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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

May says Trump 'just plain wrong' about Muslims not reporting terror suspects - Politics live

Theresa May speaking in the Commons
Theresa May speaking in the Commons. She said Donald Trump was ‘just plain wrong’ to say Muslims do not report terror suspects Photograph: BBC

Afternoon summary

  • Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the Commons Treasury committee, has accused Boris Johnson of talking “mountains of nonsense” over the EU when he gave evidence to the committee this morning. (See 3.39pm.)

In this new poll 48% back Remain, while 41% say they would vote for Leave if there was a referendum tomorrow. The lead widens when people’s relative likelihood to vote is taken into account: if turnout patterns between different demographic groups at the referendum reflect those at last year’s general election, there would be a 14 point lead for remaining in the EU.

The poll also found that those who think leaving the EU would be a big or slight risk to the economy (69%) outnumber those who think remaining in the EU would be a big or slight risk to the economy.

EU referendum poll
EU referendum poll Photograph: ComRes

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Portsmouth council votes to leave the EU

Portsmouth is understood to have become the first city council to vote to leave the EU in the forthcoming referendum, the Press Association reports. In a motion proposed by the Ukip group leader, Colin Galloway, the members of Portsmouth City Council backed the motion by 21-15. Julie Swan, Ukip’s deputy group leader who seconded the motion, said:

I’m delighted that the council has passed this motion. I wasn’t born the last time that the British people were allowed to vote on membership of the EU. It’s important to debate this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to encourage the people of Portsmouth to get involved.

View from the deck of HMS Victory in Portsmouth
View from the deck of HMS Victory in Portsmouth Photograph: Christopher Ison/NMRN/PA

Reeves criticises Boris Johnson for wanting to leave single market

Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP who sits on the Treasury committee, has issued this statement on Boris Johnson’s appearance before the committee this morning, in a press release from Britain Stronger in Europe. She said:

Boris Johnson made lots of assertions but provided no evidence that outside Europe British businesses would be able to trade without new tariffs, regulations and being cut off from important markets.

Just days ago Boris Johnson said Britain should follow Canada but today he disowned his own argument. The British people now know the leave campaigns have no credible alternative and only offer risk to working people’s financial security.

Boris tried to busk his way through, but his EU myths were revealed as misleading and his arguments exposed as fatuous.

He made one important statement, which was that he supports Britain leaving the EU’s free trade single market. This would put millions of jobs, low prices and investment at risk.

If Britain follows Boris, our country would be left weaker and working people would be worse off.

Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves Photograph: Richard Gardner/REX/Shutterstock

Tyrie accuses Boris Johnson of talking 'mountains of nonsense' over the EU

I had to finish my coverage of the Treasury committee hearing with Boris Johnson before it ended but, according to the Press Association, this is how Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, wound it up. He told Johnson:

You are in danger of going back to delivering us grains of truth with mountains of nonsense again, I’m afraid. You were dangerously close to making some very considered points a moment ago.

The BMA has decided to intensify its junior doctors’ strike, my colleague Esther Addley reports.

Lunchtime summary

  • Boris Johnson, the Conservative MP and mayor of London, has been accused of exaggeration and misrepresentation in claims he has been making about the EU. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative chair of the Treasury committee made the accusation in a lengthy committee hearing which saw Johnson struggle to defend some of the arguments he has made for Britain leaving the EU. (See 12pm.)
  • David Cameron has said there is no guarantee that the EU will grant the UK a “sweetheart” trade deal if it votes to leave. Speaking at PMQs he said:

I think that if we were to vote to leave I don’t think we should be naive about believing that other countries would automatically cut us some sort of sweetheart deal.

I think if you just take one industry as an example, take farming, our farmers now know they have duty-free, quota-free, tax-free access to a market of 500 million people.

Were we to leave, can we really guarantee that French farmers or Italian farmers or Spanish farmers wouldn’t put pressure on their governments to give us a less good deal?

I don’t think we can and that’s one of the many reasons I think we are safer, more secure and better off in a reformed European Union.

The BBC’s Norman Smith was told he had to stop filming the protest.

In a tweet responding to a question from John Prescott Woodcock later explained:

  • Cameron has rejected a call from the SNP for the SAS to be subject to parliamentary oversight. Speaking at PMQs Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, said:

A defining characteristic of a democratic society is our trust in our institutions and democratic oversight by parliamentarians of those who work so hard to keep us safe.

We have that oversight with our police, we have that oversight with our security services, we don’t yet have that with UK special forces under the intelligence and security committee or the defence select committee. Will you address this?

Cameron said he disagreed with Robertson on this.

I’m afraid I just part company with you on this one.

We have put in place, I think, some of the most extensive oversight arrangements for our intelligence and security services.

They do a remarkable job and of course the police are regularly called to account both locally and nationally. I think the work our special forces do is absolutely vital for our country.

