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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Haroon Siddique

Corbyn says Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to Britain - politics live

Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer leave a meeting with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer leave a meeting with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photograph: François Lenoir/Reuters

Afternoon Summary

Thanks for following the blog today and all your comments. I’ll be back tomorrow. In the meantime here’s a summary of the afternoon’s main developments:

  • Jeremy Corbyn has said the UK government should support Shamima Begum’s return to Britain. Speaking in Brussels, the Labour leader described stripping the teenager who fled to Syria of her citizenship as a “very extreme manoeuvre”.
  • Corbyn called the danger of Britain leaving the EU without a deal “very serious”. He said people in the EU were very worried about such a prospect.
  • The EU’s chief negotiator has questioned the usefulness of an extension to Article 50. After meeting Corbyn, Michel Barnier said: “We don’t need more time, we need decisions from the British parliament.”
  • The UK will not be able to roll over the European Union’s trade deal with Japan in time for the scheduled date of Brexit on 29 March, the International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has confirmed. Japan was the most significant on a list of 27 EU trade agreements on which discussions about possible roll-over are ongoing released by the Department of International Trade today.
  • Theresa May has rejected criticism of the Conservative party by the three MPs who quit yesterday. In a written response to Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston, the prime minister said the party was “moderate” and “open-hearted”.

Bim Afolami, the Tory MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, says he is to become the first male MP to use proxy voting while on paternity leave.

PM rejects defectors' criticisms

The prime minister has sent a response to the three MPs who announced yesterday that they are leaving the Conservative party.

In a letter addressed “Dear Anna [Soubry], Sarah [Wollaston] and Heidi [Allen]” she defends the government’s record:

I know you will not have come to your decision lightly, but I must say that I do not accept the picture you paint of our party. Indeed, in each of the areas you highlight, our record in government shows that we are the moderate, open-hearted Conservative Party in the One Nation tradition you speak of.

On Brexit, she says

In my time in government and politics I have seen the consequences of people in power not giving a voice to those without one, or ignoring people when they speak. I believe we must not make that mistake by failing to deliver on the result of the referendum. I know that you disagree with equal passion and conviction and, like me, are motivated by what you consider to be right for the country.

The UK’s membership of the European Union has been a source of disagreement both in our party and our country for a long time. Ending that membership after four decades was never going to be easy. I have sought to bring people back together.

Like you, I was one of the 48% of people who voted to remain in the EU – but I believe very firmly that it is the duty of all of us in parliament, particularly those of us who voted to hold the referendum and promised to abide by its result, to deliver what the majority of people voted for. That is what the deal the government has negotiated will do – delivering on the result of the referendum while maintaining a close economic and security relationship with our European neighbours.

She concludes:

I was sorry to read, and do not accept, the parallel you draw with the way Jeremy Corbyn and the hard left have warped a once proud Labour Party and allowed the poison of antisemitism to go unchecked.

I am determined that under my leadership the Conservative Party will always offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that the people of this country deserve. I hope we can continue to work together on issues where we agree.

The European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said he had “open and constructive” talks with Jeremy Corbyn with a “consensus that [a] reckless no-deal should be off the table”.
Verhofstadt restated the European Parliament’s plea for a “broad majority” to be found for a deal at Westminster through a cross-party approach.
He said MEPs were open to an “upgraded” political declaration as a way forward.

In other news, the UK will not be able to roll over the European Union’s trade deal with Japan in time for the scheduled date of Brexit on 29 March, the International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has confirmed.

Japan was the most significant on a list of 27 EU trade agreements on which discussions about possible roll-over are ongoing released by the Department of International Trade (DIT).

It also noted the EU’s customs union agreement with Turkey, which covers 1.39% of UK trade, will not be transitioned on exit day.

The UK has so far been able to finalise “continuity agreements” with seven of the 69 countries and regions with which the EU has trade deals - Switzerland, Chile, the Faroe Islands, eastern and southern Africa, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Fox said in a statement that mutual recognition agreements signed with the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand should ensure that businesses do not face additional bureaucracy after Brexit.

The DIT said:

While a number of these continuity agreements are likely to be concluded by exit day, it is the duty of government to produce a highly-cautious list of those that may not be in place in order that businesses and individuals ensure that they are prepared for every eventuality.

