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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

No 10 refuses to deny May's Brexit plan would limit scope for trade deal with US - Politics live

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor (right) and Theresa May addressing the media at the chancellery in Berlin.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor (right) and Theresa May addressing the media at the chancellery in Berlin. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

Afternoon summary

  • Theresa May is facing a backlash from Tory Brexiters who are angry about a leak revealing that, under her plans for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, the scope for a trade deal with the US would be limited. That is because May is reportedly planning that the UK should align with EU regulations covering goods and agrifoods. Given that American trade negotiators would push strongly for agriculture to be included in a trade deal, and that their farmers would not accept EU standards, this helps to explain why an extract from the government plan leaked to the Spectator says this arrangement “would not allow the UK to accommodate a likely ask from the US in a future trade deal”. (See 3.30pm and 4.12pm.) Those Conservatives objecting include the former cabinet minister Owen Paterson, who said this would amount to a “complete breach” of the party’s manifesto promise on Brexit (see 4.24pm) and Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, who said May should tear up her plan. (See 3.49pm.) And Politico Europe’s Charlie Cooper has this quote from the former Brexit minister David Jones.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

The Tory Brexiter Andrea Jenkyns has also joined the backlash against Theresa May’s plans.

(As I said yesterday, Jenkyns is making her name for herself as effective head of continuity ERG.)

This is from Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader.

This is from Alex Wickham from the Guido Fawkes website.

And, since we’re talking about a possible UK/US trade deal, this, from the Telegraph’s Europe editor Peter Foster, is interesting.

This is from Hugh Bennett, deputy editor of the pro-BrexitCentral website.

Paterson says May's Brexit plan as reported would be 'complete breach' of Tory manifesto promise

And these are from Owen Paterson, the Brexiter Conservative former environment secretary.

Updated

This is from the pro-Brexit Conservative MP Lucy Allan.

What No 10 said about PM's Brexit plan and its impact on a UK/US trade deal

Theresa May’s spokeswoman has rejected as “categorically untrue” the suggestion that the proposed Brexit plan would make it impossible to then make a new trade deal with the US – but would not comment on the idea it could become more difficult.

Asked about the Spectator report (see 3.30pm), she said:

The PM has always been clear that we will seek a comprehensive and ambitious trade deal with the US that reflects the strength of our trading and investment relationship, and as you know the president has also made it clear that he is keen to sit down and talk with the UK about that. And the PM and the president will obviously have a chance to discuss trade next week … What I can be very clear on is that it is categorically untrue to suggest that we will not be able to strike a trade deal with the US.

The spokeswoman said she would not “get into speculation” about what might or might not be in a Brexit deal. Asked if she could rule out May’s plan making a trade deal with the US more difficult, she said: “I’ve given the answer. I’m not going to go any further on that.”

10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

No 10 refuses to deny May's Brexit plan would limit scope for trade deal with US

My colleague Peter Walker is just out of the the Number 10 lobby briefing.

But the Spectator’s James Forsyth is not saying Theresa May’s Brexit plans would make a trade deal with the US impossible. He quotes a line in the paper circulated to ministers saying the plan would probably make it impossible to give the US the sort of trade deal they would want. (See 3.30pm.) Forsyth writes:

The paper is explicit that this deal ‘would not allow the UK to accommodate a likely ask from the US in a future trade deal’ as the UK would be unable to recognise the US’s ‘array of standards’.

Updated

Fifteen British MEPs have signed a joint statement saying the revelation that the Electoral Commission has found that Vote Leave broke election spending rules during the EU referendum justifies a second referendum. In the statement, organised by the Green MEP Molly Scott Cato, they say:

The international treaty on democratic conduct, the Venice Commission, to which the UK is a signatory, has ruled that campaigning over-spends are adequate grounds for annulling an election result. However, given that we have no domestic remedy in the UK for this occurrence, but given the evidence of breaches of electoral law by both the main Leave campaigns, the mandate for Brexit is seriously undermined.

These new revelations, following on from allegations of social media manipulation, fatally undermine the legitimacy of the referendum result. We believe that there is a simple straightforward way to address this by supporting the call for a people’s vote on the Brexit deal. Those of us who respect the rule of law have no need to cheat and have nothing to fear from the people’s judgement.

