Boris Johnson's demand that the EU agree to scrap the Northern Ireland backstop has been dismissed by European leaders.
European Council president Donald Tusk responded to a letter from the prime minister by suggesting that Mr Johnson was “not proposing realistic alternatives” to the backstop, while one French diplomat called his plan “a joke”. German chancellor Angela Merkel also insisted that the current Brexit deal could not be renegotiated. Labour said Mr Johnson’s letter was a “fantasyland wish list”.
It came as Donald Trump claimed the US and UK could move “rapidly” to a trade deal – but Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer vowed to “oppose” any trade deal if there was a hard border enforced in Ireland.
Here's how we covered developments as they happened:
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on the government to immediately release its no-deal impact assessments. No 10 has refused to do so.
Here’s Benjamin Kentish with the latest on the row over Operation Yellowhammer.
Government dismisses calls for no-deal Brexit assessments to be released in full immediately
Corbyn says claims that leaked dossier warning of no-deal chaos is outdated ‘can’t be trusted’
Donald Trump said he had held a “great discussion” with Boris Johnson over the phone on Monday.
The president tweeted about his chat with PM and said they talked “about Brexit and how we can move rapidly on a US-UK free trade deal”.
“I look forward to meeting with Boris this weekend, at the G7, in France!”
It came as a senior US politician warned that politicians could block a future deal if the Good Friday Agreement is undermined.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has written to US secretary of state Mike Pompeo warning that Congress could work on a cross-party basis to block a deal if a hard border is introduced on the island of Ireland.
Schumer, in the letter also sent to foreign secretary Dominic Raab, said: “I write to express my inveterate opposition to any prospective trade deal with UK that either undermines the landmark Good Friday Agreement or facilitates a return to a hard border.”
Boris Johnson has been accused of having “no negotiating strategy” after repeating his Brexit demands for the backstop to be ditched in his first letter to Donald Tusk.
Ashley Cowburn has the details.
Boris Johnson accused of having 'no negotiating strategy' after letter to Donald Tusk
Just hours before letter to Donald Tusk, one EU leader insisted withdrawal agreement ‘cannot be reopened’EU officials are not impressed by Boris Johnson’s four-page letter to Donald Tusk.
“It’s clear from the letter that renegotiation is the last thing the British government wants,” one told the POLITICO.
A French diplomatic official told the same website that replacing the backstop with a vague promise of “alternative arrangements” was “a joke”.
Another senior EU source told The Guardian that Johnson’s latest move was “a total moving of the goalposts on an issue of great importance”.
School meal nutrition standards might have to be changed or scrapped if the government forces through a no-deal Brexit, according to reports.
Local authority planning documents given to the BBC show some councils believe that an expected rise in food prices and a possible shortage of fresh produce mean they may not be able to meet current nutrition standards.
A report by North Tyneside council warns that “special dietary requirements may be difficult to meet”, while advising schools to “increase use of tins and frozen goods”.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has written to the home secretary Priti Patel urging her to drop a plan to end freedom of movement for EU citizens on day one of a no-deal Brexit.
Here’s Ashley Cowburn’s exclusive story.
Sadiq Khan urges ministers to drop ‘cruel’ plans to instantly end free movement after a no-deal Brexit
Exclusive: ‘These plans would be a fundamental affront to British values of tolerance and respect’Plenty of people responding to Boris Johnson’s latest tweet by pointing out that we’re bound to be arguing for Brexit for years – especially if there’s a no-deal exit.
A readout from Leo Varadkar’s team of his phone call with Boris Johnson reveals the two leaders may have not agreed on much – but they have agreed to meet in Dublin in early September.
The British prime minister said the backstop would need to be removed from the Withdrawal Agreement.
The Irish prime minister said the agreement could not be reopened and “emphasised the importance of the legally operable guarantee to ensure no hard border and continued free trade on the island of Ireland”.
They agreed their teams “would maintain close contact over the coming weeks”.
Diane Abbott has become the third shadow cabinet member to declare she would campaign to remain in the EU over any deal negotiated by her own party if there is a second Brexit referendum.
Here’s Lizzy Buchan with the details.
Labour splits widen as Diane Abbott vows to support Remain over her party's Brexit deal
John McDonnell and Emily Thornberry also declare they would campaign to stay in EU
Diane Abbott also condemned the Home Office plan to end freedom of movement on the first day of a no-deal Brexit during her interview on the Today programme this morning.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly has claimed Boris Johnson was asking the EU to “look at reality” over Brexit and the backstop.
