Brexit: MEPs approve withdrawal agreement after emotional debate and claims UK will return - as it happened

Here are some quotes from the European parliament debate.

From Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s Brexit coordinator

What is in fact threatening Britain’s sovereignty most - the rules of our single market or the fact that tomorrow they may be planting Chinese 5G masts in the British islands? ...

It is sad to see a country leaving that twice liberated us, has twice given its blood to liberate Europe ...

In the last couple of days I have received hundreds of mails from British citizens saying they desperately want to stay or return ... So this vote is not an adieu, this vote, in my opinion, is only an au revoir.

From Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission

No new partnership will bring back the benefits of being part of the same union but we have the duty to seek the best for the British and for the European people in a post-Brexit world.

To our British friends and many - perhaps not all - but many of our British MEPs here in the room, I want to use the words of the famous British poet George Eliot.

She said, ‘Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depth of love’.

We will always love you and we will never be far, long live Europe.

From Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader

I’m hoping this begins the end of this project. It’s a bad project, it isn’t just undemocratic it’s anti-democratic ...

There is a historic battle going on now across the West - in Europe, America and elsewhere. It is globalism against populism. And you may loathe populism, but I’ll tell you a funny thing - it’s becoming very popular.

And it has great benefits. No more financial contributions, no more European Court of Justice, no more common fisheries policy, no more being talked down to, no more being bullied, no more Guy Verhofstadt.

From Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator

We are going to continue in the year that comes, this current year with the same spirit, the same objectivity, without any aggression by firmly, however, defending the interests of the union and its member states.

Going beyond Brexit the UK will remain there.

It will remain a close partner when it comes to the economy. It will be an ally as it always has been and it will be a friend.

Here is video of MEPs signing Auld Lang Syne.

This week’s Guardian Politics Weekly podcast is out. Heather Stewart rings in the end of an era as Brexit seems all but done. She chats to Jennifer Rankin, Andrew Fisher and James Kirkup about what Britain will look like after 31 January. Plus, the panel discuss whether the Labour leadership candidates are focusing on the right issues.

From the BBC’s Scotland editor, Sarah Smith

From Jaume Duch, spokesperson for the European parliament

David Sassoli, president of the parliament, says MEPs have voted to approve the withdrawal agreement. Now the European council must conclude the formalities tomorrow.

He quotes Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered by a far-right terrorist during the referendum campaign. There is more that united us than divides us, he says.

MEPs are now taking the vote.

Barnier has switched to English for his final comment.

He says, at this moment of new beginning, he would like to wish the UK well.

Barnier says it is possible to be a European over and above being a patriot. That can give additional force to national patriotism, he says.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is concluding the debate. He says it has been a moving debate. The EU respected the UK vote to leave, he says.

He thanks the contribution made by British MEPs.

François-Xavier Bellamy, a French MEP in the EPP group, says friendship with the UK should continue after Brexit. But Brexit is also a warning, he says. He says the EU must show that it serves all its citizens.

Back in the European parliament Martin Horwood, a Lib Dem MEP, says, in various European languages, before ending in English, “we will be back.”

Vangelis Meimarakis, a Greek MEP, says the EU must ensure that this does not become a historic mistake for the EU. It must learn from what caused Brexit.

Theresa Griffin, a Labour MEP, says young people should “keep the faith that one day we will come back”.

Esther de Lange, a Dutch MEP and member of the EPP group, says Boris Johnson did not really care what happened with Brexit. But she says the vote is an example of what happens when the media does not tell the truth. She says democracy needs defending; that is the lesson that needs to be taken from Brexit.

Laura Huhtasaari, a Finnish MEP, says Friday will be a great moment. It will strike a blow against corporate elites. She ends by telling the Brexit party MEPs: “I love you guys.”

Aileen McLeod, an SNP MEP, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement, in accordance with the wishes of the Scottish people. She ends by saying she hopes the parliament will “leave a light on for Scotland”.

Luisa Porritt, a Lib Dem MEP, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement on behalf of hyer London constituents who voted remain. She says the only person celebrating this outside the UK are people who want to damage the country. She says young Brits will one day lead the campaign to rejoin.

