MPS are set to begin putting forward their various preferred ways forward on Brexit this evening after Theresa May makes a Commons statement in which she is expected to emphasise the need to change the Irish backstop to get majority support at Westminster.

After her withdrawal plan was comprehensively rejected by the Commons last week with a record 230-majority against it, the Prime Minister appears, nonetheless, to be sticking steadfastly to her red lines as she sets out what she sees as the next steps in the process.

No 10 pointed out that, technically, Mrs May’s statement would be a “neutral motion,” which MPs can put down amendments to; the choice as to which ones will be debated and voted on Tuesday week will be up to John Bercow, the Commons Speaker.

Downing St also noted how if there were a majority for any one of the amendments, they would not be legally-binding on the Government; although, politically, the PM would incur a barrage of anger and objection from MPs if she tried to ignore the will of the House.

Among those amendments expected to be tabled are: Labour’s for Britain to be in a customs union and have a very close relationship to the EU’s single market; the SNP’s to extend Article 50 and have a People’s Vote; a Norway-Plus option and a Canada-Plus option.

One amendment, from Tory backbencher Andrew Murrison, which was rejected for debate last week but which could be revived, would put a sunset clause on the Irish backstop of December 2022.

A group of MPs, including senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Tory former minister Nick Boles, is seeking to give time for a bill to suspend the Article 50 withdrawal process if there were no new deal with Brussels by the end of February.

Ms Cooper said: “She [Mrs May] knows that she should rule out no-deal in the national interest because it would be so damaging. She's refusing to do so and she's hoping Parliament will do this for her; that is not leadership."

A more radical move proposed by Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative Attorney General, would allow a motion by a minority of 300 MPs - from at least five parties and including 10 Tories - to be debated as the first item of Commons business the next day.

The Buckinghamshire MP denied he was seeking to prevent Britain leaving the EU after Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, accused pro-Remain MPs of trying to "hijack" the 2016 referendum vote.

The golden scenario for the PM is in three parts:

*firstly, she sees a plan to change the backstop arrangements get majority support in next Tuesday’s Commons indicative vote;

*secondly, she will then go to Brussels and successfully urge the EU27 to change the Withdrawal Agreement on the backstop – even though it has steadfastly refused to do so thus far, and

*thirdly, Mrs May would then make the amended UK-EU plan the subject of a second “meaningful vote,” which MPs pass sometime in February.

Needless to say, there are many hurdles to overcome for the PM to get her way not just in the Commons but also on the continent; any change to the Withdrawal Agreement would technically need the support of all the parliaments across the EU27.

Yet the thinking at Westminster is that if she can, through the parliamentary process, eliminate as many alternatives to her original plan as possible and get some sort of concession on the backstop from Brussels – warning it that the alternative would be a calamitous no-deal – then it might be possible that Mrs May could get her tweaked Plan A through the Commons.

At the weekend, while Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested a change on the backstop would help win over ardent Brexiteers like himself and while he said a no-deal outcome was preferable to the PM’s proposal, the Somerset MP also noted that if the choice were between her plan and no Brexit, then he would back the former.

And this morning, Jacek Czaputowicz, Poland's Foreign Minister, saw the first crack in the EU27 façade as he suggested the Irish border issue could be solved if the backstop were time-limited to five years, warning Dublin had the most to lose from a no-deal outcome.

He accused the UK and Ireland of playing a "game of chicken" over the border wrangle and suggested it would end with a "frontal collision" unless a compromise were found.

Meanwhile, the European Commission made clear that Brussels believed the ball was now in London's court on Brexit. A spokesman told reporters: "Don't look for answers from Brussels. Now is the moment for London to speak, not for us."

Elsewhere, David Lidington, the PM’s de facto deputy, was continuing talks on the way forward for Brexit with parliamentarians from across the Commons.

A group of MPs backing a second referendum, including Labour's Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and Chris Leslie, who defied Jeremy Corbyn’s instruction not to engage in No 10 talks, and Conservatives Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston were seen entering the Cabinet Office for talks.

Government sources said Mrs May would herself be holding further talks with MPs as well as business leaders and trade unionists throughout the week in an attempt to find a way forward.

In other developments:

*No 10 brushed aside suggestions UK ministers were considering trying to amend the Good Friday Agreement or come up with a bilateral agreement with Dublin to get round the Irish backstop impasse.

*Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, suggested Labour might not back a second referendum unless the UK were "about to hit the wall of no-deal".

*Richard Harrington, the Business Minister, warned crashing out of the EU without a deal would be an "absolute disaster" as he urged the PM to rule out a no-deal Brexit.

*Mr Rees-Mogg has said he would be open to the idea of Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, joining the Conservative Party in the future but noted: “Perhaps a little bit more purdah is required."

*Helen McEntee, Ireland's European Affairs Minister, ruled out bilateral talks on Brexit with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists and any other political party in the UK.

*The UK Governments and its Spanish counterpart signed an agreement to safeguard voting rights in local elections for their citizens residing in the other country regardless of the way Brexit unfolds.