Summary
That’s your lot today. Here’s a roundup:
- Theresa May will insist to EU leaders that her defeat in parliament on Thursday does not change her belief that her Brexit deal can still achieve a majority - as long as there are changes to the backstop. The prime minister hopes that other EU leaders will be more understanding of the kind of parliamentary game-playing seen on Thursday than officials in Brussels.
- Pro-Remain Tories have reacted angrily to May’s latest Brexit set back after abstentions from the ERG group led to a government defeat by 45 votes. Sarah Wollaston repeated her threat to leave the party over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. She also backed calls for the ERG to join Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party.
- The ERG denied it was holding the UK to ransom. But its deputy chairman Steve Baker said the group could not be associated with “taking no deal off the table”.
- The government continued to send mixed-messages about whether a no-deal Brexit is part of its bargaining tactics. Foreign office minister, Alistair Burt, tweeted: “We are not leaving without a deal”. But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom insisted it remained on the table.
- European politicians have expressed more exasperation with the UK over Brexit. France’s Europe minister, Nathalie Loiseua, told the UK to “hurry up”. Greek foreign minister, George Katrougalos, said the vote was “part of the contradictory message that we are receiving as the 27 from the UK”.
- Hilary Benn, chair of the Brexit committee, said he would reintroduce an amendment on indicative votes for a possible solution to the Brexit impasse. He said: “If parliament can’t decide ... then I think you might end up having to go back to the British people.”
- Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, has warned that that more than 12 ministers could resign by the end of the month if May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period. He said that resignations on this scale could bring down the government.
- The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said it is possible that the UK will ask for an extension to Article 50 beyond the 29 March deadline for leaving the EU. He also suggested talking to Jeremy Corbyn over a drink on how the Labour leader could take a more constructive approach to Brexit. Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said he would like further discussion between the Conservatives and Labour to be held on Brexit.
- Downing Street criticised thousands of school children taking part in the climate strike. A spokeswomn said: “disruption increases teachers’ workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for”. But Jeremy Corbyn said the strike was “inspiring”.
How Brexit changed the UK from a two-party system to four-faction dysfunction
Analysis of Commons voting patterns show how Europhobe and Europhile rebels from both main parties are forming new parliamentary blocs, according to the Guardian’s fancy new interactive.
Our study clusters MPs by the similarity of their voting patterns: if two MPs always vote the same way, the chart groups them tightly together.
The patterns on key Brexit votes reveal the emergence of four cross-party political factions that are wrangling for control of the negotiations.
A cross-party group of pro-European MPs usually votes with each other, with or against their own frontbenches, while Europhobe Conservatives now constitute a party within the party.
How Brexit changed Britain from a two-party system to four-faction dysfunctionhttps://t.co/bQrfeKNDUR pic.twitter.com/bzNVgMQvYi
— Guardian Visuals (@GuardianVisuals) February 15, 2019
Updated
The genuine moment of truth on Brexit looks increasingly likely to come on 27 February, according to Anand Menon, director of UK in a Changing Europe.
Remainer cabinet ministers who have threatened to resign if no deal looks likely will have to choose whether they are just mouth or have trousers too. Labour MPs will need to decide whether their patience with their leadership is finite.
And Downing Street, too, will face a difficult decision. The risk of the Cooper-Letwin bill passing is that the rug will be pulled from under the prime minister’s strategy. Currently, the government can obfuscate. The Brexit secretary can stand up and strongly hint that the government will pursue no deal. Meanwhile the lead Brexit negotiator can loudly state in a Brussels bar that the government will tack to an extension. An extension would change the balance of options, and the prime minister would be forced to choose. May might have to secure some concessions from the EU before 27 February, or face running out of road.
So, once again, we have a two-week buildup to a parliamentary showdown, but this time it may actually be one that matters. However the one thing that has become clear is that whatever our parliamentarians do, they will do it grudgingly. No one likes the deal. Relatively few favour a referendum, and virtually no one genuinely thinks no deal is a desirable outcome.
Which means that, whatever happens, this will not have been a healing process. Rather, MPs will emerge dissatisfied with whatever has happened, claiming not to have supported it and laying the groundwork for battle to resume as the debate over our future relationship with the EU commences in earnest. Oh joy.
The BBC’s long-running late-night politics show This Week is to end after its presenter Andrew Neil announced he was stepping down.
