Jeremy Corbyn faces 'most difficult moment' with Labour rebels
As he faces more resignations from his top team, can Jeremy Corbyn's authority hold, asks Sky's Tamara Cohen.
Wednesday 8 February 2017 11:57, UK
Today is the point of no return when MPs - the vast majority of whom campaigned for Remain - will vote to trigger Article 50.
We know the result of tonight's vote, but more interesting will be the tensions it unleashes for Jeremy Corbyn's party.
One of his key lieutenants, shadow business secretary Clive Lewis, is poised to resign if no Labour amendments are accepted, which they almost certainly won't be.
He told his largely Remain-supporting constituents at a public meeting last week: "What is up for grabs is what the future looks like. We will be fighting for what the red lines on Article 50 are.
"If, by the end of the process, the bill before us is still an overwhelmingly hard Tory cliff-edge, I am prepared to break the whip and vote against it."
Mr Corbyn's staunch ally and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, who took flak for failing to turn up to the second reading last week due to a migraine, also faces a battle between representing her north London constituents and standing by the leader.
After 47 MPs, including 16 shadow ministers and whips defied Mr Corbyn's order last week, the rebellion could grow, leaving multiple new positions to fill on the frontbench.
For Mr Corbyn, continuing to shuffle the pack of those willing to serve is becoming increasingly difficult.
Along with the reaction in their patch - especially for those in marginal seats - playing on MPs' minds is the fact that Mr Corbyn will most likely accept them back into the top team within months, given the lack of other options.
And that even if he doesn't, they only have the prospect of a long period in opposition to look forward to.
Mr Lewis, a 45-year-old former Army reservist said to have ambitions to lead the party, told his constituents he was "not a delegate, I'm a representative" and would stand up for their views against the leadership, if necessary.
He won his Norwich South seat from the Liberal Democrats. He has also raised the stakes high, and for many of his colleagues, risks losing credibility if he gives in.
Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News this is Labour's "most difficult moment", triggering Article 50 when his party's MPs represent the most Brexit-leaning and most Remain-leaning constituencies in the country.
When it comes to the next stage, the Great Repeal Bill, when the Government will choose which rights enshrined in EU legislation such as workers' rights and regulatory bodies will kept or junked, he says the party will speak "with one voice".
That's what their leader - facing two difficult by-elections, local elections and rumours of an early departure - is hoping for.
But if the events of this evening sharpen Labour's splits, while the Conservatives stay largely united, the tensions could prove difficult to contain.