Theresa May has published her third Commons motion which allows MPs to add their own amendments on the next stage of the Brexit process.

The latest government motion is written in neutral terms and states: “This house notes the prime minister’s statement on leaving the European Union of 26 February 2019; and further notes that discussions between the UK and the EU are ongoing.”

MPs’ amendments are not legally binding but if any of them get majority support there will be considerable pressure on the government to act on them.

However, some pressure has been taken off Wednesday’s amendments after the prime minister promised on Tuesday to hold another meaningful vote on her Brexit deal on 12 March. If that fails to pass, MPs will be given a vote on leaving with no deal and, if that also fails, on extending article 50 beyond the 29 March departure deadline.

The Speaker will choose which of the following amendments, tabled before the start of the debate, will be put to a vote on Wednesday:

The Labour frontbench has put down an amendment that would give parliament a say on a Brexit deal the party could support, including a full customs union, stronger single market alignment and more robust protection for the environment and workers’ rights.

The five demands on the amendment mirror those sent by Jeremy Corbyn in a letter to Theresa May, spelling out changes the prime minister would need to seek in order to gain Labour support.

The amendment is unlikely to pass and if it does not, the party has committed to support any future amendments at the next voting opportunity, likely to be on 12 March.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper and the Conservatives’ Sir Oliver Letwin had rattled Downing Street with an amendment that would pave the way for a bill to extend article 50, which ministers had threatened to resign in order to support.

Letwin and that amendment’s other Tory backer, Nick Boles, have now said they are happy with the prime minister’s pledge to hold the votes on 13 and 14 March.

However, in order to hold the prime minister to her word, Cooper has tabled an amendment to reiterate May’s statement, in effect forcing the government to vote for her amendment.

Give MPs a vote on the form of the future relationship with the EU

The Tory and Labour MPs Caroline Spelman and Jack Dromey respectively won a vote on an amendment in early February to rule out a no-deal Brexit, though it was not legally binding.

The pair have tabled two further amendments, one of which puts legal guarantees on May’s commitment to give MPs a vote on delaying Brexit.

Like Cooper, Dromey and Spelman may not push their amendment to a vote if they get sufficient assurances from ministers during Wednesday’s debate.

Their second amendment would give MPs a chance to vote on 19 March on the form of the future relationship with the EU.

The amendment of the Conservative backbencher Alberto Costa has drawn the most cross-party support. It calls on the government to implement the part of the withdrawal agreement that includes citizens’ rights at “the earliest opportunity” regardless of the outcome of negotiations.

Supporters include Corbyn, the former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, the chair of the European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP Dominic Grieve, who is a high-profile supporter of a second referendum, and the Brexiter and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has indicated the government will support the amendment, though May sounded more pessimistic about its guarantees when answering questions from MPs on Tuesday.

The Independent Group of former Labour and Tory MPs has tabled an amendment demanding that the government start preparing for a second EU referendum.

The amendment has the support of the Scottish National party (SNP), the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru and is aimed at provoking a further split in Labour by wooing MPs who want the party to support a new vote immediately.

Chris Leslie, who defected from Labour last week, called on his former party for support. “If the Labour leadership support this amendment, we could make real progress on a ‘people’s vote’.”

In reality, Labour’s leadership is unlikely to support the amendment because Corbyn wants to pursue his own Brexit plan.

Keep no deal on the table

The Conservative Eurosceptic John Baron has a caveat in his amendment, which says that “an extension to article 50 cannot take no deal off the table”. It has been signed by two other Brexiters, Mike Penning and Henry Smith.

The Green party MP Caroline Lucas has tabled an amendment calling for the government to rule out no deal on environmental grounds.

The amendment “expresses alarm at the disastrous implications of a no-deal Brexit for the UK’s environment, including vital protections for wildlife, nature and the marine environment, and calls on the government to urgently rule out a no-deal scenario.” It has cross-party support, including from the former Labour leader Ed Miliband and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts.

Tabled by the Lib Dem leader, Vince Cable, this amendment calls on the government to create “an emergency Brexit support fund of at least £7.5bn to mitigate job losses caused by Brexit uncertainty.”

It notes an estimated 750,000 people “would become jobless if the UK left the EU with no deal”.

