an analysis of the chequers deal, this deal is even worse. is there any conceivable deal, deal between now and then that you could vote for? that is what we have been pushing for. theresa may used a very careful turn of phrase. she gave the impression today that she was going to go to brussels and renegotiate one key part of the withdrawal agreement, the backstop. but when pressed on whether she would amend the legal wording within the text, she simply said she was going to seek assurances. that didn't give any confidence she was seeking to renegotiate anything within the withdrawal agreement. it is notjust the backstop that is an issue, there isa numberof the backstop that is an issue, there is a number of provisions that labour take significant concerns over. amber rudd, if you had had the

vote tomorrow you wouldn't have lost by ten, 20 or 30 votes, people think you would have lost by 100 and some people think 200, isn't it true that the deal and all of it is dead and so is theresa may's premiership?” disagree with that i'm listening to rebecca, it is clear labour's leadership will not support any deal that comes back. that is not true! that really isn't true. these are impossible things to achieve. we have been clear from the outset. saying you are going to be clear doesn't make it clear, they have these six tests that cannot come together. you have not listened to anyone in parliament over the last two weeks. various members of parliament have set out what their concerns are from all political parties and at the 11th hour when we would have had a few days of debate for parliamentarians to step forward , for parliamentarians to step forward, and put forth their arguments about certain provisions within the withdrawal agreement, we have been denied the opportunity so theresa may doesn't even know what parliament's theresa may doesn't even know what pa rliament's concerns theresa may doesn't even know what parliament's concerns are so how can she renegotiate a deal that

satisfies everyone? there are different groups in parliament including the labour front bench that have different concerns about different things. the only chance we have of getting a withdrawal agreement, or something similar through, as if everybody compromises and as long as everybody doesn't compromise it will be difficult. one final question, you both backed remain, you are from opposite parties, are you slightly ashamed at the spectacle of the british parliament in the state is currently in? you will not do a deal that the majority of your own mps will support, you won't do a deal with the government because you are more interested in getting labour into power? that is not true at all. i do think it is shaming. it is shambolic, the actions of the government. it is not shambolic, to shaming that with all the best will in the world we are trying to arrive ata in the world we are trying to arrive at a deal and cannot find a compromise agreement to get it through. that is why theresa may is right to try and get those changes to get it through. brief last word, might labour offer a second referendum? what we have said clearly as we want to get a deal that puts jobs and the

clearly as we want to get a deal that putsjobs and the economy first. is that yes or no? i want to set out our position. maybe is the answer. rebecca long—bailey and amber rudd, thank you. with me is the bbc‘s political editor laura kuenssberg. and joining us from brussels, our europe editor, katya adler. it is clear, laura, why the prime minister scrapped the vote tomorrow. is it at all clear what she thinks she can get that might make a difference and win a future vote?” think it's clear from senior members of the government what they think they might be able to get which is some form of clarification, some form of verbal or political gymnastics around the deal, some kind of goodwill from the rest of the european union in terms of helping her try and sell that deal in the uk. it is not clear whether or not that will make a jot of difference. and from tonight, where i sit, it seems pretty unlikely those people on all sides are so dug m, those people on all sides are so dug in, are likely to climb back out of the trenches and actually follow

theresa may when she brings this back. katya adler in brussels, day after day you have told us that the eu wants a deal and wants to help if it possibly can. can you see anything that they can say or do that will make a difference? well, you see, nick, the eu is also dug in to an extent and it is dug into its withdrawal agreement, the one it spent 19 months negotiating with uk negotiators. what we heard tonight was from donald tusk. he is the president of the european council, that's the representation in brussels of all 27 eu countries and he said there will be no renegotiation. what the eu will do is look at how to facilitate theresa may, how to help her get their negotiated brexit deal through parliament. to that end he has called a special brexit summit this week on thursday inviting eu leaders to come here and talk about what they can offer the prime minister and to listen to what the prime list of needs from them. as laura said, though, in reality we are looking at

