Summary
- Britain could be just a month away from the triggering of article 50 - the moment that will start the (supposedly irreversible) two-year EU withdrawal process - after the EU (notification of withdrawal) bill got its Commons third reading. It now goes to the Lords. It is due to get through the Lords by Tuesday 7 March and there is speculation that Theresa May plans to trigger article 50, using the authority given to her by the legislation, at an EU summit starting two days later, on Thursday 9 March. MPs passed the bill by a majority of 372 despite the fact that, by roughly three to one, MPs voted to stay in the EU in last year’s referendum rather than to leave. Many MPs were uncomfortable this week voting for an outcome that they fear could be harmful to the national interest, but there was a general recognition that, having agreed to hold a referendum, they had no option but to honour its result.
- Labour and other opposition parties have failed to secure any changes to the bill. There were eight votes on amendments tonight, following votes on Monday and Tuesday, but the government won them all comfortably. This is important to ministers because they think peers will be especially reluctant to try tinkering with a bill that passed the Commons untouched. Before the vote there had been speculation that the majority for a “soft” Brexit that almost certainly exists in the Commons might mobilise behind some key amendments. But in the event this did not happen, and the biggest Tory revolt saw just seven government MPs voting with Labour on a proposal that parliament should agree the Brexit deal. The biggest Tory rebellion tonight came when three Conservatives voted with Labour for the rights of EU nationals living in the UK to be guaranteed now.
- Clive Lewis, the leftwing shadow business secretary, has resigned from the shadow cabinet to vote against article 50 at third reading. He was the fourth shadow cabinet minister to resign on this issue. His move will intensify speculation that he sees himself as a candidate in a future Labour leadership election, particularly because Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to order his MPs to back the bill has angered many of the party’s activists.
That’s all from me for tonight.
Thanks for the comments.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary who missed last week’s vote on the grounds that she was ill, has been speaking about her decision to back the bill.
Diane Abbott: "The shadow cabinet agreed this week that we would vote for the third reading of triggering article 50 and I did that."
— John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) February 8, 2017
The government is now focusing its attention on the Lords. One government source told the Press Association:
The Lords will face an overwhelming public call to be abolished if they now try and frustrate this bill - they must get on and deliver the will of the British people.
Updated
David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has put out this statement about the vote.
We’ve seen a historic vote tonight - a big majority for getting on with negotiating our exit from the EU and a strong, new partnership with its member states.
It has been a serious debate, a healthy debate, with contributions from MPs representing all parts of the UK, and I respect the strong views on all sides.
The decision on EU membership has been made by the people we serve. It is now time for everyone, whichever way they voted in the Referendum, to unite to make a success of the important task at hand for our country.
Party breakdown of how MPs voted for and against article 50 bill at third reading
Here is the party breakdown of how MPs voted for and against the bill at third reading (with last week’s figures in brackets).
For the bill
Conservatives: 320 (319)
Labour: 162 (167)
DUP: 8 (8)
UUP: 2 (2)
Ukip: 1 (1)
Independent: 1 (1)
Total: 498 (494)
Against the bill
SNP: 52 (50)
Labour: 52 (47)
Lib Dems: 7 (7)
SDLP: 3 (3)
Independents: 3 (3)
Plaid Cymru: 3 (2)
Green: 1 (1)
Conservative: 1 (1)
Total: 122 (114)
Chi Onwurah has not resigned as a shadow business minister, despite defying the Labour whip and voting against the bill, according to the Birmingham Post’s Jonathan Walker.
I'm told @ChiOnwurah hasn't resigned. Whether shadow ministers (not cabinet ministers) face the sack for breaking the whip isn't clear afaik
— Jonathan Walker (@jonwalker121) February 8, 2017
That means she joins the list of 10 shadow minister and three whips who voted against the bill last week (and presumably again tonight, although I have not checked all the names yet) and who still have not been sacked. Labour has said it will decide in due course if they will be disciplined, although Jeremy Corbyn said at the weekend he was a “very lenient person”.
The Commons did not stage a third reading debate because MPs ran out of time. As Lindsay Hoyle, the deputy speaker, called the third reading vote Alex Salmond, the former SNP leader and former Scottish first minister, raised a point of order and said that the last time the Commons passed a bill with no report stage (because no amendments were passed in committee) and no debate at third reading was when the Defence of the Realm Act was passed in 1914.
The shadow business minister Chi Onwurah voted against the article 50 bill. Last week she voted in favour.
She has put a video on her blog explaining why she changed her vote over the last week. She says she could see the need to implement the referendum result. But she is opposed to the version of Brexit being pursued by the government and decided to vote against at third reading to register her protest, after the government refused to accept any of Labour’s amendments.
Full list of MPs who voted in favour of article 50 bill
And here is the full list of the 494 MPs who voted in favour of the article 50 bill at third reading.
Ms Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Nigel Adams (Conservative - Selby and Ainsty)
Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Lucy Allan (Conservative - Telford)
Heidi Allen (Conservative - South Cambridgeshire)
Sir David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Mr David Anderson (Labour - Blaydon)
Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Pudsey)
Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Edward Argar (Conservative - Charnwood)
Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Ian Austin (Labour - Dudley North)
Mr Richard Bacon (Conservative - South Norfolk)
Mr Adrian Bailey (Labour (Co-op) - West Bromwich West)
Mr Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Stephen Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Mr John Baron (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Sir Kevin Barron (Labour - Rother Valley)
Gavin Barwell (Conservative - Croydon Central)
Guto Bebb (Conservative - Aberconwy)
Margaret Beckett (Labour - Derby South)
Sir Henry Bellingham (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Richard Benyon (Conservative - Newbury)
Sir Paul Beresford (Conservative - Mole Valley)
Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
James Berry (Conservative - Kingston and Surbiton)
Mr Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)
Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Nicola Blackwood (Conservative - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Tom Blenkinsop (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Crispin Blunt (Conservative - Reigate)
Nick Boles (Conservative - Grantham and Stamford)
Mr Peter Bone (Conservative - Wellingborough)
Victoria Borwick (Conservative - Kensington)
Tracy Brabin (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Karen Bradley (Conservative - Staffordshire Moorlands)
Mr Graham Brady (Conservative - Altrincham and Sale West)
Sir Julian Brazier (Conservative - Canterbury)
Andrew Bridgen (Conservative - North West Leicestershire)
Steve Brine (Conservative - Winchester)
James Brokenshire (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Mr Nicholas Brown (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Richard Burden (Labour - Birmingham, Northfield)
Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Andy Burnham (Labour - Leigh)
Conor Burns (Conservative - Bournemouth West)
Sir Simon Burns (Conservative - Chelmsford)
Mr David Burrowes (Conservative - Enfield, Southgate)
Alistair Burt (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Mr Alan Campbell (Labour - Tynemouth)
Mr Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Mr Ronnie Campbell (Labour - Blyth Valley)
Neil Carmichael (Conservative - Stroud)
Mr Douglas Carswell (UK Independence Party - Clacton)
James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Sir William Cash (Conservative - Stone)
Maria Caulfield (Conservative - Lewes)
Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Jenny Chapman (Labour - Darlington)
Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Mr Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Greg Clark (Conservative - Tunbridge Wells)
James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative - The Cotswolds)
Vernon Coaker (Labour - Gedling)
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)
Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Julie Cooper (Labour - Burnley)
Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Yvette Cooper (Labour - Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford)
Jeremy Corbyn (Labour - Islington North)
Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Robert Courts (Conservative - Witney)
Stephen Crabb (Conservative - Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Sir David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)
Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Jon Cruddas (Labour - Dagenham and Rainham)
John Cryer (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Judith Cummins (Labour - Bradford South)
Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Mr Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Simon Danczuk (Independent - Rochdale)
Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Byron Davies (Conservative - Gower)
Chris Davies (Conservative - Brecon and Radnorshire)
David T. C. Davies (Conservative - Monmouth)
Dr James Davies (Conservative - Vale of Clwyd)
Glyn Davies (Conservative - Montgomeryshire)
Mims Davies (Conservative - Eastleigh)
Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Mr David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)
Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Mr Nigel Dodds (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast North)
Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party - Lagan Valley)
Michelle Donelan (Conservative - Chippenham)
Nadine Dorries (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Richard Drax (Conservative - South Dorset)
Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Mrs Flick Drummond (Conservative - Portsmouth South)
James Duddridge (Conservative - Rochford and Southend East)
Michael Dugher (Labour - Barnsley East)
Mr Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Sir Alan Duncan (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Mr Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Ms Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Tom Elliott (Ulster Unionist Party - Fermanagh and South Tyrone)
Michael Ellis (Conservative - Northampton North)
Jane Ellison (Conservative - Battersea)
Mr Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Chris Elmore (Labour - Ogmore)
Charlie Elphicke (Conservative - Dover)
Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
George Eustice (Conservative - Camborne and Redruth)
Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Graham Evans (Conservative - Weaver Vale)
Mr Nigel Evans (Conservative - Ribble Valley)
David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Michael Fabricant (Conservative - Lichfield)
Sir Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Suella Fernandes (Conservative - Fareham)
Frank Field (Labour - Birkenhead)
Mark Field (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Robert Flello (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Caroline Flint (Labour - Don Valley)
Paul Flynn (Labour - Newport West)
Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Yvonne Fovargue (Labour - Makerfield)
Dr Liam Fox (Conservative - North Somerset)
Mr Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Lucy Frazer (Conservative - South East Cambridgeshire)
George Freeman (Conservative - Mid Norfolk)
Mike Freer (Conservative - Finchley and Golders Green)
Richard Fuller (Conservative - Bedford)
Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Marcus Fysh (Conservative - Yeovil)
Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent North)
Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Sir Edward Garnier (Conservative - Harborough)
Mr David Gauke (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Wealden)
Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Mr Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Michael Gove (Conservative - Surrey Heath)
Richard Graham (Conservative - Gloucester)
Mrs Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Justine Greening (Conservative - Putney)
Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Mr Dominic Grieve (Conservative - Beaconsfield)
Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Ben Gummer (Conservative - Ipswich)
Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Mr Sam Gyimah (Conservative - East Surrey)
Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Luke Hall (Conservative - Thornbury and Yate)
Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Mr Philip Hammond (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Matt Hancock (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Greg Hands (Conservative - Chelsea and Fulham)
Mr David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Ms Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Mr Mark Harper (Conservative - Forest of Dean)
Richard Harrington (Conservative - Watford)
Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Rebecca Harris (Conservative - Castle Point)
Simon Hart (Conservative - Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire)
Sir Alan Haselhurst (Conservative - Saffron Walden)
Mr John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Sue Hayman (Labour - Workington)
Sir Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
James Heappey (Conservative - Wells)
Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative - Daventry)
Peter Heaton-Jones (Conservative - North Devon)
Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Mr Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Mr Stephen Hepburn (Labour - Jarrow)
Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Kate Hoey (Labour - Vauxhall)
Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
George Hollingbery (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Mr Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)
Adam Holloway (Conservative - Gravesham)
Kelvin Hopkins (Labour - Luton North)
Kris Hopkins (Conservative - Keighley)
Sir Gerald Howarth (Conservative - Aldershot)
John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Ben Howlett (Conservative - Bath)
Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Mid Worcestershire)
Mr Jeremy Hunt (Conservative - South West Surrey)
Mr Nick Hurd (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Mr Stewart Jackson (Conservative - Peterborough)
Margot James (Conservative - Stourbridge)
Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Mr Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Mr Bernard Jenkin (Conservative - Harwich and North Essex)
Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative - Morley and Outwood)
Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Alan Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Boris Johnson (Conservative - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Dr Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Joseph Johnson (Conservative - Orpington)
Andrew Jones (Conservative - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Graham Jones (Labour - Hyndburn)
Helen Jones (Labour - Warrington North)
Mr David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Mr Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Mr Marcus Jones (Conservative - Nuneaton)
Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)
Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Liz Kendall (Labour - Leicester West)
Seema Kennedy (Conservative - South Ribble)
Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Julian Knight (Conservative - Solihull)
Sir Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Mark Lancaster (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Dr Phillip Lee (Conservative - Bracknell)
Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative - Gainsborough)
Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Sir Oliver Letwin (Conservative - West Dorset)
Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)
Dr Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Mr Ivan Lewis (Labour - Bury South)
Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Mr David Lidington (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Mr Peter Lilley (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Jack Lopresti (Conservative - Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Mr Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Craig Mackinlay (Conservative - South Thanet)
David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Mr Khalid Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Perry Barr)
Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Mrs Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Mr Alan Mak (Conservative - Havant)
Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
John Mann (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Rob Marris (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)
Gordon Marsden (Labour - Blackpool South)
Christian Matheson (Labour - City of Chester)
Dr Tania Mathias (Conservative - Twickenham)
Mrs Theresa May (Conservative - Maidenhead)
Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Jason McCartney (Conservative - Colne Valley)
Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Mr Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Conor McGinn (Labour - St Helens North)
Liz McInnes (Labour - Heywood and Middleton)
Sir Patrick McLoughlin (Conservative - Derbyshire Dales)
Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Sir Alan Meale (Labour - Mansfield)
Mark Menzies (Conservative - Fylde)
Johnny Mercer (Conservative - Plymouth, Moor View)
Huw Merriman (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)
Mrs Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Amanda Milling (Conservative - Cannock Chase)
Nigel Mills (Conservative - Amber Valley)
Anne Milton (Conservative - Guildford)
Mr Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Penny Mordaunt (Conservative - Portsmouth North)
Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Nicky Morgan (Conservative - Loughborough)
Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
David Morris (Conservative - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
James Morris (Conservative - Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
David Mowat (Conservative - Warrington South)
David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Mrs Sheryll Murray (Conservative - South East Cornwall)
Dr Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)
Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Sarah Newton (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Mr David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)
Dr Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Guy Opperman (Conservative - Hexham)
Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton)
Mr George Osborne (Conservative - Tatton)
Albert Owen (Labour - Ynys Môn)
Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)
Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Mr Owen Paterson (Conservative - North Shropshire)
Mark Pawsey (Conservative - Rugby)
Teresa Pearce (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Claire Perry (Conservative - Devizes)
Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Chris Philp (Conservative - Croydon South)
Sir Eric Pickles (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Christopher Pincher (Conservative - Tamworth)
Dr Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Victoria Prentis (Conservative - Banbury)
Mr Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Jeremy Quin (Conservative - Horsham)
Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)
Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Dominic Raab (Conservative - Esher and Walton)
Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Mr Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Christina Rees (Labour (Co-op) - Neath)
Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Marie Rimmer (Labour - St Helens South and Whiston)
Mr Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Mary Robinson (Conservative - Cheadle)
Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Labour - Coventry North West)
Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Steve Rotheram (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Amber Rudd (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
David Rutley (Conservative - Macclesfield)
Joan Ryan (Labour - Enfield North)
Antoinette Sandbach (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Paul Scully (Conservative - Sutton and Cheam)
Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Grant Shapps (Conservative - Welwyn Hatfield)
Alok Sharma (Conservative - Reading West)
Mr Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)
David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Mr Keith Simpson (Conservative - Broadland)
Chris Skidmore (Conservative - Kingswood)
Mr Dennis Skinner (Labour - Bolsover)
Ruth Smeeth (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Mr Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Sir Nicholas Soames (Conservative - Mid Sussex)
Amanda Solloway (Conservative - Derby North)
Anna Soubry (Conservative - Broxtowe)
John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Dame Caroline Spelman (Conservative - Meriden)
Keir Starmer (Labour - Holborn and St Pancras)
Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Bob Stewart (Conservative - Beckenham)
Iain Stewart (Conservative - Milton Keynes South)
Rory Stewart (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Mr Gary Streeter (Conservative - South West Devon)
Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Graham Stuart (Conservative - Beverley and Holderness)
Ms Gisela Stuart (Labour - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Rishi Sunak (Conservative - Richmond (Yorks))
Sir Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Sir Hugo Swire (Conservative - East Devon)
Mr Robert Syms (Conservative - Poole)
Mark Tami (Labour - Alyn and Deeside)
Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Maggie Throup (Conservative - Erewash)
Edward Timpson (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative - Rochester and Strood)
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Michael Tomlinson (Conservative - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Craig Tracey (Conservative - North Warwickshire)
David Tredinnick (Conservative - Bosworth)
Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative - Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Elizabeth Truss (Conservative - South West Norfolk)
Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge and Malling)
Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Mr Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Stephen Twigg (Labour (Co-op) - Liverpool, West Derby)
Mr Andrew Tyrie (Conservative - Chichester)
Mr Chuka Umunna (Labour - Streatham)
Mr Edward Vaizey (Conservative - Wantage)
Mr Shailesh Vara (Conservative - North West Cambridgeshire)
Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Mrs Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Mr Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Mr Robin Walker (Conservative - Worcester)
Mr Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
David Warburton (Conservative - Somerton and Frome)
Matt Warman (Conservative - Boston and Skegness)
Dame Angela Watkinson (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Tom Watson (Labour - West Bromwich East)
James Wharton (Conservative - Stockton South)
Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Heather Wheeler (Conservative - South Derbyshire)
Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Mr John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Craig Williams (Conservative - Cardiff North)
Gavin Williamson (Conservative - South Staffordshire)
Mr Rob Wilson (Conservative - Reading East)
Phil Wilson (Labour - Sedgefield)
Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Mr David Winnick (Labour - Walsall North)
Dame Rosie Winterton (Labour - Doncaster Central)
Dr Sarah Wollaston (Conservative - Totnes)
John Woodcock (Labour (Co-op) - Barrow and Furness)
William Wragg (Conservative - Hazel Grove)
Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Mr Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative - Stratford-on-Avon)
Full list of MPs who voted against article 50 bill
Here is the full list of the 122 MPs who voted against the article 50 bill at third reading.