This amendment from the SNP’s Angus MacNeil says the government should revoke article 50 so the UK cannot crash out without a deal. It has been signed by the Conservative remainer Ken Clarke.

Rule out no deal at any possible date

The SNP and Plaid Cymru have tabled an amendment suggesting the UK should not leave without a deal at any time, even if article 50 is extended.

This amendment from Plaid Cymru says Brexit should be delayed until the end of 2021 and that the government should “honour the will” of the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly, which have called for a delay to the process.</s>Speaker John Bercow has selected five amendments to be considered as MPs prepare for the latest votes on the Government’s negotiating strategy for Brexit.

Any successful amendments will not have the force of law but will carry heavy political weight as a signal to Downing Street and Brussels of what kind of Brexit MPs are likely to approve.

Here’s a look at the key amendments:

Tory backbencher Alberto Costa is demanding Mrs May seeks a treaty on citizens’ rights after Brexit. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said the Government backs his amendment.

His amendment, which has the backing of more than 140 MPs from across the House, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, calls for a separate agreement with the European Union to protect the rights of expats even if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Cooper

 Labour former minister Yvette Cooper has tabled an amendment seeking to pin the Prime Minister down to the commitments she made to the Commons on Tuesday.

Mrs May offered MPs a chance to vote to delay Brexit if her deal is rejected again next month, in a move which closely matched demands put forward in a plan by Ms Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin.

While Sir Oliver said there was now “no need” for the Cooper/Letwin Bill, Ms Cooper said she would lay a cross-party amendment to secure confirmation of the Prime Minister’s commitment.

Spelman/Dromey

 Conservative MP Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour’s Jack Dromey, who last month tabled a successful amendment opposing a no-deal Brexit, have tabled an amendment to “pave the way” for the Cooper/Letwin Bill to give MPs the opportunity to extend the two-year Article 50 negotiation process.

The pair said they would seek assurances from ministers to secure confirmation of the Prime Minister’s commitments during the debate on Wednesday.

They said if they receive the assurances they will not push the amendment to a vote.

Labour

 Jeremy Corbyn’s amendment seeks support for his party’s five Brexit demands.

The party is calling for a permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU; dynamic alignment on rights and protections; commitments on participation in EU agencies and funding programmes; “unambiguous” agreements on the detail of future security arrangements; and close alignment with the single market.

Liberal Democrats have tagged their own amendment on to Mr Corbyn’s proposals, calling for an extension of Article 50 to provide time for a referendum.

The SNP’s amendment requires the PM to immediately rule out a no-deal Brexit “under any and all circumstances” and regardless of exit date.

The party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Parliament must take control and “force the UK Government to do the right thing by immediately ruling out a no-deal Brexit under any and all circumstances”.</s>The government has caved in to pressure over the fate of EU citizens in the event of a no-deal Brexit and agreed to go back to Brussels to seek a deal to ringfence their rights.

Its decision follows a morning of chaos during whichthe Conservative MP who tabled the amendment proposing the move was forced to quit his government post, and the home secretary said he saw “nothing wrong” with the plan even though Theresa May had dismissed it a day earlier.

Just hours after Alberto Costa resigned, the Cabinet Office minister David Lidington told MPs the government supported him and would take his plan up with the EU. “In view of the fact our political objectives are the same, the government will accept the amendment today and take it up with the commission,” he said.

The amendment calls on May to seek “at the earliest opportunity a joint UK-EU commitment to adopt” the part of the withdrawal agreement securing the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British nationals settled in the EU, whatever the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

While Lidington said the government took the rights of EU citizens including British nationals settled in the bloc “extremely seriously”, he warned that MPs should not “underestimate the challenge” in persuading the EU.

The events leading up to the statement were branded a “shambles” by the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, following a clash between MPs and the home secretary over the amendment.

Sajid Javid appeared blindsided when he told MPs on a select committee that there was nothing wrong with the amendment only to be told the government had indicated it would not be backing it. “When did you hear that? From who?” he asked them.

When told it had been the prime minister, Javid replied: “Did you? Right, ok”, before adding: “I’m perfectly happy with that amendment.”

There was further confusion when an hour later, Costa left his post as parliamentary private secretary to the Scotland secretary, David Mundell.