Anthea McIntyre, a Conservative, says she speaks as the proud daughter of a solider who fought at D-Day. The UK may be leaving the EU, but we remain Europeans, she says.

Molly Scott Cato, the Green party MEP, starts her speech by saying that she feels she is about to cry. Now is not the time to campaign to return to rejoin the EU, she says. But she says it is important to keep the hope alive. She ends:

I hold in my heart the knowledge that one day I will be back in this chamber, celebrating our return to Europe.

As she finishes she gets emotional and tearful. She gets a loud and long standing ovation. It is a moving moment.

Back in the European parliament Naomi Long, the Alliance MEP from Northern Ireland, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement. That is to express her constituents’ opposition to Brexit. She says she will never agree with this “insular, isolationist and reckless course of action”. But she says she wants to thank Michel Barnier for ensuring that the withdrawal does not involve a hard Brexit.

She ends by saying she expects Brexit to be reversed. “Goodbye for now,” she says.

Fishing communities fear they will be “sold out” in Brexit negotiations and do not believe government promises that the UK will take back control of British waters, representatives of coastal communities have said.

Many believe the sector will be used as leverage in the upcoming talks and are concerned that Boris Johnson’s government will buckle under pressure to make a trade off for other sectors including financial services.

“There is a real genuine danger that they will be sold out and are facing into this with a fair degree of scepticism,” said Luke Pollard the shadow environment secretary at a parliamentary event organised by the fishing industry this afternoon.

They have every right to be afraid, there is a real risk they will be sold out and the promises made by the government will not be delivered.

He was speaking a day after the government vowed that the automatic right of EU vessels to fish in British waters would be ended under proposals for a new fishing law.

Matt Carthy, a Sinn Fein, says much work remains to be done to in the trade talks. He says Sinn Fein will protect Ireland’s interests, which could be best served by Irish reunification. He says the Conservatives do not have a mandate to speak for any part of the island of Ireland.

Antonia Maria Rinaldi, an Italian MEP from the rightwing League, says Michel Barnier has been the worst negotiator ever.

Bill Newton Dunn, a Lib Dem MEP, says the main parties in Westminster have not told the public the truth about the country. The truth is that the UK is a European country, not a superpower.

He says some UK politicians claimed the EU was only about free trade. But it was not, he says. It was always about more than that.

He ends by calling for the establishment of a European FBI.

The vice president of the parliament chairing this afternoon’s session Mairead McGuinness, not Martina Anderson, as I wrongly stated earlier. I’m sorry about that.

Geoffrey Van Orden, the leader of Conservative MEPs, says it is in the interests of both sides to get a good trade deal. After Brexit the UK will still be a leading power in Europe. He says he wants the UK and the EU to have friendly relationship.

He ends by thanking European parliament staff.

Plaid Cymru’s Jill Evans says, despite her best efforts, she has failed to get Welsh accepted as an official language in the parliament. She addresses MEPs in Welsh for a bit. Returning to English, she says the UK is leaving now. “But we will be back,” she says.

Caroline Voaden, leader of the Lib Dems in the European parliament, says Brexit is the result of a divide in one of the UK’s older political parties. The Conservatives should have split years ago, she says, but could not because of the political system. One advantage of Brexit is that it might focus attention on the system’s flaws.

Martin Schirdewan, from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, says the UK might not be the last country to leave the EU. He says the EU must put people first.

Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP, says after the 1975 vote Eurosceptics in the UK accepted the decision to stay in the EU.

But after Maastricht the mood changed. It became clear that the EU was turning into a quasi-state, with a flag and a president etc.

If at any point the UK had been able to have a trade-only association, it would have stayed.

He says if David Cameron had got any repatriation of power in February 2016, the UK would have stayed.

The EU is “losing a bad tenant, but gaining a good neighbour”, he says.

Philippe Lamberts, co-head of the Green group in the parliament, says there is a reason why people have turned against the EU. It is because too many policies serve the interests of the few, not the many. The EU must fix this if it wants to avoid another Brexit, he says. It should ensure that all policies serve the interests of the vulnerable. And policies should respect nature too, he says.

Nathalie Loiseau, a representative of the Renew group in the European parliament (and the former French Europe minister), is speaking now. She says she is speaking in English because she wants to address the British. She says they will be missed.