Labour – 52
Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow)
Graham Allen (Nottingham North)
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree)
Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West)
Lyn Brown (West Ham)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Karen Buck (Westminster North)
Dawn Butler (Brent Central)
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth)
Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)
Ann Coffey (Stockport)
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Mary Creagh (Wakefield)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
Geraint Davies (Swansea West)
Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West)
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge)
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford)
Mike Gapes (Ilford South)
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston)
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South)
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood)
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton)
Peter Kyle (Hove)
David Lammy (Tottenham)
Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
Rachael Maskell (York Central)
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East)
Alison McGovern (Wirral South)
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Mrs Madeleine Moon (Bridgend)
Ian Murray (Edinburgh South)
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Stephen Pound (Ealing North)
Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall)
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn)
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith)
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington)
Owen Smith (Pontypridd)
Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central)
Stephen Timms (East Ham)
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test)
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge)
Conservatives – 1
Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe)
Scottish National party – 52
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire)
Richard Arkless (Dumfries and Galloway)
Hannah Bardell (Livingston)
Mhairi Black (Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber)
Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North)
Philip Boswell (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith)
Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Douglas Chapman (Dunfermline and West Fife)
Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West)
Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde)
Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East)
Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire)
Stuart Blair Donaldson (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Stephen Gethins (North East Fife)
Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran)
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North)
Peter Grant (Glenrothes)
Neil Gray (Airdrie and Shotts)
Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Stewart Hosie (Dundee East)
George Kerevan (East Lothian)
Calum Kerr (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Chris Law (Dundee West)
John Mc Nally (Falkirk)
Callum McCaig (Aberdeen South)
Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Glasgow South)
Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Roger Mullin (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Angus Brendan MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Anne McLaughlin (Glasgow North East)
Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West)
Dr Paul Monaghan (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Gavin Newlands (Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire)
Brendan O’Hara (Argyll and Bute)
Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West)
Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central)
Mike Weir (Angus)
Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan)
Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire)
Corri Wilson (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire)
Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East)
Angus Robertson (Moray)
Alex Salmond (Gordon)
Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire)
Steven Paterson (Stirling)
Liberal Democrat – 7
Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland)
Nick Clegg (Sheffield, Hallam)
Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Sarah Olney (Richmond Park)
Mark Williams (Ceredigion)
John Pugh (Southport)
Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington)
Green party – 1
Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion)
SDLP – 3
Margaret Ritchie (South Down)
Mark Durkan (Foyle)
Dr Alasdair McDonnell (Belfast South)
Plaid Cymru – 3
Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Hywel Williams (Arfon)
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Independent – 3
Michelle Thomson (Edinburgh West)
Lady Hermon (North Down)
Natalie McGarry (Glasgow East)
Tellers for noes
Marion Fellows (SNP - Motherwell and Wishaw) and Owen Thompson (SNP - Midlothian)
Updated
Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader who has as good a claim as anyone to be an architect of tonight’s vote, has tweeted this.
I never thought I'd see the day where the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted for Britain to Leave the European Union.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) February 8, 2017
Fifty two Labour MPs voted against the bill tonight, five more than voted against it at second reading last week, according to Labour sources.
A Tory MP tells me that the whips will be “opening the champagne” and Theresa May is likely to join them. “They’ve worked really hard.”
Last week the article 50 bill passed its second reading by 498 votes to 114.
This time there were four fewer MPs voting in favour, and eight more voting against.
Three Conservative MPs voted with Labour for the Harriet Harman amendment, that would have ensured EU nationals get the right to stay in the UK after Brexit. They were Kenneth Clarke, Tania Mathias and Andrew Tyrie.
Article 50 bill clears Commons as third reading passed by majority of 372
MPs have voted to give the article 50 bill its third reading by 494 votes to 122 - a majority 372.
Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP who chaired Vote Leave, said: “This bill has passed with significant majorities unamended which is a clear signal to the House of Lords that they should do the same.”
The MP - who voted against all amendments- said she expected to May to “be as good as her word” on the rights of EU citizens.
In the corridors MPs were being quite disparaging about what some called Clive Lewis’s “flip flopping”. Minutes before they thought he’d decided to back the bill after he supported an amendment that was in effect a vote to save the bill.
As he stood outside the lobbies one Tory MP asked if he’d put a suit on especially for the occasion given the heavy focus on his decision.
Diane Abbott has voted for the article 50 bill to get a third reading, according to PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield.
BREAKING: Diane Abbott votes FOR triggering Article 50.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) February 8, 2017
Some MPs are whistling or humming the European anthem, Ode to Joy, as they vote. According to the Spectator’s James Forsyth, it is the pro-Europeans - not the leave crowd being ironic.
Pro EU MPs whistling the EU anthem in the chamber
— James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) February 8, 2017
Given what Clive Lewis said last month, both before Labour decided to impose a three-line whip on the article 50 bill and after that, when he announced the conditions that would attach to his decision to vote for article 50 at second reading, and given the fact that none of Labour’s amendments have been accepted, his decision is not that surprising. You can read his previous comments here, at 11.56am.
Clive Lewis resigns as shadow business secretary.
Clive Lewis has resigned as shadow business secretary.
The Labour party has just issued this statement from him.
When I became the MP for Norwich South, I promised my constituents I would be ‘Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich’. I therefore cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something I believe will ultimately harm the city I have the honour to represent, love and call home.
It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet.
It has been a privilege to work with Jeremy Corbyn and be part of the shadow cabinet. I will continue to support our party and our leader from the back benches to the very best of my ability.
And the Labour press notice includes this statement from Jeremy Corbyn.
I would like to thank Clive for his work in the shadow cabinet, which has underlined what an asset he is to the Labour party and our movement.
I understand the difficulties MPs representing constituencies which voted remain have in relation to the European Union withdrawal bill. MPs have a duty to represent their constituents as well as their party.
However, the Labour party respects the outcome of the EU referendum, so we have asked all Labour MPs to vote for the bill at its third reading tonight.
We have been clear from the start that Labour will not frustrate the triggering of article 50, which represents the start of the process for leaving the EU.
Labour will use every opportunity to hold the government to account and protect jobs, rights and living standards at every stage of the negotiations.
I wish Clive well and look forward to working with him in the future.
Updated
MPs vote down Labour amendment on keeping UK in Euratom by majority of 49
MPs have voted down the Labour amendment on keeping the UK in Euratom by 336 votes to 287 - a majority of 49.
It was amendment NC192. See 7.55pm for the text.
MPs are now voting on what should be the last amendment, NC192, a Labour frontbench amendment to keep the UK in Euratom.
NC192 says:
Nuclear Collaboration
(1) Nothing in this Act shall affect the UK’s membership of the European Atomic Agency Community (Euratom).
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act, Her Majesty’s Government shall treat the process of leaving Euratom as separate to that of leaving the European Union.
MPs vote down amendment guaranteeing EU nationals right to say in UK by majority of 42
MPs have voted down NC57, the amendment guaranteeing EU nationals the right to stay in the UK, by 332 votes to 290 - a majority of 42.
(The fact that MPs have voted this down does not mean the MPs want EU nationals to have to leave the EU after Brexit. It means they accept Theresa May’s argument that Britain should not give any commitments until it can reach a deal with other EU countries ensure that Britons living on the continent are also guaranteed the right to say where they are.)
You can read the text of NC57 here, at 7.37am.
Clive Lewis is still a Labour frontbencher - literally.
Clive Lewis currently sat on the Labour frontbench.
— Jack Maidment (@jrmaidment) February 8, 2017
Why is the government keen to have so many votes? This tweet, from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh, helps to explain the answer.
Cabinet minister points out that with such a comprehensive Commons series of votes, Lords will find it impossible to hinder Brexit bill.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) February 8, 2017
List of 19 Labour MPs who voted with Lib Dems for second referendum
Here is the list of the 19 Labour MP who voted with the Lib Dems for their amendment proposing a second referendum. (See 6.48pm.)
Heidi Alexander (Labour - Lewisham East)
Mr Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Ann Coffey (Labour - Stockport)
Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Geraint Davies (Labour (Co-op) - Swansea West)
Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Dr Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Mr David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Fiona Mactaggart (Labour - Slough)
Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
They were joined by 3 SDLP MPs
Mark Durkan (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Dr Alasdair McDonnell (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Ms Margaret Ritchie (Social Democratic & Labour Party - South Down)
And three Plaid Cymru MPs.
Jonathan Edwards (Plaid Cymru - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
And the Green MP Caroline Lucas.
Seven Lib Dem MPs voted for the amendment, and the other two acted as tellers.
MPs are now voting on NC57, the one tabled by Harriet Harman in her capacity as chair of the joint committee on human rights saying EU nationals living in the UK should definitely be allowed to stay.
Here is the text.
Effect of notification of withdrawal
Nothing in this Act shall affect the continuation of those residence rights enjoyed by EU citizens lawfully resident in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, under or by virtue of Directive 2004/38/EC, after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
MPs vote to back the bill as it is by majority of 385
MPs have voted to keep the bill (that clauses 1 and 2 “stand part”, in the jargon) by 496 votes to 111 - a majority of 385.
This will probably reflect what the vote will be when MPs vote on the third reading.
Updated
There seems to be some time-wasting going on (often a deliberate tactic to reduce the time for a debate later). For the second time the deputy speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has sent the serjeant-at-arms into the lobbies to investigate a hold-up.
According to the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford, 18 Labour MPs backed the Lib Dem motion on a second referendum.
A total of 18 Labour MPs backed a Lib Dem amendment calling for a second referendum, including 5 of Jeremy Corbyn's front-benchers #brexit
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) February 8, 2017
MPs are now voting that clauses 1 and 2 stand part of the bill.
That normally happens after other amendments have been voted on. It suggests that there won’t be a vote on EU nationals.
This is from Tony Grew’s @ParlyApp.
Looks like vote on EU nationals has been dropped? This is final vote of committee stage.
— PARLY (@ParlyApp) February 8, 2017
MPs vote down SDLP amendment on Good Friday agreement by majority of 39.
MPs have voted down the SDLP amendment on the Good Friday agreement by 327 votes to 288 - a majority of 39.
It was amendment 86. See 7.01pm for the text.
