SOMERSET MPs are forming decisions ahead of a crunch Brexit vote this evening in Parliament.

This morning, Prime Minister Theresa May chaired a cabinet meeting in which her last-minute Brexit agreement with the EU was backed by ministers.

However, fresh legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox says that while the agreements "reduce the risk" the UK could be trapped indefinitely in the backstop, they do not remove it altogether.

Mr Cox's legal advice deals a significant blow to the Prime Minister's hopes of securing MPs' backing for her EU Withdrawal Agreement in the second "meaningful vote" on the deal in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Cox had confirmed that "no significant changes" had been secured in two months of negotiations and the Government's strategy was "in tatters".

Mr Cox's advice was issued the morning after Mrs May's dash to Strasbourg to finalise a deal with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker which she said would deliver "legally-binding" reassurances for MPs to ensure the Irish backstop cannot be permanent.

On a day of high drama in Westminster, the Cabinet gave its backing to the agreement at its weekly meeting chaired by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.

Mrs May said passing the vote would allow the country to move on to a brighter future, while the alternative was uncertainty with no guarantee of what happens next.

She concluded the meeting by telling ministerial colleagues: "Today is the day. Let's get this done."

Somerset MPs have been tweeting about their voting intentions.

James Heappey, who represents the Wells constituency - which included Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge - tweeted in support of former diplomat Christopher Meyer, who backs the deal.

Mr Heappey said: "Vote for the deal. Don’t take No Deal off the table. Don’t vote for delay. Today’s the day to get this done."

Rebecca Pow, Taunton Deane MP, also tweeted her intention to support the deal.

South Somerset MP Marcus Fysh is a member of the European Scrutiny Committee and the International Trade Select Committee.

He has hit out at the Prime Minister's offer.

Ahead of the vote, he said: "Since the Prime Minister returned from Strasbourg there has been overwhelming legal opinion that the Withdrawal Agreement still does not offer certainty over our sovereign ability to leave Backstop and Customs Union arrangements.

"This is the view of the Government’s own Attorney General, senior qualified MPs and QCs and Parliamentary Committee legal experts whom I have consulted.

"We would have to demonstrate ‘bad faith’ on the part of the EU in order to suspend operation of backstop elements, after an arbitration in which the European Court of Justice would have a key role, and this is very difficult indeed.

"I am sure that no one voted for such a Hotel California arrangement, where we can check out but never leave.

"We cannot put the country in a position in which it can leave only by letting Northern Ireland go. It goes against the 2016 Referendum result and the 2017 Election Manifesto on which I stood.

"I will continue to work with the so-called Malthouse Group to negotiate a positive future relationship with the EU whether a deal is agreed or not."

The Malthouse group was a collection of MPs who initally came together behind the scenes to try and come up with their own solution for the Irish backstop, but while avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

It is named for one of its founding members, Housing Minister Kit Malthouse.