They are subject to international law as everyone else is in our country but I do not propose to change the arrangements under which these incredibly brave men work.

  • Cameron has urged Corbyn to sort out anti-semitism in Labour. In response to a question from the Conservative MP Mike Freer, Cameron said:

Anti-Semitism is an absolute cancer in our societies and we should know that when it grows it is the signal of many even worse things happening to ethnic groups and different groups all over our country.

There is sadly a growth of anti-Semitism in our country and we see it in terms of attacks on Jewish people and Jewish students and it absolutely has to be stamped out. We should all, all of us, whatever organisation we’re responsible for, make sure that happens.

And I have to say we do see a growth in support for segregation and indeed for anti-Semitism in part of the Labour party and I’d say to the leader opposite it’s his party, he should sort it out.

  • Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies has stood down from the House of Commons in order to fight for a seat in the Welsh assembly. As the Press Association reports, Irranca-Davies revealed his intention to stand down late last year, and his departure will trigger a by-election in the safe Labour seat of Ogmore, which he held by a majority of more than 13,000 in the 2015 general election. Labour confirmed the byelection will be held on May 5, the same day as elections to the Welsh Assembly.
  • Former Ukip deputy chairman Suzanne Evans has been suspended from the party, Nigel Farage has said. He described the move as “unfortunate” but did not go into the reasons for the action. “She has been suspended this morning. There is possibly going to be a legal challenge to that,” he told BBC News.

It is a bit late for a full Twitter PMQs round-up, but here are verdicts on PMQs from three other journalists.

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton

From the Independent’s John Rentoul

From the Sun

Theresa May says Donald Trump 'just plain wrong' about Muslims not reporting terror suspects

Theresa May, the home secretary, has been giving a statement to MPs about the Brussels terror attacks. Here are the main points.

  • May says travellers could face delays at UK airports over Easter because of the need for extra passport checks.
  • She said that Donald Trump was “just plain wrong” to say today that Muslims were not reporting terror suspects.

This is what Trump said in an interview with Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan.

When they see trouble they have to report it. They are not reporting it. They are absolutely not reporting it and that is a big problem.

  • She said that new powers enabling the police to temporarily seize passports from suspected terrorists have been used more than 20 times.

Last year the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act provided new powers to deal specifically with the problem of foreign fighters and prevent radicalisation.

We extended our ability to refuse airlines the authority to carry people to the UK who pose a risk, and we introduced a new power to temporarily seize the passport of those suspected of travelling to engage in terrorism.

This power has now been used on more than 20 occasions and in some cases has led to longer-term disruptive action, such as the use of the royal prerogative to permanently cancel the British passport.

  • She said there has been 14 attacks by Islamic State (Isis, or Daesh) in Europe since January 2015.
  • She said defeating terrorism was “the challenge of our generation”.

The Commons protest was organised by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).

Here is a tweet showing some of the campaigners assembling outside the Commons earlier.

This is from BuzzFeed’s Emily Ashton.

Updated

The Green MP Caroline Lucas has tweeted her congratulation to the disability protesters, saying “their voices must be heard”.

BBC told to stop filming disability protest in the Commons

Broadcasters are normally allowed to film in parliament’s central lobby but the BBC’s Norman Smith was told to stop when the disability campaigners started their protests because the Commons authorities do not allow events like this to be filmed.

(One of the reasons for this is that it is felt that, if protests like this do get filmed, that only encourages campaigners to stage stunts of this kind.)

Updated

These are from Huffington Post’s Owen Bennett.

Updated

This is from ITV’s Chris Ship.

My colleague Rowena Mason has posted this from the protest.

Updated

Disability campaigners stage protest inside parliament

Here is more, from the Press Association, on the protest in central lobby.

Around 20 disability campaigners have staged a protest in the central lobby of Parliament during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The demonstrators chanted “No more death from benefit cuts” and brandished a banner asking”Is this how 2 treat disabled people?”

Police officers lined up to prevent any attempt by the protesters to gain access to the Commons chamber but there was no immediate attempt to remove them.

Douglas Carswell, the Ukip MP, asks if Cameron thinks the EU insitutions will respond “vindictively” if Britain votes to leave the EU.

Cameron says it is hard to know. But it would be naive to assume that the EU would cut the UK as “sweetheart deal” if it voted to leave.

Mike Wood, a Conservative, asks if the public sector will invest in training young people.

Cameron says getting 3m apprentices trained is a stretching target. But the government is committed to meeting it.

The SNP’s Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says women are tired of waiting for equal pay.

Cameron says the pay gap is at a historic low. For under-40s it has almost evaporated, he says.

Labour’s Rushanari Ali asks why the government proposed the PIP cut in the first place.

Cameron says it is good to have an intervention from someone who is “neutral but not hostile” on the Labour list. He says the government has been increasing disability spending.

