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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Patrick Greenfield (now) and Andrew Sparrow (earlier)

Brexit: May hints UK could accept extended transition – as it happened

Theresa May arrives at the EU summit in Brussels.
Theresa May arrives at the EU summit in Brussels. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

I’m afraid we are bringing today’s Brexit excitement to an end. Thanks for following developments with us. We really appreciate your comments.

These are the must-reads about Wednesday’s Brexit news:

Heather Stewart, Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin report that Theresa May has hinted that the UK could extend the Brexit transition period to allow more time for trade talks, but dismayed leaders at a crunch Brussels summit by failing to offer any new ideas to break the impasse over the Irish border.

Rajeev Syal and Heather Stewart report that the Brexit withdrawal agreement must either be accepted or rejected by MPs and should not automatically be subjected to amendments, according to a letter and a memorandum released by the government.

Kim Willsher, Jon Henley and Kate Connolly write that Germany and France are starting to step up their preparations for a no-deal Brexit even though both publicly insist an agreement with the UK over the terms of its departure from the EU can still be achieved.

Have a peaceful evening.

Here’s some Christmas cheer from Sky News’ political editor Faisal Islam about the political deadline in Brexit negotiations to meet the March 29th deadline.

The conservative StandUp4Brexit campaign has added another member to its ranks tonight. The group, backed by former Brexit secretary David Davis, supports a Canada+++ deal with the EU.

Farage: “The problem isn’t Brexit, the problem is the prime minister”

“The problem isn’t Brexit, the problem is the prime minister,” the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage tells BBC’s Newsnight. “We may never leave the European Union properly. This is a betrayal of Brexit.”

He’s not happy.

Updated

The vice-president of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness tells Newsnight that the UK “didn’t understand the difficulties and consequences” of Brexit when it had the vote, adding “let’s try and keep some optimism but this could still go wrong.”

Updated

Damien Green says the extra year of transition would “solve some problems but not others,” adding that “there are two big problems” with May’s plan. Green says the Irish backstop issue still does not go away and the UK could have to pay the EU an extra year of contributions to the bloc’s budget.

Updated

Damien Green, the vice-president of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness, Ken Clarke and Nigel Farage are on Newsnight this evening.

It won’t be dull. I’ll tell you about the most important developments.

The Guardian’s Heather Stewart, Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin have written up this evening’s developments.

Theresa May has hinted that the UK could extend the Brexit transition period to allow more time for trade talks, but dismayed leaders at a crunch Brussels summit by failing to offer any new ideas to break the impasse over the Irish border, they report.

Read the full piece here:

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail’s Thursday front page is up. They’re not impressed.

Nadine Dorries calls on Theresa May to stand aside

Here’s the first sign of open Tory hostility to May’s apparent openness to an extended Brexit transition period.

Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said it was time for the prime minister to stand aside and allow “someone who can negotiate to get on with it”, tweeting her support for David Davis as an interim leader. “I’ve done my bit. It’s time for my colleagues to do theirs.” she added.

EU27 not planning to organise November Brexit summit for now

This from the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin.

ITV’s Robert Peston, also.

Updated

The Guardian’s economics correspondent Richard Partington is listening to the international trade secretary Liam Fox speak this evening at Mansion House in London.

EU27 leaders finish Brexit dinner talks

The EU27 leaders have finished their turbot fillets and fig, pear and grape sorbets. Theresa May will hear back from them at a meeting tomorrow morning, Donald Tusk’s spokesperson confirms.

Updated

Analysis: DUP unhappy with May's Brexit transition extension stance

Here’s some snap analysis from Lisa O’Carroll, the Guardian’s Brexit correspondent.

While Theresa May’s position appears to have melted a little tonight, the DUP has not reacted positively to an extension of the transition period, not because they are ideologically opposed to that but because it does not address the issue of the border in the Irish sea, they say.

Here’s DUP MEP Diane Dodds comments, retweeted by party leader Arlene Foster.

Earlier Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said he was open to the transition period being extended but said the backstop would still be required.

The idea of a link between the withdrawal agreement, which is legally binding and which would contain the backstop, being linked to the future political declaration which would include the customs arrangements, has been floating in Brexit circles for weeks.

What appears to be new is talk that the customs arrangements could make their way into the withdrawal agreement too by way of a link the backstop.

This was known as the “bridge” solution, earlier this summer described as the “conjoined twins” solution. It is not new. It has been around since July, but as an inchoate idea, so complicated, nobody seems to have been able to explain how it would work.

Updated

Some of the early front pages are starting to appear. Politico Europe have gone with ‘Theresa May’s kamikaze Brexit’.

But the Financial Times has some good Brexit news for the prime minister. A US regulator has threatened to ban EU banks from American futures markets unless the bloc waters down plans to oversea clearing houses, which are currently big business for the City of London.

Farage: Brexit transition period extension "may mean we never leave at all"

As one might expect, the former UKIP leader is not happy about the news that Theresa May is reportedly open to extending the Brexit transition period by a year.

The SNP have reacted to tonight’s meeting between Theresa May and the EU27 leaders. Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s foreign affairs and Europe spokesperson, said:

It’s becoming clearer from reports that at this crucial summit with EU27 leaders, Theresa May has failed to bring forward any meaningful proposals to end the deadlock created by her government.

Rather than attempting to fudge her way through the negotiations, the Prime Minister should be using these meetings to constructively engage with our EU neighbours and to bring forward serious plans.

The SNP has been consistently clear; the only way to protect the economy, businesses, and the interests of the UK is by negotiating to keep us all in the single market and customs union.

Updated

Back home, the Guardian’s Rajeev Syal and Heather Stewart report that the Brexit withdrawal agreement must either be accepted or rejected by MPs and should not automatically be subjected to amendments, according to a letter and a memorandum released by the government.

That’s bad news for MPs trying to alter the government’s Brexit policy.