The other MEPs who have signed it are: Charles Tannock (Conservative); Catherine Bearder (Lib Dem); Seb Dance, Catherine Stihler, David Martin, Mary Honeyball, Derek Vaughan, Jude Kirton-Darling, Theresa Griffin, and Julie Ward (all Labour); Julie Girling (independent); Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru); and Jean Lambert and Keith Taylor (both Green.)

Rees-Mogg urges May to tear up her own Brexit paper

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative backbench Brexiter, is not happy about the leaks from the cabinet’s Brexit paper (see 3.30pm and 3.36pm), the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford reports.

No 10 rejects claim a US/UK trade deal would probably be impossible under May's Brexit plan

No 10 sources are saying the Spectator is wrong. They don’t accept the claim that Theresa May’s Brexit plan would probably rule out a trade deal with the US. (See 3.30pm.)

We are expecting to be told more at the Downing Street afternoon lobby briefing.

The Guido Fawkes website (which, like the Spectator, is pro-Brexit) has had a similar leak about the Theresa May Brexit plan. The proposal would mean the UK accepting “EU rulings on all level playing field issues, environment and social policy, effectively maintaining ECJ jurisdiction in the UK”, the website says.

May's Brexit plan would probably rule out trade deal with US, Spectator leak reveals

According to the Spectator’s James Forsyth, the paper which has been circulated amongst cabinet ministers today says that, under Theresa May’s Brexit proposals, a trade deal with the US would become almost impossible. That is because May is proposing a deal that would effectively keep the UK in the single market for goods and agrifoods, meaning the UK would have to align with EU standards in these areas.

Here is an extract from Forsyth’s scoop.

What has really riled ministers is the section on what this deal with the EU would mean for future trade deals. The paper is explicit that this deal ‘would not allow the UK to accommodate a likely ask from the US in a future trade deal’ as the UK would be unable to recognise the US’s ‘array of standards’.

Brexiteers are taking this as Theresa May effectively ruling out a post-Brexit trade deal with the US just days before the US President arrives in this country.

Corbyn says European progressive parties will lose if they 'look like just another part of establishment'

Jeremy Corbyn has been in The Hague today, speaking to the Dutch Labour party. He told them that European progressive parties had to reject austerity and the “broken neoliberal model” if they wanted electoral success. He said:

My message for our European sister parties is simple: reject austerity or face rejection by voters.

If our parties look like just another part of the establishment, supporting a failed economic system rigged for the wealthy and the corporate elite, they will be rejected – and the fake populists and migrant-baiters of the far right will fill the gap.

This moment, ten years on from the crash, can be ours to forge a new economic consensus to replace the broken neoliberal model, which has failed working class people, fuelled inequality and insecurity, and sucked wealth away from the majority to an elite few at the top.

On Brexit, Corbyn had this to say.

Corbyn also had a meeting with Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister.

This is from the Spectator’s James Forsyth.

The BBC’s Katya Adler has more on the Merkel/May comments.

May says Brexit plan being discussed at Chequers will mark 'substantial way forward'

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Theresa May have made brief comments to journalists ahead of their talks in Berlin.

May said that the plan she will discuss with the cabinet at Chequers tomorrow, to form the basis of a white paper being published next week, would be good for the UK and the EU. She went on:

Tomorrow I will be bringing my cabinet together to discuss and decide a substantial way forward which will enable the pace and intensity of the negotiations to increase.

Merkel said that time was pressing for an agreement. “Negotiations will now enter a crucial phase,” she said. But she stressed that the commission was leading those talks on behalf of the EU.

Theresa May Meets With Angela Merkel In Berlin.
Theresa May Meets With Angela Merkel In Berlin. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Javid says the government may well decide to speak to the Russian ambassador about this incident.

Javid says if any MP “has an ounce of common sense” they will realise they must not support President Putin. He is responding to a question from the Labour MP Mike Gapes about whether MPs should refuse to appear on RT (formerly Russia Today, the pro-Kremlin news channel), and so he is saying MPs should keep off it.