It remains our priority to conclude trade continuity agreements with these countries by exit day or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, said the news about the Japan trade deal underlined the dangers of a no-deal break. He said:

One of the great myths of Brexit was that we could instantly sign new trade deals whilst seamlessly rolling over the existing deals we already have with over 70 countries as a member of the EU.

This is damaging myth which has proven to be false. Should no-deal materialise, this will cause serious problems for our economy.

Labour MP Stephen Doughty, a supporter of the people’s vote campaign, said:

Brexiters promised that voting leave would mean a bonanza of new international trade deals that would make up for lost trade with the EU.

Instead, Brexit is costing us the global trade deals we already have as EU members. Liam Fox is now finally admitting that his promise to roll over all existing EU trade deals in time for Brexit is going to be broken.

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, has expressed similar sentiments to Jeremy Corbyn, in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

She said:

To arbitrarily remove her nationality raises a great many questions. It’s not legal to render somebody stateless like that.

Here is the Labour leader expressing concern over the government’s approach to the Shamima Begum case.

'Let Shamima Begum return' - Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn called for the British government to support Shamima Begum’s return to Britain during his visit to Brussels.

The Labour leader also expressed his concern over the ability of the home secretary, Sajid Javid, to revoke her citizenship.

He said:

She was born in Britain, she has that right to remain in Britain and obviously a lot of questions she has to answer but also some support that she needs.

She obviously has, in my view, a right to return to Britain. On that return she must face a lot of questions about everything she’s done. And at that point any action may or may not be taken.

I think the idea of stripping somebody of their citizenship when they were born in Britain is a very extreme manoeuvre.

Indeed I question the right of the home secretary to have these powers when the original law was brought in by Theresa May when she was home secretary.

Shamima Begum
Shamima Begum.
 Photograph: ITV News/PA

Updated

Euro MPs are confirming that the mood in Brussels is anything but positive with some choice words today.

The prominent Greek MEP, Stelios Koulouglou, told the Guardian:

Everyone in the [EU] negotiating team is completely fed up with May. They feel she doesn’t have a clear plan, she changes constantly and instead of being serious, is playing cheap political games.

Koulouglou, who represents Greece’s governing leftist Syriza party, said the British prime minister’s negotiating team now had “a very, very bad reputation” at what was seen as a particularly sensitive juncture in talks.

Updated

The response when the chief EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, was asked about the prospect of an extension to Article 50, sounds somewhat exasperated:

We don’t need more time, we need decisions from the British parliament. If this question was raised, the first reaction of the heads of state - whose unanimous approval is required - would be to say: ‘What for? How much time?’

He suggested that Brussels would be ready to make changes to the political declaration on the future UK/EU relationship if London wanted to make it “more ambitious”, for instance by proposing a permanent customs union.

There was “no doubt” that the EU27 would maintain their solidarity with the Republic of Ireland on the border issue, said Barnier.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn, who accused Theresa May of deliberately running down the clock in order to get her deal through, said that the prospect of an extension to Article 50 was a “complex and difficult question to answer”.

Turning away from Brexit to one of the other big stories of the week – the decision to strip Shamima Begum of her citizenship. A couple of voices have emerged this lunchtime on what should happen to her.

The Conservative chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, demands the use of the Treason Act of 1351 - which currently only applies to offences against the monarch – to prosecute Begum.

He tells the BBC’s Politics Live that he understands the home secretary’s actions but believes that there’s a problem with UK law which makes it difficult to prosecute this kind of case:

She has clearly gone out to support a group that has sought to do violence, sought to murder people like us here in the UK. That’s an extraordinary betrayal and we should be able to reflect that in law.

The government’s chief adviser on countering extremism, meanwhile, has focused on the danger that stripping her of her citizenship could help radical Islamists. Sara Khan said:

The government has to recognise the unease felt by a wide range of people about decisions of this kind, not least those from minority communities with dual nationality.

It has to build trust in its approach, because Islamist extremists will exploit alienation and grievance to turn people against their country.

Updated

Meanwhile, Michel Barnier has told a French newspaper that Brexit talks remain at an “impasse”, and repeated that Brussels will not consider reopening the withdrawal agreement or renegotiating the backstop.

“The process is in an impasse at the moment. We are waiting for Theresa May to tell us how she sees things and what she wants,” he tells La Croix.

“But we are not going to reopen negotiations on the withdrawal treaty, we will not change the content of the Irish protocol which preserves peace in Ireland and the integrity of the single market.

