Brexit vote latest: Commons vote on final Brexit deal to take place before January 21, Downing Street says

MPs will vote on whether to approve Prime Minister Theresa May's final Brexit deal before January 21, Downing Street said today.

Mrs May had been due to hold the vote this evening but on Monday announced she would defer it and go back to the EU to seek reassurances over the Irish backstop arrangement.

The Prime Minister shelved the vote to avoid defeat on an unprecedented scale that could have proved fatal to her premiership.

On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesman confirmed the vote would now take place before January 21.

Mrs May has begun an emergency tour of European capitals to seek legally binding reassurances over the backstop. But EU leaders have rebuffed calls to reopen talks on Britain's "divorce deal" with the EU.

Mrs May confirmed the decision to delay the vote in a statement to the Commons after a day of disarray and conflicting signals over whether the vote would be delayed.

She told MPs that "she had listened very carefully to what has been said" since the Commons debate on the deal began and that the vote will be deferred so that she can hold emergency talks with the EU leaders to discuss possible changes to the backstop.

Mrs May said she believed there was "a majority to be won" in the Commons on her deal, if she is able to "secure additional reassurance on the backstop".

In the result of a no-deal scenario, the Prime Minister can either conclude that no deal can be reached or no political agreement is reached between the UK and EU by January 21.

If Mrs May concludes no deal can be reached, the Government has to publish a written statement as to how it intends to proceed.

Similarly, if no agreement is reached between the UK and EU by January 21, then the Government must also publish a statement on what it plans to do next. Parliament would be expected to debate the intended course of action by January 29, the House of Commons explains.

Monday's decision to delay the vote was condemned in the Commons on Monday, with Speaker John Bercow saying it was "deeply discourteous" to postpone.

Jeremy Corbyn added that if Mrs May "cannot be clear that she can and will renegotiate a deal then she must make way."

He said: "The Government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray."

Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said the Government had completely lost control and that he would support Labour if it chose to issue a no confidence motion against the Government.

DUP leader Arlene Fosters, whose MPs prop up Mrs May's Government, said the Government's approach to Brexit is "chaotic".

Mrs Foster said: "The fundamentally flawed Withdrawal Agreement would have undermined our United Kingdom economy and the Union itself.

"The backstop would have left Northern Ireland trapped as a hostage to the European Union."