UK to consult allies over latest novichok poisoning, Javid tells MPs

Britain will consult with its allies over a possible response to Russia over the latest nerve agent poisonings in Wiltshire, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, has told parliament, saying Moscow must explain “exactly what has gone on”.

Javid, updating MPs after he chaired a meeting of the government’s Cobra security meeting on Thursday morning, also confirmed that the two people being treated in hospital appear to have been exposed to novichok at a separate location to former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, four months ago.

“Our strong working assumption is that they came into contact with the nerve agent in a different location to the sites that were part of the initial clean-up operation,” Javid said.

He urged Russia to come clean over how Dawn Sturgess, 44, from Salisbury, and Charlie Rowley, 45, of Amesbury, who both remain critically ill, came into contact in novichok before they collapsed on Saturday.

Javid noted that the poisoning of the Skripals, which the UK said had been carried out by the Russian state, prompted a robust international response, including the expulsion of Russian diplomats. He told the Commons:

As we did before we will be consulting with our international partners and allies following these latest developments. The eyes of the world are currently on Russia, not least because of the World Cup. It is now time that the Russian state comes forward and explains exactly what has gone on.

Let me be clear – we do not have a quarrel with the Russian people. Rather, it is the actions of the Russian government.

We will stand up to the actions that threaten our security and the security of our partners. It is unacceptable for our people to be either deliberate or accidental targets, or for our streets, our parks, our towns to be dumping grounds for poison.

Javid said that he was aware the public in Wiltshire was “feeling very anxious” over the new poisoning, there was no reason to worry, saying six sites visited by Sturgess and Rowley before they fell ill had been sealed off, and there was “no significant risk to the wider public”.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, asks if the Russians have offered any cooperation. And does novichok degrade?

Javid says the UK has received no help from the Russians. If the Russians wanted to be helpful, they could say how they disposed of the nerve agent used to poison the Skripals.

He says, like all nerve agents, it will deteriorate over some time. But that can take months and months”. So this could be the exact same nerve agent used in March, because it would not have had time to deteriorate.

He says novichok is very hard to detect. But the experience build up since March has helped, he says.

Javid says novichok used in Wiltshire was 'exact same nerve agent' that was used to poison Skripals

The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard asks if the novichok used in this case was from the same batch at used to poison the Skripals. And he asks for an update on the seizure of Russian assets.

Javid says the authorities are “absolutely clear” that this is the “exact same nerve agent” from the novichok family of nerve agents.

But he says they cannot attribute this to the same batch. Scientists are looking into this, although they may not be able to prove that.

  • Javid says novichok used in Wiltshire was the “exact same nerve agent” that was used to poison the Skripals.

Richard Benyon, the Conservative MP for Newbury, says the Russians will launch a disinformation campaign in relation to this incident. Will the government ensure it counters this by saying what happened. Javid agrees, and says the government will.

Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, is responding now.

She asks what support people in the areas will get. And she asks for an assurance that the latest clean-up operation will be effective.

She asks for an assurance that health staff have enough training to recognise the impact of this sort of poisoning.

Javid says the eyes of the world are on Russia because of the World Cup.

The Russian government must explain what happened, he says.

He says the UK’s quarrel is not with the Russian people; it is with the Russian government.

The UK will stand up to Russia, he says.

He says the Russians must not use the streets of Britain as a “dumping ground” for poison.

Javid says there is “no significant risk” to the public from novichok poisoning

Sajid Javid says he chaired a meeting of Cobra today. He has been briefed by the police and the security services.

He recalls what happened, and how two people were taken to hospital seriously ill. Tests found they had been exposed to novichok, and it has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated Sergei Srkipal and his daughter, Javid says.

He says there will be concerns for public safety. Some residents will be feeling very concerned.

But Public Health England says there is “no significant risk” to the public, he says.

  • Javid says there is “no significant risk” to the public from novichok poisoning.

He says all the sites that were decontaminated after the Skripal poisoning are safe.

There is no evidence that the pair recently pointed visited any of the sites that were part of the original clean-up operation. He says the assumption is that they came into contact with the novichok somewhere else.

The authorities are working around the clock to discover what happened.