Read the full story here:

Updated

May tells EU27 leaders she will consider Brexit transition extension

Here’s a bit more on what Theresa May told EU27 leaders from Laura Kuenssberg and the Sun’s political editor Tom Newton Dunn. Look away now Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The prime minister reportedly told the meeting that she was ready to consider extending the Brexit transition period as part of a compromise on the Irish border disagreement.

May arrives at British ambassador's residence in Brussels

Theresa May has arrived at the British ambassador’s residence in Brussels, according to the BBC’s Natalie Higgins. EU27 leaders are discussing Brexit negotiations over dinner without her, so I hope the ambassador has been busy in the kitchen.

Updated

Brexit transition period extension discussed by May and EU27 leaders

The European parliament president Antonio Tajani also confirmed that an extension to the Brexit transition period was discussed by EU leaders as part of efforts to resolve the Irish border backstop disagreement.

'No change in content' from May, European parliament president says

These from the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Updated

Antonio Tajani, the European parliament president, is briefing reporters while EU27 leaders tuck into their turbot fillets cooked in wheat beer.

Updated

Immediate reaction from Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuania’s straight-talking president.

The BBC’s Adam Fleming has tweeted the actual menu for the EU27 leaders.

Theresa May finishes address to EU leaders

Donald Tusk’s spokesperson Preben Aamann has tweeted that Theresa May’s pre-dinner conversation with EU27 leaders about Brexit has finished.

Now European leaders will discuss their next steps over dinner without the British prime minister.

Thanks Andrew and good evening to all our readers.

Theresa May is addressing EU leaders right now. I understand that Antonio Tajani, the European parliament president, will then brief reporters on how her address went.

After that, we might hear very little until the meal ends.

Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, said even a “small step in the right direction” would count as a success tonight. This is from the Wall Street Journal’s Valentina Pop.

With that, I’m finished for this evening. My colleague Patrick Greenfield is now taking over. He will be here to cover all the next steps this evening - small, large, forward or backwards.

I’ve updated some of the earlier posts with more or fuller quotes from the EU leaders arriving at the summit.

But to see the updates, you probably need to refresh the page.

Raab says Commons vote on final Brexit vote should be yes/no, with no amendments allowed

The Commons procedure committee is holding a short inquiry into the “meaningful vote”, the one the government has promised allowing MPs to either approve or reject the Brexit deal.

There has been considerable interest in whether the motion will be amendable - ie, whether MPs could use the vote to attach new conditions to the agreement, to send ministers back to Brussels to negotiate, or to require a second referendum. Normally all substantive motions are amendable, but Westminster procedure experts have been giving a lot of thought to the tricks that could be deployed to either expand or limit the scope of the vote.

In a letter to the committee Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, has said the government wants to make it a straightforward yes/no vote. In other words, it wants to block amendments. He says:

Once the deal is presented to parliament, the procedure through which it is voted upon must allow for an unequivocal decision, and one which is clear to the British public. Another other than a straightforward approval of the deal will bring with it huge uncertainty for business, consumers and citizens.

In his letter Raab does not say how the government would stop the motion being amended - although he does suggest that if the committee can come up any ideas that would enable this, he would be very grateful.

The FT’s Jim Pickard has posted the full letter on Twitter.

Diane Dodds, the DUP MEP, says extending the transition won’t be enough to address her party’s concerns about the Irish backstop.

Barnier says he needs 'much more time' to get a deal

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, says he will be briefing the European council on the negotiations.

They have been working a lot to get an agreement, he says, in the past few weeks and days and nights.

But we are not there yet.

Brexit must be orderly, for everyone and for all the issues, including on the island of Island.

So we need time, we need much time, much more time, and we will continue to work in the next weeks calmly and patiently, calmly and patiently.

When reporters press him with question, he just repeats the final phrase - just to be sure we’ve got the message.

Calmly and patiently

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament, said he was in favour of extending the transition by one year. He said:

We [the European parliament] are in favour. Three years is our proposal. I agree with the new proposal of Mr Barnier. This is a good choice.

Antonio Tajani
Antonio Tajani Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, is worried about the relatively hardline language adopted by Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, Jakub Krupa from the Polish Press Agency reports.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was relatively brief when she spoke to journalists on her arrival, the FT’s Mehreen Khan reports.

UPDATE: This is what Merkel said:

We want good relations with Great Britain. We would have been pleased if the withdrawal agreement had already been completed.

We are 90% there, but there is further work ahead.

But I come here in a spirit of always trying everything to get an agreement that will be better for everyone.

Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, says it is time to find an agreement. He says Michel Barnier has done a good job, but they need to go further.

Asked if he supports extending the transition, he says it is not for him to say. He says the EU will decide these things at the level of the 27 members and then negotiate.

UPDATE: More Macron.

Emmanuel Macron arriving at the summit.
Emmanuel Macron arriving at the summit. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Updated

Leo Varadkar, the Irish PM, is speaking to reporters now.

He says he has always thought negotiating a new trade treaty with the UK would take more than two years. So he is open to the idea of extending the transition. He says that could not be a substitute for the Irish backstop. But if it helped to reassure people, that could be an advantage, he says.

Updated

Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, told reporters as he arrived that he was “open” to the idea of extending the Brexit transition period.

Peter Pellegrini, the Slovakian prime minister, said he was not optimistic about Brexit. This is from Sky’s Mark Stone.

UPDATE: Here is a direct quote from Pellegrini.

I think we will receive information that there is no deal and I think we should do the maximum to the last day to try to have an agreement.

But the 27 should be prepared also for a no-deal result and I think maybe we will finish like that.

My hope was that today we would have already some concrete solution on the table but it looks like there will not be a deal today.

Slovakian prime minister Peter Pellegrini
Slovakian prime minister Peter Pellegrini Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP

Updated

Dutch PM says he is 'cautiously optimistic' deal will be reached in coming weeks

Mark Rutte, the Dutch PM, has arrived in Brussels.

He says EU leaders thought there would be an agreement on Sunday. That was not possible, he says. But he says a lot of progress has been made.

