British PM Theresa May suffers three Brexit defeats in Commons

Theresa May has suffered three Brexit defeats in the Commons as she set out to sell her EU deal to sceptical MPs.

Ministers have agreed to publish the government’s full legal advice on the deal after MPs found them in contempt of Parliament for issuing a summary.

And MPs backed calls for the Commons to have a direct say in what happens if the PM’s deal is rejected next Tuesday.

Mrs May said MPs had a duty to deliver on the 2016 Brexit vote and the deal on offer was an “honourable compromise”.

She was addressing the Commons at the start of a five-day debate on her proposed agreement on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal and future relations with the EU.

The agreement has been endorsed by EU leaders but must also be backed by the UK Parliament if it is to come into force. MPs will decide whether to reject or accept it on Tuesday 11 December.

Mrs May said Brexit divisions had become “corrosive” to UK politics and the public believed the issue had “gone on long enough” and must be resolved.

In other Brexit-related developments:

 Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage has quit the party in protest at its direction

 The BBC said it had been unable to agree a format for a televised Brexit debate between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn following discussions with the parties

 The pound briefly fell to 18-month lows after the government lost the contempt vote

 Former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King likens Brexit deal to appeasement

 The UK should be able to unilaterally cancel its withdrawal from the EU, according to a top European law officer