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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Kevin Rawlinson

Brexit: Parliament votes through bill to prevent no-deal - as it happened

Closing summary

That’s all from us this evening. Thanks for reading and commenting. Here’s a summary of the day’s events:

  • MPs will debate the prime minister’s plan to ask for a Brexit delay until 30 June on Tuesday. Parliamentarians will be able to suggest alternative dates, raising the prospect that Brexit could be pushed back yet further.
  • The debate was set up when Parliament passed legislation designed to prevent the UK crashing out with no deal. The legislation, proposed by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper and others, required the prime minister to present her plan to request a delay in the form of an amendable motion and prevented her from suggesting any date before 22 May. Any delay would still require the consent of the EU, which has said it must come with a workable plan, but – if granted – it would stave off the prospect of what Cooper called an “inadvertent no-deal” Brexit.
  • The EU said it would refuse to open trade talks with the UK after a no-deal Brexit unless the backstop issue was addressed. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said the situation would persist until the EU got assurances on the Irish border, citizens’ rights and money. Barnier added that he would be happy to offer the UK a customs union.
  • Cross-party talks are due to continue on Tuesday, Labour said. The opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, repeated a call for the prime minister to show more willingness to compromise after discussions resumed on Monday.
  • Signs of division within the hard Brexit-supporting ERG came to the fore. One of its members, Daniel Kawczynski, resigned and accused a “hardcore element of ‘Unicorn’ dreamers” within the ERG of putting Brexit at risk.

If you’d like to read more, my colleague Rowena Mason has the full story:

Brexit talks between Labour and the Tories will continue on Tuesday, a spokesman for the former says.

Following meetings between Labour party and government officials today, ministerial and shadow ministerial negotiating teams will meet tomorrow to attempt to secure a Brexit compromise.

More than 70 Tory MPs rebelled on each vote linked to amendments to Cooper’s legislation, according to the division lists. The Labour Brexiter, Kate Hoey, and the DUP joined forces with them.

The Tory former Brexit secretaries, David Davis and Dominic Raab, along with the ERG chairman, Jacob Rees-Mogg, were also among those who rebelled.

The legislation to extend the Brexit process in a bid to avoid a no-deal scenario has received royal assent and has become law.

Updated

The Labour MP, Yvette Cooper, is addressing MPs after her victory. She thanks the clerks of the House for facilitating the process in “unusual and fast-moving circumstances”.

Cooper adds that the vote should be taken as an expression by parliament that there is no support for what she says would be a damaging no-deal Brexit and backing for the prime minister to get a deal through.

Hilary Benn asks if royal assent can be obtained tonight. The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, says he is “cautiously optimistic on that front”.

In reaction to the vote, Labour says the government has proposed asking for a Brexit delay until 30 June. This is due to be debated for about 90 minutes on Tuesday.

As the Financial Times’ Whitehall correspondent, Sebastian Payne, points out – the government can expect MPs to seek to amend that date.

Updated

Commons passes bill designed to prevent no-deal Brexit

MPs have voted in favour of the Cooper-Letwin bill, which requires the prime minister to seek an extension to article 50, thus staving off the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal by accident.

They voted to accept the final Lords amendment by 390 votes to 81 – a majority of 309.

MPs have rejected Cash’s amendment to the amendment, which sought to stop Brexit being delayed beyond 22 May, by 392 votes to 85 – a majority of 307. “The numbers are holding up,” says a disembodied voice caught by the Commons microphone.

MPs move to voting on the final Lords amendment. The result is expected at about 10.50pm.

Updated

MPs are voting on whether or not the Lords’ fifth and final amendment to the Cooper-Letwin bill will be further amended. That move has been proposed by the Conservative MP, Bill Cash, who opposes the passage of the bill altogether.

Updated

The tellers are back in the Commons chamber. MPs have accepted amendments two and three by 396 votes to 83 – a majority of 313.

Next, we’re on to amendment four: It’s agreed on the nod.

Updated

While MPs are voting, Daniel Kawczynski is on LBC radio explaining his decision to leave the hard Brexit-supporting Tory backbench ERG group this evening:

The government has said it supports the Lords’ amendments to the Cooper-Letwin bill. The Speaker is now asking MPs whether they agree to them. They accept the first but reject the second and third, meaning the Commons will go to a vote.

A result is expected in about 10 minutes.

Here’s what MPs are voting on:

After this vote, there are two more amendments to be considered before the bill can pass.