The European parliament will ensure that citizens’ rights are respected, she says.

Addressing Brexiters, she says now they will have no one to blame but themselves. They won’t be able to blame Brussels.

But if they think Brexit will weaken the EU, they are wrong, she says.

Iratxe García Pérez, head of the socialist group in the European parliament, is speaking now.

She says, if the British people ever decide to return, the EU arms will always be open to them.

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission, is speaking now.

She pays tribute to contribution made by Britons to the EU, in the commission and in the parliament.

She says the EU will be vigilant in monitoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

She says she wants to be very clear; she wants the EU and the UK to remain good friends and good partners.

They have a lot in common, she says. They both believe climate change must be tackled as a matter of urgency.

Verhofstadt says some people blame the EU because it did not offer enough to David Cameron in his renegotiation.

But he says his view is that the Brexit process started many years ago, when it started offering countries opt-outs.

He says that led to countries only accepting the advantages of the union, not the disadvantages too.

Verhofstadt says MEPs have to consider the causes of Brexit.

He says the UK voted for Brexit to get sovereignty. But it has to consider what sovereignty it will have if it has to plant Chinese telecommunications equipment all over the country.

Verhofstadt says today is not a vote in favour of the principle of Brexit.

It is a vote against a hard Brexit, and against a disorderly Brexit, he says.

If he could vote on Brexit, he would vote against.

He says what is happening is that “a country that liberated us” twice is leaving.

From the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee at 4.30pm, Downing Street said.

In the European parliament the debate on the withdrawal agreement has not quite started yet. We’ve had various procedural interventions first.

The government has lost a legal challenge against high court rulings that it unlawfully discriminated against severely disabled people who were moved on to universal credit (UC), the Press Association reports. In a unanimous judgment, the court of appeal upheld two earlier rulings that people who previously received disability benefits had been less favourably treated as a result of moving on to the controversial benefits scheme. Two severely disabled men who had to apply for UC when they moved to a different local authority area won a declaration that they had been unlawfully discriminated against in June 2018.

Here is Richard Burgon, a candidate for the Labour deputy leadership, has posted this on Twitter about President Trump’s Middle East peace plan.

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin

The European parliament is now debating the EU withdrawal agreement.

There is a live feed here.

Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has posted this on Twitter ahead of his speech.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, another Labour leadership candidate, did not take part when there was a Commons vote on building a third runway at Heathrow in June 2018. But today she has posted this on Twitter, signalling her clear opposition to the plan.

Sir Keir Starmer, Lisa Nandy and Emily Thornberry, the other three remaining leadership candidates, all voted against Heathrow expansion in 2018. Jess Phillips, who was in the contest before withdrawing last week, voted in favour.

Sir Keir Starmer, another Labour leadership candidate, says he would only nominate people to sit in the House of Lords if they were prepared to sign a declaration promising to vote for its abolition.

In the European parliament the debate on the withdrawal agreement has not started yet. MEPs are marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day first.

MEPs are about to start debating the EU withdrawal agreement.

There is a live feed here.

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

UPDATE: Subsequently Downing Street said the decision would not come tomorrow.

Here are some lines from the post-PMQs briefing from Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman.

Boris Johnson’s line at PMQs about the Scottish parliament not debating education for two years sounded very effective when he made it. (See 1.10pm.) But, according to the SNP’s Ross Colquhoun, it wasn’t quite true.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s leader at Westminster, says many people are not happy about Brexit. Will Johnson meet Plaid Cymru to discuss Wales’ prospects after Brexit.

Johnson says he agrees on the need for unity, but Wales voted for Brexit.

Johnson repeats the point about the HS2 announcement coming shortly.

An MP asks if the BBC is a mortal enemy of the Conservative party, or a much-prized national institution.

That is a reference to what Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, used to say about the BBC.

Johnson says the BBC is a much-prized institution. It is not a mortal enemy, he says.

The SNP’s Richard Thomson asks if Johnson will commit to keeping the UK in the Erasmus+ student exchange programme after Brexit.

Johnson says nothing in Brexit will stop students being able to pursue their hopes and dreams around the EU.

