Theresa May forced to back down in row over Brexit legal advice

Theresa May has been forced to publish the legal advice she receives on her Brexit deal after Labour, the DUP and eurosceptic Tories backed her into a corner.

The government backed down in a row over whether the advice from the attorney general – which traditionally remains private – should be given to MPs before parliament votes on the Brexit deal.

Labour pushed for the unorthodox move due to the “exceptional” nature of Brexit, and found backing from the DUP – which props up May's government.

Conservative MPs from the hard Brexit European Research Group revealed they would abstain in any vote, leading the government to accept Labour's motion instead of suffering an embarrassing defeat in parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

David Lidington, the de facto deputy prime minister, initially warned that giving in to Labour’s demands would see more than 5,000 documents released detailing legal advice given over the course of the negotiations.

He then offered a compromise that would see a summary of the advice given by the attorney general Geoffrey Cox presented to MPs.

Lidington said: “We will make available to all members of the House, following the conclusion of negotiations, and ahead of the meaningful vote, a full, reasoned position statement laying out the Government's both political and also legal position on the proposed withdrawal agreement. And that includes any protocols that might be attached to it."

Labour were unmoved by the offer, with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer saying: “Rather than fighting this unnecessary battle with parliament, the prime minister should accept the motion and agree to publish the full advice."

The DUP backed the release of the advice so MPs could see what the implications were for any backstop agreed for Northern Ireland.

The party's Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson said: "No one has compromised the government's position more than the Government itself in these negotiations.

"They willingly accepted the EU agenda and timetable and sequencing for the negotiations. They uncritically accepted this nonsense of the backstop of Northern Ireland – a problem which doesn't exist and which can be dealt with by the existing trade facilitation measures which are in place."

The sight of the government ordering its MPs to abstain on any vote because it did not have the support of the ERG angered anti-Brexit Conservative MP Anna Soubry.

She said: “Who is running this country – the government or the ERG?”