Updated

The Tory MP, John Redwood, has just told the Commons:

This Parliament needs to ... accept this (Brexit) was decided by the public, it was our duty to implement it. Leaving without this agreement is just going to be fine, we are prepared for it, business is ready for it, business has spent money, business has done whatever it needed to do and business now, in many cases, feels very let down that they are not being able to use all their contingencies, which they have spent good money on.

Some points to consider when reading those comments: The government’s no-deal Brexit analysis suggested such a scenario would likely produce huge delays at Dover, increased food prices and a £13bn extra cost to business.

On business’ preparedness, the analysis said:

Despite communications from the government, there is little evidence that businesses are preparing in earnest for a no deal scenario, and evidence indicates that readiness of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular is low.

Business groups have called on MPs to provide certainty over Brexit by passing a deal:

Brexit-backing Tory MPs, among them Bill Cash and John Redwood, have made impassioned pleas for the Commons not to pass the Cooper-Letwin bill, which would instruct the prime minister to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

They have characterised the bill as an attempt to prevent the UK leaving the European Union because it would only allow for the UK to leave with a deal. And they have denounced the emergency bill, which is being rushed through parliament, as an attack on the UK’s constitutional norms and as anti-democratic.

Its supporters counter that it can hardly be considered undemocratic to pass a bill through both houses of parliament.

Updated

MPs are now debating amendments to Cooper-Letwin. A result is expected within an hour or so.

Updated

There’s been a split in the hard Brexit-supporting Tory backbench ERG group this evening: The MP, Daniel Kawczynski, has announced his resignation.

There have been recent rumblings of disquiet among the group; some of whom believe others are so determined to deliver the hardest of Brexits that they are actually imperiling the whole project. Kawczynski is one of them.

Kawczynski voted against the deal the first two times it came to the Commons and for it the third. He is calling on MPs to back it in a fourth vote.

Updated

The Cooper-Letwin bill has been given an unopposed third reading in the Lords and now goes back to the Commons.

The Leader of the Commons has said the government will not stand in its way and will schedule time for debate tomorrow if the bill gets royal assent this evening. But Andrea Leadsom has denounced the bill as a “huge dog’s dinner”.

She told MPs that it “seems inconceivable that Parliament has looked at this bill for the first time last Tuesday, and has had just a few hours of debate across both Houses”.

Updated

Britain’s new exit date from the EU, and the conditions attached to a Brexit delay, will likely be fixed in the gilded rooms of the Belgian prime minister’s 16th century Egmont Palace hours before Theresa May addresses the leaders.

Under emerging plans, a small group of EU leaders whose countries will be most affected by the UK’s departure will be hosted by the Belgian PM, Charles Michel, on Wednesday afternoon. The guest list is likely to include the leaders of France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland.

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has had a phone call with Theresa May this evening. Varadkar spoke to May about her recent letter to Donald Tusk seeking an extension of the article 50 deadline and her ongoing preparations for the summit on Wednesday. The Taoiseach repeated his openness to an extension of the deadline.

According to numerous reports in Westminster, members of the Tory frontbench are writing to parliamentary colleagues setting out the reasons for the government having laid the Day of Poll Order that sets the date for the UK’s participation in the European Parliament elections.

It remains to be seen what recriminations, if any, there will be for the prime minister.

In addition to Jeremy Corbyn’s comments on the cross-party Brexit talks (see 6.15pm), Sky News’ Tom Rayner reports that the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has told his parliamentary colleagues the following:

The Commons Leader, Andrea Leadsom, has confirmed the government is expected to bring forward a motion to extend the Brexit process. Making a business statement to MPs, she has said:

In the event the European Union (Withdrawal) (No 5) bill receives royal assent today, the House may be expected to approve a motion relating to section one of the bill – to seek an extension of the period specified in Article 50 (3) of the Treaty on European Union.

Updated

Labour MPs have tabled a motion for vote at next week’s parliamentary Labour party meeting on the latest antisemitism claims.

Citing leaked internal documents, the Sunday Times reported in its latest edition that the party has “failed to take disciplinary action against hundreds of members accused of antisemitism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership”.

MPs are now demanding that the party release a trove of information related to its response to antisemitism allegations – including the internal correspondence on which the Sunday Times’ story was based and document detailing Labour’s response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s investigation into its management of antisemitism complaints.

The Liberal Democrats have been addressing the issue of European Parliament elections, claiming that thee party’s candidate selection process is “well underway”. Its Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, said:

The Tories have made an absolute dog’s dinner of Brexit and, instead of working to give people the final say, Corbyn seems to have joined the Tories at the table.

