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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow (earlier) and Latifa Yedroudj (later)

May 'could announce departure date on Friday' – as it happened

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom leaves the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom leaves the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Late night summary

  • Andrea Leadsom, former leader of the House of Commons, resigned from government today. In a letter to Theresa May, she said “I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the referendum result”. Outlining four main reasons for her decision to quit, Leadsom added how she no longer “believes that we will be a truly sovereign United Kingdom through the deal that is now proposed.” Leadsom later told reporters saying she disagreed with the Withdrawal Agreement Bill’s new elements.
  • Theresa May responded with a letter. May said she was “sorry” to lose someone of her “passion, drive and sincerity”, but disagreed with her comments about the Governments Brexit approach. May wrote: “I do not agree with you that the deal which we have negotiated with the European Union means that the United Kingdom will not become a sovereign country.”
  • A source in the 1992 Committee of Conservative backbenchers said the executive had voted tonight on whether to allow a new confidence vote that could oust Theresa May from premiership. The votes are now sealed in an envelope, and would only be opened if May fails to resign by 10 June.
  • There was speculation that May could announce her resignation as early as this Friday 24 May when she will meet Sir Graham Brady, chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, BBC reports.
  • Meanwhile, violent clashes broke out following a Tommy Robinson protest in Salford this evening. They were seen throwing bricks and eggs at anti-racist campaigners and police officers at the scene. Two arrests were made.

And that’s it for the night, thanks.

Updated

Further developments in Josh Halliday’s story reported earlier tonight about the Tommy Robinson protest in Salford.

Police have confirmed they made two arrests following the trouble at a Tommy Robinson rally in Salford earlier.

Greater Manchester Police said: “Police arrested two people during a disturbance following a planned event in Lower Broughton, Salford.

“Two people were arrested on suspicion of assault and public order offences. Enquiries are ongoing.”

May could announce departure on Friday, reports claim

There is now widespread speculation Theresa May could announce her date of departure as early as Friday when she is due to meet Sir Graham Brady, chair of the backbench 1922 Committee.

The BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg tweets:

Updated

Andrea Leadsom arriving home after her resignation.
Andrea Leadsom arriving home after her resignation. Photograph: Peter Summers/Getty Images

Speaking to reporters after her resignation, Leadsom said she could not support the Withdrawal Agreement Bill’s new elements.

She said: “I have been supporting Brexit totally for the last three years and I just couldn’t as Leader of the Commons, with responsibility for legislation, stand up at Business Questions tomorrow and announce a Bill that I just think has elements I cannot support that aren’t Brexit.”

Leadsom added: “I have been determined to deliver Brexit and I am just worried that this Bill with its new elements in it would not do that. It’s been a really tough day.”

Updated

My colleague Heather Stewart tells me that a source in the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers said the executive had agreed in principle on a rule change that could allow May to be toppled: but had then placed the decision in a sealed envelope.

The source said it would not be opened, unless May fails to signal her intention to step aside as Tory leader by 10 June - though she would be expected to remain as prime minister while a leadership contest was held.

Here is the letter in full:

Page 1 of Theresa May’s letter.
Page 1 of Theresa May’s letter. Photograph: Downing Street/PA
Page 2 of Theresa May’s letter.
Page 2 of Theresa May’s letter. Photograph: Downing Street/PA

May responds to Leadsom's resignation

May said she was “sorry” to receive Leadsom’s resignation letter, writing in reply that she was “grateful for the support you have given over the last three years” in working to deliver Brexit.

Thanking Leadsom for her work, May said she disagreed with the assessment Leadsom gave about the government’s approach now.

May wrote: “I do not agree with you that the deal which we have negotiated with the European Union means that the United Kingdom will not become a sovereign country.

“If the deal is passed, the UK will leave the European Union. We will leave its Common Agricultural Policy and its Common Fisheries Policy.

“We will end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and make our own laws in Westminster and our devolved parliaments.

“We will stop sending vast annual sums of taxpayers’ money to the EU, and spend it on our priorities instead – such as our National Health Service and our children’s schools.”

Mrs May said she agreed that a second referendum would be divisive, but said the Government was not proposing to hold one.

She wrote: “I continue to believe that the arguments against a second referendum are strong and compelling, and will continue to oppose one.”

The PM said she also did not recognise what Mrs Leadsom said about decision-making in Government.

“Indeed, through your own work chairing the Parliamentary Business and Legislation committee of Cabinet, you have been an important part of ensuring that Brexit-related legislative proposals are properly scrutinised, and the whole Cabinet have listened to the assessments you have given at Cabinet meetings,” Mrs May said.

“I have valued the frank and productive discussions we have had over the last three years.

“As you say, there are important elections tomorrow, and many Conservatives are working in a challenging environment to support our excellent candidates.

“I am sorry to lose someone of your passion, drive and sincerity from HM Government in this way.”

Updated

Protestors threw eggs at police and were heard shouting “Scum! Scum!” after Tommy Robinson rally in Salford

Updated

Violent clashes after Tommy Robinson rally in Salford

Meanwhile, my colleague Josh Halliday has this report from a Tommy Robinson rally in Salford that has descended into violence.

Police have made arrests after anti-racism campaigners were pelted with bricks and eggs following a Tommy Robinson campaign rally in Salford.

Three anti-racism activists suffered bruising and cuts after they were hit by rocks.

Trouble flared when objects were thrown at a group of about 50 counter-protesters who were being escorted away from the event by police.

The Guardian saw a boy and a man being arrested as about 30 police officers struggled to contain the disorder.

Nahella Ashraf, the chair of Stand Up to Racism in Manchester, said bricks were thrown at their campaigners by youngsters as they were being led away.

Eggs and sticks were also thrown at police officers.

The trouble flared shortly after Robinson’s final campaign rally ahead of the European parliamentary elections on Thursday.

The anti-racism activists were briefly held in a car park by police before they were escorted away down a housing estate in Lower Broughton, when they were pelted with objects.

Nahella Ashraf, chair of Stand Up to Racism in Manchester, said: “As activists left the SUTR rally we were attacked by a large group of Tommy Robinson supporters throwing, eggs, bricks and bottles.”

She said she saw some of the supporters make the nazi Sieg Heil salute.

Ashraf added: “Tommy Robinson is a fascist and has no place in mainstream politics.

“We urge everyone to use their vote to ensure he does not get elected as an MEP.”

Updated

May did not tell her team about Leadsom’s resignation according to a Downing Street source, the BBC is reporting.

Updated

Fellow Conservative Party MPs have described Andrea Leadsom’s decision to leave the Government due to its Brexit approach as “absolutely the right thing to do”, while a Labour MP wished her well.

Scottish Tory Ross Thomson tweeted:

Another Conservative MP, Chris Heaton-Harris, tweeted:

Labour MP Jess Phillips said she liked Leadsom and commended her work in helping to introduce proxy voting for MPs.

