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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Kevin Rawlinson

Tracey Crouch resigns as sports minister over fixed odds betting terminals delay - as it happened

Tracey Crouch
Tracey Crouch Photograph: Stephen Pond/Getty Images for Sport England

Closing summary

We’re going to close down this live blog now. Thanks for reading. Here’s a summary of this evening’s events:

  • The sports minister, Tracey Crouch, resigned, saying the government had delayed the introduction of measures designed to restrict losses on fixed odds betting terminals. In her letter to the prime minister, Crouch said her ministerial colleagues had pushed back the implementation of the measures “due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests”.
  • The prime minister, Theresa May, contradicted Crouch in her official response, saying the planned October 2019 implementation represented “no delay”. Crouch, the minister who had launched the review that prompted the measures, had repeatedly said – both verbally and in writing – that the step would be put before MPs before next week’s parliamentary recess and introduced by next April – six months before the date the government subsequently announced.
  • Several prominent figures, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, praised Crouch’s stance.

You can read a summary of the day’s earlier events here.

And the full story on Crouch’s resignation here:

Crouch also has the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury:

Tracey Crouch referred in her resignation letter to the FOBT proposals being kicked into the long grass “due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests”, without naming names.

In the Commons, Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, asked the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, “on what dates ... did he meet the hon. member for Shipley (Philip Davies), a well-known advocate for the industry, to discuss FOBTs?”

Davies, whose most recent entry on the register of members’ interests includes eight references to three different betting firms, has denied influencing the government’s decision to implement the changes six months later than Crouch had believed they would come in.

At the same time, the Tory MP Sarah Wollaston has attacked her own party for choosing not to implement the changes, which will decrease tax receipts, until it can plug that hole by increasing a separate gambling industry tax next October.

Updated

ITV News’ political correspondent, Paul Brand, has a report of dissension in the highest echelons of government over the decision to implement the FOBT proposals in October next year, and not in April.

The meeting Watson is referring to took place in public on Wednesday 5 September this year. The minutes of that meeting, which are available on the all-party group’s website, read:

Tracey Crouch MP stated that, currently, the separtment are in the final stages of preparing the statutory instrument which they intend to lay before Parliament this quarter and its implementation will be within this financial year.

She added that she has been open with her colleagues who know that the implementation lies with the Treasury. Her separtment’s responsibility is to look at the legislative aspects.

She added that she suspects that there will be an announcement in the Autumn budget on the implementation of the FOBT stake... She added that the implementation date will be in the budget and nothing will be announced before the budget.

Labour’s Tom Watson addressed the very same question in the Commons today. He asked the culture minister, Jeremy Wright:

Everyone on both sides of the House was led to believe that that cut would take place in April 2019, at the start of the new tax year. Why was that? Because in answer to a written parliamentary question, the minister herself said that the enabling statutory instrument would be taken this autumn and verbally confirmed, in a minuted meeting of the all-party group on FOBTs, that that would be the case.

Wright, in response, told Watson:

The hon. gentleman (Watson) is right that the government announced in May that their intention was to reduce FOBT stakes from £100 to £2. As I have made very clear, that was the right decision to make, but they did not set out at that time the point at which the change would be implemented.

He says that everybody knew it would be in May 2019. That is his argument to the House today. I remind him of the text of early-day motion 1440, dated 20 June 2018 —after the announcement in May — and which has 48 signatures on it: ‘That this House…notes with equal concern that the stake is not due to be reduced until April 2020’.

In addition, we heard representations — understandably — from the all-party group saying that April 2020 would be too late. We agree, hence the decision taken is not to make this change in April 2020, but to make it earlier. I have heard language twisted to various uses in this place, but the idea that a move from April 2020 to October 2019 is a delay is going a little far. It is not a delay.

At the same time, at least two senior Tory politicians known to be unhappy with May’s handling of the Brexit negotiations are praising Crouch’s decision to resign:

While not a cabinet minister, Andrea Leadsom does attend cabinet. Boris Johnson, of course, used to.

Updated

The prime minister, Theresa May, has responded to Crouch, saying there has been “no delay” in the implementation of the measure – contradicting the central allegation in the former sports minister’s letter of resignation.

According to reporting from 17 May this year, the time of the announcement, the changes would be “subject to a parliamentary vote likely to take place in 2019”.