Disability campaigners have been protesting in the central lobby of the House of Commons.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has left PMQs to meet them.

Updated

Cameron is asked about pubs.

  • Pubs will be allowed to extend opening hours on 10 and 11 June in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday, Cameron says.

Patrick Grady, the SNP MP, asks about the anti-lobbying rule being imposed on charities.

Cameron says he wants to see taxpayers’ money, and charities’ money, going on good causes, not lobbying ministers.

We are only one day away from what would have been “separation day”, the day Scotland was due to get independence. If that had been happened, there would have been no money, he says.

Labour’s Rupa Huq asks about a case involving a constituent killed abroad.

Cameron says he will arrange a meeting with the Foreign Office to discuss this.

Peter Bone, a Conservative, asks if money spent on the EU could be better spent here.

Cameron says Britain only spends about 1p in every £1 on the EU. The question is, is that worth if because of what the EU contributes in terms of jobs and growth, he says.

He says overall the EU budget is going down.

Updated

PMQs - Snap verdict

PMQs - Snap verdict: At times Corbyn was very good. The first half of his final question was excellent, he started well too, and his question about why the government proposed the PIP cut in the first place if it is saying now it can do without the money is a shrewd one that Cameron could not answer. But Corbyn was too long-winded. His final effort would make a Jim Naughtie question sound succinct, and by throwing in a question about ESA alongside the one about PIP, he helped Cameron dodge the key point. But it was Cameron’s day. As Corbyn said, Cameron’s Labour list riff was pure theatre, but it was funny, and even Labour MPs were smiling. More importantly, though, Cameron’s sarcastic line about Corbyn as the “king of fiscal rectitude” hit home hard - because it chimes with what so many people still think of Labour.

David Cameron at PMQs

Updated

Corbyn says it is time to leave the theatre. Who will pay for this black hole? Some £4.4bn has to be found from somewhere.

Cameron says suddenly “the king of fiscal rectitude speaks”. The budget passed last night, he says. Addressing an MP, he says they are “neutral not hostile”, and should shut up. “Hands up whose core support plus?” The budget will help the country do better.

Corbyn says the budget fell apart in two days, and many people with disabilities went through stress and trauma, he says. He says those MPs shouting do not have any idea what it is like to balance a budget at home. The budget has to mean something for people, he says. The budget downgraded growth, wage growth and investment. And the chancellor has failed on his debt target. No credible economist backs the fiscal target.

Cameron says Corbyn is too late. The budget passed through the House with large majorities. The government is spending more on the disabled. Britain is the envy of the world. Britain is getting stronger. And Labour is a threat to the economic security of people’s families.

Corbyn says his question was about the poverty of people with disabilities. If it is so easy to absorb the money lost by the PIP U-turn, why did the government propose it. Will it reverse the ESA cut?

Cameron says the ESA cut went through parliament.

If Corbyn wants to discuss black holes, bring it on. This government inherited a 11% black hole. All Labour proposes is more spending and more debt.

Corbyn asks why Iain Duncan Smith felt it necessary to resign saying the cuts were political. Isn’t Duncan Smith right in saying this was a political decision, not one made in the interests of the country?

Cameron says it is right to be heading for a surplus. He does not want to be part of a government that leaves debts to our children. This is presented as compassion. But it is not.

He says Chris Bryant is shouting at him. And a woman MP. We have an interesting document. She is “neutral, not hostile”.

The jeering gets louder and louder.

We’ve got core support, Cameron says. You can include me in that.

He says the chief whip is being quiet. She’s in “hostile”. Cameron goes on: “I thought `i had problems.”

Jeremy Corbyn says he wants to support what Cameron said. And he also mentions those killed in Ankara.

We must defend our security and values, and refuse to be drawn into a cycle of hatred. We take pride in our diverse communities, he says, and will not allow ourselves to be divided.

He also pays tribute, as Cameron did, to the prison officer killed in Northern Ireland.

Last week he got a letter from Adrian, who is disabled and worried about his benefits being stopped. Will Cameron do what George Osborne failed to do yesterday and apologise to people like this?

Cameron says when you have to take many difficult decisions, you do not always get every decision right. He is the first to accept that. When you do so, you must learn the lessons. But disability spending is going up.

Corbyn says the number of people with disabilities who are homeless is up by 37%. That is why people like Adrian are worried. So will Cameron categorically rule out any further cuts to welfare spending.

Cameron says poverty has fallen over this parliament.

Homeless is going up. That is regrettable. But it is 57% below the peak it hit under Labour.

As for further welfare reductions, he repeats what Stephen Crabb said on Monday, and what George Osborne said on Tuesday. Corbyn may not have asked on Monday, but he can says he is not planning additional welfare savings.

Cameron at PMQs

David Cameron starts by referring to the Brussels terrorists attacks. We will never let terrorists destroy our way of life, he says. He says Theresa May will make a full statement at 12.30pm.

