Cabinet ministers have backed Theresa May's draft Brexit agreement.

In a statement outside 10 Downing Street after a five-hour cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister said ministers had reached consensus following a "long, detailed and impassioned debate".

The move clears the way for a special Brexit summit in Brussels - probably on November 25 - for EU leaders to approve the deal, followed by a crucial Commons vote in which MPs will decide Britain's future.

Ms May told journalists the draft withdrawal agreement was the "best that could be negotiated" and the decision to accept it was "not taken lightly".

"The choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland backstop, but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration," she added.

The Prime Minister said the agreement was a "decisive step" which she claimed would enable the government to "move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead".

She said: "When you strip away the detail the choice before us is clear - this deal which delivers on the vote of the referendum, which brings back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protects jobs, security and our union, or leave with no deal or no Brexit at all.

"I know there will be difficult days ahead. This is a decision that will come under intense scrutiny and that is entirely as it should be and entirely understandable."

Ms May announced she will make a statement to the House of Commons tomorrow and concluded: "I firmly believe, with my head and my heart that this is a decision which is in the best interests of the United Kingdom."

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, said: "We welcome the positive progress made in the negotiations by Michel Barnier and his team, who have consistently fought for the interests of the European Union.

"It is encouraging to see that we are moving towards a fair deal that should ensure an orderly withdrawal, including a backstop guaranteeing that there will be no hardening of the Northern Irish/Irish border and that the Good Friday Agreement will be safeguarded.

"This deal is a milestone towards a credible and sustainable future relationship between the EU and the UK.

"It is now up to elected parliamentarians on both sides of the Channel to do their work and scrutinise the proposed deal, including the political declaration and the framework for future relationship."

Mr Barnier said the draft agreement made clear Northern Ireland would retain "unfettered market access to the rest of the UK".

"For competition to be open and fair in such a single customs territory we have agreed provisions on state aid, competition, taxation, social and environmental standards," he said.

"This will guarantee that both EU and UK manufacturing will compete on a level playing field.

"An essential condition for the single customs territory to cover fisheries... will be to agree between the Union and the UK on access to waters and fishing opportunities."

Turning to the declaration on the future relationship, Mr Barnier said it proposed an "ambitious partnership, which we want, which is a free trade area based on regulatory and customs co-operation, in depth and with a level playing field".

"Our objective is to abolish customs duties and quotas for all goods based on what we are proposing in the withdrawal agreement - a single customs territory."

There would be a new agreement on fisheries and sectoral agreements in transport and energy. The future relationship would also cover justice, security and foreign policy co-operation.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the UK Parliament was being "blackmailed" into accepting the agreement rather than risk leaving the EU without a deal in place.

She said: "It is obvious that the Prime Minister can barely unite her cabinet on this deal, and ‎it is also increasingly clear that she will struggle to get a majority for it in Parliament.

"In these circumstances it is more important than ever that we are not faced with a false choice between a bad deal and no deal.

"No one should be effectively blackmailed into a choice between the frying pan or the fire.

"This proposed deal would be a bad one for Scotland, taking us out of a single market eight times the size of the UK market alone and posing a huge threat to jobs, investment and living standards.

"If this deal is indeed rejected by Parliament then the UK Government must return to the negotiating table to secure a better one.

"Our bottom line - short of continued EU membership - is continued, permanent membership of the single market and customs union."

In a letter to Conservative MPs, chairman of the eurosceptic European Research Group Jacob Rees-Mogg said they should not support the deal.

"The proposed agreement will see the UK hand over £39bn to the EU for little or nothing in return," Mr Rees-Mogg said.

The deal is "unacceptable to unionists", will "lock us into an EU customs union and EU laws" and is "profoundly undemocratic," he added.

Arlene Foster, whose DUP party props up Ms May's minority administration in the Commons, warned the PM there would be "consequences" if her deal treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the deal would "not satisfy anyone" and renewed his party's call for a People's Vote on the terms of leaving.

He said: "This Conservative government is in total chaos. The veneer of unity in the cabinet will not secure unity in the country, parliament or even their own party.

"This deal will not satisfy anyone regardless of whether they voted leave or remain. Instead Brexit will hurt the pockets of ordinary people and leave the UK weakened.

"Theresa May has a chance to steer the UK away from the cliff edge. She should call a People's Vote and give the public the power to choose what happens next."

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said it would be worse for Scotland to crash out of the EU with no agreement, so he was happy to give the draft deal his backing.

Meanwhile, Scottish Greens Europe spokesman Ross Greer MSP said: "This is a bad deal for Scotland. Holyrood should debate it and reject it as soon as possible."

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard also said the deal was bad for Scotland.

He added: "Labour has been clear from the beginning that we need a deal to support jobs and the economy - one that guarantees standards and protections.

"The Tories have let down the country with their bungled negotiations and pushed Britain towards a bad deal that will harm jobs, rights and living standards.

"The deal undermines the integrity of the UK and would be another example of the Tories playing into the hands of the SNP by putting the future of the UK at risk through their ineptitude and recklessness.

"Ruth Davidson and David Mundell threatened to resign if the integrity of the UK was put at risk - and it appears Theresa May has simply ignored them."

Following Theresa May's statement, the 585-page document detailing the agreement has been made available. You can find it here