We have been fighting tooth and nail not just to keep the UK in the EU, but for the UK to be a leader in the EU. Just imagine what we could achieve if Brexit was stopped, not least using the billions earmarked for Brexit to instead regenerate the towns, cities and communities in the greatest need.

Our candidates will soon be selected and we are raring to go to the polls with a clear offer; every Liberal Democrat elected is another voice fighting for our country’s place in the European Union.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the government has taken the necessary legal step for EU elections to be held in the UK. In the language of the Commons, it has laid a statutory instrument called a Day of Poll Order. A spokeswoman says:

It remains the government’s intention to leave the EU with a deal and pass the necessary legislation before 22 May, so that we do not need to participate in European Parliamentary elections.

As a responsible government, today we have taken the necessary steps required by law should we have to participate.

The Day of Poll Order provides returning officers with a date to hold potential European parliamentary elections but it does not make these elections inevitable as leaving the EU before the date of election automatically removes our obligation to take part.

The Day of Poll Order sets the date for the elections as Thursday 23 May.

Updated

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has released a more detailed statement on this evening’s Brexit talks with the government, in which he reiterates that Labour wants to see the prime minister adopt its five key points in order to reach a cross-party deal:

Today, I held a meeting of our shadow cabinet to discuss the Brexit talks with the government. The exchanges with the government have been serious but our shadow cabinet expressed frustration that the prime minister has not yet moved off her red lines so we can reach a compromise.

The key issues that we must see real movement on to secure an agreement are a customs union with the EU, alignment with the single market and full dynamic alignment of workers’ rights, environmental protections and consumer standards.

Theresa May had been keen to avoid doing so but it appears that the Conservative party is now resigned to having to contest the EU elections.

The move could spell a great deal of trouble for the prime minister, who was warned at the weekend that she faced calls for her removal if she was to take the country into such elections.

While she is immune from a no-confidence vote by her own MPs until December, the prime minister could find herself under intolerable pressure if enough of her party turned against her.

1922 Committee has ruled out call for a fresh no confidence vote in May, says Brady

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, spoke to ITV as he was leaving Downing Street after a meeting between the committee’s executive and the prime minister.

He wasn’t excessively forthcoming, but he said he and his colleagues had had an update on the talks with Labour. When he was asked about the “deal” with Labour, he replied:

There is, at the moment, no deal with Labour.

Brady was more reluctant to discuss Mark Francois’s call for a new no confidence vote in Theresa May (see 1.05pm), but eventually he said that the 1922 executive had discussed this last week and that it had “no intention of proceeding”.

  • Brady says at the moment there is no government deal with Labour over Brexit.
  • 1922 Committee has ruled out call for a fresh no confidence vote in May, says Brady.

That’s all from me for tonight.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now.

Cooper bill supporters win first Lords vote today with majority of 234

In the House of Lords peers have had their first vote today on the Yvette Cooper bill. An attempt by Lord Blencathra, the former Conservative minister David Maclean, to remove clause 2 of the bill has been defeated by 280 votes to 46 - a majority of 234.

Clause 2 would make it easier for ministers to amend the exit date in the EU Withdrawal Act if a request to extend article 50 were successful.

And here is the Labour party statement about the cross-party talks. (See 5.04pm.) A spokesperson said:

Following further communication between the Brexit negotiating teams over the last 48 hours, Labour party and government officials are meeting this evening.

Barnier/Varadkar press appearance - Summary

Here are the main points from the Michel Barnier and Leo Varadkar’s joint appearance before the press. It was not actually a press conference because they did not take questions.

  • Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said the EU would refuse trade talks with the UK in the event of no-deal unless the UK agreed to address the backstop and the other issues in the withdrawal agreement. (See 4.27pm.)
  • He indicated that the EU would be happy to offer the UK a customs union if that were the outcome of the cross-party talks in London. He said:

We must and want to respect the UK’s parliamentary debate. The House of Commons is trying to decide how it sees its future relationship with the EU.

We all hope that these talks will produce a positive outcome.

I’ve said many times before that we can be much more ambitious in our future relationship with the UK.

The political declaration provides for a range of outcomes including a customs union. We are ready to make this clearer if this helps and this work can be done this extremely quickly.

  • He said the EU would stand “fully behind” Ireland whatever happened.
  • He said he was confident that the EU and Ireland could find “operational solutions” to the border issue in the event of a no-deal Brexit. He said:

Our discussions also focussed what would happen in Ireland in a possible no-deal scenario ...

There have been intensive discussions between our teams in the past few weeks.

Our goal is to protect the Good Friday agreement, peace on this island and the integrity of the single market. It is not an easy task.