Now the debate is focused on the Irish border issue.

That will be the main issue to be debated tonight.

But he says he is “cautiously optimistic” that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, and his UK counterparts will reach a deal in the coming weeks.

Mark Rutte
Mark Rutte Photograph: EU

Back in the Commons the Labour motion demanding the publication of the government analysis of the impact of universal credit on people’s incomes was defeated by 299 voted to 279, a majority 20.

Lithuanian president says UK does not know what Brexit it wants

The Lithuanian president, Dalia Grybauskaitė, told reporters as she arrived that the EU did not really know what the UK wanted. These are from my colleague Jennifer Rankin.

Grybauskaitė also suggested the talks could go on until December. This is from Bloomberg’s Maria Tadeo.

UPDATE: The Politico Europe summit live blog (which is very good) has a fuller quote from Grybauskaite. She said.

They [the UK] do not know themselves what they really want. That’s a problem.

We are very friendly but we would like someone to come and say what they want finally … it is still a great secret.

FURTHER UPDATE: And the Press Association has filed this, with more quotes.

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said: “Today there will be no breakthrough. I think that today we only hear statements, because we realise that the technical agreement last week was not accepted in London.”

Asked what the UK needed to do, she replied: “To decide finally what they want and to rally behind the prime minister all together, not split, not buckling. To have a joint opinion, a joint stance.”

Grybauskaite said: “We very much want for prime minister May to come with a strong mandate, which we have not seen yet in the UK.

“We need very concrete understanding of what the UK really wants. To stay one leg in the continent and one leg in the UK is really not possible.

“Today we do not know what they want. They do not know themselves what they want. It is a problem.”

Asked if she was worried, she said: “Not yet. There is still time for the drama to play.”

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite
Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP

Updated

May says Brexit deal is 'achievable' and 'now is time to make it happen'

This is what Theresa May told reporters as she arrived at the summit.

I will be talking to leaders tonight about the very good progress that has been made since Salzburg both on the withdrawal agreement and our future partnership.

The teams have been working very hard to ensure we can address these issues. We have solved most of the issues in the withdrawal agreement. There is still the question of the Northern Irish backstop.

But I believe everybody around the table wants to get a deal. By working intensively and closely, we can achieve that deal.

I believe a deal is achievable and now is the time to make it happen.

She was asked two questions. She sidestepped both of them (see 4.50pm) and instead in her replies essentially repeated what she said in her opening statement.

Theresa May
Theresa May Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

John McDonnell says that he still longs for united Ireland - but that he respects democracy

John McDonnell boosted Theresa May’s hopes of keeping the DUP onside amid fraught Brexit negotiations when he admitted at a Westminster lunch on Tuesday that he still “longed” for a united Ireland.

The shadow chancellor confirmed that he remained a committed republican and when he was asked whether he thought it could be the longterm solution to the Irish backstop problem, he replied: “Oh what a temptation.” But he added:

I long for a united Ireland but I recognise democracy. Ireland will not be reunited on the basis of some contortions around the issue of relations with the EU. It will only be reunited on the basis of the popular support of the Irish people and that I respect.

However, he raised eyebrows when he joked about some sort of future coalition pact with the DUP. He said:

There are some curious relationships that come out of a general election. If I can get my application in for the Orange Order and order my bowler hat and sash for the marching season, you never know.

McDonnell presented his “sensible bank manager” face to the room, throwing in that he had regular meetings with industry chiefs and asset managers and saying that the Bank of England should maintain its independence, despite previously believing the Treasury should regain responsibility for setting interest rates.

On Brexit, he predicted that Brussels would offer Theresa May a “fudge” out of fear of ending up with Boris Johnson in No 10, suggested it would be the prime minister’s “Neville Chamberlain moment” and restated Labour’s position that “everything is on the table”, including a vote to remain, in the event of no deal.

He also called on chancellor Philip Hammond to fill the £2bn gap in children’s services and appeared to slap down shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, who had suggested that Brexit was more important than tackling the culture of bullying and harassment at Westminster. “One doesn’t shade out the other,” he said.

The shadow chancellor weighed into the row over the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling on the government to consider economic sanctions, as well as diplomatic isolation, against Saudi Arabia.

However, he also managed a few quips about his radical past, starting off with “I’m trying to soften my image, so comrades ….” He also suggested that under a Labour government, the regular gathering of political journalists could be transformed into a Marxist reading group.

John McDonnell
John McDonnell Photograph: Kirsty O'Connor/PA

May refuses to rule out accepting one-year extension to transition period

Theresa May is with Sir Tim Barrow, the UK ambassador to the EU.

Q: Have you got the concrete new plans the EU say they need?

May starts by saying they will be talking about issues like migration. And she is here for the Asia-Europe summit on Friday too.

Tonight she will tell EU leaders about the “very good progress” on Brexit since Salsburg.

Most issues have been solved, she says.

There is still the Irish backstop issue. But she thinks a deal can be done.

Q: If you get offered an extension to the transition (see 9.26am) will you accept it?

May says she thinks they can get a deal, a deal in the interests of the UK and the EU.

Q: Do you expect them to offer a summit in November?

May says, by working intensely, she thinks they can get a deal.

  • May refuses to rule out accepting a one-year extension to the transition period.
  • She refuses to say whether she expects the EU to schedule a summit in November to finalise Brexit.
Theresa May arriving at the summit.
Theresa May arriving at the summit. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Theresa May is coming in.

Updated

This is from Donald Tusk, the European council president.

@sanchezcastejon is the Spanish PM, Pedro Sanchez.

EU leaders are starting to arrive for the summit now.

The EU has a live feed which you can watch here.

As my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports, Jüri Ratas, the Estonian PM, has already gone in.

UPDAE: This is from the Press Association.

Arriving for the summit, Estonian prime minister Juri Ratas said he “regretted” that no withdrawal deal had been reached.

He added: “I still believe that this agreement is possible and our goal is to find the solution and find the way, and I think it is possible.”

