MPs promised 'deal or no deal' vote on Brexit

Ministers are seeking to win over MPs who want a "meaningful" vote on the terms of the UK's exit from the EU and its future trading arrangements.

Brexit minister David Jones said MPs would get a say on the final draft Brexit agreement before it was voted upon by the European Parliament.

But he also said the UK would still leave the EU, albeit on different terms, if the deal was rejected.

Labour and some Tories want scope for the UK to renegotiate if necessary.

It is yet to be seen whether this is enough to win over opposition MPs and some Tories who oppose a so-called "take it or leave it" deal and want the Commons to be able to send ministers back to the negotiating table in search of better terms.

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The BBC's chief political correspondent Vicky Young said many normally loyal Tories were worried about Parliament effectively being put in a position of having to "rubber-stamp" the final deal, but were still likely to fall into line.

However, former chancellor Ken Clarke - the only Tory to vote against kickstarting the Brexit process last week - said Parliament should have the opportunity to shape the final deal, while former SNP leader Alex Salmond said MPs should have a genuine choice without the "Sword of Damocles" hanging over them.

Theresa May had already promised Parliament would get a say on the final deal.

Addressing MPs as they debated a bill authorising the government to begin the formal Brexit process, Brexit minister David Jones said the vote would "cover not only the withdrawal arrangements but also the future relationship with EU".

The vote, he said, would be on the final draft agreement and would be held before the European Parliament considered the matter.

"This will be a meaningful vote," he told MPs. "It will be the choice of leaving the EU with a negotiated deal or not."

'Worse deal'

And asked what would happen if Parliament rejected the Brexit deal or if there was no agreement with the EU to vote upon, Mr Jones said that in each scenario the UK would still leave the EU but "fall back on other arrangements".

This would effectively see the UK default to World Trade Organization trade rules, involving potential tariffs on exports and imports.

Opponents of Brexit have said this would cause real damage to British business but supporters say the UK can live with the consequences if necessary as the UK would then be free to negotiate its own trade arrangements.

Mr Jones said the government wanted to avoid a situation in which ministers were sent back to the negotiating table to hammer out a better deal.

This, he said, would be hard given the two-year limit for talks and would also be "the surest way of undermining our negotiating position and delivering a worse deal".

But Labour's Chuka Umunna said the choice facing MPs was "unacceptable", Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg described it as a "symbolic handout" while Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said MPs were being "duped".

Article 50

MPs, who overwhelmingly backed the European Union Bill last Wednesday, are currently in the middle of three further days of more detailed debate, with the Commons looking at amendments proposed by MPs.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who backed the Remain side in last year's EU referendum, has ordered his MPs to support the government's bill, whether his party's amendments are accepted or not.

If passed by Parliament - with the House of Lords due to scrutinise it after the Commons - the bill would allow Prime Minister Theresa May to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, getting divorce talks with the EU under way.

Mr Corbyn argues that it would be undemocratic to ignore the will of the people, as expressed in last June's EU referendum.

Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis has vowed to oppose the bill unless Labour amendments are passed in the Commons.

Frontbench members of parties are generally expected to resign from their post if they ignore a three-line whip.

Shadow cabinet members Rachael Maskell and Dawn Butler quit shortly before last week's vote, in order to defy Mr Corbyn's orders, but MPs backed the bill by a majority of 384.

Holyrood votes against triggering Brexit

The Scottish Parliament has voted by 90 to 34 to oppose the UK government starting the Brexit process.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that there was no legal need for Holyrood to give its consent to the triggering of Article 50.

But First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would let MSPs have a say, despite it being largely symbolic.

Ms Sturgeon predicted the vote would be one of the most significant in the Scottish Parliament since devolution.

The SNP tried to block the UK government's Brexit bill last week.

Only one of Scotland's 59 MPs - Scottish Secretary David Mundell - supported the bill, but it ultimately passed its first parliamentary hurdle by 498 votes to 114.

Agreed UK position

The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill returned to the Commons on Monday, when MPs began detailed scrutiny of the legislation.