Phillips tweeted:

In a statement posted to his party’s website, Labour chairman Ian Lavery said the resignation of Leadsom shows “the prime minister’s authority is shot and her time is up”.

“While the Tories are ripping themselves apart, our country is in crisis. The Government has made a catastrophic mess of the Brexit negotiations, our steel industry is under threat and universal credit is pushing people into poverty.

“For the sake of the country, Theresa May needs to go, and we need an immediate general election.”

Conservative MP Craig Tracey appeared to mock the situation and tweeted:

Updated

No 10 has responded. A Downing Street spokesman said: “Andrea Leadsom has served with distinction and great ability as a member of the government, and the prime minister is grateful for all of her work. We are disappointed that she has chosen to resign, and the prime minister remains focused on delivering the Brexit people voted for.”

Updated

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson criticised Andrea Leadsom’s decision to step down on the eve of the European elections, calling it a “slap in the face” for her colleagues.

He tweeted: “I accept that she may want to go but to do it the night before an election looks odd.

“It’s also a slap in the face to Tory party members who are working hard to get their candidates elected tomorrow.”

Commentators are pointing out the irony that it may be a resignation by Andrea Leadsom, who stood aside to let Theresa May take the Tory leadership in summer 2016, which may eventually lead to the prime minister’s downfall.

Leadsom’s is the 36th ministerial resignation under May’s watch.

Leadsom, a former Tory leadership candidate in 2016, outlined four reasons for her decision in her letter.

She said: “1. I do not believe that we will be a truly sovereign United Kingdom through the deal that is now proposed;

“2. I have always maintained that a second referendum would be dangerously divisive, and I do not support the government willingly facilitating such a concession. It would also risk undermining our union which is something I passionately want to see strengthened;

“3. There has been such a breakdown of government processes that recent Brexit-related legislative proposals have not been properly scrutinised or approved by cabinet members;

“4. The tolerance to those in cabinet who have advocated policies contrary to the government’s position has led to a complete breakdown of collective responsibility.”

Explaining the timing of her decision to resign on the eve of polling day in the European elections, Leadsom said: “I considered carefully the timing of this decision, but I cannot fulfil my duty as leader of the house tomorrow, to announce a bill with new elements that I fundamentally oppose.

“I fully respect the integrity, resolution and determination that you have shown during your time as prime minister.

“No one has wanted you to succeed more than I have, but I do now urge you to make the right decisions in the interests of the country, this government and our party.”

Updated

Andrea Leadsom resigns from the government

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom has resigned, saying in a letter to Theresa May “I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the referendum result”.

Updated

Early evening summary

  • Theresa May has seen off an attempt by some Tory MPs to get her to announce a timetable for her departure tonight. Her decision yesterday to announce that her EU withdrawal agreement bill (Wab) will include giving MPs votes on a second referendum and on a temporary customs union has infuriated many Conservatives – including many in her cabinet, and MPs who have not previously demanded her resignation – and this afternoon the atmosphere at Westminster was febrile, with rumours that she could announce her resignation tonight. But Julian Smith, the chief whip, told the executive of the 1922 Committee that May was not going to quit this evening.
  • Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, has arranged to meet May on Friday, where it is thought he will tell May how little support she has in the party and how MPs are pushing for the leadership contest to start now.
  • May is under intense pressure from MPs in her party to cancel the vote on the Wab, scheduled for Friday 7 June. Cabinet ministers are among those who want the vote to be abandoned, and some of them – including Sajid Javid, David Mundell and Jeremy Hunt – have been asking to meet her to express their concerns. May has been resisting. The two issues – May’s resignation and the fate of the Wab – are linked because May has previously agreed to arrange a timetable for her departure after the second reading of the Wab. If the government were to abandon the Wab, she would have no reason not to announce her resignation now.
  • Some Conservatives have been urging the 1922 Committee to change the rules that currently prevent a fresh no confidence vote in May before December – 12 months after the last one. May’s critics would like to be able to hold a new vote now. It has been reported that there is now a majority on the executive of the 1922 Committee in favour of changing the rules.
  • Downing Street has rejected claims that the government has abandoned its plan to publish the Wab on Friday. But publication will depend on whether or not, by Friday, May still plans to press ahead with holding a vote on the Wab on Friday 7 June or whether by then she has been persuaded to drop it.
  • May now looks likely to announce her resignation as some point in the fortnight between Friday 24 May and Friday 7 June. It could come this Friday, following her meeting with Brady (perhaps in response to a threat by Brady to schedule a no confidence vote if she does not). Or it could come very soon after the Wab second reading vote, which the government is widely expected to lose. Announcing her resignation would not involve May leaving No 10 immediately; it is expected she would stay in office until a new leader were elected. But if the contest were to start now, it would be easier for the party to install a new leader before the summer recess – an important consideration for MPs, who want the new leader to have as much time as possible to address Brexit before the end of October, when the UK is due to leave the EU.

That’s all from me.

If there are further updates, a colleague will be taking over.

Updated

After the 1922 Committee meeting the Tory Brexiter Steve Baker said:

The prime minister will be campaigning for the European elections and on Friday she will meet Sir Graham. Obviously they will discuss matters of interest.

It’s very much going to depend on the result of the elections and I’m sure [the media] will be able to give us a flavour.

People are rather impatient, but equally most colleagues do appreciate this is a very difficult time for everyone.

Baker is wrong about the media being able to give people a “flavour” of the election results on Friday. The votes are not counted until Sunday, and there won’t be an exit poll either.

Updated

This is from the Times’ Henry Zeffman.

My colleague Heather Stewart says No 10 are saying the withdrawal agreement bill will be published on Friday – despite claims to the contrary.

Updated

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

The full meeting of the 1922 Committee was over very quickly. These are from the BBC’s Norman Smith.

The withdrawal agreement bill won’t now be published on Friday, the BBC is reporting.

Theresa May is “is not going anywhere until after the European parliamentary elections”, a No 10 source says.

Updated

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, is going to meet Theresa May on Friday, MPs have been told.

Brady met her last week, when the two agreed that they would meet after the second reading of the EU withdrawal agreement bill to agree a timetable for the Tory leadership contest. What they did not agree is what would happen if that second reading debate was cancelled.

The crisis is still fluid, but here is a summary of what we know so far.