The BBC One show, which airs on Thursdays after Question Time, will be taken off air this summer when its current series ends, the corporation said.
Neil has fronted the show since it began in 2003 and regular guests include former Conservative MP Michael Portillo and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.
Fran Unsworth, BBC director of news, said: “We couldn’t imagine This Week without the inimitable Andrew Neil, one of Britain’s best political interviewers. After 16 years, Andrew is bowing out of late-night presenting on the show, at the top of his game.”
Updated
May to tell EU that Brexit deal still possible with backstop changes
Theresa May will insist to EU leaders that her defeat in parliament on Thursday does not change her belief that her Brexit deal can still achieve a majority - as long as there are changes to the backstop.
May is likely to head to Brussels next week after another crushing defeat in parliament inflicted by Eurosceptic backbenchers, as well as speaking to more EU leaders over the weekend.
The prime minister hopes that other EU leaders will be more understanding of the kind of parliamentary game-playing seen on Thursday than officials in Brussels. “They are all politicians,” said a government source.
Privately, Downing Street is exasperated by what it regards as self-interested posturing by some MPs. Sources described the prime minister as furious in the voting lobbies on Wednesday night.
On Friday, May’s spokeswoman said the previous vote in January, where MPs passed an amendment demanding the backstop be replaced with alternative arrangements and rejected the possibility of no deal, was the only one which had spelt out what parliament would accept.
“The motion on the 29th of January remains the only one the Commons has passed expressing what it does want, and that is what we are pursuing,” the spokeswoman said. “That remains the case after last night’s vote, and that what is what the prime minister is focused on.
“If we do not pass a deal, the legal position is that we leave without one. We do not want that to happen. And the PM is working tirelessly to make the changes so that MPs can pass the deal when we bring it back.”
Updated
Royal Bank of Scotland has said Brexit uncertainty has “gone on far too long”, despite posting better-than-expected full-year profits and declaring new dividends that will boost government coffers by £1bn.
RBS’s chief executive, Ross McEwan, admitted the additional pressure of Brexit risks would affect the bank’s performance over the coming year and it may struggle to meet its target of getting costs below 50% of its income by 2020.
“I don’t think I’m alone in saying that the political uncertainty around Brexithas gone on far too long,” he said on Friday. “Our corporate clients are pausing before making financial decisions and this, of course, is damaging the UK economy and will affect our income performance.”
Finance ministers from Scotland and Wales are demanding clarity from Westminster about post-Brexit funding, before a meeting with the chief secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss, in Cardiff later on Friday.
Scotland’s finance secretary Derek Mackay and Welsh finance minister Rebecca Evans have asked the UK government to explain post-Brexit replacements for EU cash streams like university research grants, rural community funding and public sector pensions, with Mackay calling for a guarantee that all funding will be replaced “in full”.
In advance of the meeting, Mackay said:
“Funding from the EU supports jobs in Scotland, from major infrastructure projects to sustaining rural communities and delivering research funding for our world-class universities. That is why the Scottish government is determined to defend its hard-won fiscal responsibility and maintain the benefits that EU funding has provided to many sectors and individuals in Scotland.
“With just weeks to go until the planned EU exit day, we remain deeply concerned about the lack of detail regarding replacement arrangements for EU funding streams given their importance to individuals, businesses and communities across Scotland.
“Today I will be calling on the chief secretary to the Treasury to provide reassurance that Scotland should not be financially worse off as a result of EU exit and to guarantee that all lost EU funding will be replaced in full.”
Britain could accept legally-binding assurances on the backstop that would not require reopening withdrawal agreement, diplomatic sources have told Reuters.
This potential shift from the UK’s officials line came after talks earlier this week between UK’s Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, it said.
London is still seeking changes to the backstop that the EU has already ruled out.
“Potentially those things can be achieved without changing the withdrawal agreement,” a UK official said of the legal guarantees on the backstop that London was seeking.
“If they can get what they want through other means they’ll accept that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be reopened,” one EU diplomat said of what was discussed during the Barnier-Barclay meeting.
“But they still want a time limit on the backstop or a unilateral exit,” another one said. “Barnier said ‘no’.”
Barclay is due to meet ambassadors of EU states in London on Friday before coming back to Brussels on Monday for more talks with Barnier.
The pro-EU group Best for Britain has expressed alarm at Leadsom’s claim that the government could not take a no-deal Brexit off the table.