But I am confident we will find operational solutions.

One thing is certain, whatever happens the EU will stand fully behind Ireland. The EU will stand fully behind Ireland.

  • Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, said Ireland was “open” to extending article 50 at the emergency EU summit on Wednesday.
Leo Varadkar (right) and Michel Barnier making a joint press appearance in Dublin.
Leo Varadkar (right) and Michel Barnier making a joint press appearance in Dublin. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Government and Labour officials to hold further talks tonight about possible Brexit compromise, No 10 says

Downing Street has issued a statement about the talks with Labour. A spokesperson said:

We have been in touch with the opposition today and technical talks between officials will take place this evening.

Updated

Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach, tweeted these after his meeting with Michel Barnier in Dublin earlier.

The Press Association says the meeting between Theresa May and the executive of the Conservative 1922 Committee taking place this afternoon is one of their regular meetings.

Barnier says EU would refuse trade talks with UK after no-deal unless backstop addressed

Speaking in Dublin, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, also said that, if the UK were to leave without a deal, the EU would refuse to open trade talks until it got assurances on the Irish border, on citizens’ rights and money.

I have said before the backstop is currently the only solution we have found to maintain the status quo on the island of Ireland.

If the UK were to leave the EU without a deal, let me be very, very clear. We would not discuss anything with the UK until there is an agreement for Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as for citizens’ rights and the financial settlement.

These are the three issues covered by the withdrawal agreement. So, in other words, Barnier is saying that even if the UK were to leave without signing the withdrawal agreement, it would have to accepted the pledges in that agreement, including on the backstop, if it ever wanted a trade deal with the EU.

Barnier and his fellow EU leaders have made this point before, but perhaps not as bluntly as Barnier did just now.

Some Brexiters think that it would be acceptable for the UK to trade permanently with the EU on WTO terms. But, in the event of a no-deal scenario, most Brexiters would want to UK and the EU to strike a free trade deal, which is why the Barnier threat is significant.

Michel Barnier speaking at a news conference in Dublin.
Michel Barnier speaking at a news conference in Dublin. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Updated

Barnier says EU happy to offer UK a customs union

In Dublin Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, says he hopes the government/Labour talks will produce a positive outcome.

He says the political declaration can accommodate a range of outcomes, including a customs union.

It could be changed to make this explicit very quickly, he says.

  • Barnier says EU happy to offer UK a customs union.

He says he has had a good discussion with Leo Varadkar, the Irish PM, about what might happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

He says the priority would be to protect the single market.

It would not be easy, but he says he is confidence that operational solutions to the border situation can be found.

He says, if the UK were to leave the EU with no deal, the EU would not discuss any future trade relationship without taking into account the Irish border issue and citizen’s rights.

This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby.

These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, says he has spoken to Theresa May today. He says he wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit, but he also says the EU wants more assurances from the UK about an article 50 extension, including a promise relating to “sincere cooperation”. (That means the EU wants to know that May won’t follow Jacob Rees-Mogg’s advice and do her best to wreck the union from within if the UK is allowed to stay beyond Friday.)

In the House of Lords peers have started debating amendments to the Yvette Cooper bill requiring the PM to request an article 50 extension. There is no sign of filibustering at the moment, and peers expect it to clear the Lords later tonight, paving the way for royal assent and a debate in the Commons tomorrow on a motion saying what length the article 50 extension should be.

Daily Mail columnist Peter Oborne says he's changed his mind and now thinks Brexit could be 'a disaster'

Since the 2016 referendum there been some evidence that public opinion on Brexit is shifting, but it has not been dramatic and none of the key protagonists has admitted they made a mistake. Some Tories who voted remain have said they would now vote leave, but that tends to be an argument about honouring the result of the first referendum in a second one, rather than an admission of error (and in some cases it’s stance not wholly unrelated to leadership ambitions).

That is why’s Peter Oborne’s article today saying it is time for Brexiters to think again is so interesting. Oborne is a very prominent Tory commentator. He was political editor of the Spectator when Boris Johnson was editor, was chief political commentator at the Daily Telegraph and now writes a column for the Daily Mail. He was an enthusiastic leave voter. But now, in an article for openDemocracy, he says it is time to think again.

Here’s an extract.

It’s nearly three years since I, along with 17. 4 million other Britons, voted for Brexit. Today I have to admit that the Brexit project has gone sour.

Brexit has paralysed the system. It has turned Britain into a laughing stock. And it is certain to make us poorer and to lead to lower incomes and lost jobs.