  • Theresa May’s decision yesterday to announce that her EU withdrawal agreement bill (Wab) will include giving MPs votes on a second referendum and on a temporary customs union has infuriated many Conservatives – including those who voted for her agreement in the last debate, at the end of March.
  • May is now under intense pressure from MPs in her party to cancel the vote on the bill, scheduled for Friday 7 June. Cabinet ministers are among those who want the vote to be abandoned, and some of them – including Sajid Javid, David Mundell and Jeremy Hunt – have been asking to meet her to express their concerns.
  • May is also facing escalating pressure from MPs in her party to announce her resignation now.
  • The two issues are linked because May has previously agreed to arrange a timetable for her departure after the second reading of the Wab. If the government were to abandon the Wab, she would have no reason not to announce her resignation now. Announcing her resignation would not involve her leaving No 10 immediately; it is expected she would stay in office until a new leader were elected. But if the contest were to start now, it would be easier for the party to install a new leader before the summer recess.
  • May has reportedly been refusing to meet cabinet ministers this afternoon to discuss their concerns about the Wab, and Julian Smith, the chief whip, told the executive of the 1922 Committee in a very short meeting that she would not be announcing her resignation tonight.
  • The executive of the 1922 Committee has been meeting just now to decide whether to change party rules to allow an immediate no confidence vote in May. Under current rules this must wait until December – 12 months after the last vote. Recently the executive voted 9-7 against changing the rules, but is thought there is now a majority in favour of rewriting them.
  • Tory backbenchers have just now gone into a meeting of the main 1922 Committee to hear what the executive is recommending.

Updated

From ITV’s Paul Brand

From Sky’s Kate McCann

More on May’s future and the 1922 Committee.

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

From the BBC’s Norman Smith

From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh

And Theresa May is not the only party leader today pulling up the metaphorical drawbridge to keep out her enemies. According to this Sun story, which must win the award for headline of the day, Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has been “trapped on [his] Brexit bus due to people armed with milkshakes”.

Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage Photograph: Mark Thomas/REX/Shutterstock

This is from ITV’s Paul Brand.

Julian Smith, the chief whip, left his meeting with the 1922 Committee’s executive after just two minutes or so.

This is from Sky’s Kate McCann.

Sky’s Jon Craig says a majority of members of the 1922 Committee’s executive now favour changing the rules to allow a no confidence vote in May. Under the current rules another vote is not allowed until December – 12 months after the last one.

Recently the executive discussed changing the rules but voted 9-7 against a change.

Updated

Julian Smith arrives to meeting 1922 Committee executive

Julian Smith, the chief whip, has arrived to meet the executive of the 1922 Committee. These are from the BBC’s Ross Hawkins.

Julian Smith
Julian Smith Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The Conservatives are not the only party with a leadership crisis tonight, it seems. This is from Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman.

These are from ITV’s Robert Peston.

The Conservative 1922 Committee, which all Tory backbenchers can attend, began a meeting earlier. That meeting has now been adjourned until 6pm to allow the executive of the committee to meet Julian Smith, the chief whip.

As the meeting broke up, it emerged that members were told that the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill is scheduled for Friday 7 June. ERG deputy chair Mark Francois told journalists: “I bet £50 for Help for Heroes that the second reading of the Wab will never ever happen.”

From the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford

From my colleague Heather Stewart

In Scotland FMQs has been moved from its usual Thursday midday slot to Wednesday afternoon to accommodate EU election day purdah and perhaps something about the skewiff time affected the participants, because the exchanges between Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson this week were blistering.

Davidson, the Conservative leader, immediately went in on the attack, accusing Sturgeon of demanding a re-run of “not one but two” referendum results, while Sturgeon mocked Theresa May’s “change of heart on second referendums”, referring to her offer of a vote on a second EU poll yesterday.

Davidson said that Sturgeon’s intention was to “demand more referendums until people are brow beaten into giving her the result she wants”. Sturgeon retaliated by describing Davidson’s “grovelling loyalty” to May and how “heartbreaking” it must be that the prime minister had yesterday “torpedoed her pitch on the EU elections” - Scottish Tory EU election leaflets have prominently proclaimed “no more referendums”, then May came out with the exact opposite yesterday.

Then things got dirty. Sturgeon accused Davidson of lacking principle on Brexit, adding that she was even “cosying up to Boris Johnson” after being previously – and very publicly – hostile to him. (It’s true that the Scottish Tories have pulled back from a wholesale ‘stop Boris’ position, not least because they can see an even worse prospect on the horizon, name of Dominic Raab).

To this, Davidson shot back with a sharpness that seemed to take both women by surprise:

I’ve never had any trouble standing up to the alpha males in my party. I wonder if she can say the same.

This very pointed reference to Alex Salmond and his forthcoming trial for sexual offences, which has been off-limits in the chamber for obvious legal reasons, drew some sharp intakes of breath.

Updated

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

It is definitely the chief whip meeting the executive of the 1922 Committee at 5.30pm, not the PM.

Here is more on that meeting.

This is from PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield.

Tim Loughton, a Brexiter but not one with a record of agitating against Theresa May, has submitted a letter to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, saying Theresa May needs to go now.

He posted this on Twitter earlier.

And he told BBC News a few minutes ago that this is the first time in his 22-year career as an MP that he has called for a no confidence vote in the leader.

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

The Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat says Theresa May has now “run out of road” and that it’s time for a change. This is from ITV’s Phil Hornby.

Stephen Crabb, the former work and pensions secretary who is a mainstream Conservative and who has voted for Theresa May’s Brexit deal on all three occasions, is saying Theresa May should resign as soon as possible, the BBC is reporting.

From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges

“No plans ... at this stage” normally means something is in the pipeline.

Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, has hinted the Liberal Democrat’s executive will begin work on finding his successor as early as next week after confirming he planned to resign soon after the European election.

Cable was in Edinburgh on Wednesday for the final campaign push before tomorrow’s European election, with his party in an intense three-way battle between the Tories, the Lib Dems and the Scottish Greens for the sixth and final Scottish regional seat.

Asked by the Guardian whether he had agreed with the party a firm date for his resignation and a timetable for selecting his successor, he said:

I have made a final decision that we will get a new leader in the summer ... I wanted to get through tomorrow [first].

Pressed on whether there were clear dates in mind, such as the end of this parliamentary session or the end of the summer recess, he said:

Yes, there will be a new leader before the end of the summer recess. That’s what we’re planning to achieve: orderly succession, good candidates. The party will accept a timetable. I’m just focusing on the next 48 hours then we’ll talk to the party about how to organise the timetable.

Senior Scottish Lib Dems believe Jo Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, will immediately throw her hat in the ring and is likely to up against Ed Davey, the MP for Kingston and Surbiton. The new leader will then have the task of working out whether to agree to a coalition or a looser working agreement with Change UK, its faltering rival for centre ground votes.

Updated

Julian Smith, the chief whip, has come out of Number 10, Sky’s Aubrey Allegretti reports.

At the afternoon Downing Street lobby briefing Theresa May’s spokesman insisted ministers had signed up to her proposals over a second referendum at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He said:

There was discussion at cabinet on these matters. The PM summed up in the usual way. She set out she would be giving a speech later on. The speech reflects the position that was agreed yesterday.

Asked to confirm that ministers specifically approved the idea of holding a vote on a second referendum, the spokesman said:

I’m not going to get into that level of detail on cabinet discussion. But there was a discussion at cabinet. The speech represented the agreed way forward.

The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner has a good summary of where we are.

From the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves

From HuffPost’s Arj Singh

This is from Sky’s Jon Craig.

I pass this on as evidence of what is coming out of the Westminster rumour mill. It is also important to remember that the rumour mill is not always reliable.