One of its supporters, Labour MP, Virendra Sharma MP said:
“This is beyond disgraceful. The country is on the brink of catastrophe, and the government continues to use all the dirtiest tricks in the book to scare us into backing their shoddy deal. But we won’t be intimidated.
“The humiliating defeat last night shows the government’s hands are tied. It’s clear the only route forward now is to bring the honest and proud people of this country back into the Brexit process. They deserve to be heard.”
The BBC’s Europe editor Katya Adler has a helpful Twitter thread on the possibility of EU concessions. She warns that none will emerge from Brussels unless and until consensus is reached in the UK Parliament.
It’s true the EU has a history of blinking in the last moment BUT only in its own interest. In the Greek debt crisis the bloc chose to keep Greece in the eurozone in order (leaders thought) to better protect the whole currency 2
— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 15, 2019
And don’t think the border issue goes away even if a #Brexit deal is struck. The EU will want to ensure the single market and peace process (the UK gov is also signed up to the latter) are protected on island on Ireland when it comes to a future EU-UK trade deal too 4
— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 15, 2019
Right now they see parliament in turmoil and believe there is no point offering ‘concessions’ until majority of MPs unite around a) a concrete proposal that b) is acceptable to the EU ie when the change requested is less harmful to the EU than the bloc facing a no deal Brexit 6
— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 15, 2019
Drafting legally binding backstop assurances, or backstop ‘clarifications’ or fixed reviewal times on the backstop .. all of this is less costly to the EU than no deal #Brexit 8
— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 15, 2019
It’s also why the EU thinks there’s a real chance of an ‘accidental no deal’ that both EU and the PM want to avoid but if it’s all last minute and neither side will bend as far as the other needs/wants/insists is necessary ... 10
— katya adler (@BBCkatyaadler) February 15, 2019
Ross Thomson, the Tory MP being investigated by his party over allegations of “sexual touching” in a House of Commons bar has said it would be “inappropriate” to comment at this stage, PA reports.
The MP for Aberdeen South, faced claims about his behaviour at the Strangers Bar at the House of Commons on 5 February. Police confirmed they spoke to three men but no formal allegations and no arrests were made.
On Twitter last week, Thomson said he had referred himself to the Conservative Party’s disciplinary panel “in the interests of openness and transparency”, describing the allegations as “completely false”.
Speaking to the BBC outside his constituency office in Aberdeen, Thomson said he would be willing to discuss what had happened in more detail following the conclusion of the investigation.
Thomson said: “Given that there is potentially a live process, as well as my own referral to our party’s internal investigation, it would be really inappropriate to comment at this time.
“I’d be more than happy to sit down with you at some point to talk to you exactly about what happened and what the last few weeks have actually been like but given that there could still be a really live process on right now, it would be inappropriate to comment given that I’ve had no confirmation from the commissioner’s office that a complaint has in fact been dismissed and that I also did refer myself to the party’s internal investigation so I’m still awaiting clarity on that, too.”
Thomson said he remains committed in his work as an MP and accepted his constituents deserved an explanation.
“Absolutely, which is why I’m more than happy to sit down with you, we will do that, I’m going to talk to people about exactly what did happen, what happened over the last few weeks and how it’s been,” Thomson said.
“I am committed to my constituents, which is why I’m in the office today working on the issues that are really important to them”.
Sarah Wollaston, chair of the health select committee, has repeated her threat to quit the Tory party over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.
Speaking to BBC2’s Politics Live she suggested she was on the brink of quitting the party, while ministers were considering resigning from the government. She said:
If it becomes main government policy to deliver no-deal I shall leave. I will sit as an independent, because of the extraordinary damage that would inflict. We are rapidly reaching that point and we have heard that there are many government ministers also considering their position, because they would not be prepared to knowingly and deliberately inflict the kind of pain that would be involved.
She also backed Richard Harrington’s suggestion that the ERG should join Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party.
She said:
I think they would be much more comfortable there. I think they have significantly shifted the Conservative party to the right. We heard repeatedly from the secretary of state that they were going to go ahead with no-deal, even though that was given as as an assurance from the despatch box the ERG still voted against her – enough abstained to mean she would lose the vote.
They are dictating policy at every level now. They have their own leadership, their own whip, they are a party within a party. It is time for the prime minister to see that these people are not going to back her.