“It is rather for the UK, as guarantor of the Good Friday agreement, to respect the integrity of our single market and to bring us solutions.”

Updated

A bit more from Corbyn:

“The threat of no deal is something that has deeply exercised people throughout the European Union. They are very worried about the consequences of it.

“That was conveyed to us in no uncertain terms during the meetings. That is why we are determined to get no deal off the table.”

Corbyn says that during the meetings they discussed Labour’s alternative proposals for a customs union.

“We are strongly of the belief that these proposals are credible – and that has been confirmed by our meetings today – and that they could be negotiated,” he says.

“The problem is the prime minister is insisting on her deal, which has already been defeated very heavily in parliament, and running down the clock by trying to keep the threat of no-deal on the table with all the damage that does.”

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn is speaking to reporters after holding talks with Michel Barnier. Accompanied by Labour frontbenchers Keir Starmer and Shami Chakrabarti, he says that the talks were “useful and informative”.

He calls the danger of Britain leaving the EU without a deal “very serious”.

Conservative MP Phillip Lee had been considered a possible Tory defector when he didn’t answer calls from reporters – only for it to transpire that he had been at the cinema with his wife. Now Jess Elgot reports that he has met the prime minister:

Lee, the chair of the pro-referendum Right To Vote campaign, met the prime minister in Downing Street on Thursday morning. Lee, who resigned as a justice minister over the party’s Brexit policy, had been one of the MPs viewed as most likely to join the new Independent Group.

Lee said he had decided not to quit but suggested his future movements would be governed by the response of the many ministers who have threatened to rebel next week to back an amendment to extend article 50 to avoid no deal.

And here he is on his way out of Downing Street earlier.

Updated

Lunchtime summary

  • The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has accused Theresa May of running down the clock in the Brexit talks with the EU. He said conversations with key EU officials confirmed his fears that May intends to wait until the last moment “to put a binary choice to parliament: her deal versus no deal”.
  • The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has warned a no-deal Brexit would damage the national interests and refused to rule out resigning should it come to pass. He said his job was to avoid that “precipice”.
  • Two senior Tory MPs have both said they would leave the Conservative party if there was a no-deal Brexit. The former attorney general Dominic Grieve and the former education secretary Justine Greening said they could join the three Conservative MPs who quit yesterday.
  • Christopher Davies, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, has been charged over allegations he falsified two invoices in support of parliamentary expenses claim. He will appear in court on 22 March.
  • The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has said the eight MPs who quit the party should seek re-election, describing it as “the decent and democratic thing for them to do”. He also insisted he was committed to rooting out antisemitism.
  • The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said he is “not very optimistic” that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided, warning that such a scenario would be disastrous. In response, the prime minister’s spokesman said the EU remained committed to the UK leaving with a deal.
  • The Scottish secretary, David Mundell has hinted wants article 50 to be extended if May is unable to win backing for her EU deal next week. He said he would do everything he could to prevent a no-deal Brexit and repeatedly repeatedly to rule out resigning from the cabinet if necessary.

Updated

Polly Toynbee writes that it is difficult to see what the Independent Group can offer and how it can make a breakthrough without proportional representation.

Once you remove Brexit, what’s left? In these three breakaway women MPs, the Tory party has lost some of their best, most human faces who could yet be joined by others of their ilk – say, Nick Boles, Jo Johnson and Sam Gyimah. But it is not tribal to point out that nice Tories are still Tories, as Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston eagerly confirmed that in their departure. They both still think extreme austerity was necessary, and they backed it – yes, even the nice GP who saw its effect on her NHS.

Can a new party blend Labour and Tory MPs and attract more than a smattering of the Labour voters it needs? Anyone can change their mind, anyone can be forgiven past errors, but these Tories haven’t repented, [Anna] Soubry still praises her old party’s “sound finance”. What would be their economic policy? ...

Without PR, voters are forced to hold their noses and vote against their most hated of the two old blocs. That breeds political cynicism and kills enthusiasm. The Independent Group, bouncing with optimism, may break all the old certainties: more likely the old certainties of first past the post will break them.

Theresa May’s official spokesman has responded to comments by the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, that he is “not very optimistic” that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided and warning that such a scenario would be disastrous (see 10.45am update).

The prime minister’s spokesman told reporters:

We have been making progress but there is clearly a lot of hard work still to do. But we absolutely do want to bring back the meaningful vote as soon as possible.