These people tried to kill as many innocent people as possible, he says.

Boris Johnson's at the Treasury committee - Summary and analysis

Boris Johnson is still giving evidence, but PMQs is about to start, so here’s a summary of what he’s said, and a snap analysis.

It’s been a dismal morning for Johnson. Overall he has not been an effective witnesses and MPs from all parties have either shredded his claims, or ridiculed what he has had to say. To his credit Johnson has mostly retained his good humour, and even the best politician can have a bad time at the hands of a forensic committee. But, if Vote Leave are looking for a spokesman with heavyweight intellectual credibility, Johnson has ruled himself out as their candidate.

One other point; this hearing has made it clear that Leave have to campaign on immigration. On the economics Johnson’s arguments performed very badly. He was at his strongest on immigration, because this is where the argument can be won.

Here are the key points from the hearing (or, at least the key points up until about 11.30am.)

  • Johnson claimed there are no good economic arguments for staying in the EU. There are only good political arguments, he said.
  • He refused to accept that leaving the EU would cause economic disruption to the British economy at least in the short term.
  • He claimed for support for remaining in the EU in the City of London was much more “shallow” than people realised. Speaking about the banker community, he said:

I’m struck by how shallow the enthusiasm for the EU seems to be amongst its supposed backers.

It’s interesting that when you dig into these people’s opinions, they are much less strongly held than you might suppose ... What has struck me in private conversations which I occasionally have with leading bankers about this is how finely balanced they see it to be.

Most of them will candidly say they don’t believe it will do any damage to London’s position as the world’s leading financial centre. That is the overwhelming picture I get.

  • Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, accused Johnson of not telling the truth about EU regulations. Referring to one claim made by Johnson about EU rules relating to coffin sizes, he told Johnson it was “a figment of your imagination”. After referring to other examples, Tyrie said:

I have been through quite a list where I think a reasonable man would say you have either exaggerated or misrepresented.

  • Johnson said that mass immigration had pushed down wages.
  • He criticised politician for claiming they can control immigration when they cannot. He did not specify who he was talking about, but this seemed to be a reference to David Cameron’s promise to get net migration down below 100,000.
  • He claimed the UK would be able to strike a trade deal “very rapidly indeed” with the EU if it left.
  • But he conceded that there was no precedent for the EU striking a trade deal within two years. And he could not give an example of an EU trade deal giving full free market access to financial services.
  • He claimed the European court of justice was making it harder for the government to safeguard national security.

I’ve seen various people quoted as saying that remaining in the EU is essential for security.

I think it’s important to put a countervailing point which is that there are some ways now that the European Court of Justice is militating against our ability to control our borders in the way we want to and indeed to maintain proper surveillance.

If you look at the case of Abu Hamza’s niece who tried to smuggle SIM cards to him in prison, we couldn’t deport her not because of the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights but because of the European Court in Luxembourg which is now able to adjudicate on the entire corpus of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

You’ve also seen the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg saying that governments, states and security services cannot retain mobile phone data that is very often essential for monitoring potential terrorists.

What has that got to do with completing the internal market? What has that got to do with free trade? The answer is absolutely nothing. It is morphing into a political union of the kind that I think is no longer in our interests.

Updated

Labour’s John Mann goes next.

He recalls Johnson’s 2003 speech. It was the most pro-European speech he had heard in parliament, he says.

Q: You said the governor of the Bank of England made political comments to this committee. But he is not allowed do that. Would you like to correct the record?

Johnson says he said the governor was entitled to say what he thought.

Mann says this comment was ‘wholly inappropriate”.

Helen Goodman goes next.

Q: You said the recent CBI report says 3m jobs could be created if Britain leaves. But that is not what the report says.

Johnson says you need to combine tables 4.1 and 5.5.

Tyrie says Johnson has just been handed a piece of paper with those figures on. He thinks Johnson is not quite as on top of the figures as he suggests.

Tyrie goes next.

Q: You gave a speech in the Commons in 2003 that implied you supported EU enlargement?

Johnson says he then supported enlargement. People thought if we widened the EU, it would become looser.

But expansion has led to “the intensification of the dominance of Germany”.

Q: So have you changed your mind?

Johnson says he thought the Blair government made a mistake not imposing transitional controls on the Eastern European countries.

Tyrie says Johnson said earlier he had not changed his view. But he quotes Johnson saying nothing would give him more pleasure than EU expansion. And he quotes a more recent article from Johnson says immigration has not put pressure on house prices.

Johnson says he was referring to the impact of foreigners on the London housing market.

Q: Do you understand why people might not trust you when you have changed your mind on Europe?

Johnson says he does not accept that. He thinks no journalist, except perhaps Daniel Hannan, has written more about the democratic problems with the EU.

He quotes from an article he wrote in 1991 in which he predicted what might happen in a border-free Europe.