There will be an increased police presence around Amesbury and Salisbury, he says.

He says all six sites visited by the pair before they collapsed have been cordoned off.

He says people will want to know if this incident is linked to the Skripal poisoning. That is “clearly the main line of inquiry”, he says. But he says the investigation must be allowed to proceed.

  • Javid says link with Skripal poisoning is “main line of inquiry”.

He says the use of chemical weapons anywhere is “barbaric and inhumane”.

The decision of the Russian government to deploy them in Salisbury in March was “reckless and callous”.

Sajid Javid's Commons statement on novichok poisonings

Sajid Javid, the home secretary, is now making a Commons statement on the novichok poisonings in Wiltshire.

Here is our latest story about the incident.

This is how it starts.

The UK security minister, Ben Wallace, has pointed to Russia as being responsible for the nerve agent poisonings in Wiltshire and called on Moscow to help authorities keep the people of Britain safe by giving information.

An urgent investigation is under way to discover how a British couple were left critically ill by the nerve agent novichok, the same military-grade poison that nearly killed the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, four months ago. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee on Thursday morning and is due to make a statement to the Commons afterwards.

Asked if Russia could be responsible, Wallace said: “Based on the evidence we had at the time of the Skripal attack, the knowledge they [Russia] had developed novichok, they had explored assassination programmes in the past, they had motive, form and stated policy, we would still assert to a very high assurance that the Russian state was behind the original attack.

Theresa May has said Salisbury and the wider area remains “very much open for business”, with her spokesman insisting the new novichok incident did not mean the initial clean-up operation had been incomplete.

The prime minister is en route to Berlin and so did not attend a Cobra meeting chaired by the home secretary, Sajid Javid. Ministers who did attend include Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, defence minister Gavin Williamson, and environment secretary Michael Gove.

In a statement released by her spokesman, May said:

All of my thoughts today are with the victims and with the people of Amesbury and Salisbury. After the brazen and reckless attempt to murder the Skripals wirth novichok in March the community showed tremendous fortitude, patience and resilience.

Once again the public is having to contend with the consequences of two people being exposed to a nerve agent, and I would like to personally thank local businesses and residents for their cooperation. We once again also sincerely thank our brave emergency services for their response.

The massage from Salisbury is clear: it is very much open for business. The government will continue to provide every support to the local community.

Asked whether local people could be reassured given the new case, May’s spokesman said:

The advice from chief medical officer was clear that the risk to the public is low. Equally the chief medical officer was clear that in terms of the sites involved in the Skripal incident they have now been decontaminated.

The international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, is visiting Salisbury for the government on Thursday. She had been due to visit a local landmine charity, and will then meet people involved in the nerve agent operation, May’s spokesman said.

German business leaders say Brexit uncertainty makes them 'reluctant' to invest in UK

Germany business leaders have issued a strongly worded statement warning that they are “reluctant” to invest in Britain because of Brexit uncertainty.

Germany Industry UK, which represents 100 companies including BMW, Mercedes Benz, Arriva, Lufthansa and ThyssenKrupp said it needed “certainty and clarity about the way forward sooner rather than later”.

Bernd Atenstaedt, chairman and chief executive of GIUK said it was frustrating for his member businesses because they still didn’t know what a post-Brexit Britain would look like two years after the referendum. He said:

There is some reluctance from German business to invest in the UK, with projects on hold because of the uncertainty about the future, and with only nine months left before the UK leaves the EU, time is running out.

GIUK said German business would like continued free access without tariff and non-tariff barriers for exports to the UK and continued free access without tariff and non-tariff barriers to the EU for our exports from the UK, one of Germany`s most important markets worldwide.

It said a customs agreement between the UK and the UK would be “in the interest of Germany business operation in the UK with minimum customs declarations and quota restrictions.”

German business employs 400,000 people in 2,500 business in the UK.

Atenstaedt told the Guardian that many of them would not go as far as Airbus, which is also a member as a company with German shareholders, and threaten to leave in the hard Brexit.

However they were nervous about the future he said.

His comments echo those of the former head of the City of London, Sir Mark Boleat, who said most financial services companies who are moving operations to other European capitals would not announce that their decisions were related to Brexit because they did not want the negative publicity.