However, it seems Crouch, the minister directly responsible for the process, was under the impression the measure would be pushed through in relatively short order. Parliamentary records from that period quote her as saying the measures would come before MPs in 2018:

I know that you, Mr Speaker, and other members of the House will recognise that there is a process that we have to go through. We expect the regulations to come before the House later this year, with reasonable implementation time following that. I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that there is a parliamentary process that we have to go through, but today we are pleased to announce the policy that the maximum stake will be reduced from £100 to £2.

Indeed, in a response to a written question issued a little more than a fortnight ago, she reiterated the belief MPs would see the measure before next week’s Commons recess:

We intend to lay the draft affirmative regulations before Parliament, for the usual process of approval, in the autumn term. A date for implementation of the change will be announced in due course.

Back on the budget vote, my colleague Pippa Crerar has some details on who in the Labour party defied the leadership and voted against the chancellor’s tax cuts. Labour MPs had been told to abstain.

Updated

Watson’s Labour colleague, Carolyn Harris, asked the front bench to confirm Crouch had resigned during the budget vote. Harris, who is chair of the all party parliamentary group on fixed odds betting terminals, said:

There are very sad reports the minister for sport has resigned as a direct result of the chancellor’s budget.

Can a member of the Treasury bench confirm whether this is true and, if so, I would like to put on record my support for her work and to thank her for the work she has done.

Can the chancellor confirm to the House this is the first time a member of the government has resigned during the votes on the budget, as a direct result of the chancellor’s policies?

Updated

The Liberal Democrat MP, Christine Jardine, has also backed Crouch’s stance, saying:

When the minister responsible for a policy steps down, you know the government is moving in the wrong direction.

These machines are a blight on our society and undeniably damaging to vulnerable people. Tracey Crouch knows this, so why doesn’t the prime minister? Theresa May should come to the floor of the House and explain why this will not be implemented for another year.

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader and the shadow digital, culture, media and sport secretary, has responded to Crouch’s resignation:

Tracey Crouch has taken a courageous and principled decision to resign from the government over Jeremy Wright’s decision to delay cutting the maximum stake on FOBTs (fixed odds betting terminals).

She poured her heart and soul into a significant review of these destructive machines, faced down a systematic lobbying attempt by the gambling industry and took the right decision for those suffering from problem gambling, their families and communities.

The new secretary of state has threatened all of this good work. He has prioritised corporate interests over victims, profits over public health and greed over good. He should be thoroughly ashamed.

Tracey Crouch has released the letter she wrote to the prime minister offering her resignation as the sports minister.

She notes that Theresa May had personally supported the reduction in the maxmium stake allowed on fixed odds betting terminals but says it has been kicked into the long grass “due to commitments made by others to those with registered interests”.

Afternoon summary

  • Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, has resigned in protest against the government’s decision to reduce the fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT) maximum stake from £100 to £2 in October 2019, instead of April 2019 as expected. Earlier in the Commons Tory MPs from all wings of the party spoke out against the decision. The former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith told Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary:

For the sake of those people whose families and lives have been destroyed - and there may yet be more, many more, to follow them - I urge [you] to think again and bring forward the date so we may end this scourge.

Later, at the end of the budget debate, Duncan Smith asked Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, to bring forward the implementation date. Truss said she would be “happy to discuss” the matter but she refused to offer any hint that the government would back down, and instead she claimed that government had already brought forward the implementation date. (See 5.03pm.) Shortly afterwards Crouch, who seemed to have been waiting for a possible concession, let it be known she would be quitting.

  • Around 20 Labour MPs have voted with the Lib Dems against the income tax cuts announced in Monday’s budget. Officially Labour abstained in the vote, which the government won comfortably. Labour MPs did vote for an amendment to the budget saying the government should publish an assessment of the impact of Labour’s plan to raise income tax just for those earning more than £80,000, but that amendment was easily defeated.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

MPs are now voting on the Labour amendment.

According to the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford, who broke the news that Tracey Crouch was on the verge of resignation, Crouch is now likely to go.

Iain Duncan Smith intervenes. He will back the budget, he says. But there is an issue as to when the new lower limit for stakes on fixed odds betting terminals comes into force. Will the Treasury agree to review this?

Liz Truss repeats Jeremy Wright’s claim that the date for implementation has been brought forward, not delayed. She says the Treasury will consider arguments - but without implying that the government is genuinely open to a rethink.