MSPs voted to back a Scottish government motion in the Scottish Parliament stating that the bill should not proceed.

The SNP, Greens, Liberal Democrats and most Labour MSPs supported the motion, with three Labour MSPs - Neil Findlay, Elaine Smith and Richard Leonard - defying the party whip and opposing it alongside the Conservatives.

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The motion, lodged by Brexit minister Michael Russell, said the UK government had failed to properly consult the devolved administrations on an agreed UK position on Brexit.

It also said the government had refused to give a guarantee on the position of EU nationals in the UK, and had failed to answer a range of questions regarding the full implications of withdrawal from the single market.

A Green amendment, stating that the decision to proceed with the Brexit bill does not respect the majority vote to remain part of the EU that was returned in every council area in Scotland, was backed by 72 votes to 33 with 18 abstentions.

Mr Russell opened what was to become a heated debate by saying Scotland had voted "clearly and decisively" to remain in the EU in last year's referendum.

He said the Holyrood vote would allow MSPs to "say to the UK, to Europe and to the world that we oppose the catastrophic hard Brexit now being pursued by the Tories at Westminster."

Mr Russell added: "This vote is more than symbolic. It is a key test of whether Scotland's voice is being listened to, and whether our wishes can be accommodated within the UK process."

'Offered nothing'

He insisted that the Scottish government had worked "long and hard" to deliver compromise proposals, which he said would have allowed Scotland to stay in the single market even in the rest of the UK leaves.

But he said: "So far, the UK government has not offered a single compromise of its own. In fact, it has offered nothing. Neither formal reaction to our proposals, nor formal rejection of them."

Mr Russell went on to describe the Holyrood debate as being "about democracy itself", adding: "It's a debate about the sort of country the UK is becoming and the sort of country we in Scotland wish to be. And the contrast between those countries is stark."

John Lamont of the Scottish Conservatives claimed the Scottish government's default position was to "try to manufacture a grievance out of nothing".

He said: "The Scottish government try to portray the Supreme Court ruling and the UK government's bill to trigger Article 50 as an example of Scotland being ignored.

"The truth is actually more simple. It is a matter for Scotland's other parliament to deal with and it is, as a reserved matter, one for Scotland's MPs to scrutinise."

He added: "This is how the devolution settlement works, and it is time that the SNP accepted this principle and moved on from grievance politics.

"Despite the rhetoric from the Scottish government, the reality is that they are being given plenty of opportunity to engage in the process of the UK leaving the EU."

'Unanswered questions'

Scottish Labour said it would vote against triggering Article 50 - although three of its MSPs defied that instruction - but tabled an amendment calling on the SNP not to use Brexit as an excuse for a second independence referendum.

The move put Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale at odds with UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is facing a revolt by pro-Remain MPs - including the party's only Scottish MP Ian Murray - who are defying his leadership to vote against the Brexit bill at Westminster.

Ms Dugdale told the Holyrood debate that Brexit and independence were "two sides of the same coin", adding: "The only thing worse than Brexit for Scottish jobs and the economy would be independence.

"Our nation is divided enough. Another referendum would do irreparable damage to the very fabric of communities across Scotland.

"But the reality is that the SNP has only been given the excuse to seek another referendum because of the mess the Conservatives have made of this whole process".

The Scottish Greens staged a "Scotland says stay" rally outside Holyrood to mark the debate.

The party's MSP Ross Greer said the Article 50 bill was "wildly inadequate" and claimed the Scottish government's attempts at compromise had been met by little but "empty rhetoric" from the UK government,

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie went on the attack by saying the SNP was obsessed with independence, while the Tories were dividing the country with Brexit and Labour was in "total and utter confusion".

A UK government spokesman said Holyrood was free to debate any issue it chooses, and that it would "continue our engagement with the Scottish government and with people and groups across Scotland as we prepare to leave the EU to secure the best deal for Scotland and the UK."

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May warned MPs not to "obstruct" the will of UK voters by changing the Brexit bill.