Sources close to Costa said he was given no option but to resign, after tabling the amendment. A source said: “It seems ridiculous for the government to be sacking a parliamentary private secretary over an amendment that has cross–party support and the support of upwards of 60 Tory backbenchers and Sajid Javid.”

Starmer told the house the chaos was a “vignette on how Brexit has been going”.

A Downing Street spokesman said Costa had not been sacked. “He resigned from the government,” he said. “You will be aware that there is a longstanding convention that members of the government payroll, including PPSs, don’t table amendments to government bills. Clearly this is an issue that he feels very strongly about and so he has chosen to resign.”

He said it was “absolutely wrong to say the PM signalled at any stage that the government would oppose” the amendment. The proposal would have passed comfortably even if the government had not supported it as it had both the support of the Labour party and more than 60 Tory backbenchers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Costa, the son of Italian immigrants, has been quietly lobbying May over EU citizens’ rights for two years.

Alberto Costa MP (@AlbertoCostaMP) 1/4 Can’t begin to say how brilliant it is to see my amendment in black and white on the order paper today. I’m hugely grateful to those colleagues who have very kindly supported my amendment to ringfence rights for those EU citizens in the UK and those in UK citizens in the EU. pic.twitter.com/zrhwN9ljpw

The home secretary also came under sustained attack for the registration system the government is about to launch nationally for EU citizens.

The Labour MP Stephen Doughty described the “settled status” scheme as a shambles and told Javid the basis of registration was discriminatory as it required EU citizens to request rights they already had.

It would also recategorise them in a no-deal scenario as a cohort of the population who did not have rights if they did not have a settled status.

“�?If people are having to secure those rights then, by definition, they don’t have those rights,” Doughty said. “You are at risk of having Windrush all over again.

“In a hostile environment, they are going to be at risk of not being able to access services, not being able to access housing, potentially being detained by the immigration authorities.”</s>Speaker John Bercow has selected five amendments to be considered as MPs prepare for the latest votes on the Government’s negotiating strategy for Brexit.

Any successful amendments will not have the force of law but will carry heavy political weight as a signal to Downing Street and Brussels of what kind of Brexit MPs are likely to approve.

Here’s a look at the key amendments:

Tory backbencher Alberto Costa is demanding Mrs May seeks a treaty on citizens’ rights after Brexit. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said the Government backs his amendment.

His amendment, which has the backing of more than 140 MPs from across the House, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, calls for a separate agreement with the European Union to protect the rights of expats even if there is a no-deal Brexit.

Cooper

 Labour former minister Yvette Cooper has tabled an amendment seeking to pin the Prime Minister down to the commitments she made to the Commons on Tuesday.

Mrs May offered MPs a chance to vote to delay Brexit if her deal is rejected again next month, in a move which closely matched demands put forward in a plan by Ms Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin.

While Sir Oliver said there was now “no need” for the Cooper/Letwin Bill, Ms Cooper said she would lay a cross-party amendment to secure confirmation of the Prime Minister’s commitment.

Spelman/Dromey

 Conservative MP Dame Caroline Spelman and Labour’s Jack Dromey, who last month tabled a successful amendment opposing a no-deal Brexit, have tabled an amendment to “pave the way” for the Cooper/Letwin Bill to give MPs the opportunity to extend the two-year Article 50 negotiation process.

The pair said they would seek assurances from ministers to secure confirmation of the Prime Minister’s commitments during the debate on Wednesday.

They said if they receive the assurances they will not push the amendment to a vote.

Labour

 Jeremy Corbyn’s amendment seeks support for his party’s five Brexit demands.

The party is calling for a permanent and comprehensive customs union with the EU; dynamic alignment on rights and protections; commitments on participation in EU agencies and funding programmes; “unambiguous” agreements on the detail of future security arrangements; and close alignment with the single market.

Liberal Democrats have tagged their own amendment on to Mr Corbyn’s proposals, calling for an extension of Article 50 to provide time for a referendum.

The SNP’s amendment requires the PM to immediately rule out a no-deal Brexit “under any and all circumstances” and regardless of exit date.