More news on Clive Lewis. These are from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh.
Clive Lewis is wearing a suit tonight. First time he's not worn usual tweed jacket, Lab MP tells me. Ready for leadership-style words later?
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) February 8, 2017
Strong expectation from Labour MPs that Clive Lewis will not vote for Brexit bill. Whether he vote *against* remains unclear.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) February 8, 2017
And this is from the BBC’s Iain Watson.
And I am told another shad cab member (not Clive Lewis) is 'very unhappy' with the official line but remains to be seen if they will go
— iain watson (@iainjwatson) February 8, 2017
The CommonsVotes app, which publishes voting figure soon after Commons divisions, has put up the results of the first three votes.
Ken Clarke was the only Conservative to vote with Labour in any of these votes. He voted with Labour on the first vote, on the conduct of the talks (see 6.07pm), and on the third, on Gibraltar (see 6.34pm), but not on the second, on tax havens (see 6.21pm).
And there are five Labour MPs who have voted with the Tories on all of the first three votes. They are Frank Field, Kelvin Hopkins, Graham Stringer and Gisela Stuart. They were joined by John Mann in the third vote.
MPs are now voting on amendment 86, an SDLP amendment saying the government should have to trigger article 50 taking into account the Good Friday agreement.
The text of amendment 86 says:
Clause 1, page 1, line 5, at end insert “with the exception of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and section 2 of the Ireland Act 1949, and subject to—
(a) the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland of 10 April 1998, and
(b) preserving acquired rights in Northern Ireland under European Union law.
MPs vote down Lib Dem amendment calling for second referendum by majority of 307
MPs have voted down the Lib Dem amendment proposing a second referendum by 340 votes to 33 - a majority of 307.
It was amendment 43. See 6.48pm for the full text.
MPs are now voting on amendment 43, a Lib Dem amendment proposing a second referendum on the final Brexit deal.
The text of the amendment says:
Before exercising the power under section 1, the prime minister must prepare and publish a report on the process for ratifying the United Kingdom’s new relationship with the European Union through a public referendum.
MPs vote down amendment calling for report on impact of Brexit on NHS by majority of 49
MPs have voted down the amendment calling for a report on the impact of Brexit on NHS finances by 337 votes to 288 - a majority of 49. It was amendment 11. See 6.37pm for the full text.
Chuka Umunna has been tweeting about his amendment.
The vote on our #350mForTheNHS Amendment is next in @HouseofCommons. Will @BorisJohnson @michaelgove @patel4witham & co keep their promise? pic.twitter.com/gHutLqyCEp
— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) February 8, 2017
MPs are now voting on amendment 11, an amendment tabled by the Labour MP Chuka Umunna saying the government should publish a report on the impact Brexit would have on NHS finances, and government finances generally, before triggering article 50.
It is intended to expose the hollowness of the Vote Leave claim that leaving the EU would release £350m a week for the NHS.
Here is the text of the amendment.
Before exercising the power under subsection (1), the prime minister must prepare and publish a report on the effect of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU on national finances, including the impact on health spending.
Updated
MPs vote down amendment about consulting Gibraltar by majority of 50
MPs have voted against amendment 29, saying Gibraltar should be consulted before article 50, is triggered by 338 votes to 288 - a majority of 50.
This is what the Labour MP Mike Gapes said in the debate earlier about his amendment, and why the government of Gibraltar should be consulted before article 50 is triggered. He said Gibraltarians were worried Brexit could lead to more sudden closures at the border with Spain.
While we are in the EU our government can ensure that no silly things, no funny business, can go on as regards what might come out of some draft document produced somewhere relating to waters or environmental issues or maybe flights and trade matters.
As soon as we leave the EU we no longer have the ability to argue that case and block it if a particular government in Madrid decides to up the ante to make life more difficult ...
Because of the importance of this issue it is surely necessary that the people of Gibraltar are, through their elected government of Gibraltar, aware of these matters as we leave the EU. Therefore surely to be consistent with what the Bill said when we voted in this House to have a referendum Gibraltar should also be mentioned on the face of the bill.
Updated
MPs are now voting on amendment 29, an amendment tabled by the Labour MP Mike Gapes saying the government should consult Gibraltar before it triggers article 50.
Updated
MPs vote down Labour amendment on tax havens by majority of 47
MPs have voted down the Labour amendment on tax havens by 336 votes to 289 - a majority of 47. It was amendment NC7. See 6.09pm for the text.
The Labour MP Karl Turner has brought his baby into the chamber for the votes. Harriet Harman has tweeted a lovely photo.
Beautiful baby in the House of Commons!! Hooray!! pic.twitter.com/jCzagLzbYM
— Harriet Harman (@HarrietHarman) February 8, 2017
MPs are now voting on NC7. It is another Labour frontbench amendment. NC7 says:
Conduct of negotiations—anti-tax haven
(1) In negotiating and concluding an agreement in accordance with Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, Ministers of the Crown must have regard to the public interest in maintaining all existing EU tax avoidance and evasion legislation.
(2) In negotiating and concluding an agreement in accordance with Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, Ministers of Crown must comply with the European Union Code of Conduct on Business Taxation.
Updated
MPs vote down Labour amendment on conduct of Brexit talks by majority of 45
MPs have voted down the Labour amendment on the conduct of the Brexit talks by 336 votes to 291 - a majority of 45.
See 2.27pm for the text of the NC2 amendment.
The Sun’s Steve Hawkes says Clive Lewis, who is expected to resign as shadow business secretary soon so he can vote against the article 50 bill at third reading, has been in to see Jeremy Corbyn.
Clive Lewis has been into see Jeremy Corbyn - spotted coming out of his office. Looked "tense"
— steve hawkes (@steve_hawkes) February 8, 2017
The Green MP Caroline Lucas is renewing her call for electronic voting.
Starting 2.5 hours of voting on 10 amendments on #brexitbill - reflecting that in modern parliament & electronic voting, would take 5 mins
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) February 8, 2017
If the votes take as long as expected, we won’t even get a third reading debate, according to Labour Whips. Instead they will go straight to the third reading vote.
If the expected 9 consecutive votes go past 7.52pm then the vote on Third Reading will come straight after those votes. #HopeThatsClear
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) February 8, 2017
According to Labour Whips, we are now expecting nine votes.
We expect 9 consecutive votes on cttee stage now. If votes finish before 7.52pm there will be a very short Third Reading debate up to 7.52pm
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) February 8, 2017
In the Commons chamber, at the end of the article 50 committee stage debate, MPs are now voting on the Labour amendment NC2. It is an amendment that would write into the bill some principles for Theresa May to follow in the Brexit talks. See 2.27pm for the text of the amendment.
Updated
May says she hopes Labour voters will look at Tories 'afresh' and consider voting for them
Theresa May has given an interview to the New Statesman’s Jason Cowley. Cowley asked her to respond to what George Osborne, who was sacked as chancellor by May, said in the article 50 debate last week. Osborne complained that May was not prioritising the economy in the Brexit talks. Here’s the relevant extract from the interview.
I read the former chancellor’s remarks to May when we met but she pushed back against them. “One of the problems with this debate about Brexit is that people look at too many aspects of it in a binary way,” she said. “They are thinking about this in terms of the power that we’ve had as a member of the EU.”
“What we say is: what is the outcome that we want to achieve? And it is possible to achieve an outcome which is both a good result for the economy and is a good result for people who want us to control immigration – to be able to set our own rules on the immigration of people coming from the European Union. It is perfectly possible to find an arrangement and a partnership with the EU which does that.”
May also said that she hoped Labour voters would look at the Tories “afresh” and consider voting for them. She told Cowley:
I hope there are Labour voters out there who will now look at us afresh and say, ‘Labour hasn’t responded to our concerns, it hasn’t recognised what matters to us, but the Conservatives have seen that and are responding to it.’ I want our greater prosperity not to be confined to particular groups of people or a single part of the country.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary who missed last week’s vote on the second reading of the article 50 bill after she went home saying she was ill, is in the Commons chamber for the end of the committee stage.
David Jones' speech
David Jones, the Brexit minister, is winding up the article 50 committee stage debate now.
Chris Leslie, the Labour MP, intervenes. He says he has tabled 35 amendments but has not even been able to make a speech today because so little time has been allocated for the bill.
Jones commends Leslie for this enthusiasm. But he says that the Commons voted for the programme motion that determined how much time was set aside for the debate.
The Green party has also condemned the decision to close the Dubs scheme. This is from the Greens’s co-leader, Jonathan Bartley.
This announcement, which the Tories have tried to sneak out just before recess, is an absolute disgrace. This is nowhere near the 3000 originally proposed by Lord Dubs and it equates to less than one per local authority in the UK. Any claim by the prime minister to be a compassionate Conservative is utterly undermined by the dereliction of duty to some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
In his speech in the article 50 debate the Conservative MP Ed Vaizey also described himself as a “remoaner” who was being driven “round the bend” by constant talk about how easy it will be for Britain to strike free trade deals around the world once ties are severed with Brussels.
It does strike me as bizarre that we have given up extraordinary influence over a market of 500 million people to sail off to negotiate free trade deals which will not be without their controversy ... I suppose what I’m really saying is the whole tone of the debate since the referendum has been so awful and unpleasant.