She said: "The message is clear to all - this House has spoken and now is not the time to obstruct the democratically expressed wishes of the British people.

"It is time to get on with leaving the European Union and building an independent, self-governing, global Britain."

Theresa May: Don't obstruct voters over Brexit

Theresa May has warned MPs not to "obstruct" the will of UK voters by changing the parliamentary bill aimed at getting Brexit talks under way.

The PM spoke as the Commons started detailed scrutiny of the European Union Bill, with Labour, SNP and Lib Dem MPs seeking concessions.

These include a guarantee that EU citizens resident in the UK at the time of last year's referendum can remain.

But Mrs May said she and EU leaders wanted to "get on" with Brexit talks.

MPs have already backed the principle of the bill, which would give Mrs May the power to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, starting formal negotiations on Brexit.

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Labour has suggested it will not "frustrate Brexit" even if it fails to amend the bill in its committee stage this week, during which it will undergo more detailed scrutiny.

The government wants to notify the EU of its intention to leave, giving effect to last June's referendum vote and starting two years of talks, by the end of March.

For this to happen, MPs and peers must pass a bill giving their approval - a process expected to take about a month.

In a statement on the weekend's EU summit in Malta, Mrs May told MPs: "Our European partners now want to get on with the negotiations. So do I, and so does this House, which last week voted by a majority of 384 in support of the government triggering Article 50.

"There are of course further stages for the Bill in committee and in the Lords and it is right that this process should be completed properly."

She added: "But the message is clear to all - this House has spoken and now is not the time to obstruct the democratically expressed wishes of the British people.

"It is time to get on with leaving the European Union and building an independent, self-governing, global Britain."

The legislation comes back to the Commons on Monday for three days of debate culminating in a vote on its third reading.

Among the amendments likely to be debated on Tuesday is one tabled by former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman calling for a guarantee that all nationals of other EU countries lawfully resident in the UK at the time of last year's referendum should have the right to remain after Brexit.

Mrs May has said she wants an early agreement on their status but is resisting calls from many MPs to offer a unilateral guarantee - saying she wants reciprocal guarantees from other EU countries about UK citizens living on the continent.

Ms Harman's amendment has the backing of the Lib Dems, SNP and the one Green MP - although it would need the support of a number of Conservatives for it to pass.

Labour is also seeking a "meaningful vote" in Parliament on the final deal struck between the UK and the EU before it is voted on by the European Parliament.

The BBC understands some Conservative MPs have held discussions with Labour MPs about forcing the PM to concede a vote if there is no agreement on the UK's future trade relations with the EU.

Downing Street has insisted that it is "not contemplating" a scenario in which there is no deal with the EU and the bill does not need to be amended.

Ministers have said they believe the UK will be able to agree the terms of its separation and the outline of a trade deal within the two-year timeframe and even if there is no trade agreement, the UK will leave the EU anyway.

Labour divisions

There continue to be divisions in Labour ranks over whether to accept Brexit or not.

Ten shadow ministers were among 47 Labour MPs who rejected party orders to back the bill at second reading last week while shadow home secretary Diane Abbott missed the crucial vote, citing illness.

Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis has said he will vote against the bill at third reading on Wednesday unless Labour's amendments are accepted, describing them as "red lines".

Labour's shadow cabinet will discuss the party's approach on Tuesday but Mr Corbyn suggested on Sunday that Ms Abbott and others would be expected to follow the party line if a three-line whip is imposed for Wednesday's vote.

Also speaking on Sunday, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said there were "private conversations" taking place between the parties on trying to find "a compromise that will work".

She denied it was "illogical" to demand amendments but still back the bill in the final vote if they are rejected.

Syria conflict: Thousands hanged at Saydnaya prison, Amnesty says

As many as 13,000 people, most of them civilian opposition supporters, have been executed in secret at a prison in Syria, Amnesty International says.

A new report by the human rights group alleges that mass hangings took place every week at Saydnaya prison between September 2011 and December 2015.

Amnesty says the alleged executions were authorised at the highest levels of the Syrian government.