The party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Parliament must take control and “force the UK Government to do the right thing by immediately ruling out a no-deal Brexit under any and all circumstances”.</s>Downing Street confirmed Alberto Costa has left his role as a parliamentary private secretary after he put forward an amendment asking Theresa May to pursue a separate agreement with the EU enshrining the rights of British citizens in the EU and vice-versa even in the event of no-deal. Number 10 says he was asked to resign because it is convention that members of the administration do not propose amendments on the government’s motions. The Prime Minister believes Mr Costa’s amendment to be impractical, saying the EU does not think it has the authority to make such a treaty.

However, just an hour before Mr Costa’s resignation, Home Secretary Sajid Javid told a Commons select committee there was “nothing wrong” with the South Leicestershire MP’s amendment. Mr Costa had been parliamentary private secretary to Scottish Secretary David Mundell and sources close to him told the Guardian he had been given no option but to resign. A further source said: “It seems ridiculous for the government to be sacking a parliamentary private secretary over an amendment that has cross-party support and the support of upwards of 60 Tory backbenchers and Sajid Javid.” Mr Costa's amendment has support of a huge cross-section of parliament with 60 Tory MPs, including Brexiterrs Jacob Rees-Mog, Dominic Raab and Iain Duncan-Smith, in favour of the amendment.

The amendment is also being backed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, The Independent Group’s Chuka Umunna, Liberal Democrats leader Sir Vince Cable, former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas and the DUP’s Nigel Dodds. The proposal “requires the Prime Minister to seek at the earliest opportunity a joint UK-EU commitment to adopt part two of the Withdrawal Agreement on Citizens’ Rights and ensure its implementation prior to the UK’s exiting the European Union, whatever the outcome of negotiations on other aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement.”. The amendment has been selected by Speaker John Bercow and if moved later this evening is expected to stand a good chance at passing. Addressing the House of Commons yesterday, Theresa May indicated there is no “legal authority” for the side deal without permission of the remaining EU27.

But in an extraordinary select committee exchange today, Mr Javid appeared not to know about Mrs May’s reservations. He was asked: “Is the government supporting the Costa amendment now?” The Home Secretary replied, “When was the government not supporting it?” “I’m perfectly happy with that amendment. What Mr Costa is doing with this amendment is trying to find more ways for parliament to give that reassurance. “This is a backbench amendment and the government supports the amendment in that it sets out to achieve the principles we all agree on.” This afternoon, Number 10 moved to dismiss suggestions Mr Costa was sacked because he tabled an amendment with which Theresa May disagrees.</s>The fate of a backbench amendment seeking to guarantee EU citizens’ rights is up in the air after the home secretary backed it and then the MP who tabled it was forced to resign from the government.

Sajid Javid said the government would support the amendment laid by the Conservative MP Alberto Costa to ringfence EU citizens’ future rights under a no-deal Brexit, hours after Theresa May dismissed it as unworkable.

But less than an hour after Javid made his comments, Costa left his post as parliamentary private secretary to the Scotland secretary, David Mundell.

Sources close to Costa said he was given no option but to resign, after tabling the amendment calling on May to seek an urgent meeting with the EU to do a side deal securing the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British nationals settled in the EU, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

A source said: “It seems ridiculous for the government to be sacking a parliamentary private secretary over an amendment that has cross-party support and the support of upwards of 60 Tory backbenchers and Sajid Javid.”

In an extraordinary exchange at a select committee, Javid told MPs there was “nothing wrong” with the amendment.

But he admitted he had not heard May’s comments in the House of Commons on Tuesday, when she claimed it would have no chance of success in Brussels.

On Tuesday, the prime minister told the house the EU had said there was no “legal authority” to do a side deal on citizens’ rights without the permission of the other 27 member states. Costa said this was disingenuous, as all May had to do was go to the Council of Europe and ask leaders to mandate the European commission to do a deal.

When asked by an MP on the home affairs select committee what was wrong with the Costa amendment, Javid replied: “Nothing.”

The Scottish National party MP Stuart McDonald asked for clarity: “So is the government supporting that now?”

Javid replied that it was and asked: “When was the government not supporting it?”

Costa, the son of Italian immigrants, has been quietly lobbying May over EU citizens’ rights for two years.

More than 60 Conservative MPs have backed it, including the Brexiters Jacob Rees-Mogg, Dominic Raab and Iain Duncan Smith.

On Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn also swung behind it, giving the amendment a strong chance of succeeding if selected by the Speaker for debate and a possible vote on Wednesday.