Asked about Juncker’s downbeat assessment, the spokesman insisted that yesterday’s talks were “constructive”, adding:

It is still very much the position of the EU that they want the UK to leave with a deal. That means everyone working together with energy in order to secure the assurances that parliament needs.

Updated

David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, has hinted he does want article 50 to be extended if Theresa May is unable to win backing for her EU deal next week.

Mundell told an audience in Edinburgh he would do “everything I can and whatever I deem necessary to prevent a no-deal Brexit”, and refused repeatedly to rule out resigning from the cabinet if necessary.

He did not deny a report that he was one of four senior cabinet members, along with Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke, who has told May she had to delay Brexit if there was no Commons majority for her deal next week.

That implies he could support the bill being put forward by Labour MP Yvette Cooper next week which will require article 50 to be extended if May cannot win a majority for her deal: if he did vote against the government, he would almost certainly be sacked from the cabinet. He said:

I don’t comment on private conversations that I have had with the PM, but what I have said to her repeatedly and have said at the cabinet is that a no-deal Brexit is a very bad outcome for Scotland and the UK and we must do everything that we can to avoid that outcome.

He insisted his preference is for the Commons to back the Brady amendment, once May had won clarification on the lifespan and legal status of the Irish backstop, and appeared to reject the proposal for a new referendum on backing May’s deal or remaining in the EU. He said:

I don’t support the so-called people’s vote. I’m most certainly not leaving the Conservative party. The Conservative party remains a broad church. I’m disappointed that colleagues have chosen to leave. Anna Soubry is a good friend of mine and she obviously feels very strongly on the Brexit issue.

Asked whether he could quit the cabinet, he said:

I don’t think the soap opera psycho drama that grows up who’s resigning who is not resigning really helpful to the debate. What I’m interested in and always have been is the outcome, so what I’m determined to do is to prevent a no deal Brexit happening because of the damage that would do in Scotland and the damage it’s likely to do to the union.

I will do everything I can and whatever I deem necessary to prevent a no deal Brexit coming about but I’m not making wild suggestions or setting out strict parameters of what that may or may not be.

The Scottish secretary of state, David Mundell, speaking in Edinburgh
The Scottish secretary, David Mundell, speaking in Edinburgh. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Updated

The chair of the Labour party, Ian Lavery, has written a scathing criticism for the Guardian of the eight MPs who quit the party this week, saying that they, along with the Tory MPs who left their party, represent the few and not the many.

Now that three Tories have joined the new “independent grouping”, we should be under no illusions that this rightwing establishment tribute act’s sole aim is to prevent a transformative Labour government at any cost...

The era of big money corporate donors bankrolling politicians so they can preserve a system that rips off the many and works only for the super-rich is over. That is why this breakaway of a handful of MPs from both parties must be fought and rejected for what it is – a well-funded and coordinated effort to defend the huge power and privilege that the 1% enjoy.

However, in the same article, Lavery does acknowledge genuine concerns about antisemitism.

As party chair I recognise that antisemitism is a growing concern across our society and sadly within small pockets of our party. The abuse that Jewish MPs, and female Jewish MPs in particular, receive both online and in person is abhorrent.

If Labour party members are found to be antisemitic they should be booted out of the party and they will be.

Updated

Tory MP charged over expenses allegations.

Christopher Davies, the Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, has been charged over allegations that he falsified two invoices in support of parliamentary expenses claims.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said:

In November 2018, the Crown Prosecution Service received a file of evidence from the Metropolitan police relating to an allegation that Christopher Davies, MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, falsified two invoices in support of parliamentary expenses claims.

Following a review of the evidence, the CPS has today charged Mr Davies with two offences of making a false instrument and one offence of providing false or misleading information for allowance claims.

He will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 22 March.

Updated

The Scottish secretary, David Mundell, has been giving a speech on Brexit. Taking questions, he refused to deny that he had urged Theresa May to extend article 50. He would also not be pressed on whether he would leave the cabinet in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Scottish government today published its assessment of the implications for Scotland of a no-deal Brexit, assuming Britain leaves the EU on 29 March. It reads:

It has the potential to generate a major dislocation to the Scottish economy. This would occur through a number of channels - disruptions to logistics, supply, trade, investment, migration and market confidence. Whilst the scale of the shock is uncertain, it has the potential to push the Scottish economy into recession, with a corresponding increase in unemployment. If prolonged, the shock could lead to significant structural change in the economy.