Johnson says mass immigration has pushed down wages

Q: Have you looked at how many jobs would be lost in London if the UK left the EU?

Johnson says the London economy would benefit from the removal of a huge amount of bureaucracy and red tape.

And they would benefit too because public services would not be under so much pressure from uncontrolled immigration.

He says immigration has exercised a downward pressure on the wages of all MPs’ constituents.

It is not reasonable for public services to be expected to manage when they cannot.

And it is not reasonable for politicians to say they can control immigration when they cannot.

  • Johnson says mass immigration has pushed down wages.
  • He says politicians should not say they can control immigration when they can’t.

Johnson says Lord Rose, the head of Britain Stronger in Europe, said wages might go up if Britain left the EU when he gave evidence to the committee.

Q: In your interview with Andrew Marr he asked about a “Nike tick”, and the idea that the economy would go down before it shot up, and you said that could happen.

Johnson goes back to the Y2K bug.

Streeting says there was no evidence for the Y2K bug. But there is evidence that leaving the EU could trigger a shock.

Johnson says he does not accept that leaving the EU would trigger an economic shock

The Labour MP Wes Streeting goes next.

Q: Do you not accept that, if we leave the EU, there would be an economic shock?

No, says Johnson. He repeats the millennium bug analogy.

  • Johnson says he does not accept that leaving the EU would trigger an economic shock.

Q: But your own economic adviser (Gerard Lyons) says there would be a shock.

Johnson says Lyons has said there would be advantages from Britain leaving.

(Lyons is the the committee room sitting behind Johnson. He has just passed him a note.

Tyrie goes next.

Q: Is there a free trade agreement that gives full access to financial services?

Johnsons says he is not aware of one.

Tyrie says he thinks the answer is no.

  • Johnson concedes there is no precedent for a country having a free trade deal with the EU giving full access to financial services.

Reeves says Johnson has no evidence to back up his claim about the UK being able to do a trade deal with the EU quickly.

“Yes,” Johnson replies.

(He probably meant “yes” to the idea that that is what he thinks, but it came out as yes to having no evidence for his view.)

Johnson says, unlike Canada, Britain has been a member of the EU for 44 years.

Reeves says he is making her point. It is because we are members of the EU we have a better deal than Canada.

Tyrie says at 11am there will be one minute’s silence in the committee to remember the victims of the Brussels attack. The committee will honour it, he says.

Q: Would British banks still get passport rights giving them access to the single market?

Johnson says that he thinks the EU would agree that.

Tyrie told Johnson to stop interrupting a few minutes ago, and to address the questions.

Johnson responded with quip.

Q: The Canadian deal does not offer free trade for services. Would that be good for Britain?

Johnson says he has said he wants a British deal, not a Canadian deal.

Q: Would the Canadian deal be good for farmers?

Johnson says there are attractions to the Canada deal. But there are also things that the UK could do better.

Johnson admits that there is no precedent for EU striking a free trade deal in less than two years

Q: Why do you think the UK could strike a trade deal with the EU within less than two years?

Johnson says David Cameron has said free trade would continue.

Q: Can you name any country that has struck a trade deal with the EU in less than two years?

Johnson says he doesn’t. But that is one of the defects of the EU.

  • Johnson admits that there is no precedent for EU striking a free trade deal in less than two years.

Johnson accuses Reeves of “absolute scaremongering” and talking “total nonsense”.

There is already free trade in Europe, he says. Why would people put tariff barriers up.

Johnson claims there are no good economic arguments for staying in EU

Q: Aren’t there strong arguments for staying in the EU?

Johnson says there are no good economic arguments for staying in the EU. There are only good political arguments.

  • Johnson claims there are no good economic arguments for staying in the EU.

Updated

Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP, goes next.

Q: You said you wanted a trade deal like the one Canada has. When did they start negotiating it?

Johnson has said he wants a British deal.

Reeves says negotiations started in 2009, and the deal took seven years to negotiate. It is still not in force.

Johnson says several things changed his view of Europe.

First, the Lisbon treaty ended Britain’s opt-out from the charter of fundamental rights.

And when you look at the “massive concentration of power that is now taking place in the EU”, and combine that with the border issue, the argument goes one way.

Johnson says Britain is outvoted in the council of ministers now more often. We are losing influence, he says.

Q: Do you disagree with the institutions that say business wants to stay in the EU?

Johnson says opinion is much more balanced than people think.

Garnier tells him he finds this “difficult to believe”.

Johnson says this is the moment “to go global”. By staying in the EU, the UK is missing “a huge opportunity”.

Q: We go to the rest of the world, and ask them why they want to come to London, and they all talk about access to the single market. They are all saying we would be “off our trolley” to leave.

Johnson says access to a market of 550m will remain.

Countries do not trade with countries; people trade with each other.

Since deciding not to go into the euro, the story of London has been a story of “growth and dynamism”. The “gloomadon-poppers”f ailed to understand this, he says.