Sajid Javid, the home secretary, has joined what seems to be the nascent cabinet revolt against Theresa May, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg reports.

My colleague Peter Walker has just posted these from the afternoon Downing Street lobby briefing.

Updated

From BrexitCentral’s Jonathan Isaby

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

Updated

The executive of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee is meeting now.

This is from the BBC’s Jessica Parker.

From the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar

The Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn has an explanation for why Brexiter cabinet ministers are angry with what was in Theresa May’s speech yesterday.

There is an important distinction.

Agreeing to hold a vote on a second referendum is a very limited concession. In fact, given that the opposition could table a second referendum amendment anyway that would probably be put to a vote, you can argue that as an offer it is almost meaningless.

But in her speech yesterday May said, if MPs voted for a second referendum, the government would implement the legislation necessary for it to happen. That is a much firmer commitment, because a single vote on an amendment to legislation would probably on its own not be enough to make a referendum happen. Normally you would need a referendum bill, which would only become law if a government allowed time for it to be passed.

David Campbell Bannerman, a Conservative MEP, posted this on Twitter this morning, saying the Tory leadership contest rules should be changed to allow a vote of no confidence in Theresa May now.

These are from ITV’s Robert Peston.

Sir Vince Cable has insisted Liberal Democrat MEPs will make the climate emergency a top priority after his lead candidate in Scotland rejected Green calls to phase-out North Sea oil.

The Lib Dems and Scottish Greens are battling for the last remain votes of the contest as they vie to take the sixth Scottish region European seat from the Tories, whose support has plunged in the wake of the Brexit party’s late surge in Scotland.

Both the Lib Dems and Greens are fighting to attract Labour voters who are abandoning Labour over Jeremy Corbyn’s pro-Brexit stance. That came to a head earlier this week in an STV elections hustings in a clash between Sheila Ritchie, an Aberdeen-based solicitor who is the Lib Dems’ lead candidate, and Maggie Chapman, the lead Green candidate.

Ritchie said the Scottish Greens’ stance on closing down North Sea oil fields “tomorrow” would lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the north east of Scotland. “What would you have them do? They can’t all work in sustainable forestry,” Ritchie asked Chapman.

Speaking in a final campaign event in central Edinburgh today, Chapman said Labour and floating remain voters were backing the Greens because of its unequivocal stance on the climate crisis. She said voters brought the climate crisis up on the doorstep:

The Greens in Scotland and across the continent are the only parties with a real plan to tackle climate change; we know that climate breakdown is the greatest threat that we face at the moment and we absolutely need a coherent and concerted effort to tackle the climate crisis, and our green new deal is that plan.

There is no point in stopping Brexit for stopping Brexit’s sake, it has to be for something … It’s stopping Brexit and then what? We’re interested in the ‘and then what?’

Speaking to reporters close by about an hour later, Cable insisted his party supported that agenda and Ritchie would be expected to back the party’s position that the climate emergency was real and needed action. He said:

As far as Sheila Ritchie’s concern with North Sea oil, we’ve to decarbonise the economy. But as we decarbonise it, there will be a continuing need for oil and gas and it’s better it comes from Scottish oil fields than the Middle East.

We need to phase out the use of oil and gas. The Lib Dems are fully signed up to the idea of recognising the climate emergency. I want that to be the top priority of our MEPs when they get elected, including Sheila, but in the meantime, until oil and gas disappears, Scotland is an important supplier.

Vince Cable (front, right) and Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, with activists in Edinburgh.
Vince Cable (front, right) and Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, with activists in Edinburgh. Photograph: Pako Mera/REX/Shutterstock

Theresa May's Brexit statement - Summary

That turned out to be a shorter and rather less intense parliamentary occasion than we were expecting, but that was primarily because the really important political discussions at Westminster are taking place outside the chamber this afternoon - and they don’t seem to involve Theresa May. In the past Conservative MPs would have sat through the whole thing, but today they had better things to do - towards the end, the government benches were almost empty (see 2.11pm) - and May did not even have the usual phalanx of senior cabinet support on the front bench. Power seems to be ebbing away from her rapidly.

Here are the main points.

  • Theresa May has failed to quell the backlash against her so-called “New Brexit Deal”. She spent about an hour and a half in the Commons defending the plan she outlined in her speech yesterday, but the reception she received was mostly negative, with even some of her supporters urging her to consider postponing the vote. (Eg, Nicky Morgan at 1.33pm.) There was no evidence in anything said by MPs to suggest that she can reverse the growing opposition to her bill amongst Conservatives. What was equally telling was that many Tories stayed away, or left earlier. It felt as if she is no longer seen as even particularly relevant.
  • May insisted that the second reading vote on the EU withdrawal agreement bill would go ahead in the first week of June. This morning Michael Gove, the environment secretary, suggested the vote might get shelved. (See 9.26am.) But when Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory Brexiter, asked if the vote was still going ahead as planned, May said:

We’ve already made the government’s position clear in relation to this; the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill will be brought to the house after the whitsun recess.

Downing Street later said this meant the vote would be in the week beginning 3 June. In a subsequent exchange May also said she was “looking forward” to voting for the bill.

  • May said the bill would be published on Friday. Gove said this morning it would be published today, but May implied in her opening statement it could not be published until after the European elections because of purdah rules (which stop politically sensitive government material being published during election campaigns) - even though in recent days Number 10 has said purdah rules would not prevent the bill’s publication before the elections.
  • May acknowledged she would not be prime minister for much longer. In her statement, she said:

Mr Speaker, in time another prime minister will be standing at this despatch box.

  • She told MPs they had a duty to “take decisions, not to duck them”. She said:

If we are going to deliver Brexit in this parliament we are going to have to pass a withdrawal agreement bill.

And we will not do so without holding votes on the issues that have divided us the most – that includes votes on customs arrangements and on a second referendum.

We can pretend otherwise and carry on arguing and getting nowhere.

But in the end our job in this House is to take decisions, not to duck them.

  • She refused to commit to giving Tory MPs a free vote in the proposed vote on alternative customs plans. (See 2pm.)
  • Jeremy Corbyn has called for a general election, saying May no longer has the authority to deliver Brexit. In his response to May, he said:

Our country needs leadership to bring us together.

However, this prime minister is not the person to do this.

Throughout the last 3 years, she has made no attempt to unite the country.

She has been focused only on keeping her divided party together. It hasn’t worked.

And now her time has now run out.

She no longer has the authority to offer a compromise and cannot deliver.

That is why it is time for a general election to break the Brexit deadlock and give the country a say.

Theresa May.
Theresa May. Photograph: House of Commons/PA

Updated

From the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar

This is from the Mail on Sunday’s Harry Cole.

And this is from the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves.

From the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford

From my colleague Heather Stewart

From the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford

The PM’s statement is now over.

I will post a summary shortly.

My colleague Heather Stewart may have been in touch with the same source.

This is from the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman.

From the BBC’s Iain Watson

This is from ITV’s Paul Brand.