There are very many of us who are very concerned about eh way that the party has significantly shifted to the right, and that is under direct influence of the ERG.
“They'd be much more comfortable there" Tory MP @sarahwollaston on ERG colleagues possibly joining Nigel Farage’s new #Brexit party
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) February 15, 2019
“If they were dictating policy, they'd be getting the deal they wanted” Telegraph’s @christopherhope #politicslive https://t.co/qfoOLJPBCS pic.twitter.com/mIlG3f9oDI
Ireland’s foreign minister said he cannot believe the British Government has let the issue of a no-deal Brexit get this far.
“I think it is extraordinary and unbelievable really that the British Parliament and British Government have let it come to this,” Coveney said.
“I do, however, believe that Theresa May is sincere and does want to protect the Good Friday Agreement.”
“Forty-two days out until Britain is due to leave, there is still divisions in a political party causing Ireland to spend hundreds of millions of euro to prepare for no deal.”
Coveney added that he would like further discussion between the Conservatives and Labour to be held on Brexit.
“The EU will try to accommodate the PM but will have to be reasonable. Labour in the UK are important in these discussions.
“Certainly it would be helpful to see serious dialogue between the two large parties in Westminster, and it needs to happen yesterday.
But Jeremy Corbyn is backing the school climate strike:
Climate change is the greatest threat that we all face but it is the school kids of today whose futures are most on the line.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) February 15, 2019
They are right to feel let down by the generation before them and it’s inspiring to see them making their voice heard today. #SchoolStrike4Climate
Other opposition politicians have also expressed their support.
Some say young people should only miss lessons for “exceptional circumstances”.
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) February 15, 2019
But if what David Attenborough has called risk of “the extinction of much of the natural world” isn’t an exceptional circumstance, then not sure what is?
Me for @HuffPostUK https://t.co/SFcPBlbOLu
Today I’ll proudly be supporting the amazing activism of students on the #ClimateStrike
— Layla Moran (@LaylaMoran) February 15, 2019
As a former teacher I know there’s nothing worse than kids missing class but I insist this is a teachable moment. 🌍 https://t.co/23zQT8cO9y
Inspiring to see so many young people protesting to demand action on climate change!
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) February 15, 2019
Solidarity to those at the #SchoolStrike4Climate today. pic.twitter.com/Moavp4JKLF
Away from Brexit, Downing Street has criticised school children taking part in today’s climate change strike.
It said that while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.
A No 10 spokeswoman said:
“Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future for all of us.
“But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers’ workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.
“That time is crucial for young people, precisely so that they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem.”
Summary
Here’s a Friday morning roundup:
-
Pro-Remain Tories have reacted angrily to Theresa May’s latest Brexit set back after abstentions from the ERG group led to a government defeat by 45 votes. Nick Boles, the Grantham MP, tweeted: “Maybe, just maybe, the penny will now drop with prime minister and her chief whip that the hardliners in the ERG want a no-deal Brexit and will stop at nothing to get it.”
- The ERG denied it was holding the UK to ransom. But its deputy chairman Steve Baker said the group could not be associated with “taking no deal off the table”.
- The government continued to send mixed-messages about whether a no-deal Brexit is part of its bargaining tactics. Foreign office minister, Alistair Burt, tweeted: “We are not leaving without a deal”. But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom insisted it remained on the table.
- European politicians have expressed more exasperation with the UK over Brexit. France’s Europe minister, Nathalie Loiseua, told the UK to “hurry up”. Greek foreign minister, George Katrougalos, said the vote was “part of the contradictory message that we are receiving as the 27 from the UK”.
- Hilary Benn, chair of the Brexit committee, said he would reintroduce an amendment on indicative votes for a possible solution to the Brexit impasse. He said: “If parliament can’t decide ... then I think you might end up having to go back to the British people.”
- Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, has warned that that more than 12 ministers could resign by the end of the month if May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period. He said that resignations on this scale could bring down the government.
- The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said it is possible that the UK will ask for an extension to Article 50 beyond the 29 March deadline for leaving the EU. He also suggested talking to Jeremy Corbyn over a drink on how the Labour leader could take a more constructive approach to Brexit.
Updated
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said it is possible that the UK will ask for an extension to Article 50 beyond the 29 March deadline for leaving the EU.