The leftwing writer, activist and second world war veteran Harry Leslie Smith is linking the government’s announcement on the ending of the Dubs scheme and the vote on the article 50 bill later this evening.
Breaking the Dubs Amendment agreement to take 3k child refugees means Theresa May's word can't be trusted & #brexitbill should be rejected.
— Harry Leslie Smith (@Harryslaststand) February 8, 2017
Rudd says nothing will change for EU citizens living in UK without MPs voting for it
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, has written to some Tory MPs trying to assure them about the fate of EU nationals living in the UK ahead of the vote coming up later on an amendment to the article 50 bill that would ensure now that they will be allowed to stay. According to ConservativeHome, which has published it in full, Rudd says:
I know some colleagues are concerned about how long this might take to resolve, but the government remains committed to providing reassurance to EU nationals here and UK nationals in the EU as a priority once Article 50 has been triggered. The hold-up is less an issue of principle than one of timing with a few EU countries insisting there can be ‘no negotiation before notification’, and therefore that nothing can be settled until Article 50 is triggered.
But I’d also like to reassure colleagues that parliament will have a clear opportunity to debate and vote on this issue in the future. The great repeal bill will not change our immigration system. This will be done through a separate immigration bill and subsequent secondary legislation so nothing will change for any EU citizen, whether already resident in the UK or moving from the EU, without parliament’s approval.
I’ve always been clear that after we leave the European Union we will have an immigration system that supports our economy and protects our public services, and that should mean securing the rights of EU citizens already here, as well as establishing a new immigration system for new arrivals from the EU once we have left.
News of the letter emerged because the Conservative MP Ed Vaizey mentioned it in the article 50 debate. He said, on the basis of these assurances, he would not be voting against the government. But after he mentioned the letter he realised he had made a mistake because it was not sent to all MPs and some of them said he should share it with them.
Farron accuses government of coming close to adopting 'the policies of Trump' over Dubs scheme
The Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has accused the government of coming close to adopting “the policies of Trump” with its announcement about the Dubs amendment. In a statement he said:
Last May, MPs from all parties condemned the government’s inaction on child refugees in Europe, and voted overwhelmingly to offer help to the thousands of unaccompanied kids who were stranded without their families backed by huge public support.
Instead, the government has done the bare minimum, helping only a tiny number of youngsters and appearing to end the programme while thousands still suffer. At the end of December last year the government had failed bring a single child refugee to the UK under the Dubs scheme from Greece or Italy where many of these children are trapped.
Today is a betrayal of these vulnerable children and a betrayal of British values.
We know local communities and authorities up and down the country want to do more to help and the government should listen to the people by offering the financial support and resources necessary to enable this rather than acting as a block.
May’s treatment of refugee children is appalling, and shows how close she has moved to the policies of Trump.
Here is my colleague Alan Travis’s story on the announcement.
Updated
Cooper says closing down Dubs scheme is 'completely wrong'
Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons home affairs committee, has put out a statement saying the Home Office announcement on child refugees amounts to the closure of the Dubs scheme. In a statement she said:
The government is completely wrong to close down the Dubs scheme and they are going against the spirit of Parliament’s amendment last year.
It is important and welcome that Britain has helped refugee children from Syria and from elsewhere as a result of parliamentary pressure. The vast majority of those children have either arrived with their families or are re-joining their families who are here.
But to close the programme that helps lone child refugees after helping only 350 children is completely wrong. The Dubs amendment was designed to help the most vulnerable child refugees of all - those with no family to look after them who are incredibly vulnerable to trafficking or exploitation. Dubs was never time-limited and the government said they would abide by both the word and the spirit of the amendment. No one ever suggested we would only help children for a few months then turn our backs especially when the global refugee crisis shows no sign of abating. Whatever happened to the government’s commitment to ending modern slavery and trafficking?
At a time when President Trump is trying to close down refugee programmes altogether, the British government should not be closing the very programme designed to help the most vulnerable refugees of all.
Alf Dubs called on us to live up to our strongest traditions in protecting unaccompanied children fleeing persecution and war – just as we did during the Kindertransport in the 1930s when we helped almost 10,000 children.
The government needs to change track urgently and revive the Dubs scheme so Britain can carry on doing our bit to help.
In the Commons the debate on the article 50 bill is still going on, but it is rambling a bit and has not been scintillating.
Roger Gale, who is in the chair at the moment, has just said another 21 MPs hope to speak before the votes come.
Home Office says just 350 child refugees being admitted under Dubs amendment
Ministers have announced that a total of 350 child refugees will be brought to Britain from Europe under the so-called Dubs amendment, the Press Association reports.
The number is well below the 3,000 unaccompanied minors that campaigners and politicians originally called for the UK to accept through the scheme.
Ministers introduced the programme last year after coming under intense pressure to give sanctuary to lone children stranded on the continent.
Calls for the measure were spearheaded by Lord Dubs, whose amendment to the Immigration Act requires the government to “make arrangements to relocate to the UK and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe”.
The legislation did not specify a figure but on Wednesday, in a written ministerial statement, immigration minister Robert Goodwill said 350 children will be transferred under the initiative.
It is the first time an official figure has been given for the number of under-18s who will be resettled in the UK under the Dubs amendment, which is given effect by section 67 of the Immigration Act.
It was reached after consultation with councils on their capacity to care for and support asylum-seeking children, the government said.
Updated
On the Today programme this morning Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, argued that Theresa May would find it impossible to offer parliament a vote on her Brexit deal on a ‘take it or leave it basis’. (See 9.25am.) Some listeners may have found his argument unconvincing, but in the Financial Times’ daily lunchtime Brexit briefing James Blitz says he probably had a point. Blitz writes:
It is October 2018. Theresa May returns from Brussels with the Brexit deal she has agreed with European leaders. The pact sets out the terms of the divorce between Britain and the EU. But it provides only minimal privileged access to the single market for UK financial services and a burdensome new customs arrangement for British manufacturers.
In the Commons, Labour and other opposition parties declare this is a bad deal and that Mrs May should return to the negotiating table and get something better. They are joined by around 20 Conservative rebels, securing a majority for that position. But hours before the division, Mrs May warns that their opposition is futile. “This is a take it or leave it vote,” she says. “If you vote this deal down, then we crash out of the EU in a disorderlyBrexit.”
After recording what Starmer said on Today this morning, Blitz goes on:
Is Mr Starmer right to take this view? His point is not unreasonable. If Mrs May were to lose a Commons vote after 18 months of dogged negotiation in Brussels, it would be a heavy blow to her authority as prime minister. If she were simply to ignore such a defeat and crash out of the EU, she would be taking the UK on a hazardous economic journey without the full approval of parliament. The lack of a complete mandate would haunt her as long as she remained in Number 10.
Here is Sky’s Tamara Cohen with the latest on Clive Lewis.
Several Labour MPs tell me Clive Lewis has set bar very high not to quit now. Shadow minister says "he'd be like Clare Short"
— Tamara Cohen (@tamcohen) February 8, 2017
And the Conservative MP John Redwood also spoke at the start of the debate. He said he backed the negotiating aims set out by Labour in its NC2. (See 2.27pm.) They were “perfectly sensible”, he said. But he said he would not vote for the Labour amendment because it was unreasonable to put it in the bill. He told MPs:
I think, although the words do not explicitly say ‘This is what has to be delivered’, if it’s embedded in legislation the implication is that all these things have to be delivered - and some are not in the gift of this government or this parliament.
I return to this point that the opposition never seems grasp - we are all united in the aims of our trade being tariff-free but it will be decided by the other 27, not by this parliament or by ministers.
This afternoon\s debate was opened by the shadow Brexit minister Paul Blomfield. He used his speech to urge the government to clarify its stance on immigration. He told MPs:
The only real way of substantially reducing numbers [of immigrants] is to crash the economy, and it may be that will be the effect of the government’s negotiations.
But assuming that is not their plan, they now need to come clean with the British people on this red line - what is their plan?
If taking control of immigration is what is defining this government’s approach to Brexit, the minister, in his closing remarks, needs to make clear, what are the government’s intentions?
SNP says prospects for independence look 'pretty good' if May ignores Scotland's wishes
In her speech in the article 50 debate Joanna Cherry, the SNP’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman, repeated the Scottish government’s threat to hold another independence referendum if the UK government does not respond to its call for Scotland to stay in the single market. She said:
The Scottish government is looking for a response to this document [the SNP’s plan for Brexit]. And that’s why we are not going to push NC145, which has been held over to today, for a vote today. There’s a meeting taking place today of the joint ministerial committee. And we are still prepared to put faith, for the time being, in the promise which the prime minister made about Scotland’s wishes being taken into account.
But members of this House should make no mistake that we will expect the prime minister to deliver on that promise. We will expect to have our position put forward in the article 50 letter. And if that does not happen, if the prime minister breaks her promise, then we will hold another independence referendum and, on the back of the Herald [poll - see 9.33am], things are looking pretty good for that at the moment. We’re at nearly 50% and not a single word has been uttered yet in the campaign.
NC145 would stop the prime minister triggering article 50 unless she has committed to seeking “a differentiated agreement for Scotland to remain in the European economic area.”
MPs resume debate on article 50 bill
MPs have resumed their debate on the article 5o bill. They are debating a series of amendments, including ones covering negotiation priorities, Gibraltar and Euratom, and the debate will run until about 5.40pm.