Returning to the point at the end of the committee meeting, Javid admitted he had not heard what the prime minister had said about the Costa amendment, while confirming the government would be backing it, but said he had “low expectations” that it would result in a deal with the EU.

“I’m perfectly happy with that amendment. What Mr Costa is doing with this amendment is trying to find more ways for parliament to give that reassurance,” he said.

“This is a backbench amendment and the government supports the amendment in that it sets out to achieve the principles we all agree on.”

The home secretary also came under sustained attack for the registration system the government is about to launch nationally for EU citizens.

The Labour MP Stephen Doughty described the “settled status” scheme as a shambles and told Javid the basis of registration was discriminatory as it required EU citizens to request rights they already had.

It would also re-categorise them in a no-deal scenario as a cohort of the population who did not have rights if they did not have a settled status ID.

“‘If people are having to secure those rights then, by definition, they don’t have those rights,” Doughty said. “You are at risk of having Windrush all over again.

“In a hostile environment, they are going to be at risk of not being able to access services, not being able to access housing, potentially being detained by the immigration authorities.”</s>Alberto Costa, MP for South Leicestershire, has resigned from the Government over an amendment he tabled in Parliament.

Alberto Costa, the Conservative MP for South Leicestershire, has been forced out of his job in the Government as parliamentary private secretary to the Scotland secretary, David Mundell. He will continue to sit as a Tory MP.

He had tabled an amendment calling on May to seek an urgent meeting with the EU to secure the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British nationals settled in the EU, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

The amendment was subsequently backed by the Home Secretary Sajid Javid, and apparently around 60 Tory MPs, as well as members of other parties and the new Independent Group. The amendment had support from all sides of the Brexit argument, including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Raab as well as the DUP, Jeremy Corbyn and Chuka Umunna.

But Theresa May branded it as unworkable stating in Parliament on Tuesday that the EU had “legal authority” to do a deal on citizens’ rights without the permission of the other 27 member states. Mr Costa had pointed out that all the PM had to do was go to the Council of the Europe Union (made up of national Governments of EU states) and ask them to give the EU Commission the power to deal with the matter.</s>Theresa May fired a ministerial aide today for trying to force the Government to bolster its protections for EU citizens after Brexit today.

Alberto Costa has tabled an amendment to tonight's non-binding Brexit votes in defiance of Government policy.

He was sacked as an aide to Scotland Secretary David Mundell as the proposal picked up dozens of signatures from across the Commons.

The plan demands Britain fully implements the section of the divorce deal applying to citizens' rights regardless of whether the deal is agreed by exit day.

Mr Costa's proposal appeared to have won Government support this morning as it was endorsed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid - who insisted he was 'perfectly happy' with it.

But within hours Government sources confirmed he had been sacked. Mr Javid appeared unaware of Mrs May's objection to the plan this morning.

Labour is also supporting the amendment and Mr Costa said yesterday it would be a 'farce' if the Government did not back down.

He said his amendment, which already has support from 130 MPs ranging from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Tory arch-Eurosceptic Mr Rees-Mogg, would give the Prime Minister a mandate to push for a change with her fellow EU leaders.

The amendment calls on Mrs May to seek at 'the earliest opportunity a joint UK-EU commitment to adopt part two of the withdrawal agreement on citizens' rights and ensure its implementation prior to the UK's exiting the European Union, whatever the outcome of negotiations on other aspects of the withdrawal agreement'.

Welcoming the broad support for his plan this morning, Mr Costa tweeted: 'This issue transcends party politics, we are not dealing in borders or backstops, but people's lives and their livelihoods.

'I have been hugely encouraged by the messages of support and hope received from thousands of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens abroad.

'I very much hope, and look forward, to be taking my amendment forward today with support from MPs across the House, to give the Government a mandate to seek reciprocal citizens rights in order to bring EU and UK citizens the protections they both need and deserve.'

Mr Javid was grilled on the plan by SNP MP Stuart McDonald at the Home Affairs Committee this morning.

He said the Government was backing the amendment - prompting Mr McDonald to say he was 'delighted' to hear of the change.

Mr Javid exclaimed: 'What do you mean ''now''? When was it not supporting it? When did you hear that?'

Told Mrs May had opposed the amendment yesterday, Mr Javid stumbled and said: 'Right, okay. Well, I'm perfectly happy with that amendment.'