Updated

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, told reporters in Brussels that ‘time is running out” for a Brexit deal, Bloomberg reports.

Commenting on reports that the EU may offer the UK a longer transition period (see 9.26am), Varadkar also that he was open to the idea, but that a longer transition “couldn’t be a substitute for the backstop”.

Leo Varadkar adjusts his tie as he arrives for a meeting of the European People’s party EPP in Brussels, Belgium, ahead of the EU summit later.
Leo Varadkar adjusts his tie as he arrives for a meeting of the European People’s party EPP in Brussels, Belgium, ahead of the EU summit later. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/AP

Nigel Farage, the MEP and former Ukip leader, had trouble with his pass as he arrived at the EU HQ ahead of today’s summit, MLex’s Matthew Holehouse reports.

Recently Nicky Morgan, the Conservative chair of the Commons Treasury committee, wrote to Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, asking for an assurance that the Bank will produce an impact analysis of the final Brexit agreement. She’s had a reply, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports, and the Bank will provide a report for MPs.

Here’s a picture.

Theresa May is welcomed by European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker prior to the EU summit in Brussels
Theresa May is welcomed by European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker prior to the EU summit in Brussels Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

May arrives in Brussels

Theresa May has arrived in Brussels.

Her handshake with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, didn’t last long, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg reports.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been speaking at a press gallery lunch today. My colleague Pippa Crerar has some of the highlights.

Updated

Lunchtime summary

  • Theresa May is heading for Brussels where early this evening she will have half an hour to address fellow EU leaders before they meet without her to consider their next move in the Brexit negotiations. No breakthrough is expected this week, but it remains to be seen whether the EU will formally schedule a summit for mid November in the hope that the Brexit deal can be finalised then - or whether it will decide to wait until further progress has been made. This morning Michael Gove, the environment secretary, said a final deal may not be agreed until the EU’s December summit. (See 11.55am.)
  • The French government has said Britons could need visas to visit the country in the event of a no deal Brexit. It made the declaration as it published a draft of emergency legislation it would pass to deal with the consequences of the UK leaving in March with no deal. (See 1.24pm.) The move came as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, told her MPs that the German government is making contingency plans for a no deal Brexit. (See 2.05pm.)
  • The US government formally confirmed it intends to pursue a trade deal with the UK “as soon as it is ready” after leaving the EU - and signalled that it expects American farmers to benefit. (See 10.29am.)
  • Corbyn has refused to back Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, in saying John Bercow should stay as speaker because of the importance of forthcoming Brexit votes, regardless of complaints about his record in regard to the bullying of Commons staff. Yesterday Thornberry said that now was “absolutely not the time to be changing speaker”. Today, asked if Corbyn agreed, Corbyn’s spokesman told journalists:

Jeremy’s view is that the issue of Brexit and the issue of bullying, harassment and abuse in parliament, or any work place, are entirely separate, and shouldn’t be confused in any way.

The spokesman also said Thornberry was expressing a “personal view” yesterday, not speaking on behalf of the party. He clarified Corbyn’s position after a 24 hours which saw Labour criticised for appearing to rank Brexit as more important than addressing bullying and harassment. (See, for example, this column from the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush.) Yesterday, when Corbyn’s office was asked about Thornberry’s comments, and whether they reflected Corbyn or the party’s position, aides refused to address the question, suggesting that Corbyn has firmed up his views overnight.

Bercow has been accused of bullying staff but it is important to stress that he denies those allegations. However he has also been criticised for presiding over a Commons administration where such behaviour by MPs has been tolerated.

  • Labour has described universal credit as a “vehicle for cuts”. At the start of a Commons debate on the topic the shadow work and pensions secretary Margaret Greenwood said:

Universal credit, the government’s flagship social security programme, has been beset with flaws in its design and delivery. It’s causing immense hardship for many people wherever it is rolled out. It is hard to believe now but UC was designed to lift people out of poverty and smooth the transition into work to ensure that it always pays. The reality is that UC is a vehicle for cuts.

Updated

Sinn Fein holding a protest today against Brexit outside Stormont, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Sinn Fein holding a protest today against Brexit outside Stormont, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Merkel gives 'Big Brexit speech' to German parliament

Angela Merkel has admitted for the first time that the German government is making contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.

The German chancellor said that her government had started to make “suitable preparations” for the possibility of Britain and the EU failing to reach a final agreement.

“It is only fitting as a responsible and forward-thinking government leadership, that we prepare for every scenario - that includes the possibility of Great Britain leaving the European Union without an agreement. In the government we have begun to prepare ourselves appropriately for this,” she told German parliamentarians in a special address, dubbed her “Big Brexit Speech” by the German media, ahead of the European council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.

Merkel then breathlessly reeled off a list of her concerns, from citizens’ rights to customs issues, that she said, despite Michel Barnier’s reassurance that “90 per cent of the text of the exit agreement has been completed”, still remained unresolved. (See 1.46pm.)

Merkel described the negotiations with Britain as having been intensive and demonstrating good will on both sides, despite what she called the “unfortunate” lack of breakthrough over the Irish border question.

To applause from MPs, she added she wished that Britain, which had “helped shape the EU, politically, economically and culturally” would continue to be a “close and trustworthy partner”.

But she added that it had to be clear to all sides, that once out of the EU, Britain could not expect to have the same rights as EU members. “There always needs to be and there will be, a difference between having membership of the European Union and a partnership with the European Union as a third party,” she said.

Angela Merkel delivers her statement to the German parliament
Angela Merkel delivers her statement to the German parliament Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Merkel says Germany seriously preparing for no deal Brexit

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, addressed the German parliament today about Brexit. Here are the key points she made.

  • Merkel said there was still no breakthrough on the Irish border question.
  • She said the German government is seriously preparing for a no deal scenario.
  • She said there are very considerable concerns about the rights of British citizens in Germany and German citizens in the EU, with many questions still open.
  • She said the German government is determined that members of the EU and non-members with a partnership agreement should not have the same rights.

