Jeremy Corbyn called on cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill to rule that the prime minister cannot go ahead with a no-deal Brexit if there is a general election, saying it would be an “anti-democratic abuse of power”.
Andy McDonald, shadow cabinet secretary, called on Sir Mark to be the “voice of sanity” if Boris Johnson tries to push ahead with no deal despite losing a confidence vote in the Commons.
It came as transport minister George Freeman suggested a no-deal exit would be an “absolute disaster” which would keep the Tories “out of office for two decades”. The Conservatives were accused of “breaking the economy” after GDP figures showed the UK economy shrank.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warned Boris Johnson the Metropolitan Police is "under-resourced and over-stretched" and needs more police officers urgently to deal with knife crime.
His plea to the prime minister came just days after a 28-year-old policeman was seriously injured when he was attacked by a man with a machete in Leyton, east London.
And foreign secretary Dominic Raab called for an independent investigation into recent events in Hong Kong during a phone call with the city's chief executive.
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond. Jeremy Corbyn has written to the cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, asking him to rule that Boris Johnson cannot push ahead with a no-deal Brexit on 31 October if we are in the midst of a general election.
Here’s our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan with more on Jeremy Corbyn’s letter to Sir Mark Sedwill.
Corbyn calls on head of civil service to stop Johnson forcing through no-deal Brexit during general election campaign
Move comes amid fears Downing Street is preparing for Brexit on 31 October by any means necessaryThe cabinet secretary is expected to offer “some voice of sanity” if Boris Johnson tries to push ahead with a no-deal Brexit despite losing a confidence vote, Labour has said.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald, asked if it is the job of Sir Mark Sedwill to give a ruling, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “When the prime minister of the day is intent on departing from protocols, custom and practice that has served us well over many hundreds of years, we do need to have some voice of sanity.
“If it cannot come from the politician and immediate adviser to the prime minister, then we have no other choice than to go to the head of the civil service and say ‘you’re the custodian of the civil service, you’ve got a role to play here and we do expect you to intervene and guide and advise’.”
Mr McDonald said Labour is committed to putting “whatever deal is negotiated back to the people”.
Pressed if Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would be leading a government which wants to remain in the EU or negotiating to leave, Mr McDonald said: “We would be negotiating a deal and we could go down these hypothetical rabbit holes forever.”
Sir Vince Cable said the Liberal Democrats and a “significant number” of Tories would support a no-confidence motion in the government.
Speaking on BBC’s Newsnight, the former Lib Dem leader said there would be wide support for an “emergency administration” to take over if Boris Johnson loses a motion of no confidence.
Sir Vince said some MPs would not be able to support a new government led by Jeremy Corbyn, but that they may be able to support a “more broadly based group”.
He said parliament would reject a no-deal Brexit because the “consequences are so dire”. He also said when no-deal is “staring MPs in the face” many would “get behind” an emergency administration.
Sir Vince added: “We would certainly support a no confidence motion, and I think a significant number of Tories would do as well. And that is the way we are going to stop this.”
Chancellor Sajid Javid is “fast-tracking” plans to fund multi-billion pound public spending pledges in a move that will fuel speculation of a looming general election.
Here’s Lizzy Buchan with the latest.
Boris Johnson fuels early election speculation as chancellor fast-tracks new spending review
Review rushed through to honour promises to police, schools and NHS - but Labour dismisses move as 'pre-election panic measures'Liberal Democrat Chuka Umunna claimed a “substantial minority” of Labour MPs would not support their party leader Jeremy Corbyn being prime minister.
The former Labour and Change UK MP told the Today programme: “The problem there is with the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn taking up the role of leading an emergency government is he cannot command a majority among his own MPs, never mind others like Conservative rebels who would refuse to give him confidence.
“I know, because I have spoken to them, there is a substantial minority of Labour MPs at the very least who simply would not countenance Jeremy Corbyn being the prime minister of this country.
“So the question is, is there a figure who, as an alternative, could command a majority?”
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is not impressed by Sajid Javid’s plan to have a “fast-tracked” one-year spending review to deliver on the government’s “priorities”.
Here’s Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna – who has suggested a “substantial minority” of Labour MPs would not support their party leader becoming PM – claiming Jeremy Corbyn has already “flunked the opportunity to definitively table that motion of no confidence so that it in the end precipitates a general election”.
The Lib Dems had urged Corbyn to table the no confidence motion in July, shortly after Boris Johnson became PM.
Not good news for Sajid Javid. Not good news for anyone. The UK economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced. Our business editor Olesya Dmitracova has the details.
UK economy shrinks for first time since 2012 as fears of no-deal Brexit chaos mount
Britain's economy unexpectedly shrank 0.2 per cent in the second quarter - its weakest performance since the last quarter of 2012, when GDP fell by the same amount.There’s a lot of feverish talk about what happens in October. But we still have to get through the September party conference season.