The government has previously denied killing or mistreating detainees.

However, UN human rights experts said a year ago that witness accounts and documentary evidence strongly suggested that tens of thousands of people were being detained and that "deaths on a massive scale" were occurring in custody.

Amnesty interviewed 84 people, including former guards, detainees and officials at Saydnaya prison for its report.

It alleges that every week, and often twice a week, groups of between 20 and 50 people were executed in total secrecy at the facility, just north of Damascus.

Before their execution, detainees were brought before a "military field court" in the capital's Qaboun district for "trials" lasting between one and three minutes, the report says.

A former military court judge quoted by Amnesty said detainees would be asked if they had committed crimes alleged to have taken place. "Whether the answer is 'yes' or 'no', he will be convicted... This court has no relation with the rule of law," he said.

According to the report, detainees were told on the day of the hangings that they would be transferred to a civilian prison then taken to a basement cell and beaten over the course of two or three hours.

Then in the middle of the night they were blindfolded and moved to another part of the prison, where they were taken into a room in the basement and told they had been sentenced to death just minutes before nooses were placed around their necks, the report adds.

The bodies of those killed were allegedly then loaded onto lorries, and transferred to Tishreen military hospital in Damascus for registration and burial in mass graves located on military land.

On the basis of evidence of the testimony of its witnesses, Amnesty estimates that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were executed at Saydnaya over five years.

Mexico wall: Trump questions talks over border dispute

Donald Trump has warned Mexico's president that he should cancel a planned visit to Washington if Mexico refuses to pay for the border wall.

It comes after Enrique Pena Nieto again rebuffed Mr Trump's assertion that Mexico would end up funding the wall.

The Mexican president made no mention of changing their 31 January meeting.

President Trump has signed an executive order for an "impassable physical barrier" and insisted Mexico will reimburse the US.

He responded to President Pena Nieto's statement by saying his counterpart should cancel the trip.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Trump suggested Mexico owed the US for the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

"The US has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost," he wrote.

"If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting."

Earlier Mr Pena Nieto said he "lamented" the plans for the barrier.

In a televised address, Mr Pena Nieto told the nation: "I've said time and again; Mexico won't pay for any wall.

"I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us."

He added that "Mexico doesn't believe in walls".

But Mr Pena Nieto said his country offered "its friendship to the American people and its willingness to reach accords with their government".

Earlier Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray - in Washington to lead a delegation that has held talks at the White House - told the Televisa network his country's president was still weighing up next Tuesday's visit but said "the meeting stands for now".

Mr Pena Nieto met Mr Trump - then a presidential candidate - in Mexico City in September and came under intense criticism at home. His current approval ratings remain low.

Mr Trump said in an interview with ABC News that Mexico would "absolutely, 100%" reimburse the US for his wall.

But Congress would have to approve funding for the structure, which is estimated to cost billions of dollars.

Mr Trump is next expected to announce immigration restrictions from seven countries with Muslim-majority populations in the Middle East and Africa. This could affect refugee programmes.

These countries are believed to be Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

Saddleworth Moor mystery body identified

The identity of man whose death sparked worldwide interest after his body was found on Saddleworth Moor has finally been revealed.

David Lytton, 67, from London, was discovered at Dove Stone Reservoir on the moor on 12 December 2015.

A court has heard he flew into London Heathrow from Lahore, Pakistan, two days before his body was found. He was identified from photos from a passenger list and picked up on CCTV in London.

Police believe he took his own life.

Heywood Coroner's Court heard his body was discovered fully clothed and lying prone on the ground above the reservoir.

He had no wallet, mobile phone or other identification and remained unidentified despite numerous public appeals and the release of CCTV footage of his last known movements.

Police had previously confirmed he had died of "strychnine poisoning", which is now used primarily as a pesticide, particularly to kill rats.

The day before his body was discovered he had travelled by train from London to Manchester and later went into the Clarence pub in Greenfield, Saddleworth, and asked the landlord the way to "the top of the mountain".