And here are extracts from what Merkel said.

In one central question, the question of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, there is as yet unfortunately no breakthrough. We’re not just talking here about the integrity of the single market, but the preservation of the Good Friday agreement which ended violence on the island 20 years ago.

Everyone who’s ever been involved in international negotiations knows that the most difficult part comes towards the end and the devil here lies very much in the detail, and that’s why we’re now down to talking about our principles, and the joint position of the 27, to work on a convincing solution for both sides.

The chances of reaching in time a good and viable exit agreement is still there ...

At the same time, it is only fitting as a responsible and forward-thinking government leadership that we prepare for every scenario, that includes the possibility of Great Britain leaving the European Union without an agreement. We have begun in the government to prepare ourselves appropriately for this.

That brings with it a whole array of questions, such as how do we manage, the day after the exit the estimated 100,000 British citizens who in some cases, have been living in Germany for years? How do we deal, for example, with teachers of British citizenship who are classed as German civil servants and how can that continue? How do we appropriately prepare our authorities for the added burdens to do with customs issues? How do we prevent German citizens from facing any disadvantages in Great Britain as well as German businesses [operating there]?

In the negotiations with Great Britain on these and other issues it must always be clear, that, even if we want to avoid hardships at the end, there always needs to, and will be, a difference between having membership of the European Union and a partnership with the European Union as a third party.

Angela Merkel addressing the German parliamet
Angela Merkel addressing the German parliamet Photograph: Omer Messinger/EPA

Britons may need visas to visit France after no deal Brexit, says Paris as it publishes draft emergency legislation

This morning Jon Thompson, the head of HM Revenue and Customs, told MPs that he did not know what the French would do in the event of a no deal Brexit, and what checks would be imposed on lorries entering France from the UK. (See 10.52am.)

But the French government has provided an answer, in the form of draft emergency legislation explaining what would happen in the event of a no deal. Sky’s Faisal Islam has posted a link to it.

And my colleague Kim Willsher has posted a long and very useful thread on Twitter about what it says. It starts here.

And here are extracts.

UPDATE: A reader has been in touch to say the French government first unveiled this draft legislation earlier this month. I’ve corrected the post above to remove the comment saying it was only published this morning.

FURTHER UPDATE: The Local, an English-language French news site, has this article explaining what the draft law means for Britons living in France.

Updated

PMQs - Verdict from Twitter commentariat

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about PMQs on Twitter.

Generally people seem to think it was a bit of a lost opportunity for Jeremy Corbyn.

From the Daily Mirror’s Jason Beattie

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the Guardian’s Peter Walker

From the Spectator’s Isabel Hardman

From the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush

From Business Insider’s Adam Payne

From Politics.co.uk’s Ian Dunt

From the Evening Standard’s Kate Proctor

From the Independent’s John Rentoul

The Commons chamber was less packed than ever for PMQs, colleagues tell me. (I monitor it from the TV in the office, and so I can’t tell. You get a better view in the gallery.) Labour’s Chris Bryant says the same.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, asked about Brexit in his questions.

He said it was in everyone’s interests for the PM to come back from Brussels with a good deal. The SNP would act “as a constructive opposition”, he said. “The enemy is behind her.” He said Sir John Major yesterday Brexit would leave the UK poorer. He asked if May agreed.

Theresa May said the plan she had put forward would protect jobs and livelihoods.

Blackford said: “People’s jobs would be put at risk.” Those were May’s words in June 2016, he said. He said no PM should negotiate a deal what would threaten jobs. He told her to go to Brussels, act in the interests of all citizens and negotiate to keep the UK in the single market and the customs union. “That will command a majority in the House of Commons,” he said. That was the only deal that would get through the Commons, he says.

May said her plan delivered on the referendum result, but also protected jobs. She said if Blackford wanted to act in the interests of the people of Scotland, he should join with the Tories in taking the UK out of the common fisheries policy.

Ivan Lewis, who is suspended from Labour, urges May to stay in the EEA after Brexit (the Norway option).

May says she wants the UK to take control of laws and borders after Brexit. That is in the national interest.

Luke Graham, a Scottish Conservative, says Scotland won’t benefit from the agriculture bill because of the SNP.

May says she wants everyone to benefit from the bill.

Labour’s Teresa Pearce asks about a constituent being sexually harassed by a co-worker. The constituent wants to return to work. What can the constituent do when the employer is this House?

May says there should be a proper response to the Laura Cox report. This issue should worry all MPs, she says.

UPDATE: Here is the question.

Updated

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw says Matthew Hedges, the student who has been held in jail in the UAE accused of spying, a constituent of his, was just engaged in academic research. Will the government insist on this to the UAE.

May says the government is offering the student its support.

Julian Lewis, a Conservative, asks May to asks negotiators who would construct a hard border in Ireland after Brexit. The UK and the Irish would never build one.

May says they are all working to avoid a hard border.

Julian Knight, a Conservative, asks May to condemn the Green councillor in his constituency who write a guide to attracting BNP votes.

May agrees, and says there is no place for racism in our society.

The DUP’s Nigel Dodds says it would be difficult to get MPs to confirm a withdrawal agreement without having some precise details about the future trade relationship.

May agrees. She says she has always insisted on this.

She says it is also important to have a linkage between the withdrawal agreement and the future trade relationship.

Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, asks May to tell the EU that it cannot break up the UK and, after Brexit, that it cannot regulate the UK.

May says after Brexit the UK will take those decisions here. It will take control of its laws, money and borders.