Jewish groups say Labour's new code of conduct on antisemitism too weak

The Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews have issued a joint statement criticising Labour’s new code of conduct on antisemitism. (See 11.54am.) Jonathan Goldstein, chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, and Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:

It is for Jews to determine for themselves what antisemitism is. The UK Jewish community has adopted in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, as have the British government, Welsh assembly, Scottish parliament, 124 local authorities across the country and numerous governments around the world.

It is impossible to understand why Labour refuses to align itself with this universal definition. Its actions only dilute the definition and further erode the existing lack of confidence that British Jews have in their sincerity to tackle antisemitism within the Labour movement.

Updated

Commons set for crunch vote on customs union on Monday 16 July

Sky’s Faisal Islam says pro-European Tories in favour of the UK staying in a customs union are not planning to withdraw their amendments in response to Downing Street arguments that the Brexit white paper will address their concerns. (See 11.20am.)

The key one is an amendment to the taxation (cross-border trade) bill tabled by Anna Soubry, the leading Conservative pro-European. It says:

It shall be a negotiating objective of Her Majesty’s government in negotiations on the matters specified in subsection (2) to maintain the United Kingdom’s participation in the EU customs union.

There are currently just two Conservative signatures on this amendment - Soubry and Ken Clarke - but in the past at least 15 Tories have expressed some level of support for the idea of staying in a customs union with the EU.

Soubry has also tabled an amendment to the trade bill saying much the same. But the debate on the taxation (cross-border) trade bill will come first, on Monday 16 July, and so if there is a crunch vote on the customs union, it will be at 10pm that night.

Austrian chancellor floats possibility of extending article 50

Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, has said that he would favour extending the Brexit talks if necessary to avoid the UK leaving on 29 March 2019 without a deal, EUobserver reports. Kurz was speaking to reporters as Austria takes over the presidency of the EU for the next six months.

These are from EUobserver’s Eric Maurice.

Labour approves new code of conduct on antisemitism

Labour’s ruling national executive committee has approved a new code of conduct on antisemitism, the Press Association reports. The PA report goes on:

The code, drawn up in the wake of intense controversy over allegations of prejudice which saw Jewish groups protest outside parliament earlier this year, states explicitly that “antisemitism is racism. It is unacceptable in our party and in wider society”.

But it insists that criticism of the state of Israel and its policies should not automatically be regarded as antisemitic, and makes clear that even “contentious” comments on this issue “will not be treated as antisemitism unless accompanied by specific antisemitic content ... or by other evidence of antisemitic intent”.

“The party will encourage considered and respectful debate on these difficult topics, but will not tolerate name-calling and abuse,” says the document.

The new code of conduct - drawn up in response to a key recommendation of the 2016 Chakrabarti report into antisemitism - endorses the working definition of antisemitism drawn up by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

It includes a list of behaviours likely to be regarded as antisemitic derived from the IHRA’s own set of examples, including calling for the killing of Jews, making allegations about a Jewish conspiracy or control of the media and economy, Holocaust denial or the “blood libel”.

But the Labour list is likely to spark further controversy, as it omits four behaviours identified as antisemitic by the IHRA, including:

- Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country;

- Claiming that Israel’s existence as a state is a racist endeavour;

- Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and

- Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis.

The Labour document - obtained by LBC radio - states that it is not always obvious whether particular words or actions are antisemitic, with “particular difficulty” surrounding the relationship between antisemitism and criticism of the state of Israel.

It says that the party “is clear that the Jewish people have the same right to self-determination as any other people” and that to deny that right is a form of antisemitism.

But it says that debate on the circumstances of the foundation of the Israeli state and its impact on the Palestinian people “forms a legitimate part of modern political discourse”.

Nick Macpherson, the former permanent secretary at the Treasury, is not impressed by what he has heard about the facilitated customs arrangement. (See 9.21am.)

Owen Paterson claims car firms will be 'better off' outside customs union

Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), told the Financial Times (paywall) that the company would close its factories in the UK if the government does not get a good Brexit deal. We have written up his comments here.