In the Commons this morning Labour’s Tom Watson said that, when it was announced that the maximum FOBT stake would be reduced from £100 to £2, MPs were told that this would come into force in April 2019. But Wright said that at one point a Commons early day motion referred to the implementation date being April 2020. By bringing in the change in October 2019, the government was actually bringing it forward, he claimed.

Turning back to Brexit and the National Crime Agency investigation, the Labour peer Andrew Adonis says this reinforces the case for a public inquiry into Brexit.

Truss claims Labour’s policies would mean £1 trillion more in tax and borrowing. Under Labour there would be fewer jobs and less money for public services, she claims.

She is now summarising some of the budget measures.

Liz Truss's speech

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has just started speaking. She is winding up the budget debate for the government.

CityAM’s Owen Bennett thinks we won’t get a FOBT U-turn.

Truss starts by saying she is glad John McDonnell has welcomed the government’s tax cuts. He is welcome to join the Tories, she suggests.

IFS says Hammond wrong to suggest 'avoiding something really very bad' amounts to Brexit deal dividend

At the Commons Treasury committee this morning two leading economists cast doubt on Philip Hammond’s claim that a Brexit “deal dividend” would provide a boost to the UK.

As the Press Association report the chancellor said on Monday that a Brexit agreement would deliver a double boost to the economy, as businesses and households were freed from uncertainty and the Treasury was able to spend some of the £15.4bn buffer it is holding in reserve to cope with a possible no-deal outcome.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told MPs that there were “some forecasters in the City” who believed that agreement with Brussels could unlock some additional investment if the “disaster” of a no deal Brexit is avoided. But he went on:

It is the one plausible dividend that there might be, which is the thinking that if we avoid disaster people breathe a sigh of relief and things will be a little bit better.

It is odd to refer to a dividend. What is being talked about is avoiding something really very bad.

If you think of that as a dividend, well, fair enough. But I don’t think normal English would support that.

And CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith told MPs:

I think what we have to remember is avoiding a no-deal outcome is avoiding a much worse outcome, it is not improving the central case.

She said that a deal would bring “a sigh of relief” but “our sense is not that we will suddenly see a big increase in business investment”.

Yesterday Robert Chote, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, also told MPs that he did not accept Hammond’s claims about a Brexit dividend.

Labour has released a statement about the National Crime Agency investigation into Arron Banks. It’s from Jon Trickett, the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office.

Although some Labour MPs are calling for Brexit to be halted in response, that’s not the official line from Labour HQ. Trickett says:

These are serious allegations and it’s vital that the National Crime Agency is allowed to investigate the matter fully.

If elected, Labour will rid our politics of dark money and take every necessary step to restore public trust in democracy, which for too long has been undermined by people who think the rules don’t apply to them.

Ed Miliband calls for 'boldness not incrementalism' on housing

It is the last day of the budget day debate and John Bercow, the speaker, told MPs earlier that 77 of them wanted to speak. I will cover Liz Truss’s speech winding up, because the chief secretary to the Treasury may use it to announce some sort of climbdown on fixed odd betting terminals. I have not been paying much attention to other speeches, because there has been too much else on the go, but here are extracts from three of the speeches, courtesy of the Press Association.

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, called for a much bigger housebuilding effort, saying both main parties had failed in this area. He said:

If you’re looking across the piece at policy failures of governments of both parties, this is the biggest single failure over the last generation.

I’m proud of some of the things the last Labour government did but we didn’t build enough homes and nor has this government built enough homes either.

The Press Association report goes on:

To succeed in building enough homes for the future, Miliband said three key things need to change, the first being the principle that the market will provide.

“The market won’t provide sufficient housing at the scale and speed that is required ... there needs to be a very substantial role for government in building,” he said.

The former energy secretary told MPs the second thing that needs to change is the perception of social housing, saying it “has become seen by government as a residual for the neediest in our society”.

He said: “That was not the origins of social housing, it was the tool to meet the needs of middle and lower income families.”

His final point is for government to view social housing as an essential investment.

He said: “What we again have missed is that investing in housing is like an essential part of investing in our infrastructure; dare I say it is as much a part of our essential infrastructure as transport, including HS2, schools and hospitals, and it is value for money because of the return we get back.

“This is an era for boldness not incrementalism, I think the scale of boldness that is required is not there in the budget.”

Ken Clarke, the Conservative former chancellor, said that a recession was “not impossible” in the next few years. He told MPs:

We’re all being sustained by an American boom, which might be quite short-lived. These fiscally-induced booms usually are.

