it's11:ooam and these are the main stories this morning: the government says it would slash taxes on a range of imports from outside the eu if there was a no—deal brexit and there'd be no new checks across the irish border. the eyes to the right, 242. the nose to the left, 391. after the prime minister's deal was overwhelmingly rejected, mps will vote this evening on whether to leave the eu without a deal on the 29th of march. i know what i think which is that leaving without the deal would be very bad for our economy and our security. i hope parliament will vote not to take the no deal off the

table. it's crazy to disable yourself as you go into a negotiation. it makes no sense at all. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says the risk of the uk leaving the eu without a deal has never been higher and appeals to mps to end the uncertainty. again, the house of commons says what it doesn't want. now this impasse can only be solved in the uk. i hear you are very upset. before the no—deal debate, the chancellor will update mps on the state of the government's finances when he makes his spring statement. i will be here in a few minutes with a special programme until 2:30pm with prime ministers questions and the chancellor spring statement. good morning.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. the government has set out fresh emergency measures it would take, in the event of the uk leaving the eu without a deal. mps will vote this evening on whether to block a no—deal brexit on the 29th of march, after rejecting theresa may's deal for a second time last night. if, ultimately, the uk were to leave with no deal, the government says a new tariff regime would come in. tariffs are the taxes charged on goods and services as they pass between one country and another. britain would slash tariffs on most imports under a temporary scheme. 87% of imports would be eligible for no tariffs. tariffs would be kept to protect some industries, including beef, lamb, poultry and some dairy imports. and the government says that in the event of a no deal brexit it wouldn't introduce any new checks or controls, or require customs declarations for any goods moving from across the border from ireland to northern ireland and irish goods entering the northern ireland market would not face any tariffs.

well in the last few minutes, the business organisation, the cbi, has given its reaction, describing any no—deal tariff regime as a ‘sledgehammer‘ to the uk economy. our reality check correspondent, chris morris, is here to unpick the detail of these emergency measures. first of all explain because if you are listening at home and you hear zero tariffs, that sounds great but the cbi says it's a sledgehammer for the cbi says it's a sledgehammer for the british economy. under the rules of the world trade organisation you have to treat all countries the same when it comes to tariffs unless you have a free trade agreement with them. at the moment for example we have zero tariffs with the european union because we are in a free trade agreement with them but we will leave that in the event of no deal so leave that in the event of no deal so then you have to decide do you impose tariffs on things coming in from the eu and if you do those products can become more expensive. on the other hand you could keep

stuff coming in from the eu at zero but you'd have to make everything coming in from everywhere else in the world zero as well and if all that stuff has no tariff on it those things could become cheaper. so what the government is trying to do is get a balance between the interests of consumers who would like to have cheaper products which they can buy and the interests of local producers. so domestic companies, they will be a fear that if you have zero tariffs then cheap argentinian beef would flood in, other products would flood in from around the world and localfarmers would flood in from around the world and local farmers would would flood in from around the world and localfarmers would go out would flood in from around the world and local farmers would go out of business. ceramics is another industry that has been given some protection so tariffs will still be there because the chinese manufacture a lot of cheap plates and if they were zero tariffs they would come in and a lot of industry in places like stoke would

essentially disappear. so it's getting the balance right between the interests of consumers and the interests of producers. if we have zero tariffs on imports does it mean automatically that countries who are able to import to us, to export to us able to import to us, to export to us with zero tariffs would take input from us a0 tariffs because that could lead to trouble. this is one of the issues and it's one of the reasons i think the government is stressing it would be a temporary measure. for example, one of the problems of cutting everything for zero, if you want to negotiate a free—trade agreement with somebody you have given away one of your best cards already because you are saying you can send us all your stuff without any tariffs but there is no obligation for that country to reciprocate. when you do reciprocate like that it is a free—trade agreement. that is what we need to create with people around the world. if you do it pre—emptively you lose

one of your negotiating cards. it's a difficult balance. tariffs have to be seen in the context of the wider economy. what will happen to the value of the pound? all these things have to be weighed up. but it's really important for businesses because they need to know what tariff they may be dealing with so they can start costing what they might have to do in the future. we are two weeks now from potentially this happening and businesses have been screaming give us clarity. for some it will be good news, for some it will be difficult to swallow. let's talk about the impact in nothern ireland. emma vardy is at stormont. northern ireland in a particular position. it is and there has been this very specific part of this morning's announcement relating to keeping the border on the island open and in a special case scenario

is going to relate to the public —— republic of ireland where the government has said they will be new ta riffs government has said they will be new tariffs for other countries and the eu but for the republic of ireland they will not have to pay any ta riffs they will not have to pay any tariffs on goods moving from the south into northern ireland. that is to keep the border open. it raises a few issues. northern ireland could be used as a back door for people re—routing the goods to and avoid tariffs. they will be a real risk of smuggling. the uk government says this is the only... and fortunately we have some technical issues. asked if the emergency no deal measures could lead to smuggling across the irish border, conservative party deputy chairman, james cleverly, accepted there was a theoretical chance it could happen, but said customs checks by the irish authorities would reduce the risk.