We Brexiteers would be wise to acknowledge all this. It’s past time we did. We need to acknowledge, too, that that we will never be forgiven if and when Brexit goes wrong. Future generations will look back at what we did and damn us.

So I argue, as a Brexiteer, that we need to take a long deep breath. We need to swallow our pride, and think again. Maybe it means rethinking the Brexit decision altogether ...

If we are honest, we Brexiteers have to admit that the economic arguments for Brexit have been destroyed by a series of shattering blows ...

It has become clear to me, though I’ve been a strong Tory Brexiteer, that Britain’s departure from the EU will be as great a disaster for our country as the over-mighty unions were in the 1960s and 1970s.

It is a good article, worth reading in full (it’s not short), and Oborne has been praised by MPs supporting a second referendum.

But does this mean the Brexiter press is starting to turn? Probably not. It is important to point out that Oborne is a lot more maverick than most of his colleagues in the Tory commentariat. He launched a ferocious attack on Telegraph management when he resigned from the paper four years ago, and he may be the only rightwing columnist with a good word to say for Jeremy Corbyn (eg, here). This does not make him wrong; but it does mean he is not always treading a path that others will follow.

Also, it is worth remembering that his anti-Brexit column has been published by openDemocracy. If you are looking for a turning point, wait until it gets reprinted in the Daily Mail.

Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

The barriers facing Northern Ireland farmers exporting across the border to food processing plants have been spelt out in a no-deal notice just published by the Irish government.

The notice for businesses importing animal or animal products shows almost insurmountable challenges under EU rules. It says:

Consignments of animals and animal products must be presented at the border inspection post at the point of first arrival in the EU for official controls in compliance with EU legislation.

This presents an immediate challenge as the only border inspection posts in Ireland are in Dublin Airport, Dublin Port and Shannon Airport.

Even if a bare-bones deal was struck with border inspection posts away from the border, it would take months to build; Eurotunnel have taken three months to complete their new post.

Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, are likely to discuss the contingency plans for border inspection post controls when they meet this afternoon but so far there has been no indication where these checks can be made.

Farmers must also be registered for the EU’s trade control and expert system in order to qualify as a third country exporter into the EU.

Another headache for exporters is that they must provide the buyer across the border their veterinary documents required for entry into the EU “at least 24 hours in advance”.

This will be a massive hurdle for anyone who owns a farm that straddles both sides of the border or dairy farmers who have their milk collected daily by one of the big co-ops south of the border.

Dairy UK has already warned that the 19p a litre tariff on milk would almost certainly kill this trade raising the prospect of an unwanted milk lake.

These are from the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford.

These are from Sky’s Faisal Islam.

On the World at One, in the light of his letter calling for a new no confidence vote in Theresa May (see 1.05pm), Mark Francois was asked why there should be a second vote when May won the one that was held in December. It was force majeure, he replied. He went on:

If when that vote of confidence had taken place my colleagues had known that the prime minister was prepared to sit down and negotiate with a Marxist, someone who is utterly opposed to everything that we in the Tory party believe, and that she would do so in order try and lead us into a customs union, which is utterly against our manifesto commitments, and which would mean that we would remain in the European Union, the vote against her would have been far higher. Clearly, we did not know at the time. But we know it now. And so, under those circumstances, I believe it is very important that colleagues have a chance to express their opinion on her leadership.

The Lib Dem MP Layla Moran said it was hypocritical of Francois to back a second vote on May, but not a second vote on Brexit. In a statement released by the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign she said:

Mark Francois has a point for once: how can a decision made prior to the full picture being revealed be binding when its consequences are so large?

It’s just a shame that Francois seems to want one thing for himself, while making it his job to prevent the same opportunity being extended to the public.

Any decision on something as big as Brexit needs to scrutinised by the people. Whatever deal can be agreed on by politicians needs to have the public’s sign off.

UPDATE: My colleague Jessica Elgot sums up the Moran argument particularly well.

Updated

Starmer says 'ball is in government's court' in cross-party Brexit talks

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, told the BBC earlier that he had “no doubt” there would be development in the cross-party Brexit talks today. He said:

We had exchanges over the weekend but not talks - there are no scheduled talks yet but I have no doubt things will develop today.

At the moment we’re waiting to see what the government is putting in the table as a proposal.

All they have done so far is to indicate various things but not to change the political declaration, so the ball is in the government’s court.

We need to see what they come back with and when they do we will take a collective position on that.