Ashley Cowburn has taken a look at what happens if MPs manage to cancel the traditional September recess in a bid to give themselves more parliamentary time to block no deal.
What will happen to party conferences if MPs cancel the autumn recess?
Politics Explained: MPs could vote to cancel the annual autumn recess for constitutional battles over Brexit, but how will his affect gatherings of the party faithful?
Boris Johnson spoke for two minutes on Facebook Live yesterday, something he is thought to be planning to do a lot more.
Our political sketch writer Tom Peck was not clicking ‘like’. Here’s his take on the PM’s latest media strategy.
Sketch: Boris Johnson on Facebook Live gave us three lots of utter drivel in just two short minutes
The prime minister has taken the trouble to announce he wants Britain to be ‘the greatest place in the world to live!’ Yes, that really is all he’s gotThe chancellor Sajid Javid has responded to the news that the UK economy has shrunk.
He claimed the “fundamentals of the British economy are strong” and said he had announced an accelerated spending round “so ministers can focus on delivering Brexit”.
Commenting on the GDP figures, Labour MP Wes Streeting, a leading supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, said: “The economic damage being done by Brexit is real and it is happening now.
“This is not a projection or a forecast – these are the real-life consequence of the Brexit crisis, and they are being felt in our public services, businesses up and down the land and in the pockets of the vast majority of people in this country.
“Having already cost more than £500m a week in lost growth since 2016, Brexit is now actively shrinking the UK economy, putting us just one negative quarter away from a recession. It is making our country poorer, deterring investment, shrinking our currency and leaving less money for our national priorities the NHS.
“This is the real cost of Brexit. In 2016, Leave campaigners including Boris Johnson promised Brexit would lead to ‘sunlit uplands’ and a stronger economy. The reality is the exact opposite.”
Boris Johnson has announced plans to fast-track visas for the world’s top scientists.
But Nobel laureate Sir Andre Geim has warned that plunging Britain out of the EU could create turmoil, saying “scientists are not fools”. Here’s Ashley Cowburn with more on the row.
Nobel Prize-winning physicist says Boris Johnson is taking scientists 'for fools' with Brexit immigration plans
'They know that turmoil is inevitable for many years'Linguistic experts have evaluated recent prime ministers attempts at speaking foreign languages when they give speeches in Europe.
Boris Johnson generally approaches foreign languages with “gusto”, with his French being the most highly rated of any living PM, according to the linguists at Babbel.
However, Johnson’s German “while always full of confidence, leaves a little to be desired”. With 83 days until Brexit, there might not be too many more opportunities to make European speeches for the PM.
More evidence of a Lib Dem surge? Jo Swinson’s party narrowly defeated the Tories to take a council seat in the latest local election, while the Conservatives regained a seat from Labour.
The Lib Dem victory came by just 56 votes in a by-election at Worcester Council in the Claines ward following the death of a Tory councillor.
The Tories, meanwhile, regained a seat on East Northamptonshire Council by 64 votes in a contest in the Irthlingborough Waterloo ward following the resignation of a Labour councillor who had been elected previously as Conservative.
As you may know if you’ve read Tom Peck’s piece from earlier today, Boris Johnson has begun speaking to the nation directly using Facebook Live.
The prime minister wants to go further still, and is planning to start a series of “People’s PMQs” where he will answer questions from voters through social media live streams.
Here’s our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan with the details.
Boris Johnson to hold regular video chats with voters as election speculation grows
PM uses Facebook live to announce major policy to fast-track visas for top scientistsAs speculation grows about a No 10 plan to hold a general election in early November, Michael Gove has apparently raised the prospect of holding a bank holiday on 1 November in a meeting with business leaders.
The cabinet minister in charge of no deal planning said the government would consider the idea because of concerns exiting without a deal on 31 October would cause financial turmoil the following day, according to The Times.
No 10 told the newspaper creating a new bank holiday for the day was not government policy.
Other ideas reportedly discussed in Gove’s meeting included business leaders being kept up to date with the latest no deal plans via a Whatsapp group.
Our associate editor Sean O’Grady thinks the Labour leadership has employed “unexpectedly smart tactics” by writing to the cabinet secretary. Here’s why.
Opinion: Corbyn has called Boris’s bluff. Let’s see if the PM would defy the Commons now
Labour is playing a shrewd game in dragging the civil service and the Queen into this argumentChancellor Sajid Javid is in hard hat and high-vis vest mode for a visit to the National Grid Training Centre outside Newark.
He will be facing questions today about the dismal GDP figures: the UK's economy shrank for the first time since 2012 in the second quarter of this year, as the manufacturing and construction sectors both slumped.