there is a theoretical chance but you have to remember the republic of ireland is an island and in order for people to smuggle things into the uk through the republic of ireland they have to get it to the republic of ireland. they have a professional and effective border control policy and so whilst there isa control policy and so whilst there is a theoretical chance, it is something that is modest and intelligence led customs checks by the irish authorities i think would dramatically reduce the risk of that. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, says the risk of a no deal brexit has never been higher. speaking to the european parliament in strasbourg, he said that the eu is ready for all eventualities. if the uk still wants to leave the european union and wants to do so in an orderly fashion, if that is still the intention of the united kingdom

then this treaty which we negotiated with the government of theresa may for a year with the government of theresa may fora yearand a with the government of theresa may for a year and a half, this treaty is and will remain the only available treaty. we are at a critical point. the risk of no deal has never been higher. that is the risk of an exit even by accident by the uk of the european union in a disorderly fashion and i urge you please not to underestimate the consequences. so following the defeat of theresa may's brexit deal last night, what happens next? later today mps will vote on whether the uk should leave without a deal at the end of this month. if parliament votes in favour of no deal then brexit will go ahead as planned on the 29th of march. if parliament rejects no—deal, then there will be another vote tomorrow.

the prime minister will ask mps to decide whether to extend article 50 and for how long. if that passes, then then the prime minister will need to ask the eu for a delay in brexit. if it's rejected, then we're back to leaving on the 29th of march. our assistant political editor, norman smith, is outside number 10 this morning. are these the day is finally when we get complete clarity?|j are these the day is finally when we get complete clarity? i shouldn't think so. i have given up on the idea of getting clarity anytime soon. we will get vote today on taking odile off the table but there is already a tussle over that because many mps are unhappy with the motion mrs may has put down which takes no deal off the table but only up to match the 29th. so a cross— party but only up to match the 29th. so a cross—party group have put down an amendment we would like to site take no deal off the table forever and a day. mrs may will allow a free vote on her motion but she will not allow

a free vote on their motion. so there is going to be a row about that. tomorrow we move to potentially delaying article 50 but evenif potentially delaying article 50 but even if that is passed the ball passes to the eu and they will decide how long we can have, what sort of conditions we might have to meet. so clarity i suspect is the one thing that is still going to remain extraordinarily elusive. the work and pensions secretary this morning was pretty clear about how she would be voting tory. it's a free vote and everybody can do what they think is best for the country. i think leaving without a deal would be very bad for our economy and our security. overall i am very disappointed that so many of my colleagues decided not to vote for the withdrawal agreement yesterday which is a good deal and a sensible way of leaving the european union.

brexiteers meanwhile are furious at the thought of no deal being taken off the table and some still hope it's possible we could get to match the 29th and maybe we would leave by default. have a listen to one boris johnson. default. have a listen to one boris johnson. don't forget that under the law the uk must leave the eu on march the 29th. that is the law. the vote tonight is really symbolic. i hope parliament will vote not to ta ke hope parliament will vote not to take the no deal off the table. it's crazy to disable yourself as you go into a negotiation. it makes no sense at all. why would we shoot ourselves in the foot like that? you wa nt ourselves in the foot like that? you want to have maximum flexibility and after all it was in the manifesto of the conservative party to make sure we kept no deal as an option. no

deal was better than a bad deal. how can we conceivably take no deal off the table? i certainly won't vote for it and they would be amazed at the prime minister votes for it. we will hear from the prime minister and prime ministers questions in about three quarters of an hour. interesting just to get a sense of her demeanour i guess because yesterday she looked a pretty forlorn character, struggling with her voice and with support seemingly draining away on the backbenches. we will get a sense and prime ministers questions whether she has managed to regather herself amid signs that she could be gearing up to bring back her dealfor could be gearing up to bring back her deal for the could be gearing up to bring back her dealfor the third could be gearing up to bring back her deal for the third attempt because the view of some of her supporters is that if mps tomorrow

doindeed supporters is that if mps tomorrow do indeed vote to delay brexit the eu could come back with such onerous terms that many tory mps and brexiteers could conclude those are unacceptable and we will have to just go with mrs may's deal. they also point out that there are a lot of brexiteers who did back mrs may last night. they did switch their votes. including prominent figures like david davis. from that they conclude that the arg vote is a lot softer than many people might think and in the background i am hearing talk that the attorney general could yet come up with some revamped advice which could provide britain with a way out of the backstop. so all eyes will be in prime ministers questions. let's hope she's got a voice to get through it.

philip hammond will be outlining his spring statement and we can joinjoe cockburn in westminster. it's wednesday and after last night's devastating defeat for theresa may we are live in westminster for a specially extended programme until 2:30pm this afternoon. we will bring you prime ministers questions at noon and then the chancellor's spring statement as mps prepare to vote again tonight on whether to rule out a no—deal brexit. joining me today, brexiteers can preservative steve baker, liz kendall from labour who to put