Any shock is likely to have disproportionate sectoral, as well as, regional impacts. Sectors with high levels of exports to the EU, who are reliant on EU workers and free movement of labour, are part of integrated EU supply chains and/or are subject to EU regulatory and licencing requirements are likely to see the greatest impact. Other sectors would be exposed in the event of a wider economic slowdown.

The agriculture, food and fishing sectors are among those who have a particularly high level of exposure under a no-deal Brexit. As employment in these sectors tends to be highest in more rural areas, such regions may be particularly exposed to Brexit.

Updated

Juncker fears no-deal 'disaster'

The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said he is “not very optimistic” that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided and warned of the negative consequences that it would bring.

Juncker, who held talks with Theresa May on Wednesday in Brussels, said he had “Brexit fatigue” and regarded the issue as a “disaster”.

Speaking to the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, he said:

Brexit is deconstruction, it is not construction. Brexit is the past, it is not the future.

We are trying to deliver our best efforts in order to have this Brexit being organised in a proper, civilised, well-thought-out way. But we are not there, because in the British parliament there is, every time they are voting, a majority against something, there is never a majority in favour of something.

If a no-deal would happen – and I can’t exclude this – this would have terrible economic and social consequences, both in Britain and on the continent, and so my efforts orient in a way that the worst can be avoided.

But I am not very optimistic when it comes to this issue.

Jean-claude Juncker with Theresa May In Brussels, yesterday
Jean-claude Juncker with Theresa May In Brussels, yesterday. Photograph: nicolaslandemard.com/Le Pictorium/Barcroft Images

Updated

Anna Soubry, who left the Conservative party yesterday, is hosting the mid-morning show on LBC, which began at 10am, standing in for regular host James O’Brien, who is on holiday.

She is asking people to ring in to answer the question as to whether she did the right thing in leaving the Conservative party.

Soubry began the show by saying “some stuff happened yesterday”, describing what happened as “a bit of a wrench, a bit emotional, a bit scary” but she said it was more scary hosting a show on LBC. She said she had had thousands of emails supporting her move from constituents.

The second caller, Neil, is very angry, he calls Soubry “duplicitous” and “two-faced” over her stance on Brexit and says: “You disgust me.” He wants a byelection in her constituency.

The next caller, Samina, is far more amenable, saying there are millions of people in the country who do not have a political home.

Updated

Labour of course has had its own problems and Jeremy Corbyn has responded to the departure of eight of its MPs by demanding that they put themselves up for re-election.

He said:

These MPs now want to abandon the policies on which they were elected so the decent and democratic thing for them to do is to resign and put themselves up for election. And I want to make it absolutely clear, I regard the fight against antisemitism as an absolute priority and we are utterly determined to root out antisemitism from our party and our society.

He described Labour as the “only party with a deep-rooted history of combatting racism”.

Updated

This is how today’s papers covered the Tory walkouts, with the rightwing papers particularly scathing of the trio:

Updated

Hammond’s comments are sure to cause more twitchiness inside Number 10.

Heidi Allen, one of three Tory MPs who quit to join the Independent Group yesterday, told ITV’s Peston last night that roughly a third of the party’s MP – around 100 of her former colleagues – shared her frustrations at its direction.

Justine Greening and Dominic Grieve have both place themselves firmly within that cohort.

Updated

Good morning, this is Haroon Siddique sitting in for Andrew Sparrow. Stay tuned for all the day’s political developments. If you want to get my attention, the best way is probably to tweet me.

The chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Hammond, has warned of the harm a no-deal Brexit would cause and refused to say whether he would quit his post if such a scenario materialised. Hammond’s equivocation came as the former attorney general Dominic Grieve and the former education secretary Justine Greening both said they would leave the Conservative party if there was a no-deal Brexit.

In an interview with BBC One’s Breakfast, Hammond was repeatedly asked whether he would quit the cabinet if Theresa May went for a no-deal Brexit.

He replied: “I will always do what I believe is in the best interests of the country.”

Asked if a no-deal Brexit would be in the UK’s best interests, he said:

No, definitely not. My job is to make sure that the government gets us a solution which does not take us to that no-deal precipice.

I have been crystal-clear on this for the last two-and-a-half years. That is what I am working for all day, every day, and, so long as I believe I am able to influence that outcome and help to get us to a good outcome here, which will protect British jobs and British prosperity, that’s what I will go on doing.

Updated

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