“Negotiations only work if people are willing to move and be adaptable and the UK has been willing to move and to be adaptable and what the prime minister is asking the EU to do is look at reality,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“The Withdrawal Agreement, because of the backstop, has been rejected by the House of Commons three times and it’s been very, very clear that that is the sticking point, but without that there is a good chance of getting a deal through the House and that’s what the prime minister has said he wants to do.”
He claimed “we want a deal … but if that’s not possible, the EU are unable or unwilling to make a concession like this then we are going to leave on 31 October”.
Cleverly also branded the leaked Yellowhammer information an “out-of-date document”.
“It is a series of worst-case scenarios to stimulate action in government and that action is being taken. We’ve ramped up our no-deal preparation to make sure that we avoid those worst-case scenarios that is why it is, by definition, an out-of-date document.”
Labour has suspended a regional board member after appearing to promote Holocaust denial.
Mollie Collins, who sits on the party’s executive board, shared an article on Facebook that suggested the Nazi murder of six million Jews was a “lie”.
Here’s Benjamin Kentish with all the details.
Labour regional board member suspended by party after sharing post claiming Holocaust 'biggest lie' in history
Former chair of local party facing investigation after reposting article claiming concentration camp inmates had been 'well-cared for'The independent MP Luciana Berger, who co-ordinated a letter calling for MPs’ recall to Parliament, branded Boris Johnson’s plans to drop the backstop “incredibly reckless”.
“It’s very clear that the prime minister is taking us down a path which is reckless,” the Liverpool Wavertree MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
“Every day something else comes out and in fact the letter that you refer to was put together before the project Yellowhammer report was leaked and so there’s even more reason now that parliament should reconvene in order that we can hold the prime minister and his government to account on all the plans that they are pursuing which are incredibly reckless.”
Berger said there was no democratic mandate for a no-deal Brexit, adding: “We now have 72 days until Brexit and yet on the current timetable the House of Commons is due to sit for just less than 30 of that and I think the question that the country is asking is: why isn’t parliament in session now?”
Fancy working until you’re 75? Didn’t think so.
Proposals made by a Tory think tank to increase the state pension age to 70 by 2028 – and 75 by 2035 – have been branded “chilling and immoral” by former pensions minister Ros Altmann.
Chiara Giordano has more.
Tory plan to increase pension age to 75 ‘chilling and immoral’
‘It is an outrageous betrayal of people who have worked hard for decades,' says former ministerBoris Johnson has enough “goodwill” to take a “global lead” at the G7, according to former Tory leader William Hague.
As Johnson heads to Biarritz for his first summit of major world leaders, Hague said he has an opportunity to show a better face to the world than the image of a country torn apart by Brexit.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hague said the G7 nations were “desperately short” of ideas around which they could coalesce “to address the main threats that will overcome them unless they look far enough ahead”.
“A new British PM has the world's attention and the goodwill of America. This is a rare opportunity to present some clear ideas, to take a global lead, and in doing so show a better face of Britain,” he wrote.
Chair of the Irish Senate’s Brexit Committee Neale Richmond has branded Boris Johnson’s letter “disappointing”.
“This letter has nothing new in it, to be honest it’s a little bit disappointing, particularly in the tone in relation to referring to the backstop as anti-democratic and indeed saying that it poses a threat to the Good Friday Agreement, that’s very disappointing language from the prime minister.”
On a possible time limit, Richmond said: “That in turn would make it moot because you need the backstop there until and unless there is something better.
“No-one ever wants to see the backstop kick in, we’ve a very clear commitment that first priority is to negotiate a new relationship.
“After that we would of course look at alternative arrangements, but unfortunately no alternative arrangements have been proven, none have been shown and indeed this letter where the prime minister refers to it again doesn’t go into any detail where they might be, (there is) not an example in operation anywhere else in the world.”
Labour MP Tony Lloyd, shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, has described Boris Johnson’s letter to Donald Tusk as a “fantasyland wish list”.
“Boris Johnson seems to have forgotten that he voted for Theresa May’s deal including the backstop,” he said.
“Whichever Brexit outcome he pursues, whether it’s a disastrous no deal or this fantasyland wish list, Boris Johnson clearly has no qualms about putting jobs, rights, prosperity or peace in Northern Ireland at risk.”
Tom Brake MP, the Lib Dems’ Brexit spokesperson, has also criticised the prime minister’s letter to the European Council president – describing it as “vague and deeply embarrassing”.