Owen Paterson, the Conservative Brexiter and former environment secretary, was asked about this on the Today programme this morning and he claimed that the JLR had got it all wrong. If the UK left the customs union, the firm would be “better off”, he claimed.

What is really vital is that (JLR) will be better off if the government delivers on what the prime minister promised me in the Commons yesterday. If we really do leave the customs union, Jaguar Land Rover will have access to cheaper parts and components all around the world. And the European suppliers will be forced to compete or they will lose Jaguar Land Rover’s business. And all the studies show the car trade is very robust at the moment, it is profitable, and that will continue.

Paterson also claimed that the JLR warnings were part of “the old Project Fear stuff” and that they were predicated on the notion that, after Brexit, there would be tariffs on imports. But the government wanted zero tariffs, he said.

When it was put to him that, in the event of there being no deal, even if the UK were to decide not to impose tariffs on imports, the EU might decide tariffs on imports, he brushed aside this objection, saying:

If you look at studies of the car trade, it’s robustly competitive and profitable. And that will continue because we’ve had a significant devaluation which is a lot more than the tariffs anyway.

And when it was put to him that the main problem for the car industry was not tariffs but the need for regulatory checks at the border, which could disrupt just-in-time supply lines, Paterson claimed that this would not be a problem either. Asked about “friction” at the border, he said:

No, that is illegal under WTO current terms. The latest WTO trade facilitation agreement insists that both sides must have a seamless - ie, effectively computerised, as now for the rest of the world - procedures which are effectively costless.

UPDATE: This is from my colleague Rob Davies.

Owen Paterson
Owen Paterson Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Key vote on staying in customs union scheduled for Monday 16 July, Leadsom tells MPs

Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has just announced the forthcoming Commons business.

She revealed that on Monday 16 July MPs will debate the report stage of the taxation (cross-border trade) bill, which is commonly known as the customs bill. And on Tuesday 17 July we’ll get the report stage of the trade bill.

These are the debates that have been postponed by pro-European Tories have tabled amendments to both bills saying the UK should remain in the customs union. Ministers could lose if these amendments get put to a vote, although at this stage Downing Street is hoping that the customs compromise to be unveiled in the white paper next week will be enough to persuade the potential rebels to back down.

Labour’s Stephen Timms says for the last eight years the only reliable information about universal credit has come from the NAO. He asks if the government will now be more honest about the problems with universal credit.

McVey says people who know here know that she is open and honest. If there are problems with the benefit, she will make changes.

Stephen Lloyd, the Lib Dem MP, says McVey has only given a partial apology. He says that is unacceptable.

McVey defends her claim that the NAO report does not take into account changes to universal credit being rolled out this year.

Labour’s Angela Eagle asks McVey to show some respect to the NAO and admit she got it wrong.

McVey says she checked what she had said herself. No one asked her to come to the House to apologise, she says.

Labour’s David Hanson says on two occasions at DWP questions on Monday he told her things about the NAO report that were not correct. Will she apologise?

McVey said she summarised what she thought the NAO report had said. Because of Hanson’s persistence, she checked afterwards to make sure her understanding was correct. That led to her to apologise for saying the NAO had called for the universal credit rollout to be speeded up, she says.

McVey declines invitation to say she has full confidence in NAO and its boss.

Meg Hillier, the Labour chair of the Commons public accounts committee (which works closely with the NAO), asks McVey if she has full confidence in the NAO and its boss, Sir Amyas Morse.

McVey says “they do their job”. She says the DWP has made changes to universal credit. The impact of those changes was not reflected in the report.

  • McVey declines invitation to say she has full confidence in NAO and its boss.

The SNP’s Alison Thewliss says the NAO report blows a hole “as wide as the Clyde” in the case for universal credit. She says this is the first time in more than a decade in office that Sir Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, has had to write a letter like this to a minister.

Labour says McVey should resign because she is either incompetent or dishonest

Margaret Greenwood, the shadow work and pensions secretary, says McVey gave misleading statements to MPs on three points.

She says, if she did read the NAO report and misunderstand it, then she is incompetent. If she did read it, and wilfully misrepresented what it said, then she broke the ministerial code, which says ministers should not knowingly misled MPs. Either way, McVey is not fit to be a minister, Greenwood says. She says McVey should resign.