Sir Keir Starmer leaving the Cabinet Office after talks with the government on Thursday last week.
Sir Keir Starmer leaving the Cabinet Office after talks with the government on Thursday last week. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Andrew Bridgen, another hardline Tory Brexiter, told the BBC’s Politics Live that, like Mark Francois (see 1.05pm), he had also written to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, saying he had no confidence in Theresa May.

Andrew Bridgen
Andrew Bridgen Photograph: BBC

But Daniel Finkelstein, the Conservative peer and Times columnist who was also on the programme, and who is not a Brexiter,

You have not got the votes in parliament. It is really hard dealing with this, because it seems to me so daft, to use a polite word for it. You can’t get no-deal through parliament because 400 MPs are against it. It doesn’t matter who the leader of the Conservative party is. This is not about Theresa May. And one of the reasons you failed to get rid of her last time you pointlessly made a vote of no confidence in her, that just resulted in strengthening her for a year, is that getting rid of her would make no difference. And it is failing to appreciate that that has meant that you have over-played your hand, over and over again, and are going to end up possibly with a second referendum on a soft Brexit, and possibly a Corbyn government thrown in. The tactical stupidity of this is breathtaking.

Bridgen responded by saying that, even if only 160 MPs in parliament believed in Brexit, they were not isolated in the country. Some 80% of Tory activists and members supported his position, he claimed.

Daniel Finkeslstein
Daniel Finkeslstein Photograph: BBC

Tory Brexiter calls for confidence vote in May to sabotage her attempt to get further article 50 extension

Mark Francois, the Tory MP and vice chair of the European Research Group, which represents up to 80 Conservatives pushing for a harder Brexit, has written to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee, asking him to organise a vote of confidence in the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon.

After May survived a Conservative party confidence vote in December last year, she cannot be removed under party rules by another confidence vote until December 2019, because this procedure cannot be used more than once every 12 months.

But Francois does not seem too bothered by that. He is calling for what he calls “an informal ‘indicative vote’ of confidence” in the PM. And he also makes it clear that his primary aim is not to trigger May’s resignation, but to persuade EU leaders to refuse an article 50 extension. He says:

If, therefore, my colleagues were to demonstrate prior to Wednesday evening, in an indicative ballot say at 3pm, prior to the meeting of the 1922 Committee, that they have lost confidence in the prime minister I believe that under those circumstances it is extremely unlikely that the European council would grant an extension and we would, therefore, leave the European Union on Friday night, as so many Tory MPs so obviously want. Our future is therefore literally in the hands of 313 Tory MPs.

Mark Francois
Mark Francois Photograph: George Cracknell Wright/REX/Shutterstock

This is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

Boris Johnson criticised by Commons standards watchdog for cavalier attitude to rules

Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, has been criticised in a report today from the Commons standards committee (pdf) for adopting a cavalier attitude to Commons rules. The report covers his failure to declare part-ownership of a property in Somerset in the register of members’ interests. In normal circumstances this would count as a trivial matter that would not merit a full standards committee investigation, but Johnson has been criticised more harshly because this is the second time this year that he has been caught not obeying the rules relating to registering interests properly.

This is what Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, said about the case in her report to the committee.

I do not accept that this was an inadvertent breach of the rules. Mr Johnson has co-operated fully with my inquiry, but his failure to check properly that he had brought his register entry up to date during my last inquiry might be regarded as showing a lack of respect for the house’s rules and for the standards system. That does not demonstrate the leadership, which one would expect of a longstanding and senior member of the house, nor compliance with the general principles of conduct.

And this is what the committee itself said.

We conclude with concern that these two investigations by the commissioner in rapid succession demonstrate a pattern of behaviour by Mr Johnson. While there is no suggestion that he has at any time tried deliberately to conceal the extent of his interests, this latest breach reinforces the view which we expressed in our previous report, that he has displayed “an over-casual attitude towards obeying the rules of the House”, in conjunction with “a lack of effective organisation within [his] office”. We find it particularly regrettable that Mr Johnson gave an assurance to the Commissioner that his registration of financial interests was up to date, and within a very short period it proved not to be.

The committee said that Johnson should be obliged to hold a face-to-face meeting with the registrar of members’ interests to be reminded of his obligations, and that if he were to break the rules again, he would face a more serious sanction.

Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, is making a business statement later.

If the Yvette Cooper bill, requiring the PM to request an article 50 extension, gets through the Lords later and gets royal assent today, then there will have to be a debate on an article 50 extension in the Commons tomorrow. Leadsom’s statement may cover this.

Downing Street lobby briefing

Here are the main points from the Number 10 lobby briefing.