clarifications, we are looking at reassurances from the eu side, for example, over the much contested irish backstop. but what we cannot expect, nick, is forthe eu to irish backstop. but what we cannot expect, nick, is for the eu to do something in favour of a departing member states, the something in favour of a departing memberstates, the uk, something in favour of a departing member states, the uk, that would damage an existing member country, and that is ireland and that it simply cannot afford to do that and it will not do that. so, laura, in theory, we will know everything the prime minister has got to tell us in a couple of days' time from that summit. in truth, if she brought the vote back in a couple of days' time she would lose, and very clear as we heard from amber rudd a moment to go this is coming after christmas. what would change? it is not clear at all anything will change. maybe a new year's day walk on the beach will clear some minds, blow away some cobwebs. but i think this is exactly the problem. just because theresa may has deferred a humiliating, embarrassing defeat tomorrow, that does not mean she can actually pack away these issues. nothing that's

difficult has disappeared from the moment of delay today. briefly, we will hear from critics jacob rees—mogg and took at the moon. is there anything they can do to force a vote, or to force her out? not right now because on both sides we have had labour could look to cobble together a vote of no—confidence in the government but they are not ready to do that now. on the other side, as we know, jacob rees—mogg i'm sure you will ask this question, he and his supporters thought a few weeks ago they had enough support to try and force her out and they were not good at counting the numbers either actually. so, let us see, at this moment there does not seem to be anybody around westminster tonight willing to force a conclusion. laura kuenssberg and katya adler in brussels, thank you for joining katya adler in brussels, thank you forjoining us. more from you both on tonight's bbc news at ten. a chaotic mess or a hugely complicated negotiation which was always going to take time and patience? the twists and turns of brexit have engaged some, bored and appalled many and further deepened divisions across the country.

nina warhurst has been to liverpool to hear the people's verdict. they are never short of a word in liverpool. they all seem to just be bickering like a bunch of children, aren't they? theyjust need to sit down, work out what they want to do, and get on with it. no gain without any pain. and whatever way we're going to do it it's going to be painful. liverpool is a proud place with a solid sense of self, one which also sees itself as progressive and outward looking. come on, one, two, three, four, five, six. my first stop, the rotunda boxing club where i meetjodie, a law student from northern ireland who now calls liverpool home. i would like there to be another referendum. i don't think we should leave the eu. people will say, you wanted in, the majority wanted out, you can'tjust keep on having votes until you get what you want. a referendum, at the end of the day, is democratic so i don't think having another one would be undemocratic. but ged says the first decision was the right one and that all good boxers will tell you,

patience is key. it's got to be well thought out and well—planned. and you're ok if that means brexit taking a very, very long time? yeah, iam ok, because the after—effects of it are going to last a long time, aren't they, good or bad. so it's got to be the right decision now. it's a short drive from geoff's place out towards the wholesalers. 90% of geoff's flowers bloomed in holland destined for a life in liverpool. i think they should back her. i want her to carry on and she remains in power and hopefully the country will realise she's doing a good job. to help the country they need to find a new direction away from europe and it'll take some time. it will take years, probably. you seem like a very patient man, geoff. i am a patient man. right next door but a world away on brexit is ben. 60% of his stock comes from europe but he isn't afraid of rejecting a deal that he sees as a lose lose.

apart from itjust ties us into europe for the foreseeable, it's completely and utterly crackers. it's ludicrous. it limits all the trade with the rest of the world. we'd be far better off going out of europe on a no deal. no deal? yeah, no—deal principle, and going back to world trade organisation rules. onto a visit to father christmas. plenty of good cheer. just not for westminster. i don't understand parliament, or what have you. there's no plan b, so where is our country, where's our children? she's got a really tough job on her hands, though. give her a break! i've got a toughjob on my hands with seven children, so i need a break as well. but my kids need a break and i think my kids need a future and i don't think, if she hasn't got a plan b, then my kids haven't got a future. i don't think they've got a future with plan a either. liverpool's nightlife is legendary.

in the city that gave us the world's biggest band, there's now a thriving night economy that is boosted by migrant labour. it's hard enough at the moment actually for a start. but i can't imagine what it would be like if we had to go through visas and paperwork for people thatjust want to come over and work because casual labour is really, really important. i would choose a no deal, or fingers crossed, that the vote goes back to the people, or even better, the whole thing's just cancelled altogether and we can alljust move on. what about the 52% who voted to leave? don't their opinions matter? i think it's very important that we think very carefully about what we're going to do because we're going to have to be tied into this mess for years and years to come. the divisions in parliament mirror those we've just heard from the people watching their debates and divisions. opposing theresa may's deal and backing another referendum are westminster‘s smaller parties, the snp, liberal democrats, the greens and plaid cymru.