He says he has thought about this a lot.

There are a lot of people who are “turning left on the plane” (ie, enjoying first-class travel, and a cosseted lifestyle generally) because of EU membership.

But other people feel differently, he says.

Johnson says there are “plenty of people” he has spoken to from banks that think the case for staying in the EU is more balanced than people think.

Garnier says that is not the experience he has had talking to bankers.

Johnson says the banks thought it was a mistake not to join the euro.

Garnier says he accepts that point.

Johnson says Tyrie wrote a pamphlet in 1991 saying a single market could not be completed without a single currency.

Tyrie says Johnson is misquoting that.

Johnson says it was called: “Never say never: Time for British common sense on the euro.”

Tyrie says Johnson is illustrating the point Tyrie made earlier about not representing people’s views accurately.

Updated

Mark Garnier, a Conservative, goes next.

Johnson says it would be “very curious, bizarre [and] totally self-destructive” if EU countries chose not to strike a trade deal with the UK.

Andrew Tyrie is asking the questions.

Q: Are you for or against having a second referendum?

Johnson says he is against that. There would just be one referendum.

Richard North, a leading Eurosceptic campaigner, says he thinks Johnson is “a total moron” based on his evidence this morning.

Q: Nissan and Hitachi have both said they would not invest more in the UK if Britain left the EU.

Johnson says Nissan have not said that.

Goodman says he is wrong. Nissan have said they would not close their UK factory. But they have said they would not invest any more in the UK, she says.

Johnson says Nissan threatened to close their Sunderland plant if Britain did not join the euro. That did not happen.

Britain would be more competitive if it left the EU, he says.

Q: The Bank of England governor told this committee that Brexit was the biggest domestic risk to the economy. Are you not worried about the impact on the economy?

Johnson says there is “no sign whatever” of people being discouraged from investing in London.

People said much the same when the UK decided not to join the euro.

The pound will be as strong and robust as the UK economy, he says.

Johnson says he does not want a Canadian-style deal. He wants a British deal giving Britain free trade with the EU.

Johnson suggests he would not want UK to remain as part of the EU single market

Q: Would you want the UK to have access to the single market?

Johnson says this terms is widely misunderstood. It refers to the whole corpus of EU law. We should get out of that system and have a free trade agreement that continues to give access for goods and services to the EU market.

  • Johnson suggests he would not want UK to remain as part of the EU single market.

Q: Would the Germans want the same from a free trade deal with the UK as the Greeks?

Johnson says there would be a variety of interests involved. But people would want to keep free trade.

Q: But would German and Greek interests be the same?

Johnson says the EU would remain in charge of trade negotiations.

Based on existing patterns of trade, people would want to do a deal.

Q: But the council of ministers would have to give the commission a negotiating mandate. And wouldn’t it take some time to agree that?

I don’t think so, says Johnson. He says the most powerful EU economies would want a deal quickly.

Johnson says UK could strike trade deal with EU 'very rapidly indeed'

Johnson says the UK has become “infantilised” by the fact the European Commission is now in charge of trade deals.

It would not be hard to do a free trade deal with the EU “very rapidly indeed”.

And he says the UK would not have to invoke article 50, the one that initiates the two-year withdrawal negotiation process, immediately after a referendum.

  • Johnson says the UK could strike a trade deal with the EU “very rapidly indeed”.

The Labour MP Helen Goodman goes next.

Q: You said in February that leaving the EU would produce a period of uncertainty, affecting business. How long would that last?

Johnson says it would not have to last long at all.

He says the best comparison is the Millennium bug. People said the economy would crash, and that planes would fall from the sky. They did not.

Andrew Tyrie goes next.

He asks Johnson to clarify what the 59% figure he was referring to earlier was. (See 9.55am.)

Tyrie says it was from a House of Commons library paper that was produced earlier this month, not this week. And the figures are from 2014.

Johnson says he was misinformed.

Tyrie says the briefing document referred to regulations, directives and decisions. It said you could argue the EU was responsible for anything between 15% and 55% of UK law.

Johnsons says once you include statutory instruments, the proportion of law coming from the EU does reach 55% or 59%.

It is a huge figure, he says.

Updated

Rees-Mogg finishes his questions by saying Johnson’s evidence is “very compelling”.

Johnson said the ECJ was like the Hal computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Johnson says today we are thinking about how we combat terrorism.

People argue that we need to stay in the EU to help the fight against terrorism.

But in some ways the ECJ is stopping Britain taking action to protect itself, he says.

He says it was the ECJ, not the European Court of Human Rights, that stopped the UK deporting Abu Hamza’s neice.

(Actually, it was his daughter-in-law, according to this story.)

Q: Is is possible to have a free trade area without the European Court of Justice?

Yes, says Johnson.