Reuters quotes him telling reporters: “I don’t think it’s inevitable, it’s certainly possible. If there is going to be an extension, it needs to be with a purpose, it needs to be with a view to securing and ratifying an agreement.”
“I don’t think anyone would like to see this stalemate or impasse or period of purgatory continue for months and months and months.”
He also repeated Ireland’s plea for UK’s MPs to back Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement. PA quoted him saying: “There is a deal on the table that reflects compromises on both sides.
“It’s not a perfect deal but a fair deal and guarantees no hard border on this island.
“I had hoped the UK would ratify the deal.”
But he would not be drawn on giving advice to Jeremy Corbyn.
He said he “has views” on whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be more constructive, but he said it would be better “if I did not intervene in British politics”.
“I’d be happy to talk about it with him over a drink or something.”
Irish premier Leo Varadkar says although he “has views” on whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be more constructive regarding Brexit, he thinks it better “if I did not intervene in British politics”.
— aoife-grace moore. (@aoifegracemoore) February 15, 2019
“I’d be happy to talk about it with him over a drink or something.” pic.twitter.com/fBUdlkKs06
He added: “No matter what happens in the next few weeks the common travel area will be unaffected.”
“The customs union has been the cornerstone of our economy for decades now.
“We cannot let anything develop that would dilute that in anyway.”
Varadkar also rejected Sinn Fein’s call for preparations for a new referendum on a united Ireland if there was a no-deal Brexit.
He said: “I know some people feel Brexit has changed the rules of engagement and perhaps it has, but now is not the time for border polls. It only serves to sew divisions.”
Varadkar said that a no-deal Brexit is now a real and possible outcome. “I explained to President Junker the assistance Ireland will require in the event of a no-deal Brexit, for his part he emphasised that the EU stands ready to assist.”
Leo Varadkar’s said people are in for “a nasty surprise” if they think Ireland will blink first in the #Brexit negotiations pic.twitter.com/ezyZBFda6x
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) February 15, 2019
Updated
Nigel Farage has welcomed Business Minister Richard Harrington’s suggestion that the ERG should join his new Brexit party.
He told PA: “Oh, it seems like a jolly good idea to me, but, I don’t think we have quite reached that point yet.”
Sounds like a good idea. https://t.co/bJagFEnL4p
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) February 14, 2019
Labour MP Caroline Flint, a former Europe minister who represents the Leave-backing constituency of Don Valley, said Labour MPs should be given a free vote on Brexit to avoid those backing a second referendum from deserting the party.
But speaking to HuffPost’s Commons People podcast she also conceded that some of her colleague appeared to determined to leave the party. She said: “The truth is, where are they going to stand? Because the likelihood is if they stand against Labour in our areas they will let a Tory in….I think some people are hellbent on going…They won’t win, but they’ll be responsible for ensuring Tory governments.”
She was also scathing about a tweaked proposal by by Yvette Cooper and Oliver Letwin to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
She said: “At its most worrying I think it is a Trojan horse [for a second referendum]”
By contrast former leadership contender Liz Kendall is backing the plan.
Cooper/Letwin proposal is about stopping the chaos & risk of leaving the EU with no deal. It would not lead to an indefinite extension of A50 bcos Govt wouldn’t propose it, MPs wouldn’t vote for it & EU wouldn’t agree to it! #NoToNoDeal https://t.co/14DSkBSIRZ
— Liz Kendall (@leicesterliz) February 15, 2019
ee it
Owen Jones meets the naked anti-Brexit protester Victoria Bateman.
Updated
Grieve: more than 12 ministers could resign if article 50 is not extended
Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve says there could be "up to half a dozen" resignations from the Cabinet in the coming weeks if Theresa May did not delay Brexit if there was no deal - and that could bring down the government. #r4Today pic.twitter.com/onYaN3XqtI
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 15, 2019
More than a dozen ministers, including six from the cabinet, could quit by the end of the month if Theresa May refuses to extend the Brexit negotiating period, according to the former attorney general Dominic Grieve.
The pro-Europe backbencher said that the next round of Brexit votes on 27 February would be a “high noon” moment when resignations on this scale might bring down the government.
In his an interview with Today, Grieve said the ERG “seem to be completely cavalier about the risks that the country might run if we leave with no deal”, something which he said the “overwhelming” majority of MPs were not prepared to accept.