Updated

Frank Field, the Labour MP, says McVey has apologised for “dissembling” in one respect. (The NAO said she got three things wrong.)

But she has not apologised for the other two things the NAO complained about: McVey saying the report was out of date, and McVey saying the report showed universal credit was working.

Responding to Field, McVey stands by her decision not to apologise over the two points mentioned by Field.

Esther McVey says the NAO complained about her saying the report was not up to date.

There have been recent changes to universal credit, she says. She says the impact of these changes has only recently taken effect. Therefore the report did not take them into account, she says.

She says the NAO said the case for universal credit had not been proven.

On this, she says, she and the NAO have come to different conclusions. The facts may be agreed, but people can come to different conclusions, she says.

She says she agrees with the NAO that you cannot measure the exact number of people in employment.

She says she apologised yesterday for the phrasing of words she got wrong.

John Bercow, the speaker, says this urgent question will run for just 20 minutes because the Commons timetable is crowded today.

Frank Field, the Labour MP asking the urgent question, asks Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, to apologise for the three occasions on which she “dissembled” to the Commons.

That is very close to accusing a fellow MP of lying, which is not something MPs are allowed to do under Commons rules. Bercow suggests that Field went too far, but he does not ask Field to withdraw.

And here is my colleague Polly Toynbee’s column on Esther McVey. Polly says she should resign.

Urgent question on Esther McVey

We are about to get a Commons urgent question on the National Audit Office letter yesterday accusing Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, of misleading MPs about the findings of a recent NAO report on universal credit.

Here is my colleague Rajeev Syal’s story about the letter.

Here is the full text of the letter from the head of the NAO, Sir Amyas Morse.

And here is the full text of the apology that McVey issued in the Commons yesterday, in the form of a point of order.

I want to apologise to you, Mr Speaker, and the House for inadvertently misleading you. I meant to say that the NAO had said that there was no practical alternative to continuing with universal credit. We adopt a “test and learn” approach to the roll-out of universal credit, which the NAO says mainly follows good practice, and therefore the point I was trying to make was that the calls from the Labour party to pause it seemed to fly in the face of those conclusions. As you know, Mr Speaker, I asked you yesterday if I could come to the House to correct the record. I believe it is right that, as a minister, I should come and correct the record, and I therefore hope that you will accept my apology.

On the other issues raised in the letter sent today by the NAO, the NAO contacted my office at the end of last week and we are working on setting up a meeting. On the NAO report not taking into account the impact of the recent changes to UC, I still maintain that this is the case, and those changes include the housing benefit run-on, the 100% advances and the removal of waiting days. The impact of those changes is still being felt and therefore, by definition, could not have been fully taken into account by the NAO report. I hope that that clarifies the position.

Esther McVey in the Commons yesterday.
Esther McVey in the Commons yesterday. Photograph: PA

Ireland has “advanced” preparations for the possibility of Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal, Leo Varadkar has said.

In an update yesterday to his parliamentarians on his talks with Theresa May on the fringes of the EU summit last week, the Irish prime minister promised Ireland would be prepared to press the button a no-deal scenario. He said:

While I am hopeful that we will achieve a very close, comprehensive and ambitious future relationship with the UK, the government is of course continuing to plan for the full range of scenarios.

Our work is well advanced and we will be in a position to take the necessary decisions if and when required.

He told Irish MPs that the EU 27 were still firmly united by the the need for legally operational text on a backstop for the Irish border.

He said he told May that while he still hoped for a deal that would obviate any need for a hard border, such an agreement would still not remove the need for a “legally robust backstop to apply” to “ensure there will never be a hard border on this island” whatever government is in power.

The European Commission has asked all neighbours of Britain to step up no-deal planning with Holland already in advanced stages with hundreds of customs officers being recruited. France is also looking at recruiting more officers and Ireland is expected to make a series of announcements in the coming weeks on its contingency planning.