  • Theresa May will visit Berlin and Paris tomorrow for talks with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, ahead of the emergency EU summit on Wednesday. (See 11.39am.)
  • The government hopes to be able to resume formal talks with Labour later today about a possible Brexit compromise, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said. She said that there had been “contact and dialogue” between the two sides over the weekend, but she refused to give details. She went on:

Our intention is to engage further with the opposition today. Given the need for urgency, we hope that that will lead to further formal discussions [today].

The Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar thinks the government could make a written offer to Labour later today.

  • The spokeswoman said that May wanted to reach an agreement with Labour “as soon as possible” but she sidestepped questions about whether this meant May needed a deal before the EU summit on Wednesday.
  • The spokeswoman refused to say if or when government-sponsored indicative votes might take place in the Commons. May has said this might be an option, if the government and Labour cannot agree on a compromise plan, provided both main parties agree to be bound by the outcome. But Downing Street conceded that no debate has yet been scheduled, and May’s visit to Berlin and Paris tomorrow means that the chances of a debate before the EU summit on Wednesday seem remote.
  • The spokeswoman confirmed that May accepted the need to compromise in the Brexit talks with Labour. Asked what May’s stance was on the prospect of the UK staying in a customs union with the EU, the spokeswoman said:

[The PM] has said on countless occasions that she wants the UK to be able to able to have an independent trading policy. She has also said that, unless there is compromise on both sides, it is unlikely we can find a way forward.

  • The spokeswoman said that no cabinet meeting has been scheduled yet for this week. Cabinet normally takes place on Tuesday morning, but that is not an option because of the PM’s visit to Berlin and Paris. The spokeswoman did not rule out a cabinet meeting this week, but she implied that May could arrive in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon for the EU summit without cabinet having met beforehand.
  • The spokeswoman dismissed suggestions that Labour figures could be invited to accompany May at the EU summit. Asked about this, the spokeswoman said: “I’m not aware of any plans of that nature.”
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

May flying to Berlin and Paris in bid to persuade EU to agree to article 50 extension

I’m back from the lobby briefing, and here is the main news.

  • Theresa May will visit Berlin and Paris tomorrow for talks with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, ahead of the emergency EU summit on Wednesday. Downing Street said it was normal for May to speak to fellow EU leaders ahead of a European council, but a last-minute tour of the two most powerful capitals in Europe is unusual and it sounds as if May is doing her utmost to persuade Merkel and Macron to agree to an article 50 extension. May is also due to speak to other EU leaders later today.

I will post a full summary of the briefing shortly.

Updated

The House of Lords standards commissioner has dismissed a complaint that Lord Hain failed to declare an interest when he identified Sir Philip Green in parliament as the subject of allegations of inappropriate conduct, the Press Association reports.

I’m off to the lobby briefing now. I will post again after 11.30am.

May to visit Berlin tomorrow for Brexit talks with Merkel

Theresa May is going to Berlin tomorrow for Brexit talks with Angela Merkel, the Economist’s Tom Nuttall reports.

Hunt hints government open to customs union compromise, saying 'big red lines' should not apply in talks with Labour

At the weekend Philip Hammond, the chancellor, said that there were “no red lines” for the government in its talks with Labour aimed at finding a Brexit compromise. This morning, in a doorstep on his arrival at the EU foreign affairs council, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, said more or less exactly the same thing. In normal circumstances cabinet ministers adopting the same line would not count as news. But cabinet discipline is now so threadbare that it starts to become interesting. For Hammond, perhaps the cabinet’s leading pro-European, to say “no red lines”, implying he is open to a customs union, is not a surprise. But for Hunt, a remain-voter who is now reinventing himself as a Brexiter, to say the same thing is a bit more noteworthy.

Here are the main points from the Hunt doorstep.

  • Hunt hinted that the government would be open to a customs union compromsie, saying there would be no point having talks with Labour if the government was constrained by “big red lines”. Asked if accepting a customs union would be the price for a deal with Labour, he said:

Well, we don’t have a majority in parliament, and so we have to look to other parties to seek agreement that will allow us to get Brexit over the line in parliament as the law requires. You can’t go into any of those discussions with big red lines because otherwise there’s no point in having them, but we are very clear about the type of Brexit that we want. That’s in our manifesto, and we’ve made that clear.

So what I think I will be saying to me colleagues in the European Union today is you can see from this that Theresa May is leaving no stone unturned to try and resolve Brexit. They want Brexit to be resolved as quickly as possible, so do we, so do the British people, so do MPs, and so we are doing absolutely everything we can to try and get a resolution to get Brexit over the line.