PMQs - Snap verdict

PMQs - Snap verdict: That was a creditable performance from Corbyn but, with one exception, his questions did not really put May under much pressure, and it is hard to see either of them deserving praise for a resounding victory. Corbyn focused all his questions on Brexit, but he asked about six, quite separate topics and although all his questions were pertinent (and shorter than usual, it sounded to me, which was welcome), May brushed them aside fairly easily. If you can’t get past the shield with the first question, you need a well-directed follow-up, but Corbyn has never been good at these and so this was an exchange marked by lost opportunities. May claimed Chequers was still policy. So can she promise MPs that she will only sign a deal that preserves all its elements? Or is she even willing to say the word out loud? And May says nothing is agreed on the Brexit bill until everything is agreed. So can she assure Tory Brexiters that, in the event of a no deal Brexit, the UK will pay nothing? (She can’t, because the UK would pay up, but she is loath to so with Jacob Rees-Mogg in the room.) Corbyn’s best moment came when he asked May why she signed up to the Irish backstop in the December joint report agreed between the EU and the UK without insisting on a time limit. This is an excellent question because the only honest answer (‘we were up against a deadline and we didn’t think it through’) won’t wash, and May sounded a little panicky as she waffled her way through her rather feeble answer. Six questions on this would have had her floundering badly. But Corbyn never pressed the point, and so May got off more lightly than she deserved.

Updated

Corbyn says Jaguar Land Rover is holding off investment until it knows what will happen. He says the public accounts committee said last week the Department of Health could not guarantee the supply of medicines after Brexit.

May says Corbyn is talking about a no deal scenario. The Department of Health is preparing for this, she says.

Corbyn says the BMA says the UK is woefully underprepared for this. The Tories have spent two years arguing with themselves over this. They are still bickering. They are too weak and too divided to protect jobs or the economy. So May has a choice. She can continue to put the Tory party first. Or she could put the interests of the country first.

May says Corbyn has said nothing about the unemployment figures out this week. She lists government achievements: scrapping the cap on council spending on homes, freezing fuel duty, low unemployment, wages rising. Labour can play politics; the Conservatives deliver for the people, she says.

Corbyn asks May to confirm that the joint report May signed with the EU committed the UK to an Irish backstop without a time limit.

May says the UK has said the backstop is to bridge the gap between the end of the implementation period and the future relationship coming into force.

Corbyn says May signed an agreement with no time limit attached. Does she still stand by that?

He says the car industry is clear it needs a new customs union to ensure continued investment in manufacturing. Jobs are at risk. Why won’t May back a customs union to back jobs?

Corbyn says what the automative industry wants is frictionless trade. That is what is at the heart of her plan, she says. Her plan will deliver on the referendum decision. Labour won’t do that. It wants a second referendum.

Corbyn starts by paying tribute to Patricia Hollis, the Labour peer who died this week.

Given that May did not mention Chequers in her conference speech or in the Commons on Monday, does that mean the Chequers plan is dead.

May replies: “The answer is no.”

Corbyn says Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey have both refused to back it. Maybe she can share a pizza with them and sort it out.

If the UK leaves with no deal, will it still have to pay £39bn? That’s a reference to the Telegraph splash. (See 11.06am.)

May says the UK honours its obligations. But nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

Sheryll Murray, a Conservative, asks the PM to publish all the government’s Brexit exit modelling.

Theresa May says the government will do this when she presents the final Brexit deal.

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

Here is the batting order.

PMQs
PMQs Photograph: Commons

Here is the quote from Michael Gove saying the Brexit deal may not be done until December.

It might be the case - we’ve seen how European negotiations work - that progress is made at October council, progress is made at the November council, and it is even as late as the December council before a deal is done. Obviously, everyone wants the deal to be done earlier.

The European council for December will take place on Thursday 13 December and Friday 14 December. So, on the basis of what Gove is saying, Friday 14 December may now be the ultimate deadline for the Brexit deal.

Gove says Brexit deal may not be agreed until December

Gove says it could be the case that progress could be made at the October European council, and at again at a November summit, but with the Brexit deal not being finalised until December.

  • Gove says Brexit deal may not be agreed until December.

Gove says EU fishing boats will still have access to UK waters in 2019 even if there's no Brexit deal

Gove tells peers that, even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal in March next year, the commitments made by the UK at the December fishing council will be honoured. So EU fishing boats will still have access to British waters until December 2019.

Michael Gove
Michael Gove Photograph: Parliament TV

This is what the Press Association has filed from the opening of the Brexit committee hearing.

A top health official has admitted concerns over medicine supplies after Brexit are keeping him awake at night.

Sir Chris Wormald told MPs he also lost sleep about the impact quitting the European Union would have on the NHS workforce as well as future arrangements about treating patients on their travels.

The issues were the same regardless of whether a deal had been struck, the Department of Health’s permanent secretary said.

Asked about his main concerns, he told the Brexit committee: “Those three are securing the supply of medicines, workforce questions and reciprocal health care arrangements with the EU 27.

“Those are the three things that keep me awake on this subject.”

Wormald told the committee most health issues “haven’t been hugely contentious”.

“Most of our issues are practical ones,” he added.

Wormald sidestepped questions over whether he was confident supplies of essential medicines would be maintained in the event of no deal, saying he never issued guarantees.

He said buffer stocks were being organised but there would be other decisions that needed to be made “along the way”.

“We are confident that we are putting in place all the correct mitigations but, an incredibly complex supply chain, it of course remains very challenging.

“I should say it’s quite challenging in normal circumstances. There are always medicines that we are worried about at any given time.”

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, is giving evidence to the Lords energy and environment sub committee on Brexit. There is a live feed here.

According to the Times’ Esther Webber, Gove said the Royal College of Veterinarians is considering letting people who aren’t vets sign animals’ export health certificates.

Here is Nick Clegg, the former Lib Dem deputy prime minister, on the joint article he has written with Tony Blair and Michael Heseltine urging EU leaders to extend article 50. (See 9.09am.)

There has been increasing speculation that the UK will end up with a “blindfold Brexit” - a Brexit deal where how the future trade relationship will work is to a large extent unresolved. In their article Clegg, Blair and Heseltine says two groups favour this - for different reasons.