At that point MPs will vote. They will start by voting on NC2 (new clause 2), an amendment tabled by the Labour front bench inserting this clause into the bill.
Conduct of negotiations
Before giving any notification under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the Prime Minister shall give an undertaking to have regard to the public interest during negotiations in—
(a) maintaining a stable and sustainable economy,
(b) preserving peace in Northern Ireland,
(c) having trading arrangements with the European Union for goods and services that are free of tariff and non-tariff barriers and further regulatory burdens,
(d) co-operation with the European Union in education, research and science, environment protection, and preventing and detecting serious and organised crime and terrorist activity,
(e) maintaining all existing social, economic, consumer and workers’ rights.
There will be votes on other amendments too, including on one saying the government should guarantee now that EU nationals living in the UK will be able to stay after Brexit.
The full list of amendments to the bill is here (pdf).
After that MPs will debate the third reading of the bill and then vote on it. Two hours have been set aside for that, meaning that the final vote would be due at about 8pm, although it is possible that the third reading debate could wrap up more quickly.
My colleague Anushka Asthana is discussing PMQs now on the Guardian’s Facebook live page.
The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman says she spoke to David Hodge yesterday. He suggested to her that the deal that would help Surrey was one that would benefit all councils.
I spoke to David Hodge, Surrey leader, yesterday. He seemed to suggest it was a move that would help all councils.Will put quotes up shortly
— Isabel Hardman (@IsabelHardman) February 8, 2017
That might help to explain how what is in the text messages could be consistent with Hodge (see 1.12pm) and Downing Street (see 1.20pm) both insisting that Surrey council is not getting a special deal.
David Hodge, the Surrey county council leader, says the text messages he sent to a Nick in government went instead to a Labour councillor. (See 1.12pm.) As my colleague Rowena Mason says in her story about Jeremy Corbyn accusing Theresa May of offering Surrey council a sweetheart funding deal, this may have been Nick Forbes, the leader of the Labour group at the Local Government Association and and leader of Newcastle city council.
Forbes has tweeted a link to Rowena’s story.
Jeremy Corbyn accuses May of sweetheart deal with Surrey council https://t.co/TUfH7QBWrK
— Nick Forbes (@nick_forbes) February 8, 2017
Here is a statement that David Hodge, the leader of Surrey county council, has put out today about the council’s decision not to go ahead with the plan for a referendum on raising council tax by 15%. He said:
Surrey’s decision not to proceed with a 15% council tax increase was ours alone and there has been no deal between Surrey county council and the government. However, I am confident that the government now understands the real pressures in adult social care and the need for a lasting solution.
Andy McDonald, the shadow transport secretary, told the Daily Politics after PMQs that someone should have to resign because the deal apparently offered to Surrey county council. He said:
I’m gobsmacked. Somebody has got to resign over this. This is an absolutely disgrace. There are people up and and down the country suffering these cuts and if you press the button with your Tory mates you get a good deal. It’s an absolute outrage.
I’ve taken the quote from PoliticsHome.
Here’s a Guardian video of the key PMQs exchanges.
Polly Toynbee may admire David Hodge (see 1.18pm) but the Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames is less impressed.
Absolute corker by Leader of Surrey CC what a bozo
— Nicholas Soames (@nsoamesmp) February 8, 2017
After prime minister’s questions, Theresa May’s spokesman insisted there was “no extra cash” for Surrey council and the only conversations with DCLG were part of normal annual settlement.
The DCLG had no comment on whether there was a memorandum of understanding and pointed back to May’s answers in the House of Commons.
There are several Nicks in Whitehall for whom the texts could have been intended, including Nick King, a special adviser to Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, Nick Bourne, a communities minister in the House of Lords, or Nick Burkitt, DCLG’s deputy director for local government finance.
Among those who could have been the unintended recipient include Nick Forbes, the leader of the Labour group at the Local Government Association and Newcastle county council, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
My colleague Polly Toynbee wrote about David Hodge and the social care crisis in Surrey in a recent column. Hodge is leader of the Conservative group on the Local Government Association and so you might expect Polly to be critical, but she described him as a man whose moral authority “sets him head and shoulders above weak LGA leadership of recent years”.
Here is an extract from her column.
I have known and listened to Hodge over recent years, as his growling complaints about cuts have built up year by year. I’ve heard his impassioned support for the hard work of his social carers and his social workers under increasing stress, his anxieties about children at risk, about old and disabled people needing help. He says: “I wish politicians and journalists who scapegoat social workers when something goes wrong would just come and spend time here to see their work. I can’t praise them enough.”
His story is key to his character: now in his late 60s, he was brought up in a Dublin orphanage, never went to school, and was taught by one master for 90 orphans until he left at 14. He was in the army for 22 years, and saw active service in Borneo and Northern Ireland. His wife died, so he brought up his three sons alone. One way or another he has a natural empathy with people who struggle.
Why is he a Tory, I have asked him before. Those are deep cultural and tribal mysteries. But ask him about his local Tory MPs and he bursts with indignation at the mountain of weekly letters they send him asking for special favours for constituents, for school places, help with care, housing and everything else.
“I have to answer them all within 10 days at great cost, yet they know they have cut our money. They know I need 11,000 more school places by 2020, with no money.” And no, he doesn’t want grammar schools or academies. “What matters is not the name-plate on the school door, it’s teachers extending the minds of every child.” He complains: “Michael Gove is not prepared to help and he’s not backing our 15% rise.”
And here is the full article.
ITV’s Robert Peston has spoken to David Hodge, the Surrey council leader, about the private texts. He has written up what Hodge is saying on his Facebook page. Here’s an excerpt.
Hodge said he “swears on the bible there was no sweetheart deal”.
But he concedes the texts he sent were supposed to go to Nick King, the special adviser to Sajid Javid.
Instead they went - by mistake - to a Labour councillor, Hodge told me. He is furious because he feels that the honour code of members of the Local Government Association, that they don’t leak against each other, has been breached by the leaker ...
Hodge told me he remains deeply concerned by what he described as the “crisis in social care” - which he says is a huge contributor to the shortage of beds in hospitals, with old people unable to leave hospitals because the money isn’t available to care for them outside.
He says that the reason he called off the referendum is that he is persuaded the government is working on proposals that may put social care on a more sustainable footing.
How Corbyn ambushed May at PMQs with the private Surrey/DCLG texts
Here is the Press Association story about how Jeremy Corbyn ambushed Theresa May at PMQs.
Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of arranging a “sweetheart deal” with a Tory-led council to stop a controversial council tax referendum, the Press Association reports,
The Labour leader questioned how much the government had offered to Surrey county council to “kill this off” and pressed Theresa May to explain if the same deal would be available to every local authority facing the “social care crisis”.
The prime minister claimed Corbyn was using “alternative facts”.
Surrey has abandoned its plans for a 15% hike in council tax to address the crisis in social care funding, adding it will instead “take a risk” that ministers will find a solution.
Labour MPs could be heard shouting “we want to hear more about Surrey” as May struggled to answer Corbyn’s questions.
Surrey council leader David Hodge said on Tuesday that he would instead seek a 4.99% rise in council tax although warned that unless there was progress on funding the situation would become “untenable and intolerable”.
The planned 15% rise risked embarrassing health secretary Jeremy Hunt and chancellor Philip Hammond, who both have constituencies in Surrey.
Corbyn, speaking during prime minister’s Questions, raised problems affecting health services in Liverpool and the difficulties for officials in meeting the government.
He questioned May if a “special deal” was done for Surrey before telling MPs he had seen “leaked copies of texts” sent by Hodge “intended for somebody called Nick” who works for ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Corbyn said:
These texts read, ‘I’m advised that DCLG officials have been working on a solution and you will be contacting me to agree a memorandum of understanding’.
Will the government now publish this memorandum of understanding and, while they’re about it, will all councils be offered the same deal?
May replied:
What we have given all councils is the opportunity to raise a 3% precept on the council tax for that to go into social care.
What the Labour party fails to understand is that this is not just a question of looking at money, it is a question of looking at spreading best practice and finding a sustainable solution.
Corbyn went on to describe a second text message. He said:
I wonder if it’s anything to do with the fact that the chancellor and health secretary both represent Surrey constituencies.
But there was a second text from the Surrey county council leader to Nick - and in the second text it says ‘The numbers you indicated are the numbers I understand are acceptable for me to accept and call off the R’.
Now, I’ve been reading a bit of John le Carre and apparently R means referendum.
It’s very subtle all this.
He goes on to say in his text to Nick ‘If it is possible that info to be sent to myself I can then revert back soonest, really want to kill this off’.
So how much did the government offer Surrey to kill this off and is the same sweetheart deal on offer to every council facing the social care crisis created by [May’s government?
May said she had made clear to Corbyn that every council has the opportunity to raise the precept.
Speaker John Bercow intervened as he was again forced to calm MPs in the chamber.
May then said of Corbyn:
He comes to the despatch box making all sorts of claims. Yet again what we get from Labour is alternative facts; what they really need is an alternative leader.
The private texts messages used by Corbyn to ambush May at PMQs
Here are copies of the texts that Jeremy Corbyn was quoting from at PMQs earlier. They are from David Hodge, the leader of Surrey council. They were intended for a Nick working in the department for communities, but went to the wrong person.