Recession is not impossible in the next two or three years.

We have to make sure, first that we avoid it, but second that we’re prepared for the warning signals when they come.

And the Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge appeared to criticise her party for not accepting the case for wide-ranging tax increases. She said:

We can’t keep promising excellent schools, effective policing and compassionate care if we refuse to raise the necessary money through tax.

We can’t keep pretending that punishing the wealthy is the solution to under-funding.

We need to have a truthful conversation with voters about how much we need to raise in tax to fund public services.

The Hansard for the debate is here. Currently it goes up to Ken Clarke’s speech, but other speeches will be added as the day goes on.

Ed Miliband (centre) at Tessa Jowell’s memorial centre, talking to Tony Blair (left)
Ed Miliband (centre) at Tessa Jowell’s memorial centre, talking to Tony Blair (left) Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Anti-Brexit campaigners have launched legal action to try to prevent the government taking the UK out of the EU on the grounds that the leave side cheated in the referendum. The barrister and blogger Adam Wagner has more details in a Twitter thread starting here.

The Labour peer George Foulkes also thinks Brexit should not go ahead while the National Crime Agency is investigating Leave.EU.

High court hears arguments why part two of Leveson inquiry should go ahead

Victims of “serious media intrusion” were told by David Cameron the second part of the Leveson inquiry would go ahead, the high court has heard. The Press Association story about the hearing goes on:

Senior judges were told the then-prime minister made a “clear and unambiguous commitment” at a meeting in November 2012 that Leveson II would proceed

The meeting was with Christopher Jefferies, Kate McCann and Jacqui Hames, who are all bringing a legal challenge against the government’s decision to cancel part two of the inquiry, along with Gerry McCann.

Helen Mountfield QC, representing the four, told the high court on Thursday: “It is common ground that the claimants have been caused huge pain and harm by the misconduct of the media.

“The pain is ongoing ... although none of them are here today, it is a painful thing to keep going over and over these things.”

Leveson II was due to look into unlawful conduct within media organisations as well as relations between police and the press.

But culture secretary Matt Hancock announced in March that reopening the “costly and time-consuming” inquiry - which reported on press regulation and ethics in 2012 - was not “the right way forward”.

The decision was taken jointly by Hancock and then-home secretary Amber Rudd.

Mountfield said there “could hardly be matters of greater public importance” than the issues Leveson II was due to look into.

She argued the decision to cancel it was “unlawful” because the four had a “legitimate expectation” it would go ahead following the meeting with Cameron.

The barrister added: “The prime minister’s commitment to the claimants created a substantive legitimate expectation that part two of the inquiry would proceed.

“But it did mean ... that if the defendants were minded to go back on the prime minister’s commitment they were required to take such an expectation into account as an obviously relevant factor when they took the decision. They did not do so.”

Lawyers for the government argued whatever Cameron said at the meeting “cannot and does not give rise to a binding obligation” to proceed with the second part of the inquiry.

They also complained about a “covert recording” made of the 2012 meeting, which was only recently disclosed to the government’s legal team.

The hearing, before Lord Justice Davis and Mr Justice Ouseley, is due to continue on Friday and the judges are expected to reserve their ruling to a later date.

Danuta Hübner is a Polish MEP who chairs the European parliament’s constitutional affairs committee. This morning, commenting on a tweet referring to the report about a supposed deal between the UK and the EU on financial services, she tweeted this.

Hübner’s tweeted was liked by Sabine Weyand, deputy to Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.

The People’s Vote campaign thinks is significant. It has put out this response from the Labour MP Chuka Umunna. He says:

Whatever gloss the government puts on any ‘deal’, the truth is this is a miserable Brexit for jobs, for services and for British business. A free trade agreement will be much worse than the current relationship, leaving us outside the single market and the customs union with no say in what happens next. It will make Britain a rule-taker with no influence at all and negotiating such an agreement will take years. All it really means is that Brexiters know they can’t find a deal which is acceptable to the British public and now want to leave all the big decisions until after we have left – effectively deceiving the country about the consequences of their plan.

Electoral commission statement on Leave.EU's 'potential criminal offences'

In one of his tweets Arron Banks says the Electoral Commission did not put its allegations to him and that it has not been in touch within the last four months. (See 2.58pm.)