Labour’s Geraint Davies asks if May agrees any deal could only be publicly sustainable if backed by a confirmatory vote.

May says she does not accept that.

Tom Brake, the Lib Dem MP, says at least eight cabinet ministers who want May’s job would accept a no-deal Brexit. Why would they, given everything she knows about how bad it would be?

May says Brake can leave the Conservatives to choose their new leader.

This is from the Tory MP Michael Fabricant.

From Sky’s Lewis Goodall

May says it is not possible to revoke article 50, and then trigger it again. “Once you revoke, you revoke,” she says.

Peter Kyle, the Labour MP pushing for a confirmatory referendum, asks May to confirm that she will be willing to accept further changes to her bill. He says a confirmatory referendum should be in the bill.

May welcomes his relatively positive tone. She stresses her commitment to allowing MPs a vote on whether to hold a second referendum.

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory Brexiter, asks if May is going through this “folderol” because she really believes in it, or just for show.

May says she would be not putting up with all this hostility if she did not believe in it.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says Rees-Mogg has used a word probably never used before in this parliament.

Someone (Ed Davey?) says that is because Rees-Mogg is now represented by a Lib Dem council.

UPDATE: A reader has been in touch to say the word has been used in parliament before.

Updated

From ITV’s Robert Peston

Labour’s Barry Sheerman asks what May would say to constituents who want to have another chance to vote on Brexit now we know what it involves.

May says, to have a vote on a Brexit deal, parliament needs to approve a deal.

May refuses to commit to giving Tory MPs free vote in proposed vote on alternative customs plans

Labour’s Helen Goodman asks if May will offer Tory MPs a free vote on customs arrangements.

May says whipping decisions will be taken when whips can see the options on the table.

  • May refused to commit to giving Tory MPs a free vote in the proposed vote on alternative customs plans.

George Osborne, the Evening Standard editor, former chancellor and Tory opponent of the PM’s, says a cabinet coup against May is underway.

This is how the Evening Standard story starts.

Cabinet ministers were this afternoon discussing sending a delegation to tell Theresa May she should resign after botching her “last chance” at a Brexit deal.

At least four ministers were said to be in talks about calling time on the prime minister after her attempt to get cross-party backing for a new plan hit a wall of opposition.

Labour’s Caroline Flint says all MPs should be mindful of the results of the European elections. If MPs do not pass the deal, the only alternative will be to leave without one, she says. She urges MPs to give the bill “due consideration”.

(Flint was one of the five Labour MPs who backed May’s deal in the last vote.)

Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, says, now May’s days of “sneering” at the elected representatives of Scotland are almost at an end, will she accept her successor needs a different approach.

May says Cherry has a responsibility in the votes she casts. If she does not want no-deal, she should back a deal, May says. She says the SNP should accept the decision of the British people.

Richard Graham, a Tory, asks May if she agrees that a no-deal Brexit could lead to the break-up of the UK.

May says she has serious concerns about this.

Chuka Umunna, the Change UK MP, asks what will happen if a new PM takes over at the end of October, when there is no time to request a further extension. So will she request on in the September recess?

May says she wants MPs to pass the deal.

Vicky Ford, a Conservative, says he uncertainty needs to stop. MPs need to stop opposing plans just because they don’t get their preference. What happens if MPs say no again?

May says Ford is right. If MPs vote down the bill, there will be a choice between no-deal and no Brexit.

Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster, asks how May can guarantee a people’s vote when she cannot even put it on the face of the bill.

May says she has a different view on a second referendum. But it will be for MPs to decide.

May says she is 'looking forward' to voting for Brexit bill

Richard Drax, a Conservative, says May said it was for MPs to decide on a customs union and a second referendum. That’s wrong. The country decided in the referendum, he says. He also says she was wrong to say the decision not to leave on 29 March was not her fault. But it was the cabinet’s decision, she says.

May says he has been trying to leave the EU. She is looking forward to voting a fourth time that way. But, sadly, opposition MPs and some Tories opposed her.

  • May says she is “looking forward” to the vote on the EU withdrawal agreement bill.

Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader, says he remembers fighting a Labour seat with May in the 1992 general election. She was resilient in the face of a tough electorate. But he says Tory MPs are even more opposed to her now than voters in North West Durham were then.

Alistair Burt, the Conservative pro-European and former minister, says he will be supporting the deal.

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

From the Times’ Sam Coates

Owen Paterson, the Tory Brexiter, asks if the EU has agreed to any legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement.

May says the EU has been clear it will not change the withdrawal agreement.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, says May talks about a new deal. But the deal has not changed, he says. Will May confirm that there is no obligation on the EU to accept alternative arrangements for the Irish border?

May says the EU has committed to working with the UK to ensure those alternative arrangements are ready by the end of 2020.

Nicky Morgan, a Tory pro-European, says she will probably vote for the bill. But she urges May not to put it to a vote in early June. The consequences of it being voted down would be very serious, she says. She says more time should be set aside for compromise.

May says some people say she has compromised too far. Others says, not enough. At some point MPs have to take a decision, she says.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper asks if the cabinet has ruled out a long-term customs union being part of the future partnership with the EU.

May says what matters to manufacturing industry is having frictionless trade at the border. That plan is already in the political declaration, she says.

Sir Bill Cash, a Tory Brexiter, asks how May can be sure the UK will leave the EU by 31 July if the bill is passed.

May says she has been discussing with the business managers how long it would take to pass the bill. She says the bill could pass in time for the UK to leave on 31 July.

Sir John Redwood, a Tory Brexiter, asks what May says to those voters who think the UK should have left in March without a deal.

May says the government wanted to leave on 29 March. But the opposition and some others blocked that.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says a vote for the SNP is a vote to stop Brexit and stop this “economic madness”.

It is time for the PM to go, he says. “Will you do it?”

May says a vote for the SNP would be a vote to betray democracy. People asked the Commons to deliver Brexit. The question is how we do that. MPs should have that debate, and stop ducking the issues.

May confirms vote on withdrawal agreement bill to go ahead in early June

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory Brexiter, asks if May can confirm that the EU withdrawal agreement bill (Wab) will be put to a vote.

May says the government has made the position clear. The bill will be brought back in the first week of June.

  • May confirms that the vote on her bill will go ahead in early June.

May is responding to Corbyn.

She says he made his position clear. He wants everyone else to compromise by accepting his plans. He is not willing to compromise himself.

On free votes, she says the Conservatives gave their MPs a free vote during the previous indicative votes. On that basis, a second referendum was rejected.

She says Labour’s Brexit plan would make it even harder for the UK to take action to protect British Steel. Corbyn complains about state aid rules, she says. But Labour’s plan for a softer Brexit would keep the UK bound by them, she says.

Corbyn calls for general election, saying May’s time has run out

Turning to British Steel, Corbyn says the government must be willing to step in and take a public stake, to protect jobs.

But the government is instead prioritising a trade deal with the US, which would lead to chlorinated chicken coming to the UK.