Updated
As usual, I missed the questions from Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, because I was writing up the May/Corbyn snap verdict. But here are the Robertson questions.
He asked if May would take into account Scotland’s views in the Brexit negotiations.
If the UK is a partnership of equals, will the prime minister compromise like the Scottish government and reach a negotiated agreement before invoking Article 50, or will she just carry on regardless?
May said she was committed to talks with the Scottish government.
When the UK government negotiates it will be negotiating as the government for the whole UK, we have put in place the JMC arrangements which enable us to work closely with the devolved administrations to identify the particular issues that they want to see represented ... we have said we will intensify the discussions in that JMC arrangement and that is exactly what we will be doing.
Robertson then reminded May of what she said last summer about wanting to agree a UK-wide approach to Brexit.
Given the Scottish parliament has voted overwhelmingly against her approach, she does not have an agreed UK-wide approach. Now, Mr Speaker, as the prime minister knows, a lot of people in Scotland watch PMQs so will she tell those viewers in Scotland whether she intends to keep her word to Scotland or not?
May replied:
We are ensuring that we are working closely with the Scottish government as we take this matter forward.
The supreme court was very clear that the Scottish parliament does not have a veto on the triggering of article 50, the bill going through the House is giving the Government the power to trigger article 50 ...
He constantly refers to the interests of Scotland inside the EU - an independent Scotland would not be in the EU.
I’ve taken the quotes from PoliticsHome.
Updated
Sir Eric Pickles, the Conservative former communities secretary, asks if May pressed the Israeli prime minister to hold face-to-face talks with the Palestinians when she met him in Downing Street this week.
May says ultimately it is for the parties to decide whether they want to have face-to-face talks.
Labour’s Angela Eagle says Ken Clarke said the government’s plans for Brexit were like Alice in Wonderland. She says May would make a good Alice. Will the government publish its assessment of what Brexit will mean for the economy.
May says she respects Clarke, although when they were in cabinet together, she used to joke that she locked them up, and he as justice secretary let them out.
Labour’s Sue Hayman says MPs who have visited Copeland for the byelection have discovered how poor the rail service is in Cumbria. Will May be visiting the constituency herself to find out how bad it is.
May says Labour had 13 years to improve rail services in Cumbria.
Julian Sturdy, a Conservative, asks if the government will make monitoring children and and adolescents mental health services (Camhs) waiting times a requirement.
May says these services are being reviewed.
Labour’s Owen Smith asks if May agrees with the estimate that leaving the EU on WTO terms could cost the UK £9bn a year.
May says she wants to achieve the best possible deal.
May says she thinks she will be able to get a deal that will be in the interests of the UK and the EU.
She says she had been hoping to welcome Diane Abbott to the chamber today. Perhaps Labour MPs are realising that the only real headache they have got is their leader.
Labour Liz Kendall asks what will happen if the Commons votes against the final Brexit deal.
May says the vote will be before the final deal has been concluded. And it will be before the European parliament votes on the agreement.
She does not way what would happen if MPs vote against the agreement.
James Berry, a Conservative, asks if Britain will continue to welcome high-skilled workers from the EU after Brexit.
May says in her Lancaster House speech she said there would still be immigration from the EU after Brexit. We want to welcome the brightest and the best.
Labour’s Dawn Butler asks about knife crime.
May says this is a particularly important issue in London. She would be happy to hear more information about the project Butler mentioned.
Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative, asks if May can assure EU nationals living in the UK that they will be able to stay after Brexit.
May says she wants to be able to offer this reassurance, but she wants Britons living in other EU countries to get similar guarantees. She says she can say today that, when she triggers article 50, she will ask for this issue to be settled quickly as a matter of priority.
Labour’s Ronnie Campbell says he has recently received NHS treatment. He was well cared for, but nurses were looking people on corridors. They should get more money.
May says she is glad to see Campbell back in the chamber. There is good practice in the NHS in the north east, but she wants to see that spread more widely.
PMQs - Snap verdict
PMQs - Snap verdict: Flash rhetoric and clever questions are fine at PMQs, but facts are better and today Corbyn demonstrated how nothing beats a good, old-fashioned, leak-inspired ambush. His first two questions were a bit vague and waffly, he sought to lay a trap with his third, but then he surprised May with his leaked text allegations and, to his credit, he kept pressing her for an answer as to whether Surrey was getting a special deal for the rest of the session. It was a successful hit. May stonewalled his questions quite forcefully, but without being able to conceal the fact that she was not answering his key question. Even without Corbyn’s Surrey deepthroat May’s answers would have been unsatisfactory - she has not got anything substantial to say about her long-term review of care, and her attack lines on Labour on health, about spending, read as if they’ve come from David Cameron’s pre-2015 PMQs file - but having a strong attack story meant Corbyn easily had the upper hand.
Updated
Corbyn says the chancellor and health secretary both represent Surrey constituencies. He quotes a second text from the council leader saying if he gets enough money, he can call off the “R”. That’s the referendum, says Corbyn. Is the same on offer to other councils?
May says she has made clear what has been made available to other councils. Corbyn comes here making claims. What we get from Labour are alternative facts. What they really need is an alternative leader?
Corbyn says his question was what deal has been offered to Surrey. And will the same deal be offered to other councils. He says hospitals are in crisis. And family members, mostly women, are having to give up care to look after loved ones. So will May give councils the help they need.
May says Corbyn is asking for more spending, more money, more funding. What he fails to recognise is that you can only spend money on social care if you have a strong economy. When she talks about half a trillion pounds, that is what she will spend on the NHS. Whan Labour talks about that, it is what they want to borrow.
Updated
Corbyn says he asked about Liverpool. The crisis is so bad that until yesterday Surrey planned to hold a referendum on a 15% increase in council tax. Was a special deal done for Surrey?
May says the decision on whether or not to hold a referendum is a matter for Surrey. On social care, she says we need a long-term solution. The govenment has provided more money. But it also needs to ensure good practice is spread across the country. She quotes areas where there were no delayed discharges. So the Cabinet Office is driving a review to find a solution.
Corbyn says she asked if there was a special deal. He says he has been leaked copies of texts from the Surrey council leader intended for a special adviser in the communities department. They says Surrey will get a memorandum of understanding. Will other councils get the same deal.
May says all councils can raise the 3% precept to raise money for social care. This is not just about money, she says. This is about finding a sustainable solution. The last thing social care providers need is a bouncing cheque from Labour.
Jeremy Corbyn says nine out of 10 NHS trusts say the have been operating at unsafe levels. How will closing A&E departments help waiting lists?
May praises the work of NHS staff. Yes, we recognise there are heavy pressures, she says. That is why the government is giving it £1.3bn more than Labour promised at the last election. There are more A&E doctors and consultants.
Corbyn says congratulating A&E staff is one thing; paying them properly is another. Did she see the BBC report on the Blackburn hospital where people have to wait up to 13 hours to be seen. This week Liverpool’s adult social care director resigned saying he could not see social services surviving after two years. What advice does the government have to the people of Liverpool?
May says Corbyn referred to Blackburn. Compared with 2010, there are more nurses and doctors in that trust. Waiting times can be an issue. Where do you wait longer for pneumonia treatment or heart disease treatment or a hip operation? It is not in England but Wales. Who is in power there? Labour.
Updated
Johnny Mercer, the Conservative, asks about the Iraq historical allegations team. Will May get a grip on the process?
May says MPs will want to praise the bravery and commitment of those in the armed forces. Those who serve deserve our support when they get home. All troops facing allegations get legal aid. With regard to Ihat, the government wants it to reduce its workload to a small number of case.
Labour’s Toby Perkins says the government launched the pupil premium at a school in his constituency. But the head is now having to run the Great North Run to raise money for his school because of the government’s new funding formula.
Theresa May says the results have been getting better in Perkins’ constituency. She says for a long time she has campaigned for a fairer funding formula for school. There is a consultation. Firm plans will be published in due course.
PMQs
PMQs is about to start.
Cheers from Tory benches as Theresa May arrives. Jeremy Corbyn is wearing that, um, snazzy, new khaki number again. Too jazzy? #PMQs
— Ben Glaze (@benglaze) February 8, 2017
The polling company BMG has disclosed only 38% of Scottish voters wanted a snap referendum staged before the Brexit deal was completed.
Although other polls have shown lower support for a snap referendum, BMG’s poll found that 48% did not want another one in the next two years. Excluding don’t knows that “suggests that opposition outweighs support by 56% to 44%”, BMG said.
BMG adds, however, that its snapshot does suggest the gap between yes and no voters is now far tighter with the yes vote up by three points since December to 43%, and the no vote down two points to 45%. A full 13% of its panel said they didn’t know.
Michael Turner, BMG’s director of research, said this meant: “Although these results suggest that opposition to independence is by no means an insurmountable task for Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP, they do imply that she is a fair way off from her ‘red-lines’ of clear and consistent support.”
Other polling experts in Scotland are sceptical about claims this compares very favourably to the 45% support the yes vote commanded in the September 2014 referendum. They say polls should only be compared to other polls, and not to an actual election or referendum vote, since polls measure sentiment not behaviour.
Updated
What Clive Lewis has said about voting on the article 50 bill
This is what Clive Lewis has said about voting on the article 50 bill.
On 19 January, before the Labour party had decided how it would whip the vote, he told his local paper, the Eastern Daily Press, that he did not want to back the bill in its existing form because that would be against the interests of his constituents. But he said he hoped Labour could change it.