But the commission says it has been in touch. It says:

We asked BFTC, Rock Services, Mr Banks and Leave.EU for information, and had exchanges of letters and emails with them to obtain more information, and to clarify responses.

I’ve taken this report from the Electoral Commission report on the investigation into payments to Better for the Country (BFTC) and Leave.EU. The report is quite detailed and well worth reading in full. It also includes this passage on “potential criminal offences”. It says:

From the evidence we gathered, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that a number of offences may have been committed.

These relate to the financial transactions which led to the £8m being paid into BFTC’s bank account. Mr Banks and Ms Bilney (and through them BFTC and Leave.EU) gave us unsatisfactory explanations about these transactions, and we have reasonable grounds to suspect that they knowingly concealed and sought to conceal the true circumstances.

We also have reasonable grounds to suspect that a non-qualifying or impermissible person or body, Rock Holdings (incorporated in the Isle of Man), was a party to the relevant transactions.

This is from HuffPost’s Paul Waugh.

Banks suggests NCA investigation is part of attempt to block Brexit

Arron Banks is a frequent and combative user of Twitter and he has been using it to respond to the news that he is being investigated by the National Crime Agency.

In one of his tweets he suggests the investigation is part of an attempt to block Brexit.

ITV’s Paul Brand says some MPs think the government will announce a U-turn over fixed odds betting terminals in the budget debate this afternoon.

If it does, that will be hugely embarrassing to Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, who was defending the decision to delay implementing the cut in the maximum stake from £100 to £2 only this morning (see 10.51am).

At business questions this morning Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, said that if MPs amend the government motion backing the Brexit withdrawal agreement (ie, by adding conditions), ministers might not be able to go ahead with the deal. She told MPs:

The facts of the case are that the government will be bringing forward a vote on the deal that the government has negotiated.

It will be an amendable motion of the House, and, should the House amend that motion, then the Government would take action on those amendments.

However, I must point out to the House again that, having negotiated a particular deal with the European Union, it may not be possible for the government to proceed on the basis of an amended vote.

While this House will be asked to decide whether it agrees for the government to negotiate on the basis of the agreed deal or not will be a matter for this House.

(For more on why an amendment could block the withdrawal agreement, read this post from yesterday.)

Matthew Pennycook, the shadow Brexit minister, condemned Leadsom’s stance. In a statement he said:

Andrea Leadsom and other members of the cabinet can’t ignore the fact that parliament won the right to a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.

The idea that ministers can simply ignore the will of parliament and impose a choice between a bad deal and no deal would make a mockery of the phrase ‘take back control’.

Andrea Leadsom
Andrea Leadsom Photograph: Paul Marriott/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, says the news about Arron Banks reinforces the case for a second referendum on Brexit - something his party has been campaigning for anyway.

The Labour MP Catherine West is also calling for Brexit to be halted in the light of the new allegations about Arron Banks, pending a second referendum.

Tory MSP facing suspension from Scottish parliament denies leaking committee report

Annie Wells, the Tory MSP who faces suspension from Holyrood for allegedly leaking a committee report’s findings, has denied being responsible for the newspaper story in question. (See 10.41am.)

Holyrood’s standards, procedures and public appointments committee said on Thursday it had unanimously agreed with an investigation which found Wells had breached parliamentary rules by publicly discussing a committee report recommending votes for prison inmates before it was published.

In response, Wells insisted she had done nothing wrong. She said:

Numerous media outlets contacted our office seeking comment on a story on the front page of a national newspaper that morning on prisoner voting. So I responded to that, as every MSP would, by issuing a statement to them reiterating my opposition to allowing prisoners voting rights.

My response did not contain details of the report that weren’t already known, nor was I responsible for the original leak of the document to the paper, and we still don’t know who was.

Indeed, I did not receive the final report until after it had featured in the national media. I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents and I will continue to oppose giving prisoners voting rights.

Elizabeth Bilney, chief executive of Leave.EU and one of the people being investigated by the National Crime Agency (see 12.09pm) said she welcomed the investigation and claimed the Electoral Commission was biased against Brexit.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s World at One she said:

I welcome the matter being passed onto the National Crime Agency, because to date all we have seen from the Electoral Commission is a biased approach. I hope that the matter will be shortly concluded to demonstrate that no crimes have been committed.