On workers’ rights, the PM is not offering dynamic alignment.

And, on the environment, the government is only offering a toothless regulator, not binding measures to protect environmental standards.

On a second referendum, he asks if May will give her MPs a free vote. If she really thinks her deal is a good one, she should not be afraid of putting it to confirmatory vote.

He says Brexit has divided society, and led to too many important issues being ignored.

The country needs leadership. But this prime minister is not the person to do that. She has made no effort to keep the country together. She has focused on her party. But that has not worked. Her time has run out. It is time for a general election.

  • Corbyn calls for general election, saying May’s time has run out.

Corbyn says the technology needed to implement the customs plan in the Chequers proposal simply does not exist.

He says Labour’s plan for a permanent customs union is better.

Jeremy Corbyn is responding to May.

He says everything in May’s statement was in the speech she gave yesterday - which was not given in parliament, even thought it as all about seeking common ground in parliament.

May says MPs have duty to 'take decisions, not duck them'

May says “in time” another PM will be standing here.

But while she is here, she has a duty to be clear with MPs about the facts.

In the end, “our job in this house is to take decisions, not duck them”.

  • May acknowledges she will soon be replaced as PM.
  • She says MPs have a duty “to take decisions, not duck them”.

May says, if the bill is rejected, all that will be left will be deadlock and division.

May says EU withdrawal agreement bill to be published on Friday

This morning Michael Gove, the environment secretary, said the EU withdrawal agreement bill would be published today.

But May has just said it will be published on Friday. She said it could not be published before then because of the European elections and purdah rules.

Updated

From the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves

From the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment

From HuffPost’s Paul Waugh

Theresa May's Brexit statement

May is summarising the 10-point offer she announced yesterday.

Here is the text of the speech May gave yesterday.

The 10-minute rule bill comes later, so Theresa May is making her statement now.

From the i’s Nigel Morris

From the Mirror’s Ben Glaze

Johnny Mercer, a Conservative and former solider, asks May to confirm that she does not see any equivalence between terrorists and members of the armed forces.

May says it should be obvious that that is not what she wants. But Mercer is proposing such an equivalence. Any amnesty would have to apply across the board. It would have to apply to servicemen and women and terrorists. She will not allow that, she says.

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry says some EU citizens will not be able to vote in the European elections because, with the elections taking place at the last moment, councils did not have the time to send out forms for people to sign saying they would not be voting elsewhere. Will May make sure those forms are available at polling stations?

May says, if MPs had voted for her deal, the elections would not be taking place.

Mark Francois, a Tory, says he has a question for May from a Northern Ireland veteran. In 1972 he killed an IRA gunman who was about to kill one of his colleagues. He is watching these proceeding from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. He asked Francois to ask this: ‘I was commended for my service, and I killed a terrorist under order. The IRA have letters of comfort. Why are you pandering to the IRA?’ What is your answer?

May pays tribute to the man’s service. It is not the case that the terrorists have an amnesty. Evidence of criminal activity will be investigated. It is important to have a fair and just system. At the moment is it not operating fairly. She says she does not want an amnesty for terrorists. The current system needs to change. That will happen.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, says the victims of historical abuse in Northern Ireland have been waiting for more than two years for compensation. Some of them are now dying. Will May ensure action get taken immediately?

May says she understands the concerns about this. People call this historical abuse. But, for victims, it is not historical. If the Northern Ireland executive were in place, it could address this.

Labour’s Marsha De Cordova asks about the damning report about poverty in the UK from the UN rapporteur Philip Alston. (See 10.17am.) She asks about reports that the DWP is spending money on misleading adverts promoting universal credit.

May says, under UC, people will be able to keep more of the money that they earn.

Philip Lee, a Conservative, says the Brexit party seems on course to win the European elections. That could mean 6m or 7m people voting for a no-deal Brexit. But other people who voted leave do not want that. So will May commit to a second referendum?

May says she has not changed her view on a second referendum. The issue for MPs is whether or not they back her deal.

Labour’s Laura Smith asks about pay for carers while they are providing sleep-in cover.

May says the government has had to address this as a result of a court case. And it will be bringing forward plans to reform social care.

Owen Paterson, the Tory former Northern Ireland secetary, says May did not answer Iain Duncan Smith’s point. Former servicemen want an assurance they won’t be prosecuted unless there is new evidence.

May says the problem is that, all the processes that have been followed in Northern Ireland so far have been flawed.

Labour’s Mike Amesbury says, now May is about to move house, will she address the leasehold scandal soon.

May says the government is about to publish its plans to review leasehold laws soon.

Maria Caulfield, a Conservative, asks if May will do all she can to restore devolution in Northern Ireland before the end of this year.

May says she does want to see devolved government in Northern Ireland restored.

Updated

Charles Walker, a Conservative, says most MPs want more money for schools, health and transport etc. Isn’t the best way to do this to vote for a Brexit deal, to unlock spending?

May says Walker is right. There is pent-up investment that will become available when Brexit is resolve. There will be a “deal dividend”, she says.

Iain Duncan Smith, a Tory, says he served in Northern Ireland. He was a friend of Robert Nairac, the officer abducted and killed. May mentioned an amnesty. But Duncan Smith says former servicemen and women are not asking for an amnesty, just a fair and just system.

May says she wants a fair and just approach to legacy investigations. But at the moment there is a disproportionate emphasis on cases involves the armed forces. The government is reviewing this.

Stephen Morgan, a Labour MP, mentions the D-Day celebrations in Portsmouth, which he represents. He asks why UK coroners don’t record suicide rates for ex-servicemen and women, as they do in other countries.

May says she will write to Morgan about this.

Alistair Burt, a Conservative, asks about Yemen, and a report about the theft of aid in Houthi-controlled areas.

May says it is incumbent on everyone to make sure the aid reaches those who need it most.

From the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar

The SNP’s Ronnie Cowan says parents have to travel abroad, and break the law, or spent a lot of money privately to access medicinal cannabis for their children in this country.

May says these are difficult cases, and she sympathises with parents. The government has changed the law, and doctors can prescribe these medicines where there is clinical benefit. But it should be for doctors to make those decisions, she says.

From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman

Shipman is referring to the pizza club. See 11.50am.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, asks May to accept her new Brexit plan is “a fantasy”.

May says MPs need to vote for a deal.

Blackford says May should look at the benches behind her. She is fooling no one. Her party does not want the deal, Scotland does not want it, and pro-Brexit Labour does not want it either.

May says people should vote Conservative in tomorrow’s elections.

Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative, asks if it is true, as the Sunday papers reported, that May opposed a statute of limitations for members of the armed forces in Northern Ireland.

May says Jayawardena should not believe everything he reads in the papers. But any amnesty in Northern Ireland would have to apply to terrorists too. She says she will not accept that.

Corbyn says this government has squandered what it inherited, like Sure Start. The Department for Education’s funding chief told school leaders recently their budgets were not generous.