The inquest was told that extensive police inquiries led to detectives concentrating on flight data from Pakistan to London.

This uncovered that Mr Lytton travelled from Lahore to London Heathrow on 10 December and appeared to have no return travel arrangements.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) told the BBC his identity was confirmed as a result of a DNA match with a relative.

His family has been informed.

An international police investigation was launched in a bid to identify the body, nicknamed Neil Dovestones by mortuary workers at Royal Oldham Hospital.

The case attracted significant media attention both in the UK and internationally.

In a statement, the force said: "After more than a year of painstaking inquiries, which included media appeals being released in the UK and Pakistan, as well as assistance from the National Crime Agency, detectives investigating the mysterious case of 'Neil Dovestones' have made a positive identification."

As mystery surrounding the case intensified, a number of theories were discounted.

There was speculation the man could have been making a final journey to the site of a plane crash in 1949 which killed his family, while a man from Northern Ireland contacted police to say he could be missing Hugh Toner, from Newry, who disappeared in 1994.

A full inquest will take place on 14 March.

Migrant crisis: Germany sees massive drop in asylum seekers

Germany says 280,000 asylum seekers arrived there in 2016, a drop of more than 600,000 on the previous year.

The German interior minister said that the decrease was due to the closure in 2016 of the Balkan route and the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey.

The record influx of 890,000 people came as migrants and refugees travelled through Greece and the Balkans.

They headed for Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkel ordered a temporary open-door asylum policy.

Her decision to suspend EU rules on registering asylum seekers in the first EU state they entered was aimed at the growing number of Syrians fleeing the conflict in their country, but large numbers of people of other nationalities made the journey too.

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Migration has become a heavily politicised issue in Germany ahead of federal elections in the autumn. As voters punished her CDU party in regional polls last year, Mrs Merkel acknowledged that the migrant crisis could have been handled better.

"This shows that the measures that the federal government and the EU have taken are taking hold," said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. "We've been successful in managing and controlling the process of migration."

He was referring to the EU's deal with Turkey to halt the influx of migrants and refugees into Greece, as well as the decision by Balkan countries to close off the route towards Western Europe.

The total number of asylum applications in 2016 was in fact almost 270,000 higher than 2015, at 745,545, the interior ministry said. However, the majority of claims involved people who had arrived the previous year.

German asylum seekers 2016

280,000

new arrivals asking for asylum

610,000

fewer than in 2015

• 745,545 applied for asylum
• 268,866 are Syrian
• 55,000 migrants went home
• 25,000 were deported

Source: Federal Ministry of the Interior

AFP

Syrians made up 36% of the asylum claims in 2016, followed by Afghans, Iraqis, Albanians, Iranians and Eritreans.

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More challenges ahead, by BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill

It's tempting to imagine the German government breathing a collective sigh of relief.

This is a significant reduction in the number of people seeking asylum in Germany. It brings the figure much closer to the upper annual limit of 200,000 asylum seekers demanded by some of Angela Merkel's critics.

Nevertheless, ministers admit Germany still faces numerous challenges. There are still hundreds of thousands of outstanding asylum applications.

Angela Merkel's government must convince a nervous electorate that it can successfully integrate those who are allowed to stay. And any sense of triumph is tempered by the knowledge that the reduction has little to do with domestic asylum policy, although the government has gradually toughened its stance.

The numbers dropped largely as a result of countries along the so-called Balkan route closing their borders to refugees and, in effect, sealing off a major route to Germany. And keeping those numbers low means ministers must continue to rely on the fragile migrant deal between the EU and Turkey.

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Germany has rejected asylum requests from Albania, describing it as a "safe country", and has been deporting Afghan arrivals. The government said late last year that increasing numbers of asylum seekers were returning to Iraq as well as Afghanistan.

Of the record 695,733 asylum decisions made by the interior ministry last year, 256,136 (36.8%) were awarded refugee status under the Geneva Conventions and a further 153,700 given subsidiary protection, which means their status in Germany is initially temporary.

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, whom governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.