we don't believe that brexit is a price worth paying. scotland voted to stay in, we know that people in scotland and indeed right throughout the united kingdom are going to be poorer, people are going to lose theirjobs, and on the basis of the information that they now have, people should be asked the question again. simply in the knowledge that it is going to do economic harm, this isjumping off the cliff edge, it's a price simply that's not worth paying. we know today that the uk can revoke article 50, i'm calling on the prime minister to do exactly that, put this back to the people and let's have an intelligent debate about the benefits of staying in the european union. i believe that's best for the people in scotland and it's best for people in the united kingdom. well, she should stop kicking the can down the road, put it to parliament, almost certainly the deal's dead, and then go straight to the public — do you want to accept this deal or would you rather stay within the european union? and come what may, will you liberal democrats vote against this deal? no, we will vote against this deal, it's fundamentally unsatisfactory, she herself has said it can't be significantly improved. the greens and plaid are also against the deal

and also want another referendum. joining forces with many tory mps who are opposed to the prime minister's deal and think she should threaten to leave the eu with no deal are the dup. i asked their westminster leader, nigel dodds, what his party wanted theresa may to deliver. this was a uk—wide referendum, the people in london didn't vote to leave, the people in scotland but nobody's proposing that there should be separate, distinct arrangements for those areas and those countries. only northern ireland is going to be carved off and hived off under this arrangement, that's unacceptable, because our biggest market is the rest of the united kingdom, both for sales to and from great britain. and it would be madness both economically and constitutionally to put borders down the irish sea between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom in order to avoid a hard border on the island of ireland — we should have no hard borders anywhere. so, the deal has to be changed or whipped up and if not or ripped up and if not the prime minister has to go?

well, that's the message that's coming across from all sections of the house of commons, not just the dup. it has to be ripped up or else this deal will not go through. what happens to the prime minister after that is a matter for the conservative party. with me now is jacob rees—mogg, one of the prime minister's fiercest critics, and labour's chuka umunna, who is one of the leaders of the campaign for another referendum. jacob rees—mogg, you were very clear that you want to the prime minister to go, and her deal to go as well — will you now move against her and have a vote of no confidence? this is the prime minister's deal, she is personally very associated with it. she lost two secretaries of state as she was negotiating it, who it is her deal, it has failed, and she should take responsibility. and will you force that can you persuade collea g u es you force that can you persuade colleagues who didn't back you last time to do so this time? the second pa rt time to do so this time? the second part of your question is the more important one, i don't have the

power to force it at i'm sure our mps will think carefully about whether or not theresa may is the right person to lead as when her deal has failed to. last week she said, ican't deal has failed to. last week she said, i can't get any better. this week she says she is going back to brussels — which of those two state m e nts brussels — which of those two statements is true? chukwuma no, are you prepared to vote with boris johnson to ensure that this theresa may deal has failed and maybe we end up may deal has failed and maybe we end up leaving with no deal at all?” may deal has failed and maybe we end up leaving with no deal at all? i do not accept the proposition that you either go for no deal will you go for her deal. i think parliament, as politicians we need to apologise to your viewers, politics in this country is broken, i'm afraid, and there is no consensus in parliament as do we leave the european union thatis as do we leave the european union that is the big problem here. and in some sense we reflect the country but what we do know, the prime minister still has united two polls in this argument, because nobody thinks we should be paying over £40 billion in a divorce bill without

getting a trading relationship in return, we are paying this huge bill and we have got no idea what our arrangements are going to be afterwards. it may be an unpalatable choice, it is a choice, you either vote with him or you support theresa may? frankly it is about what is right for my constituents and one of the reasons i think we should have a people's vote is because we have got 2 million young people who are going to be affected by this, more than any of us, and they have had no say so far in this process. a very brief prediction from you both, jacob rees—mogg, what do you think will happen? i think the prime minister will get some warm words from brussels which will be which acted by parliament and this deal will not go through. you think the prime minister will go? i think the prime minister will go? i think the prime minister is a very decent, hard—working, good minister is a very decent, ha rd—working, good person minister is a very decent, hard—working, good person and i think she will do her duty, and her duty now is to go. chuka umunna? i don't think anything will change because ultimately she is talking about changing this backstop but