There are two sorts of advocates of a blindfold Brexit in Britain. The naïve optimists and the cynical pessimists. The naïve optimists are those people described above, who believe that once the UK is out, the EU will suddenly decide it is willing to overturn its legal and constitutional order to give us a licence to do what it likes about the customs union, the common commercial policy and product and environmental standards inside an enduring relationship.

The cynical pessimists are different in that they seek the hardest of Brexits and believe it is worth agreeing to a flimsy, non-binding deal that gets them over the line in March 2019, because they know they could simply tear it up as soon as the UK is out. This would provide the pre-text they have always wanted for their programme of extensive labour market deregulation and corporation tax cuts.

For the European Council, the temptation to concede a blindfold Brexit must be strong. Getting the British out of the EU and into the transitional period with the minimum of fuss and disruption might seem like a worthwhile goal, but it will not settle the Brexit question.

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, seems to think that this amounts to the three former PMs and deputy PMs colluding with what he implies is the enemy.

Updated

This is from my colleague Heather Stewart.

According to the Daily Telegraph today (paywall), Philip Hammond, the chancellor, told cabinet yesterday that the UK will still have to pay most of the £39bn Brexit “divorce bill” even if it fails to get a future trade deal. The paper says:

During a three-hour Ccbinet meeting on Tuesday that was dominated by Brexit, at least one minister is understood to have suggested to Mrs May that she should now threaten to walk away and keep the £39bn “divorce bill” that is the price of a deal with the EU.

But Mr Hammond told ministers that Britain will only save between £3 billion and £9 billion if it leaves without a trade deal, according to cabinet sources.

One said: “He said that the Treasury’s legal advice was that if we left without a deal we would still have to pay the EU £30-36bn because we would be unlikely to win any case that went to international arbitration.”

Sources close to the chancellor claimed the highest figure he gave was £30bn, and that the scenario he described involved Britain failing to agree a trade deal at the end of a 21-month transition period, rather than leaving with no deal in March ...

A source close to the chancellor defended his comments, saying: “This is not Philip being a remoaner. He is growing increasingly frustrated with the EU’s tactics, and although he won’t say it publicly his stance on how much we should pay them is hardening.”

HMRC boss tells MPs that French won't say if they will impose new checks on lorries in event of no deal Brexit

Jon Thompson, the head of HM Revenue and Customs, has told the Brexit committee that he does not know if the French would impose extra checks on lorries entering the continent in the event of a no deal Brexit because they won’t tell him. He said his EU counterparts were reluctant to discuss Brexit planning bilaterally because they want negotiations with the UK to go through the commission. These are from the Independent’s Rob Merrick and the Western Morning News’ Mike Brown.

It is often assumed that Tory Brexiters would oppose any proposal to extend the Brexit transition beyond December 2020. (See 9.26am.) But the Times (paywall) says that at yesterday’s cabinet meeting Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, backed extending it for a few months. The Times reports that:

Liam Fox, the trade secretary, suggested yesterday that Britain may end up staying in transition for a “few more months” beyond the end of December 2020, according to a source ...

Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, told cabinet yesterday that the backstop proposed by the EU would mean Northern Ireland “torn out of the UK” and would mean “the UK has no leverage in future talks”, sources said. Julian Smith, the chief whip, said such a plan would not pass the Commons.

Dr Fox suggested one option to avert the crisis might be to extend the transition to give more time for a free trade deal to be concluded. This would avoid the need for the backstop to be implemented in 2021, he suggested.

Liam Fox arriving at cabinet yesterday.
Liam Fox arriving at cabinet yesterday. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Images

The Times’ Brussels correspondent Bruno Waterfield has written an interesting Twitter thread arguing that a Brexit deal is closer than some people think. It starts here.

Commenting on the Lighthizer letter (see 10.29am), a UK government spokesperson said:

The UK welcomes the US administration’s confirmation that it intends to begin negotiations for a free trade agreement with the UK once we have left the EU.

The UK-US trade and investment working group has been exploring ways to boost trade and investment ties, including laying the groundwork for a future free trade agreement, and the talks have been positive.

The government is taking steps to ensure we are ready to begin negotiations including through consulting the British public on their views on what a free trade agreement should look like.

Details of that consultation are available here. It closes at the end of next week.

Washington signals that it wants UK-US trade deal to benefit American farmers

Yesterday the US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, wrote to Congress giving notice that the US government intends to start negotiations on a trade deal with the UK. The letter (pdf) is just a formality, and it acknowledges that talks will not be able to start until the UK has actually left the EU. Lighthizer does not give details of what the US will be asking for. But he does suggest that removing trade barriers on agricultural products will be a White House priority. He says:

We are committed to concluding these negotiations with timely and substantive results for US consumers, businesses, farmers, ranchers and workers, consistent with US priorities and the negotiating objectives established by Congress in statute.

Wormald says the total number of NHS staff from the EU has gone up since the EU referendum.

He also says, in health and social care, the UK has more staff from the rest of the world than from the EU.

Back in the Brexit committee Thompson says HM Revenue and Customs has already taken on 2,300 more staff to prepare for Brexit.

In the event of a no deal Brexit, it will need a total of 5,300 extra staff, he says.

Q: What is the extra cost?

Thompson says Brexit has cost HMRC £260m this year.

Next year, in the event of there being a deal, the cost will be £400m. If there is no deal, the cost will be £450m, he says.

Angela Merkel’s fears that the British economy could gain a competitive advantage through even a temporary EU-UK customs union after Brexit have emerged as a major obstacle to progress on the Irish border issue, my colleague Daniel Boffey reports.

EU unlikely to schedule a Brexit summit for November this week, says Coveney

In his Today interview this morning Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, said he did not think EU leaders would commit themselves to holding a further summit in November to settle Brexit at this week’s meeting. Asked about this, he said:

I think what’s more likely is that dates will be suggested, but that there won’t be a commitment to a new summit unless there is a signal from the negotiating teams that there is something to sign off on.

And I think that’s sensible. What we don’t want to do is create drama around the build-up to a new summit date and not actually have something to sign off on.