He said he understood a number of ministers had already told May that if she was unable to secure a withdrawal agreement which could command the support of the Commons, she should extend the two-year Article 50 negotiating period.
If she refused, he said “a dozen or even more” ministers may resign, including “up to half a dozen” from the cabinet.
Asked whether this could bring down the government, Grieve said: “Yes it could, and this isn’t a desirable outcome.
“The irony of all this is that most of us in the Conservative Party are sufficiently united to want to try to operate a coherent Government. But the truth is we’re finding it harder and harder to do.
“It starts to bring into question whether in fact the Government is able to operate in the national interest at all.
Updated
Business minister Richard Harrington has repeatedly threatened to resign if a no-deal Brexit becomes official government policy. In an interview with Parliament’s magazine the House he says he is still considering quitting, but now seems more determined to stay if only to try to fight off the threat from the ERG.
He said:
“The question for me is not whether I stay in the job or not, it is whether, given that I feel passionately about the interests of business and industry – which is what it says on my business card – where can I make the most influence?”
“I would much rather act collectively with other like-minded ministers, not to force the government to do something that it doesn’t want to do, but to show the leadership that the views they receive from the ERG are a minority view and they’re not the majority of the Conservative party, let alone of parliament.”
“If we all resigned, what would then happen? If I were in the ERG, it would give me a lot of pleasure to see us resign. But we can’t give in to a minority of a minority, which is what the ERG is.
“The prime minister has done a pretty good job of standing up to the ERG until now, but they were drinking champagne to celebrate her losing her deal and I regard that as being treachery.
“I read that Nigel Farage is setting up a new party called Brexit and if I were them I’d be looking at that, because that seems to reflect their views more than the Conservative party. In my view, they’re not Conservatives.
“There are people who are very solid and stringent in their views and if I were them I would be looking at a party that seems designed for them – Nigel Farage’s party.”
Labour MP Hilary Benn, chair of the Brexit committee, appears to warming to the idea of a second referendum.
“If parliament can’t decide ... then I think you might end up having to go back to the British people,” he told the Today programme.
Benn said he would retable an amendment on indicative votes for a way out of the Brexit impasse,that would include another referendum.
He said: “I will bring back in a couple of weeks time my amendment on indicative votes to see ‘OK we know what we don’t like, we are not having no-deal, we are not having the prime minister’s deal, here’s a range of alternative options’.”
On Thursday, Clive Lewis, a shadow Treasury minister, warned that backing a Tory Brexit could wipe out Labour.
Asked about those comments, Benn said: “In the end I think we have to compromise. And I’ve argued for membership of the EEA and a customs union. But if that is not possible, then in the end the only way in which the last decision could be changed is if the British people are asked to decide whether they like the deal that the prime minister has negotiated or they want to remain.”
On what parliament would do if MPs could not agree on a deal, Benn said: “The first thing we have to do is protect the national interest by preventing us leaving on the 29 March without a deal. So you would have to apply for an extension. I think the European Union would give us an extension.”
Here some reaction to Leadsom’s interview and the government’s mixed messages on a no-deal Brexit.
Andrea Leadsom on #r4today for the second time this week. Today arguing No Deal is preferable to an extension because people want "certainty". The only certainty No Deal offers is economic collapse, a hard border in Ireland, reduced security capabilities and global isolation.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 15, 2019
Andrea Leadsom insists government must keep No Deal on the table. Majority of Commons rejected that by supporting Dromey/Spelman amendment. If government persist in ignoring will of Commons, Commons will have to legislate to impose legal compulsion on govt to comply.
— Charlie Falconer (@LordCFalconer) February 15, 2019
Very clear messaging coming from the government this morning as ever.
— Ashley Cowburn (@ashcowburn) February 15, 2019
Is no deal still on the table? Andrea Leadsom: "Absolutely... of course".
Foreign Office minister hours earlier:https://t.co/iqWGTcDrTf
It’s incredible that some Tory #Brexiteers still advocate a
— Richard Corbett (@RCorbettMEP) February 15, 2019
“no-deal #Brexit”
Even as a negotiating tactic, it’s like saying “Give me what I want or I’ll shoot myself in the head”.