Jaguar Brexit warning shows Tories are playing "Russian roulette' with jobs, says McCluskey

And, on the subject of separate live blogs, my colleague Graeme Wearden is covering the reaction to the statement from Jaguar Land Rover that it will close factories in the UK if the government does not get the right Brexit deal on his business live blog.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite (which represents JLR workers), has said the warning from the carmaker shows the Tories are playing “Russian roulette” with people’s jobs. He said:

JLR is one of the manufacturing success stories of this country. Much of that is down to the dedication of a workforce who have fought tooth and claw for a future.

But now tens of thousands of decent jobs - the sort we will need more than ever outwith the EU - are being put at risk by a government that places its survival, indulging narrow, extremist views, above the well-being of the people of this country. This is simply not acceptable.

So I say this to the Tory party, our jobs are not yours to play Russian roulette with. Drop your red lines and secure a decent deal, one that is to the benefit of the working people of this country. And if you cannot agree to put people before your ideology then move over and let a party that will, get on with it.

Len McCluskey.
Len McCluskey. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

We are running a separate live blog today to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS. You can follow it here.

There is one urgent question today, to Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, who is being asked to explain why she misled parliament about the findings of the National Audit Office investigation into universal credit.

That will start at about 10.30am and run for around half an hour.

Then Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, will take business questions.

Then there are two more statements, starting roughly at around 12pm and then 1pm.

David Davis refuses to deny reports he's told May her new Brexit customs plan won't work

At the start of the week cabinet ministers turned on their radios to discover that, having failed so far to get agreement on its two alternative post-Brexit customs plans (the new customs partnership (NCP) and “maximum facilitation”), Downing Street was floating a third option. But at that stage details were sketchy, to put it mildly.

We’ve now learnt that the new plan has a name. It is a facilitated customs arrangement, or FCA. The Spectator’s James Forsyth was, I think, the first person to report this, and this is how he describes it in his column in this week’s magazine.

The details are fiendishly technical, but important. It would see all finished, imported goods charged the UK tariff, set independently of EU rates. So Britain can strike trade deals with other countries that would cut the tariffs on their manufactured goods in exchange for allowing UK services into their markets. Britain would still promise not to deviate from EU standards, so we could not change regulations as part of any trade deal. But such deals could, still, be made.

To minimise friction at the ports and to help with the Irish border issue, goods would be tracked once they entered the UK. They would be charged the EU tariff rate if they were sent on to the Continent. I am told that only 4 per cent of trade would have to pay this premium. It remains to be seen what kind of oversight the EU would demand over this process and how invasive it would be.

But there’s a problem. Today the Daily Telegraph (paywall) is reporting that David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has told Theresa May that the FAC won’t work. Here’s an extract from it’s story.

The Telegraph can reveal the Brexit Secretary has sent a letter, setting out his opposition to Theresa May’s so-called “third way” plan, amid concerns the EU will reject it out of hand.

In the last-ditch letter, he says the compromise plan the Prime Minister intends to present will fail because it is simply a customs partnership with some additional technological elements.

The letter expresses fears that the EU has already rejected the idea of allowing a third-party country, as Britain will be after Brexit, to police its borders and that discussing such an option is a waste of time, sources told this newspaper.

Mr Davis is understood to be frustrated that Mrs May and her chief negotiator Olly Robbins are refusing to acknowledge the EU’s position, setting up the UK to fail.

The Telegraph does not quote from the Davis letter, and it does not have an on-the-record source confirming the story. But Davis’s department hasn’t denied the story. In fact, it has not even bothered deploying any of the various non-denial denials that are usual when government department’s get asked about leaks like this (“we don’t recognise this”, “the DExEU secretary fully supports the PM” etc). Instead sources in the department are just saying that “David Davis is working closely with the prime minister ahead of Chequers”, which you might categorise, to adopt a familiar Whitehall phrase, as a non-confirmation confirmation.

Here is the agenda for the day.

After 10.30am: Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, takes business questions in the Commons.

11am: Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, speaks at the Local Government Association conference.

After 11.30am: MPs debate proposals to allow proxy voting in the Commons.

12pm: Jeremy Corbyn speaks at a Dutch Labour party event in The Hague.

2pm: Theresa May meets the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin.

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 at lunchtime and another at the end of the day.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard. 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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