Asked to give evidence of a pro-remain bias at the Electoral Commission, Bilney said:

We have given honest and reasonable explanations of how we have completed all of our work including the returns on which they made their last charges. At the end of the day they have been funded in the past by EU so I think there will be a natural bias in favour of the EU. If you look at the board [members] of the Electoral Commission they have made public statements about being in favour and wanting to remain in the EU.

On the commission’s concerns that Banks was not the true source of the £8m loans to the Better for the Country umbrella organisation, Bilney said:

That’s because they have failed to understand the loan agreements. They were quite simple. They were between Arron Banks and the company that loaned him the money. So they are looking at it as they want to through their own biased lens ... that’s why it is good that it has been passed onto the NCA.

Asked where Banks got the money from, Bilney said “he took it from the companies where is an ultimate beneficial owner.”

She added:

I can confirm it wouldn’t have come from Russia ... I run the group companies where the money was from and we don’t have any transactions that are from Russia.

I am completely comfortable that we have done everything above board, which is why I’m am happy to talk about it. I am completely confident all the matters will be completely resolved and that I will be exonerated and so will Arron and anybody else involved.

Damian Collins (see 1.21pm) is interested in Arron Banks because his culture committee took evidence from Banks as part of its inquiry into fake news. It was a very tetchy session (there is a good summary here) and eventually Banks walked out. In their interim report (pdf), the committee were highly critical of him and Andy Wigmore, his colleague. Here are extracts.

Arron Banks is, reportedly, the largest individual donor in UK political history. As far as we understand, he met with the Russian ambassador, for the first time, in the run up to the EU Referendum. Evidence discloses that he discussed business ventures within Russia and beyond, and other financial ventures, in a series of meetings with Russian Embassy staff. Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore have misled the committee on the number of meetings that took place with the Russian embassy and walked out of the committee’s evidence session to avoid scrutiny of the content of the discussions with the Russian embassy.

From the emails that we have seen, it is evident that Arron Banks had many meetings with Russian officials, including the Russian Ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, between 2015 and 2017. The meetings involved discussions about business deals involving Alrosa, the Russian diamond monopoly, the purchase of gold mines, funded by Sberbank, the Russian-state bank, and the transferring of confidential documents to Russian officials. Mr. Banks seemed to want to hide the extent of his contacts with Russia, while his spokesman Andy Wigmore’s statements have been unreliable - by his own admission - and cannot be taken at face value. Mr Wigmore is a self-confessed liar and, as a result, little significance can be attached to anything that he says. It is unclear whether Mr. Banks profited from business deals arising from meetings arranged by Russian officials. We understand that the National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating these matters. We believe that they should be given full access to any relevant information that will aid their inquiry ...

Arron Banks is believed to have donated £8.4m to the Leave campaign, the largest political donation in British politics, but it is unclear from where he obtained that amount of money. He failed to satisfy us that his own donations had, in fact, come from sources within the UK. At the same time, we have evidence of Mr. Banks’ discussions with Russian embassy contacts, including the Russian ambassador, over potential gold and diamond deals, and the passing of confidential information by Mr Banks. The Electoral Commission should pursue investigations into donations that Arron Banks made to the Leave campaign, to verify that the money was not sourced from abroad. Should there be any doubt, the matter should be referred to the NCA. The Electoral Commission should come forward with proposals for more stringent requirements for major donors to demonstrate the source of their donations.

It is not just Labour MPs who have welcomed the investigation into Arron Banks. This is from the Conservative MP Damian Collins, who chairs the Commons culture committee.

And this is from Antoinette Sandbach, a Tory pro-European.

The committee

Arron Banks's statement about being investigated by National Crime Agency

Here is the full text of the Arron Banks statement.

I am pleased that the Electoral Commission has referred me to the National Crime Agency. I am confident that a full and frank investigation will finally put an end to the ludicrous allegations levelled against me and my colleagues.

There is no evidence of any wrongdoing from the companies I own. I am a UK taxpayer and I have never received any foreign donations. The Electoral Commission has produced no evidence to the contrary.

The Electoral Commission has referred me to the National Crime Agency under intense political pressure from anti-Brexit supporters.

I am already in court with the Electoral Commission. In witness statements the commission has admitted it got its figures wrong in relation to a previous investigation and it even submitted its final report without taking evidence from us.

Isn’t it funny that none of the financial contributions made by George Soros to British political campaigns are ever subject to any level of scrutiny by the Electoral Commission despite his being a foreign national.