ultimately we don't really know where we are headed, what we do know is that there is not going to be anything there for most of the economy, services, for example, 18% of our economy — i can't support this. do you accept that if you were to put it to a vote in parliament is now, a second referendum would not win? i do accept that but what we know is that there is quite along road still to go on this. and many colleagues on both sides of the house have said, if the deal falls, then that is the only option. overview, thank you very much indeed for your time. so, if you thought it was all over, or about to be all over, think again. we may not know how we are leaving the eu, when or, indeed, whether we finally will, for quite some time, but what's a few days or weeks after a row that has been raging not just all my lifetime but for much, much longer than that? it has divided the nation, it has split parties, it has felled one prime minister after another. the question we seem unable to ever resolve —

what should our relationship with europe be? the british people have spoken and the answer is, we're out. on the night britain voted to leave, it all looked so simple to those who had long dreamt of an independent, sovereign britain. and it's the working man who said no. we get our country back today, it's independence day. the woman who took over as prime minister echoed that certainty. brexit means brexit, and we are going to make a success of it. but brexit, it soon became clear, would lead to legal rows, political divisions and public anger. from leavers... if we bottle brexit now, believe me, the people of this country will find it hard to forgive. and from remainers... what do we want? people's vote! when do we want it? now! why don't we just get on with it, many people ask?

and the reason is simple, there is no agreement on what "it" is. the government who called the referendum didn't have a plan for brexit, nor did the leave campaign, nor did theresa may's government untiljust a few weeks ago. and leaving the eu was never like leaving the club, like leaving a club, let alone going back to what things were like before we were members. it involves rewriting, or tearing up thousands of rules and regulations and relationships. negotiating with the eu just wasn't as easy... thank you. ..as some had predicted. hello, jean—claude. hello... the woman who voted remain but who now sees it as her duty to ensure that britain leaves has struggled to convince her own mps. it's not the brexit the people voted for. a prime minister with no commons majority has faced defeat... the noes to the left, 311.

after defeat... 293. after defeat... 299. fear of another, potentially fatal, defeat, is why the prime minister cancelled tomorrow's vote. parliament and the people are as divided as ever between staying in and, well... the battle over whether britain belongs in or out of europe dates back much further than the referendum, more than half a century, in fact, when winston churchill, the man who led this country in war when britain was alone, first made the case for a united states of europe. we cannot aim at anything less than the union of europe as a whole. and we look forward with confidence to the day when that union will be achieved. in fact, when the forerunner of today's eu was formed, we stayed out, until... is europe stronger

with a britain a member? yes! tory prime minister ted heath's decision to join the common market split both parties. the great decision, of course, being taken tonight is whether britain should now go into europe. have you got the final result now? yes, the majority is 112... in the referendum which followed, margaret thatcher campaigned for yes, until years later as prime minister, she said... no, no, no. she was toppled, and the man who replaced her, john major, was defeated in the commons when he signed a new european treaty. the noes to the left, 324. two decades later, david cameron promised a new deal with europe, and... an in—out referendum. but he had no plan forfailure, no plan b.

what is plan b? plan b is to hold a referendum... the first rule in politics is being able to count. a prime minister who doesn't have the votes in parliament may be in office but quickly finds themselves without any power. and on the best of days, theresa may has no parliamentary majority. when it comes to discussing europe, it is never the best of days. every day in westminster brings a fresh brexit crisis. what will tomorrow bring? well, what tomorrow will bring is an emergency debate because after extraordinary scenes in the last few minutes, a cofferjeremy corbyn for that debate has been supported even by tory mps. one thing you won't get tomorrow is clarity. from westminster, good evening. hello, i'm ros atkins,

this is outside source. theresa may has cancelled tomorrow's parliamentary vote on her brexit deal. this is why. if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. here's the opposition's reaction. the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray. the prime minister has been forced to pull tomorrow's vote in a stunning display of pathetic cowardice. theresa may says she'll go back to eu leaders to try here's the opposition's reaction. theresa may says she'll go back to eu leaders to try and address mps' concerns. but this is the message from brussels.