UK parliament to vote on Theresa May’s Brexit bill

Shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, British MPs face a choice that will affect the country's 66 million citizens for many years to come. The so-called "meaningful vote" will take place later as five days of debate on Brexit come to an end.

May has called for politicians to back her deal or risk "letting the British people down".

But with many of her own MPs expected to join opposition parties to vote against the deal, it is widely expected to be defeated.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will open the last day of debate at about 12:50 GMT, with May due to close the debate with a speech from about 18:30 GMT.

They will either vote to support Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, negotiated with the European Union, and set the country on its final road to leaving the EU on March 29. Or they will vote against it, leaving the UK Parliament, and the country, in the state of limbo it has inhabited for two-and-a-half years.

By every calculation and prediction, May will lose the vote. Her ruling Conservative Party and its ally, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), hold a bare majority in the 650-seat Parliament, but some estimates predict May's Brexit bill could be defeated by more than 100 votes.

The Prime Minister has spent the past week pushing hard for support for her deal.

The PM told the House of Commons on Monday that a "no deal" Brexit could lead to the break up of the United Kingdom and appealed to MPs to give her plans a "second look."

Even EU leaders tried to help May's campaign by issuing a statement on Monday setting out assurances that the controversial backstop, an insurance policy to prevent a hard border in Ireland, would only be temporary -- but pro-Brexit lawmakers remained skeptical because the assurances carried no additional legal force.

It is likely she will deliver a speech in the Commons shortly after the vote setting out her next steps, including possibly an alternative plan that she can take back to the European Union for approval -- and then get through Parliament.