It is safe to say that I am deeply concerned at the direction that Theresa May and the Conservative government is taking these negotiations, and the developments that are taking place. I am very mindful of what the majority of constituents in Norwich South voted for, which is remain. I don’t think what is currently on the table, given the irreversibility of article 50, means that signing Article 50 under these conditions is in the best interests of people in Norwich or the country. However it is the job of the opposition to see what we can get between now and March 31 in terms of assurances and guarantees and I think that will be critical to many people when they come to make their decision on this vote.
After the shadow cabinet confirmed that there would be a three-line whip on the bill at second reading, he said he would be backing it at that point. On 26 January he said:
I have been clear throughout that I respect the result of the referendum and will, therefore, join my colleagues in voting for the bill on its second reading. However, Theresa May does not have a mandate to dictate the terms of Brexit without listening to the British people. The whole country should be involved in determining our shared future, which is why Labour has fought for the British people to have a say, through Parliament. Labour will seek to amend the Bill to prevent the Government using Brexit to trash our rights, public services, jobs and living standards while cutting taxes for the wealthiest.
But, in a post on Facebook on 27 January, he also said that if the government did not accept Labour’s amendments, he would vote against the bill at third reading.
Labour’s amendments attempt to ensure we have the closest relationship to Europe and the single market as possible… IF THE GOVT [sic] DOES NOT ACCEPT THESE AMENDMENTS, I WILL VOTE AGAINST TRIGGERING ARTICLE 50 AT THE THIRD AND FINAL VOTE.
Sky News has just broadcast the footage of Clive Lewis talking to reporters outside his home this morning about whether or not he will resign.
He said:
I don’t know. I’m going to make my mind up. [There’s a] lot on my plate, a lot on everyone’s plate, a lot to think about, and we’ll see what happens in the lobbies today.
Asked if he would back his leader, he said:
It’s my intention to do what’s right by my constituents and by my conscience and whatever that takes. And also I have to think about the ... Labour party. It’s a really tough call. And I think lots of MPs are really having a tough time at the moment on this one.
He also said that, if he defied the whip, he would have to resign. He went on:
I’ve been having a long, hard think, like lots of MPs, and I’ll make a decision later today. And you’ll all get to hear about it.
Allies of the Labour leader moved to quash rumours circulating in Westminster that Jeremy Corbyn has set a date to step down as leader, the Press Association reports.A senior Labour source said there was “no truth” to suggestions the leader had informed his inner circle of plans to quit, while shadow cabinet member Ian Lavery said:
There’s not a grain of truth to the rumours about Jeremy stepping down. Lots of gossip happens around this place, but we know from previous rumours that it’s not always reliable.
Today’s bout of rumour-mongering seems to have been triggered by this tweet from Jennifer Williams, the Manchester Evening News’ respected political editor.
Am told corbyn has given a departure date to his close circle. Hence the frenzy
— Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsMEN) February 7, 2017
Ireland hopes to lure businesses from the UK after Brexit, Irish ambassador tells MPs
The Commons Northern Ireland committee is taking evidence today on Brexit from Dan Mulhall, the Irish ambassador to the UK. I have not been monitoring the hearing, but Mulhall has sent out a copy of his opening statement. In it, he reaffirms Ireland’s commitment to maintaining the common travel area with the UK and the open border with Northern Ireland. He says Brexit could pose a “significant problem” for Ireland. But he says that Brexit represents an opportunity for his country, because it could poach firms from the UK.
At the same time we naturally seek to avail of any upsides from this situation such as the possibility of attracting some of the economic activity that may need to find a post-Brexit location within the EU. This is a pragmatic response on the part of the Irish government to managing the downsides of Brexit and responding to the reality that some companies will feel a need to move. For those who do plan to move, we believe that Ireland is the best place for them to operate for we can provide an ideal setting with our highly-educated English speaking population, a location within the EU Single Market, and an environment proven to be conducive to investment.
Clive Lewis admits he is considering resigning today over article 50 bill
Clive Lewis, the shadow business secretary, has been speaking about today’s third reading vote on the article 50 bill, the BBC’s Norman Smith reports. And he has refused to confirm that he will vote for the bill. In other words, he has admitted that he is contemplating resignation. (There is a three-line whip on Labour MPs, and so if he does not vote for the bill, he would have to resign.)
About to resign ? @labourlewis says "Its my intention to do what's right by my constituents and my conscience. Its a really tough call"
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) February 8, 2017
"I'm going to make my mind up.I don't know. Lot on my plate. See what happens in the lobby today" - @labourlewis
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) February 8, 2017
Is this your last day in shad cab ? "I've got to make a decision on how I vote" - @labourlewis
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) February 8, 2017
Support for independence in Scotland at 49%, poll suggests
An new opinion poll putting support for Scottish independence at 49%, the highest in more than six months, has given teeth to Nicola Sturgeon’s threats of staging a snap independence referendum within the next two years.
Although that finding excluded don’t knows, the BMG survey for the Herald said support had risen from the 45.5% its poll last month had recorded. All other polls put support for independence at about 45%, but they also found only about a third of voters wanted a fresh referendum before Brexit.
The Herald tied the increase it support in its latest poll to Theresa May’s decision to opt for a hard Brexit, and to reject Sturgeon’s demand that the prime minister allow Scotland special, enhanced access to the single market.
Kevin Pringle, a former chief spokesman for Alex Salmond and former head of media to the Scottish National party, tweeted that this 49% figure came in the absence of overt campaigning for independence:
.@heraldscotland It may be an outlier at present but worth bearing in mind this is in the absence of any campaigning for Indy since 18/9/14.
— Kevin Pringle (@KevinJPringle) February 7, 2017
Although the Scottish National party is keeping silent on its thinking, pundits believe Sturgeon is considering staging that referendum in autumn 2018, before the Brexit process is completed. The theory is that would help to ensure an independent Scotland can transition smoothly into EU membership.
Starmer claims May would have to rethink if MPs reject her Brexit deal
Today is the final day of Commons debate on the article 50 bill. We will get another debate, and votes, on amendments, and then the third reading.
Yesterday Theresa May managed to minimise a Tory rebellion by promising a Commons vote on the Brexit agreement before it is finalised. Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, welcomed this as an important concession although, as our splash story says, other MPs, including some of his Labour colleague, said it was no such thing because May was just offering a ‘take it or leave it’ vote which would be meaningless because if MPs did vote against, the UK would crash out of the EU anyway with no preferential terms.
On the Today programme this morning Starmer rejected that claim. He put forward two arguments as to why the ‘take it or leave it’ analysis was wrong.
- Starmer claimed that May would have to rethink her Brexit deal if the Commons rejected it. Even though David Jones, the Brexit minister, told MPs in the debate yesterday that the government would not try to renegotiate its deal if it were rejected by MPs, Starmer said in practice this would happen.
Of course nobody can predict what’s going to happen in 2019. But, firstly, the idea that the prime minister in two years comes back with a deal which doesn’t have the confidence of the House of Commons is worth reflecting on ...
And, secondly, the idea that if that is the case the prime minister would seriously say in 2019, ‘Well, rather than go back and see whether I can improve and satisify the House of Commons and parliament, I will simply crash out’ - that would be a reckless act.
- Starmer said that May’s “take it or leave it” threat would not apply to the vote on the UK’s new trade deal with the EU. For the sake of simplicity, most reports have focused on May offering a vote on the Brexit deal. But in the Commons yesterday Jones said there would be a vote on the deal for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, and a vote on the terms of Britain’s new relationship with the EU (ie, the UK-EU trade deal). The government wants to negotiate both at the same time, and present them as a single deal. But virtually every trade expert says negotiating the trade deal will take longer than two years and Starmer told Today that this meant there would be two votes: a vote on Brexit, and a vote on the trade deal. The second vote would come after 2019, he said. And he said that because May would no longer by up against the two-year deadline for withdrawal, the ‘take it or leave it’ threat would not apply. He told the programme:
The final, important agreement, which is the one that will set out the new terms, will be after [2019]. And the ‘take it or leave it’ simply does not apply at that stage because we’ve passed the 2019 point.
The Labour party has imposed a three-line whip on the third reading debate, meaning MPs have to vote for the article 50 bill. Clive Lewis, the shadow business secretary, said last week that he would resign from the shadow cabinet and vote against the bill today if Labour failed to secure the amendments it was demanding. We will find out later if he plans to go through with this, or if he thinks the apparent concession announced yesterday is enough to make his stay. We will also see if Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary who is deeply unhappy about the article 50 bill, does actually vote for it. She missed the vote last week claiming that she was sick, prompting an angry response from some of her colleagues who suspected her illness was feigned.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Lord Freud, the former welfare minister, gives evidence to the work and pensions committee on universal credit.
10.30am: Damian Green, the work and pensions secretary, gives a speech on pension policy and intergenerational fairness to the Age UK conference.
12pm: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.
Around 12.40pm: MPs begin the final day of debate on the article 50 bill. At around 5.40pm there will be the final set of votes on amendments, including on the call for EU nationals living in the UK to have their right to stay guaranteed now. Then the bill will get its third reading, with the vote by about 8.15pm.
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, although from 12pm I will be focusing on PMQs and then the article 50 debate.
You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
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