A reminder of what it would mean:
.https://t.co/njGG72SAd5
Updated
Leadsom: no-deal Brexit is still on the table
In that Today interview Leadsom insisted that the government was determined to use the threat of a no-deal Brexit as the main threat in its negotiating strategy
Asked whether the government wanted to keep no deal on the table, she said: “Of course we are. Essentially that is what will happen if we don’t vote for a deal.”
She added: “The government does not want no-deal. It is there because that is the legal default position. And any competent government must prepare for all eventualities.”
Earlier in the programme the former attorney general Dominic Grieve, warned that as many as six cabinet ministers could resign if the government failed to extend article 50. Leadsom said: “Resignations from government do happen. People have very strong heartfelt views about Brexit.”
She added: “What the government is seeking to do is to sort out the arrangements on the backstop so that parliament can vote for the deal. That is the government’s sole focus.”
She also defended the PM’s absence from the Commons when the result of the vote was read out. “The prime minister just this week spent two hour and 18 minutes answering questions in the chamber. Since October she spent 39 hours in the chamber answering questions. She has shown such commitment to making herself available to the House.”
She added: “The vote yesterday didn’t change anything. The government’s position remains to resolve the issues of the backstop and then come back to parliament with a fresh meaningful vote. It is essential that we crack on with that work.”
On the ERG’s failure to back the government, Leadsom said “they were concerned that in supporting the motion it might indicate that they supported taking no-deal off the table.”
She added: “It wasn’t to say that they no longer support the prime minister’s attempts to get the backstop renegotiated, which is the very clear vote that we had a couple of weeks ago. So the prime minister carries on. She will continue to seek those legally binding changes to the backstop that will enable parliament to support her deal. Yesterday was more of a hiccup than the disaster that is being reported.”
She also urged the EU to compromise on the backstop:
If the EU were to bring on the one thing that they have said they are determined to avoid, that is the risk of the UK leaving the EU without a deal at the end of March and thereby having to have some kind of hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. So it simply would not make sense to precipitate such a conundrum when the option of a negotiated arrangement, where the UK could put in place alternative arrangements for the backstop, would be far preferable from everybody’s point of view including from the perspective of the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
But Leadsom conceded that the vote could harm negotiations with Brussels:
The one problem with last night’s vote is that it allows the EU to continue with this pretence that they don’t know what we want. They do know what we want. It was quite clear from the vote two weeks ago that what parliament wants to see is the issues around the backstop resolved in a legally binding way. What last night’s vote was quite clearly about was the Labour party playing politics, because they decided to vote against what was a very unharmful motion, merely setting out the prime minister needs more time to deal that the issues with the House raised two weeks ago.
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Greek foreign minister George Katrougalos told Today that Thursday’s Commons vote was “part of the contradictory message that we are receiving as the 27 from the UK”.
Katrougalos said: “It complicates even further the situation. It’s very, very difficult to be optimistic about Brexit under these circumstances.
“It is not foreseeable (that there will be) any kind of reopening of negotiations, because it took us two and a half years to reach the agreement we have now.
“I cannot exclude a miracle. Miracles happen, but I cannot see what kind of miracle it is that could save the day.”
Katrougalos said that the backstop was “an essential part” of the UK’s withdrawal agreement. While a customs union arrangement could remove the need for a backstop, this had been rejected by the UK government, he said.
“That was the problem of the negotiations, that the UK position was at the beginning not clear. It kept changing, it was very volatile,” he said.
“At the end it does not work in favour of your positions. At the end what resulted was an agreement which was the only agreement possible under the circumstances, and it was mainly due to the problems you had in the UK to have a coherent negotiating position.”
Leadsom also stresses that leaving the EU with no deal is the “legal default position” if MPs fail to back the withdraw agreement.
Leadsom: 'Vote was hiccup not disaster'
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom has been sent on to the Today programme to try to calm Tory nerves.
The vote was “more of a hiccup than the disaster that is being reported”.
She also accused Labour of playing politics by voting against the government.
More mixed messages on whether the government would allow the UK to crash out of the EU without a deal on 29 March. In the Commons on Thursday, the Brexit secretary Steve Barclay spread alarm among some Tory backbenchers by confirming this was the default option if MPs failed to back the withdrawal agreement.
But overnight government minister Alistair Burt insisted that there would not be a no-deal Brexit.
Responding to a claim from eurosceptic former Brexit secretary David Davis that the government was ready to take the UK out of the EU without an agreement, Burt said: “No. We won’t. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you’d better agree one. In the next fortnight would help.”