Mrs May said yesterday that the amendment would not work because while Britain was able to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living here it could not force EU countries to do the same.

She said: 'The EU does not have the legal authority to do a separate deal on the EU citizens' rights without a mandate.

'If it's not within that withdrawal agreement then it is a matter for individual states, and we have already taken that up with individual states.'

Mr Costa told her: 'If she says the [European] commission can't do it, what she needs to do is go to all the EU leaders and get them to tell the commission to take it off the table.

'She promised to protect citizens' rights more than two years ago and has failed to do so.

'The EU have asked us what we want and we will show them this is what we want.'

He told the Guardian: 'This is not about the single market or the customs union, this is about the rights of innocent people, most of whom did not have a say in the referendum, including British nationals in the EU.'</s>An MP sacked as parliamentary aide to the Scottish Secretary accused the UK Government of using EU citizens in the UK as a “bargaining chip” over the past two and a half years.

Alberto Costa was forced as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to David Mundell after lodging an amendment calling for the UK to seek agreement with Brussels on citizens rights even in a no-deal - even though his proposal was accepted by ministers.

Addressing MPs after losing his job in government, Mr Costa said it was a “very sad state of affairs” that his amendment was needed, and said the rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in the EU “should never have been used as a bargaining chip”.

The amendment passed without a vote last night, with the government avoiding likely defeat after more than 140 MPs from all parties said they backed it.

Born in Scotland to Italian parents who have lived in the UK for decades without claiming British citizenship, Mr Costa has sought firm guarantees for EU citizens in all Brexit outcomes since the referendum in 2016. He was knighted by the Italian government in 2017 for his campaigning on behalf of European citizens.

The Prime Minister’s spokespeople said Mr Costa had resigned after breaking the convention that members of the government do not put down amendments to government business.

However, one government source said the South Leicestershire MP had been called in to the whips’ office shortly before quitting. Another source confirmed that Mr Costa had been “sacked”.

It sparked anger in the Scotland Office and many Tory MPs, with whom Mr Costa is a popular figure. One source at Dover House said Mr Costa was a “huge asset” to Mr Mundell’s department and described his exit as a “loss”, while another was quoted as saying his treatment had been “appalling”.

In a post on social media, the Scottish Secretary said he was “very sorry” to lose Mr Costa has his PPS. At Holyrood, the Tory finance spokesman Murdo Fraser called the sacking “hard to understand” and said Mr Costa “should be rewarded not punished”.

Mr Costa met with Theresa May following his resignation, and her spokespeople stressed the Prime Minister’s “deep admiration” for his work.

There had been confusion earlier in the day when Home Secretary Sajid Javid told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that he saw “nothing” wrong with the amendment, only for SNP MP Stuart McDonald to point out the Prime Minister had suggested it was legally unworkable the day before.

Mr Costa told the Commons that citizens’ rights “should never have been used as a bargaining chip during the negotiations for our withdrawal from the EU. That such rights were placed on the table in the first place was wrong.” Rights should have been ‘ring fenced’ in negotiations “at the outset”, Mr Costa added.

Mr McDonald said it was “shameful, and deeply ironic, that the first time someone in the Scotland Office actually does their job... they are swiftly given the sack”.</s>Labour accused Theresa May of sacking Alberto Costa over his amendment, even though the government ended up supporting the measure GETTY IMAGES

A ministerial aide was forced to resign over an amendment he tabled on EU citizens’ rights, despite having government support for the measure.

Downing Street announced that Alberto Costa had quit his unpaid role as parliamentary private secretary to David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, after tabling the amendment the previous evening.

David Lidington, the cabinet office minister, said the government would accept the amendment in the Commons, which is aimed at protecting the rights of EU citizens living in Britain in case of a no-deal Brexit. His announcement was greeted by Labour MPs asking: “Why has he been sacked then?”

A Tory source said that it was the convention that members of the administration should not table amendments to government motions.
Conservative MP Alberto Costa tables an amendment to secure the rights of EU citizens within the UK and UK citizens abroad. Theresa May tells Commons she opposes the amendment; Home Secretary Sajid Javid subsequently supports it, apparently unaware of May's opposition. Costa resigns as parliamentary private secretary to Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who supports the amendment. The government subsequently announces it will support the amendment.