He turns to creative industries. Why have the arts born the brunt of these cuts? Music and art are being cut.

May says she wants to look at what Labour left. Unemployment higher than when it came in, the biggest peacetime deficit, and a not from the chief secretary to the Treasury saying there was no money left.

Corbyn says a survey shows nine out of 10 schools have cut spending on the arts. Will the artists of tomorrow only come from state schools? May is denying the incontrovertible evidence of the experts and unions when she says money is there. Vital public services have been cut to fund tax cuts for the few. Is there a more damaging policy than cutting funding for education?

May says the richest have paid more tax under the Conservatives every year than they did under Labour. What matters is the quality of education. Labour oppose phonics and oppose Sats. Standards are lower in Wales. If Labour were in power in London, it would be more of the same.

Corbyn says May does not seem to be aware of the crisis facing education. Has per pupil funding risen or fallen since 2010?

May says the government is giving every area more money for every school.

Corbyn says a Labour government would properly fund schools. And a Labour government would not use a phrase like fair funding for cuts. Last year May said austerity was over. He quotes Maria, a teacher in an under-funded school, who asked when the government would stop making false claims about government funding.

May says every area is getting more money for every school.

She says, under Labour, more money was spend on debt interest than on education.

Jeremy Corbyn also marks the anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack, and he pays tribute to the work of the emergency services.

He says he wants to express his “outrage” about the way the government has failed the steel industry. There will be a statement later, he accepts.

Why are schools having to close early on Fridays?

On steel, May says the government is exploring all potential solutions. But it can only act within the law. It would be unlawful to provide a loan on terms demanded by the company. She says the chancellor has agreed an indemnity for the official receiver to ensure staff can still be paid.

On schools, May says the government is putting record money into education.

Corbyn says some schools are closing early on Fridays.

And more than 1,000 schools are using crowdfunding to pay for things like pencils. Why, if they are getting record funding?

May says the government is putting record money per pupil into every school. She says record rates of disadvantaged young people are going to university.

Antoinette Sandbach, a Conservative, asks about an energy-saving initiative.

May says the government is committed to improving energy efficiency in a set number of homes by 2030.

John Woodcock, the independent MP, says May may not have long left in power, but she can act against chemical weapons. Inspectors are investigating an alleged chlorine attack by Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

May says the government is monitoring this. If it was a chemical weapons attack, the UK will respond appropriately.

Theresa May says today marks two years from the “cowardly and sickly” Manchester Arena attack.

From the SNP’s Neil Gray

Another cabinet minister, Damian Hinds, the education secretary, has been unable to confirm that the vote on the second reading of the EU withdrawal agreement bill will definitely take place in the first week of June. This is from PoliticsHome’s Matt Honeycombe-Foster.

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

PMQs
PMQs Photograph: HoC

PMQs

PMQs is starting soon.

Labour’s Angela Rayner says this could be May’s last PMQs - although it is hard to see why because what Tory MPs want is for May to announce her resignation, and the start of a leadership contest now, not for her to go immediately leaving a caretaker leader (David Lidington?) to run the country for the next few weeks until the leadership election is over.

Updated

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

The “pizza club” are, broadly, the cabinet ministers who voted leave in the referendum - so-called because, at an initial meeting some time ago in Andrea Leadsom’s office in the Commons, pizza was served.

And this is from Nick Boles, who now sits as an independent MP having left the Conservatives.

This is from my colleague Heather Stewart.

Oops. My colleague Martin Belam has been looking at Facebook adverts for the European elections, and he has found that Change UK has been running some saying the party is campaigning to “remain in the UK”. Martin says they have spent at least £700 on those adverts.

Change UK adverts explaining that the party are campaigning to “remain in the UK”
Change UK adverts explaining that the party are campaigning to “remain in the UK” Photograph: Facebook

From the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford

Brexit party victory in Euro elections will bring down May, and possibly Corbyn too, claims Farage

In his Telegraph debate with the Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable, Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, claimed that a big win for his party in the European elections tomorrow would bring down Theresa May - and possibly Jeremy Corbyn too. He also said a victory on that scale would kill off the prospects of a second referendum. He said:

If we get a big win for the Brexit party, we’ll kill of all thoughts of a second referendum, because Vince’s side will realise they simply can’t win it. And I also think that, if these opinion polls we’re looking at this morning are anything like right, we’ll get rid of Mrs May incredibly quickly. We may even see the end of Jeremy Corbyn too.

Farage was referring to the lastest YouGov poll for the Times, which shows his party widening its lead. Here are the figures.

Euro elections polling
Euro elections polling Photograph: YouGov

Here is a chart showing the trend.

Euro elections polling
Euro elections polling Photograph: YouGov

And here is an extract from Matthew Smith’s write-up for YouGov.

The final YouGov/Times European parliament voting intention survey before the election finds the Brexit party continuing to dominate with 37% of the vote, having been on 35% in last week’s survey.

The Lib Dems tighten their grip on second place, holding a six-point lead over third-placed Labour. Close to one in five people now say they intend to vote for the Lib Dems (19%, from 16% last week) compared to 13% for Labour (from 15%). In fact the Green party is now snapping at Labour’s heels for third place, being only one point behind on 12% (having been on 10% last week).

The Conservatives now sit in a distant fifth place, with just 7% of people planning to back the Tories (from 10% last week). Change UK are now on 4% (from 5%), votes for UKIP stand at 3% (unchanged), and voting intention for all other parties stands at 6%.

It is worth pointing out that YouGov are unusual amongst pollsters in putting Labour below the Lib Dems in this contest. Other pollsters have Labour ahead of the Lib Dems, sometimes by a wide margin. The website What UK Thinks has a chart featuring all Euro elections polling (last updated at the end of last week.)

The results of the European elections will be counted on Sunday night. The Brexit party seems to be on course for a big victory, but there will be a lot of interest in whether the combined no-deal Brexit vote (the Brexit party and Ukip) outnumbers the combined second referendum vote (the Lib Dems, the Greens, Change UK, the SNP and Plaid Cymru). All the poll suggests that this contest will be close.

Nigel Farage speaking at a Brexit party rally at Olympia in London last night
Nigel Farage speaking at a Brexit party rally at Olympia in London last night Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

ConservativeHome, the website for Conservative activists which is widely read by party members, is saying Theresa May should quit as soon as possible. Here is an extract from an article by its editor, the former Tory MP Paul Goodman.

The 1922 Committee executive meets today. It has already pointed the prime minister towards the exit door. It should now take her gently by the arm, and steer her through it as soon as possible. A new leader should be in place by the end of this parliamentary session.

The Conservative party is in a wretched place this morning. The vultures are circling overhead. Here are some Twitter despatches giving an insight into the state of play.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

From my colleague Heather Stewart

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the Sun’s Steve Hawkes

This is from my colleague Graeme Wearden.

Brexit will probably have 'major adverse impact' on poor, says UN report

As my colleague Robert Booth reports, Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, has published his final report on povery in the UK. It compares Conservative welfare policies to the creation of 19th-century workhouses and warns that unless austerity is ended, the UK’s poorest people face lives that are “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”.