Labour’s Meg Hillier asks what Johnson is going to do now to ensure there are more GPs. She says just training more is not good enough, because that takes years.

Johnson says the government is training 6,000 more GPs.

The SNP’s Ronnie Cowan asks Johnson if he agrees that protecting Scotland’s care sector with tailor-made immigration policies are more important than his ideological obsession with cutting immigration.

Johnson claims existing plans take into account Scotland’s needs.

The DUP’s Gregory Campbell asks if Johnson backs plans for pensions for innocent victims of violence in Northern Ireland.

Johnson says the principle that victims must not be to blame for what happened must be maintained in these negotiations.

Andy Carter, a Conservative, asks if the government will hire more doctors.

Johnson says it will. This is the party of delivery and decision and democracy, he says.

Labour’s Karl Turner says seafarers are expected to work for less than the minimum wage. Will Johnson meet MPs to discuss this?

Johnson says he accepts this is a serious issue, and he is happy to take this up. He says the transport secretary will convene a meeting.

Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, asks Johnson if he agrees the government should avoid hypocrisy. She says the government is putting £2bn into fossil fuel programmes abroad.

Johnson says spending on climate change projects has been doubled, and the government is not spending a penny more on coal projects.

The SNP’s Angela Crawley says Scotland should have the power to decide its own immigration policy.

Johnson says he has the highest respect for Scotland and its people. But he has less respect for the SNP, he says.

Johnson says the government is considering whether and how to proceed with HS2. An announcement will be made “very shortly”.

Labour’s Sarah Champion asks if Johnson will make paying for sex illegal.

Johnson says he is willing to look at this idea.

Andrea Jenkyns, a Conservative, says in Yorkshire Brexiters will be celebrating Brexit on Friday.

Johnson says he wishes them well in at the Brexit bash.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, says Michael Gove once said Scotland would be able to decide its immigration policy after Brexit. On Monday the Scottish government published immigration plans. He asks Johnson why he objects to model three in the plan.

Johnson says the idea of having a Scotland-only visa is “fanciful”. Whatever the document says on the page Blackford referred it, it won’t say who would pay for it, he says.

Blackford says the Scottish plans have wide support. They would boost Scotland’s population, improve its economy and protect public services. Scotland was told it would be an equal partner. Will Johnson accept this plan?

Johnson says his points-based immigration system will help the whole of the UK. He says the Scottish parliament has not had a debate on education for two years. Yet today it is debating flying the EU flag, he says.

Sally-Ann Hart, a Conservative, asks for an asssurance that Hastings and Rye, her constituency, will not be overlooked in the PM’s levelling up programme.

Johnson says Hastings will benefit from the government’s infrastructure programme.

Corbyn says 100,000 people died in Yemen last year alone. When the PM goes to Saudia Arabia later this year, will he make it clear that any trade deal will be dependent on improvements in human rights?

Johnson says Corbyn is a supporter of the Iranian regime, which has exacerbated the situation in Yemen he claims. He says the government will continue to support human rights.

Corbyn says he has defended human rights around the world, including in Iran and Russia. He says prisoners in Saudia Arabia are being tortured. Britain is at a crossroads, he says. He says the signs are that Johnson wants to sell out this country, and the NHS, in a trade deal with President Trump. When will Johnson stand up for the fight against climate change, and promote peace?

Johnson says Corbyn stood up for Tehran, and for President Putin when he poisoned people in Britain. Corbyn wants to abolish the armed forces, he says. And he does not support Nato, he says. He says his government is standing up for efforts to educate girls around the world.

Corbyn says Johnson voted against action on climate change on every occasion before be became PM.

He says President Trump’s Middle East peace plan is not a peace plan. When Johnson meets Mike Pompeo, will he call for a genuine peace plan?

Johnson says this problem has bedevilled the world for years. He says this plan is a genuine peace plan, and it could lead to a two-state solution.

Corbyn says he has met Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian authority many times.

He asks if Johnson will stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia while the crisis in Yemen continues.

Johnson says Corbyn should be supporting the British negotiator trying to bring both sides together.

Jeremy Corbyn starts with a tribute to a solider who died this week, and to Nicholas Parsons.

He says COP26 will be one of the biggest tests for the UK after Brexit. Should the UK be financing oil and gas projects across the world?