No. We won’t. We are not leaving without a deal. If you want to leave, you’d better agree one. In the next fortnight would help. https://t.co/c10w17TPCd
— Alistair Burt (@AlistairBurtUK) February 15, 2019
Burt added: “There is a majority in the House to reject no deal. Let’s Leave, with the Agreement, and the chance of a new relationship with the EU. Honours both Leavers and those who voted to Remain. Let’s all make the compromise.”
There is a majority in the House to reject no deal. Let’s Leave, with the Agreement, and the chance of a new relationship with the EU. Honours both Leavers and those who voted to Remain. Let’s all make the compromise. https://t.co/9CMPmMMddU
— Alistair Burt (@AlistairBurtUK) February 15, 2019
Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Brexit-backing Tory MPs, Steve Baker, has downplayed the significance of Thursday’s vote, PA reports.
Speaking to the Today programme, he said: “This whole mess is a storm in a teacup. What we needed to achieve here was to send a signal that we are not going to be associated with taking no-deal off the table.”
He rejected suggestions that the ERG had undermined May’s efforts to secure concessions from the EU by raising doubts in Brussels over whether she can deliver a Commons majority for a deal.
“We cannot get ourselves into a position where we are associated with rejecting the UK leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement,” he said. “It’s a catastrophic and foolish negotiating error and we cannot be associated with it.”
Baker said ERG members objected to May “reinterpreting” last month’s vote to replace the withdrawal agreement’s backstop with alternative arrangements for keeping the Irish border open.
He said: “We put an enormous amount of effort into uniting the party around the Malthouse Compromise, and then within a couple of days the prime minister was reinterpreting our vote.
“I’m afraid people didn’t want to be treated like that twice.”
Baker said: “I really do rather object to being called ‘hardline’ when what we are doing is trying to deliver an exit with a deal which works for everybody, with a transition period. We are making enormous compromises to work across the party.”
Baker said that a deal which left the UK in a customs union with the EU would amount to “repudiating” the result of the 2016 referendum.
On the issue of whether a majority of MPs oppose no-deal, he told Today: “Parliamentarians need to wake up to the reality of what they legislated for. Are they really saying to us now that they didn’t understand Article 50 when they voted for the notification of withdrawal?”
Baker added: “Were this deal to pass through Parliament with this backstop on Labour votes, the Government would subsequently collapse because the DUP would not be able to maintain confidence and supply.
“I’m absolutely convinced our position is eminently reasonable and right.”
Thursday’s vote has provoked more exasperation in Europe. Reuters has the latest example:
Britain should decide what to do regarding its exit from the European Union as soon as possible, according to the French European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau.
Speaking to RTL Radio she said:
“I am telling our British friends that it is about time to decide whether to leave on friendly terms or abruptly
“It is a purely British choice. What we are saying is : hurry up!”
Welcome to a rarish Friday version of Politics Live after the government’s latest Commons defeat on Brexit. We will have all the fallout from the vote, amid talk of defections from both main parties, and look for signals on what happens next.
Andrew Sparrow is taking a well-earned rest after another marathon Brexit blog on Thursday.
But here are his six things we’ve learned from May’s latest defeat.
1 May will find it much harder now to argue that she has got a Commons majority behind her Brexit strategy
2 The debate showed that MPs were only able to unite behind Brady because they could not agree what it meant
3 EU leaders, who were reluctant to offer much to the UK in backstop concessions, not knowing what would get through parliament, will now surely feel still less inclined to engage
4 New government evidence about how damaging a no-deal Brexit might be will have to be published soon
5 May’s defeat raises questions about the competence of the government’s management of parliamentary business
6 The votes suggest that the debate on Wednesday 27 February may end up being a decisive moment for Brexit
A number of senior Tory, including government ministers, have expressed fury at the European Research Group for failing to back the government.
The defence minister, Tobias Ellwood, described their actions as “provocative”, accusing them of operating as a “party within a party”.
And the business minister, Richard Harrington, accused the ERG of “treachery” and called on them to join former Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s new Brext party.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, head of the ERG, defended the group’s decision to abstain on the vote. Speaking on BBC’s Question Time he said:
“It’s untrue to say that the ERG is holding people to ransom.
“We’re sticking up for what people voted for. Fundamentally I believe you trust the people and deliver on referendum results.”
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