There is a link to the full text of the 21-page report here (pdf).

The report is not about Brexit, but it does say Brexit will probably have a “major adverse impact” on the poor. It says:

If Brexit proceeds, it is likely to have a major adverse impact on the most vulnerable.

But it also suggests Brexit could be an opportunity.

Brexit presents an opportunity to reimagine what the United Kingdom stands for. Legislative recognition of social rights should be a central part of that reimagining. And social inclusion, rather than increasing marginalisation of the working poor and those unable to work, should be the guiding principle of social policy.

Alex Wickham at BuzzFeed is keeping a tally of the Conservative MPs who say they will vote against the EU withdrawal agreement bill (Wab) at second reading (assuming there is a vote - see 9.26am). Some 34 Conservatives voted against Theresa May’s deal in the third and last vote. According to Wickham, another 35 backbenchers have joined them in the rebel camp, taking the total number who will vote against the Wab to 69.

Two pro-European peers have announced that they are voting Lib Dem in the European elections, even though they sit in the House of Lords representing other parties.

This is from Andrew Cooper, a former director of strategy for David Cameron in Downing Street.

In response, the Tories said Cooper would lose the party whip. A party spokesman said:

Publicly endorsing the candidates of another party is not compatible with taking the Conservative whip in Parliament. As a result, the chief whip in the House of Lords has informed Lord Cooper of Windrush that he will have the Conservative whip suspended. This will be reviewed if he is willing to support Conservative candidates at future elections.

And these are from Michael Cashman, the former actor and former MEP, who until today was a Labour peer.

Here is some Twitter comment on the Michael Gove Today interview.

From the BBC’s Norman Smith

From the Guardian’s Paul Johnson

From the BBC’s Nick Robinson

From Sky’s Lewis Goodall

Gove says he has 'huge admiration' for Boris Johnson

In 2016, during the Conservative leadership contest, Michael Gove famously declared that, on the basis of his experience as Boris Johnson’s campaign manager, he had concluded that Johnson was not fit to be prime minister.

Now Gove has a different view. Asked about the prospect of a Johnson premiership, he said:

My view is that Boris served as foreign secretary with distinction. I enjoyed working with him. I have huge admiration for him ...

Boris Johnson is a Conservative of flair, elan, distinction and intellect. I think Boris will make his case and it’s important that we give him the chance to make his case.

Gove did not go as far as endorsing Johnson for leader, but that was not surprising because he is expected to declare his candidature himself.

Gove hints withdrawal agreement vote may have to wait until new PM in place

All political leaders see their careers come to an end and often the end is wretched, because they are forced out through failure or unpopularity. To her credit, Theresa May has endured far longer than most people expected after she bungled the 2017 general election - George Osborne’s prediction about her being a “dead woman walking” almost two years ago turned out to be wrong - but now, particularly in the light of the dismal reception her “New Brexit Deal” is getting, her premiership seems to be on its deathbed.

This became evidence when Michael Gove, the environment secretary, was interviewed on the Today programme this morning. Gove is the cabinet’s most accomplished media performer, and Downing Street normally send him out when the stakes are particularly high. He was the minister who summed up for the government in the no-confidence vote in January, when he praised May handsomely. But today even Gove was struggling to pretend all was well.

There were three lines that particularly stood out.

  • Gove suggested that the government might abandon the planned vote on the EU withdrawal agreement bill. He said the bill was being published today, and the government has already said it will get its second reading in the week beginning 3 June. But many Tories think there is no point in having a vote if the government is going to lose and Gove was evasive on whether the vote would take place. When Mishal Husain asked if the government was still going ahead with the vote, he replied:

There has been a lot of ‘sturm und drang’, a lot of summer lightning, of the course of the last 24 hours. But I think it is important that we all take a little bit of time and step back. Because ultimately we have three choices: we can either choose to leave the European Union with a deal, we can leave the European Union without a deal or we can stay in the European Union ...

Husain pointed out that Gove had not answered the question. For a second time he dodged it as he used his answer to criticise Labour. Later in the interview Husain tried again. She said Gove still had not said if the vote was going ahead. He replied:

I think that we will reflect over the course of the next few days on how people look at the proposition that has been put forward.

So it might not happen, Husain said. Gove replied:

No, I think there has to be a vote of on a withdrawal agreement implementation bill because one thing that we know is that, without a withdrawal agreement implementation bill, you can’t leave the European Union without a deal.

Rather than saying anything precipitate, I think that everyone should take an opportunity to reflect on what the prime minister will say later today and to look at the bill.

What was significant about this is that Gove was talking about a possible future vote on a withdrawal agreement bill, not on the withdrawal agreement bill. He was implying the vote could be delayed until a new PM drafts new legislation.

  • Gove implied that the EU withdrawal agreement bill might have to be rewritten.
  • Gove did not challenge suggestions that it was time for May to stand down. Asked if May should stay in post, he replied:

I think the most important thing we can do is reflect on all the options in front of us. I can understand the strong feelings - I have strong feelings - on leaving the European Union that have been aired and articulated over the course of the last 24 hours.

Husain said the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee might tried to force her out after the European elections and she asked if May would still be prime minister on Tuesday next week. At first Gove dodged the question, saying that as a cabinet minster he was not involved in 1922 Committee decision. When Husain pointed out that he was not even willing to say May would still be PM on Tuesday, he replied:

Oh, I think the prime minister will be prime minister next Tuesday, yes.

But, when asked for how long May would stay in office, Gove said that May had already, in a “gracious and self-sacrificing” way, agreed to stand down.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9am: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, gives a speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

9am: Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, and Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, take part in a Euro elections debate organised by the Telegraph. It is being streamed online here.

12pm: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.

After 1pm: May makes a statement to MPs about her so-called “New Brexit Deal”.

At some point today the government is also publishing its EU withdrawal agreement bill.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, but I will be mostly focusing on Brexit and May’s future as PM. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up at the end of the day.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

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

Updated

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Cinemablend
Florida man stops by Chick-fil-A drive-through on horseback in viral video: ‘Gas prices must be crazy’
A Florida man has gone viral after riding his horse through a Chick-fil-A drive-through, leaving staff stunned.
The Times of India
The Times of India
Barbie Dream Fest: why did the ‘ultimate fan event’ leave visitors fuming?
Devotees who paid $450 for a fun-filled “experience” in Florida last weekend were met with a concrete-floored warehouse and a $1 Barbie-branded hand sanitiser. Could this top the notorious Willy Wonka Experience?
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Spice up your grilled leg of lamb with a baharat marinade recipe from Formaggio Kitchen
Jessica Battilana of Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an easy grilled leg of lamb that gets big flavor from a Turkish spice mix called baharat
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Howie Mandel issues public apology to Kelly Ripa after shutting her down on air
Mandel took issue with the ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ hosts complimenting him on his looks after noting that he’d just reached 70
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
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