  • He said the fact that May was willing to negotiate with Labour showed how committed she was to achieving a Brexit deal. He said:

Those people in the European council, Theresa May’s counterparts, the other European leaders, have been saying for some time Theresa May needs to open cross-party talks to try and find a consensus to get a Brexit agreement over the line, and that’s what she’s doing. And in our system that is very, very difficult. For Theresa May to open talks with someone like Jeremy Corbyn is not at all easy. But she is doing that because she is totally and utterly determined to deliver Brexit for the British people.

  • He insisted that the government was sincere about wanting to find a deal with Labour - but he refused to say he was confident about it happening. Asked if he was confidence about the government reaching a deal with Labour, he replied:

I can’t tell you that I’m very confident or that I’m not confident. We are going into these talks sincerely, and we have to see what the outcome is.

Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt Photograph: EU

Updated

EU foreign ministers have been arriving for an EU foreign affairs council meeting in Luxembourg. At least two of them, Teodor Melescanu, the Romanian foreign minister, and Timo Soini, the Finish foreign minister, have said they would back an article 50 extension.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is flying to Dublin today to meet the taoiseach, his deputy and the finance minister for talks ahead of Wednesday’s European council summit.

With no sight of an agreement between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, no-deal planning will very much be on the agenda.

Over the weekend Leo Varadkar said it would be “logical” for checks on goods coming in from the UK to be carried out in Belfast and Larne as a way of protecting the single market while keeping the border with the republic invisible.

He expects the UK government to deliver the promise made in the December 2017 joint report with all the provisions of the backstop, including customs checks at Northern Ireland ports to put in place in the event of a no-deal scenario. Barnier will meet Varadkar at 2.30pm with a press statement expected at 3.30pm.

“The meeting will be an opportunity for the two to discuss the situation regarding Brexit, ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels later this week,” said a spokesman.

Customs union 'most likely outcome' from Labour/government compromise, says minister

The UK is now just four days away from the latest Brexit deadline and, unless another article 50 extension is agreed at the emergency EU summit on Wednesday (which probably will happen, although it is not inevitable), it will slam into no-deal at 11pm on Friday.

That’s why Theresa May is still trying to cobble together a last-minute compromise acceptable to Labour. She released an uncharacteristically homespun video yesterday defending her decision to reach out to the opposition and, as my colleague Peter Walker reports, talks between the government and Labour continue today.

Last night, on the Westminster Hour, Robert Buckland, the solicitor general, claimed that a cross-party deal to support the UK staying in a customs union with the EU was the most likely compromise that might be achieved. He said:

Whilst I don’t pretend it’s ideal – I think there are some real drawbacks with it – it does mean we deliver the end to freedom of movement and it does mean that we deliver the vast majority of, I think, the aims of Brexit, which was to leave the institutions of the European Union. It’s not perfect, but frankly in this particular hung parliament none of us can get perfection, we need to compromise… something approximating a customs arrangement or customs union I think would be the most likely outcome.

But Buckland, who voted remain, was not reflecting a consensus view amongst ministers. Yesterday Andrea Leadsom, the Brexiter leader of the Commons, indicated that this would be unacceptable. Asked if May would agree to a full customs union, Leadsom said:

My expectation – and I’m not party to the discussions – is that the prime minister will only seek to agree those things that still constitute Brexit.

And this morning, in his Telegraph column (paywall), Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, said a customs union would be the “worst of both worlds”. He said:

In order to get Corbyn onside, the government is apparently willing to abandon the cardinal principle and central logic of Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn and his team have demanded that the UK must somehow leave the EU, but remain in the customs union. That is their price. If the government were to agree, it would not only mean repudiating a manifesto pledge, and tearing up a promise made thousands of times in parliament and elsewhere. It is far worse than that.

If the UK were to commit to remaining in the customs union, it would make a total and utter nonsense of the referendum result. We would be out of the EU, but in many ways still run by the EU. It would be the worst of both worlds, not just now, but forever – and that is why I find the news so appalling that I don’t really believe it.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11am: Downing Street lobby briefing.

3pm: Peers are due to start debating the remaining stages of the Yvette Cooper bill requiring the PM to request an article 50 extension.

3.30pm: Michael Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is due to meet Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, in Dublin.

3.30pm: Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, is due to make a Commons statement about the online harms white paper.

5.30pm: Jeremy Corbyn is due to meet Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Fein leader, in London.

And the government/Labour Brexit talks are due to continue, although we don’t have details as to how and when

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I expect to be focusing mostly on Brexit. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. 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 it is 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 questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply ATL, although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

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

Updated

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