He says other free trade areas do not try to imitate this “anachronistic, old-fashioned system devised by French bureaucrats after the war”.

He says he thinks this system is related to the high unemployment rate in the EU.

Some recent ECJ rules are “bizarre”, he says.

  • Johnson says some recent ECJ rules are “bizarre”.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative pro-Brexit MP, takes over the questioning.

Q: What proportion of laws come from the EU?

Johnson says the House of Commons used to say that 50% of laws came from the EU. But in a new briefing paper, produced this week, they say the figure is 59% or 60%.

Q: Would you ban lorries from the EU that do not conform to your standards?

Johnson says he is already pioneering a safer lorry zone, to minimise the risk to cyclists.

Q: Do you want standardised regulation?

Johnson says that would be a good thing.

Q: But wouldn’t it be bad for trade (if lorries could not come to London)?

Johnson says it would stimulate the market.

The CBI has hit back at what Boris Johnson has been saying about business support for the EU. (See 9.28am.)

The Financial Times’s George Parker has pointed out a flaw in Boris Johnson’s argument. (See 9.41am.)

Tyrie tells Johnson one of his EU claims is 'a figment of your imagination'

Tyrie asks about a claim in Johnson’s book about there being EU rules on the size of coffins.

Johnson says it is a long time since he wrote that. He can remember the rules.

Under pressure, he says he thinks the rule came from some European institution.

Tyrie says Johnson was referring to a convention from the Council of Europe. It had nothing to do with the EU.

  • Tyrie tells Johnson another of his EU claims (the coffin rule one) is “a figment of your imagination”.

Johnson says he does not accept that.

Tyrie says people might feel that his claims amount to “an exaggeration to the point of misrepresentation.”

UPDATE: This is from Britain Stronger in Europe.

Updated

Johnson accused of making false claims about EU regulations

Tyrie turns to Johnson’s Telegraph article in which he said he was backing Brexit.

He asks Johnson to defend this claim in the article.

The more the EU does, the less room there is for national decision-making. Sometimes these EU rules sound simply ludicrous, like the rule that you can’t recycle a teabag, or that children under eight cannot blow up balloons, or the limits on the power of vacuum cleaners.

Q: Can you tell us which EU regulation says children under eight cannot blow up balloons?

Johnson says this is spelt out on the European Commission website. It advises that children under eight should have to be supervised when blowing up balloons. He says in his household only children under eight blow up balloons.

Tyrie says Johnson is wrong. The EU rules only say that a warning should be included on packaging saying that children under eight should be supervised.

Tyrie says the teabag claim is not true either.

Johnson says Cardiff council took an animal byproducts regulation and used that to justify a rule saying teabags could not be recycled.

He says there is a “myriad” of EU rules that are being misused by British officials.

Tyrie says Johnson’s claim is a “misrepresentation”.

Johnson says people are prevented from recycling teabags - by Cardiff council.

  • Johnson accused of making false claims about EU regulations.

Johnson says British officials suffer from a form of “Stockholm syndrome” in relation to EU bureaucracy.

He says the planning process would be quicker without EU regulations.

And he says the British are over-enthusiastic about these rules.

Q: Is it fair to ignore the benefits?

Johnson repeats the point about Open Europe saying 95% of the benefits have not materialised.

Tyrie says, again, that that is not what Open Europe says.

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson giving evidence to the Commons Treasury committee Photograph: Par

Tyrie now turns to Johnson’s recent Brexit speech in Dartford. He says Johnson quoted a figure saying EU membership was costing British business £600m a week.

Q: Are you aware that this figure, from Open Europe, just looks at the costs of proposals. It does not include the benefits too.

Johnson says he is aware of that.

Q: If you were building a bridge ...

As I have done, says Johnson.

Q: You would look at the benefits of it too.

Johnson accepts that.

Q: Did you look at the Open Europe full list of costs and benefits?

Johnson says Open Europe say 95% of these benefits have not materialised.

Tyrie says that is not right. Open Europe says the full costs are difficult to quantify. That is different.

Johnson says business support for the EU is shallower than people think

Q: Do you know what surveys of business opinion say?

Johnson says he is broadly aware of what they say.

Tyrie says it is “surprising” that Johnson is not fully aware of this.

Johnson repeats the point about how shallow support for the EU is amongst business.

I’m struck by how shallow the enthusiasm for the EU seems to be even amongst its strongest advocates.

Q: What do you think the business community thinks?

Johnson says he knows groups like the CBI and the British Bankers Association are in favour of staying in the EU.

But their support for it is less strong than people think, he says.

And he says some leading bankers are in favour of Brexit, like Norman Blackwell from Lloyds and Sheila Noakes from RBS.

Boris Johnson gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee, is opening the hearing.

He says he and Boris Johnson used to have adjacent offices, were in and out of each other’s offices all the time and know each other “extremely well”.

Q: You represent London. What does London think of Brexit?