Johnson says the UK will continue to compaign against carbon emissions around the world. The government has just banned the use of aid money for coal projects.

Corbyn says the government is still financing other carbon projects. The government is currently on track to meet the net zero carbon target by 2099, he says.

Johnson says the UK has reduced CO2 emissions by 42%, while the economy has grown.

Johnson says he wants to assure people that the UK will have the access to the best technology available. But it won’t do anything to imperil intelligence cooperation with the US either.

The SNP’s Carol Monaghan says the UK was a beacon of hope during the second world war for Jews. But when the government rejected the Dubs amendment, the beacon dimmed. Will the government devolve power over immigration to Scotland?

Boris Johnson says the UK can be proud of its record on refugees.

Boris Johnson is due to hold another “People’s PMQs” on Facebook this afternoon at 5pm. For a taste of what to expect, it is worth watching this video he posted on Twitter yesterday.

Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall posted a good thread on Twitter factchecking Johnson’s comments. It starts here.

As British MEPs arrived in the European parliament in Brussels this morning, they were greeted by a sign above the chamber could be seen reading: “It’s not goodbye, it’s au revoir.” As the Press Association reports, the message had been put up by the S&D, a coalition of socialist parties.

Q: Which part of the party does the rancour come from most?

Nandy says she has friends in every part of the Labour party. It is family to her. There are people in parliament she is good friends with, despite not agreeing with them much on policy.

Q: Can you get Momentum and centrists dads to march alongside each other?

Yes, says Nandy. She says the two groups did work together during the election campaign.

She says if people in the Labour party are “just anti”, that will kill the Labour party.

Q: I find your comment about Catalonia offensive. Why did you say what you said?

Nandy says she did not say that the Spanish government was taking the right approach to Catalonia, as the caller claims. She says her words were wilfully distorted by the SNP.

She says the point she was making was that Labour had not been able to counter arguments made by Scottish nationalists.

She says she was talking about the peaceful struggle for social justice in Catalonia.

Of course she was not defending the police treatment of separatists in Catalonia, she says.

She says her remark was distorted by the SNP. The SNP have done this over and over again, she says. They exploit the politics of grievance. She claims that that is because the SNP do not want to talk about her record.

O’Brien asks the caller where he got the idea that Nandy had endorsed violence. He says he cannot see how anyone got that idea from what she said in her Andrew Neil interview, unless they were told that by the SNP.

The caller says he is not claiming that Nandy endorsed violence.

Nandy says Labour supported the idea of having a Brexit referendum. But it had not made the case for EU membership before the campaign began. The campaign was lost before it started, she says.

The FT’s Jim Pickard has tweeted these about his Labour story. (See 10.13am.)

And here’s an extract from his story (paywall).

Labour’s official report into its worst electoral defeat for 80 years has exonerated leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying it would be “unrealistic” not to blame the result on Brexit.

The report was written by election co-ordinators Andrew Gwynne and Ian Lavery and was circulated on Tuesday at a meeting of Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC).

The document concluded there was “no easy way for Labour to address the Brexit issue” given how it divided voters, according to party officials who have seen it.

The authors briefly considered the possibility that Mr Corbyn’s leadership and radical manifesto could have played a role in the epic defeat. But they said this was not the case, arguing neither had been a problem in the 2017 general election, when the party made large electoral gains. “It is unlikely that radicalism per se was the problem in a country looking for change,” the report said.

Mr Corbyn, far from being a weak or divisive leader, was instead the victim of four years of unrelenting attacks on his character, they wrote. This was an “assault without precedent in modern politics”, they said.

Q: Jim Pickard in the FT today says the Labour report into the election says Jeremy Corbyn can be exonerated for what happened. Do you agree?

Nandy says no one can be exonerated for what happened.

Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has been holding a press conference in Brussels. Here are some of the highlights, from my colleague Jennifer Rankin, the Telegraph’s James Crisp, LBC’s Christian Mitchell and Sky’s Adam Parsons.

Brexit is getting closer and closer, and now the instrument of ratification - the document that legally formalises the UK’s withdrawal - has been signed and deposited with the EU. Here is Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, signing it.

And here is Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s ambassador to the EU, handing it in.