Both sides want to get a deal done here, and I think we need ... to allow the negotiating teams to set the pace with a view to making recommendations, hopefully by mid-November, that a new summit is necessary to sign off on a final deal.

My colleague Jessica Elgot has more on what Coveney said in his Today interview here.

Q: Is there is a risk that, if there is a no deal, medicines that are currently available to people in the UK will not be available?

Wormald says there is a risk, but the government is trying to minimise it.

Cheshire says, in the middle of a negotiation, you should be cautious about taking negotiators’ public statements as the entire story.

The Conservative MP Stephen Crabb goes next.

Q: Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, gave a categorical assurance last week that airlines would not be grounded after Brexit. Your assurance is not quite so firm. Why?

Kelly says Grayling was saying airlines would not be grounded generally. She is talking about flights into the EU. She goes on:

The likelihood of UK airlines being unable to fly is very low.

Q: Michel Barnier was really clear with the committee that, if talks break down, there won’t be side deals. Does the government assume that is just rhetoric, and that there will be bilateral delays on aspects like airlines?

Kelly says the EU slides show that they would consider a bare-bones agreement on flights. It would be in their interests. And the commission has indicated that it would would want rail services to continue through the Channel Tunnel in the event of a no deal Brexit. Those discussions have begun, she says.

Updated

Jon Thompson says less than 1% of firms have contacted HM Revenue and Customs to get information about what new procedures they will have to comply with in the event of a no deal Brexit.


Bernadette Kelly says, at transport, her priority is to ensure continuity of travel. But she is also looking at how to avoid traffic disruption in Kent. She says the department has 17 work streams.

Q: The government says it would not impose extra checks on lorries coming into the UK. But we don’t know what checks the French would impose.

Kelly says the DfT is working on how to deal with delays that lead to lorries backing up in the UK.

The BBC’s Adam Fleming says Theresa May will get half an hour to address EU leaders tonight.

Hilary Benn, the Labour committee chair, starts by asking Sir Chris Wormald what worries him most about a no deal Brexit.

Wormald says the supply of medicines, NHS staffing and reciprocal health arrangements are the biggest issues for him.

Q: Can you give an assurance to patients that nothing that happens with a no deal Brexit would prevent them getting medicines?

Wormald says he is not in the business of giving assurance and guarantees like that. The department is putting in place the right mitigations, he says, but as a matter of principle he does not make those sorts of promises.

Updated

Three permanent secretaries give evidence to MPs on no deal planning

The Commons Brexit committee has just started an evidence session on no deal planning.

Three permanent secretaries, and a fourth very senior Whitehall official, are giving evidence.

The witnesses are:

Jon Thompson, chief executive and permanent secretary at HM Revenue and Customs

Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary at the Department for Transport

Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health

Sir Ian Cheshire, government lead non-executive director at the Cabinet Office

There is a live feed here.

This morning the Financial Times is reporting (paywall) that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is “open to the possibility of a one-year extension to Britain’s Brexit transition in return for Theresa May accepting a ‘two-tier’ backstop to avoid a border in Northern Ireland”. That backs up a story reported by my colleagues Daniel Boffey and Heather Stewart in the Guardian at the end of last week.

On the Today programme this morning Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister and foreign minister, confirmed the story. He told the programme:

The EU side is willing to allow more time in the transition period to agree an alternative solution to the backstop.

What Michel Barnier is now suggesting is, let’s ensure the backstop is never likely to be used by creating the space and time for the UK and the EU to be able to negotiate UK-wide customs arrangements.

According to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Number 10 has responded by saying that it is not calling for an extension of the transition period, which is due to end in December 2020. But, interestingly, it is not ruling out the idea either.

Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney Photograph: EU

Blair, Heseltine and Clegg urge EU leaders to extend article 50 to allow 2nd referendum

Later today EU leaders will arrive in Brussels for what Donald Tusk, president of the European council, said would be a “moment of truth” summit. But the Brexit talks are deadlocked and it is not obvious (as was originally hoped) that this meeting would be a springboard towards a deal being clinched in mid November. If there is any truth that has emerged in recent days, it is that the EU aren’t just negotiating with Theresa May and Olly Robbins, but in effect with Arlene Foster and Sammy Wilson, and Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker too. Which isn’t making life easy ...

Here is our summit preview story.

Today three of the most prominent remain campaigners in the UK, the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, the former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine and the former Lib Dem deputy prime minister Nick Clegg have urged EU leaders to delay Brexit to allow Britons to vote again in a second referendum. They have made their appeal in a joint article published in several European papers, including Die Welt, which has an English translation here. Here is an excerpt.

Our domestic debate is far from over and, even at this late hour, many of us are continuing to make the case that the British public need to make the final decision once we are in possession of all the relevant facts. So we ask our European partners to be ready to give us the space and time, if necessary, to make such a final decision. Until then, we of course respect their right to act on, and prepare for, the decision of the UK to leave until or unless that changes.

If the EU were to agree to extend article 50, Brexit could be delayed. But the Blair/Heseltine/Clegg plan is a bit of a long shot, to put it mildly. The EU would only extend article 50 if the UK government requested that, and Theresa May and her party are fully committed to taking the UK out of the EU at 11pm on 29 March next year.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.15am: Three permanent secretaries give evidence to the Commons Brexit committee about no deal planning.

9.30am: Inflation figures are published.

11.15am: Michael Gove, the environment secretary, gives evidence to a Lords committee about planning for a no deal Brexit.

12pm: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.

After 1pm: MPs begin a debate on a Labour motion which, if passed, would force the government to publish analysis into the impact of universal credit on claimants’ incomes. There will be a vote at around 4pm.

3.30pm: Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, gives evidence to the Commons defence committee.

4.30pm: EU leaders start arriving for their summit in Brussels.

5.15pm: May is due to address EU leaders ahead of the dinner where the EU27 will discuss what to do next in the Brexit talks.

As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary after PMQs and another at the end of the day.

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

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.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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