Johnsons says he thinks Londoners are more pro-EU than other people in the UK. But he has a “Burkean duty” to act according to what he thinks, he says.

Here’s an extract from Anushka Asthana and Rowena Mason’s story previewing today’s Treasury committee hearing.

Boris Johnson, a leading campaigner in the push to leave the European Union, will also appear in front of the committee on Wednesday in his role as mayor of London. [John Mann, a Labour committee member] said he would get a “very tough and difficult ride” as members press him for detail on how the UK would look outside the EU.

“He’s never faced this scrutiny and it’s possible it will be a game changer if he implodes. He has a pretty easy ride if he’s prepared but if he tries to bluster it could hurt him,” Mann said.

[Wes Streeting, another Labour committee member] argued that the mayor’s decision to back Brexit was questionable given that it was unpopular among Londoners and would damage the City of London. “The Treasury select committee is forensic – he had better turn up well-prepared,” he said.

Johnson is expected to argue that the UK is part of a global world, and that the City is so strong that it will not be affected by Brexit.

He will say he believes that the EU is heading into ever closer political union that could threaten jobs and growth.

Labour MPs react to the leak of a list ranking MPs according to their loyalty to Corbyn

Labour MPs and others have been reacting to the Times story about Jeremy Corbyn’s allies categorising MPs according to how loyal they are.

From Gloria De Piero MP (who is “core group negative” in the list)

From Jamie Reed MP (who is in the “hostile group” in the list)

From Gavin Shuker (who is “neutral but not hostile” according to the list)

From Conor McGinn, who for some reason is not on the list

Guido Fawkes’s Alex Wickham thinks he has identified errors in the list.

The former Labour special adviser Ian McKenzie also thinks it is flawed.

And another former Labour special adviser, David Mills, says the same.

PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield has posted this.

And the Sunday Times’s James Lyons says much the same.

The Times has got an interesting story (paywall). Sam Coates says Jeremy Corbyn’s allies have drawn up a list of Labour MPs, categorising them according to how loyal they are to Corbyn. Here’s how it starts.

Jeremy Corbyn’s allies have ranked every Labour MP by their loyalty to the leadership, labelling Rosie Winterton, the chief whip, and Sadiq Khan, the party’s candidate for mayor of London, as “hostile”.

A document leaked to The Times reveals that Labour MPs have been divided into five groups. It shows Mr Corbyn has more opponents than supporters. The list prompted one Labour MP to draw comparisons with Richard Nixon, the former US president who drew up lists of his enemies.

The spreadsheet has 19 MPs listed in the “core group” — a term regularly used by those closest to Mr Corbyn to denote his inner circle in the parliamentary party. There are 56 in the “core group plus”, described by one Labour source as his “outer circle”. Some 72 are listed as “neutral but not hostile”, 49 are “core group negative” and 36 are “hostile”; 17 people are missing from the list.

Coates says he has been told by Labour MPs that the list was drawn up by Katy Clark, Corbyn’s political secretary, but he quotes a Corbyn spokesman saying: “It doesn’t come from this office and we have no knowledge of it.”

The full list has been published in the Times’ Red Box morning email.

The next Conservative leadership contest hasn’t officially started, and David Cameron may be hoping to postpone it for at least another three years, but this morning an event is taking place that may feel like the first #ToryLeadership hustings. It’s Boris Johnson giving evidence to the Commons Treasury committee.

Ostensibly, of course, this has nothing to do with who leads the Conservative party. The committee is holding an inquiry into “the economic and financial costs and benefits of the UK’s EU membership” and Johnson has been invited in his capacity as mayor of London.

But, with Johnson’s stock as a leadership contender higher than ever, this will also be an opportunity for Tory MPs to decide whether Johnson can survive scrutiny at the highest level. The Treasury committee is probably the most forensic and high-powered of all the Commons select committees and, other than an hour-long interview with Andrew Neil, it is hard to think of a challenge more likely to expose a political lightweight than being scrutinised before it. Since announcing that he would be campaigning to leave the EU, Johnson has given one interview to Andrew Marr, which was generally judged not a great success, and delivered one knockabout but relatively insubstantial speech. This morning he faces his toughest test.

Tomorrow the same committee is also taking evidence from George Osborne, the chancellor, on the EU referendum. But the time that hearing is over the Tory leadership odds may have been recalibrated.

After that, we’ve got PMQs.

Here are the key timings for the day.

9.15am: Boris Johnson gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee.

12pm: David Cameron faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.

Today I will be focusing mostly on these two events but I will also be covering other breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will post a summary after PMQs and another in the afternoon.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

If you think there are any voices that I’m leaving out, particularly political figures or organisations giving alternative views of the stories I’m covering, do please flag them up below the line (include “Andrew” in the post). I can’t promise to include everything, but I do try to be open to as wide a range of perspectives as possible.

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