Arron Banks.
Arron Banks. Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters

This is from my colleague Jessica Elgot on one aspect of the Arron Banks statement. (See 1.02pm.)

The Labour MP David Lammy is also calling for Brexit to be halted until the full truth about what happened during the referendum is revealed.

Arron Banks says allegations against him are 'ludicrous'

Arron Banks has put out a statement saying that he is pleased that he is being investigated by the National Crime Agency because he thinks it will show that the allegations against him are “ludicrous”.

Andy Wigmore, a spokesperson for Leave.EU and former Belizean diplomat who is Banks’ righthand man, insisted he was calm about the National Crime Agency investigation when contacted by the Guardian. He said:

It’s completely to be expected. It will finally bring a head to all these crazy allegations made about us. We’re not worried.

Government urged to halt Brexit in light of criminal investigation into Leave.EU's funding

The Labour MP Helen Hayes has called for Brexit to be halted in the light of the criminal investigation into Leave.EU’s funding.

It is worth pointing out, of course, that, although it was well-funded and high-profile, Leave.EU was not the main leave campaign. That was a different campaign, Vote Leave.

Vote Leave has also been referred to the police after the Electoral Commission concluded it broke electoral law, but it is not part of the referral to the National Crime Agency announced today. (See 12.09pm.)

I’m afraid we are going to have to close comments. In the light of the announcement about the National Crime Agency investigation into Arron Banks and other leave campaigners, if we leave them open there is too much risk of people posting libellous material. I’m sorry about that. It’s not a decision we take lightly because we value comments here a great deal.

Barnier says reports about EU and UK reaching deal on financial services 'misleading'

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has taken the unusual step of putting out a statement describing as “misleading” the story that appeared in the print edition of the Times under the headline “May seals Brexit deal on financial services”.

He also makes the point that “equivalence”, which is what the Times says has been negotiated (albeit, it says, in a slightly beefed up form), is a fairly routine EU offer.

The National Crime Agency has put out this statement about the investigation.

The NCA has initiated an investigation concerning the entities Better for the Country (BFTC) and Leave.EU; as well as Arron Banks, Elizabeth Bilney and other individuals. This follows our acceptance of a referral of material from the Electoral Commission.

Our investigation relates to suspected electoral law offences covered by that referral, as well as any associated offences.

While electoral law offences would not routinely fall within the NCA’s remit, the nature of the necessary inquiries and the potential for offences to have been committed other than under electoral law lead us to consider an NCA investigation appropriate in this instance.

This is now a live investigation, and we are unable to discuss any operational detail.

Andy Wigmore, a close colleague of Arron Banks’ who worked with him on Leave.EU, says he is pleased about the investigation because it will allow them to show that they did not break spending rules, the Guido Fawkes website reports.

Here is a link to the Electoral Commission press release about the National Crime Agency launching a criminal investigation into Aaron Banks and other leave campaigners.

And here is a link to a page on the Electoral Commission website with more details of its investigation.

Here is a statement from Bob Posner, the Electoral Commission’s director of political finance and regulation & Legal Counsel, on the announcement this morning about the National Crime Agency investigation into leave campaigners. (See 12.09am.) He said:

We have reasonable grounds to suspect money given to Better for the Country came from impermissible sources and that Mr Banks and Ms Bilney, the responsible person for Leave.EU, knowingly concealed the true circumstances under which this money was provided. This is significant because at least £2.9m of this money was used to fund referendum spending and donations during the regulated period of the EU referendum.

Our investigation has unveiled evidence that suggests criminal offences have been committed which fall beyond the remit of the Commission. This is why we have handed our evidence to the NCA to allow them to investigate and take any appropriate law enforcement action. This is now a criminal investigation.

The financial transactions we have investigated include companies incorporated in Gibraltar and the Isle of Man. These jurisdictions are beyond the reach of the Electoral Commission for the purpose of obtaining information for use in criminal investigations or proceedings.

Arron Banks and other leave campaigners being investigated by National Crime Agency over 'multiple suspected offences' during referendum

The Electoral Commission has just sent out this press release.

A number of companies and individuals have been referred to the National Crime Agency for suspected criminal offences committed during the EU referendum.

Following its investigation into funding for the 2016 EU referendum, the Electoral Commission has referred: Better for the Country, the organisation that ran the Leave.EU referendum campaign; Arron Banks; Leave.EU; Elizabeth Bilney; and other associated companies and individuals. The National Crime Agency has now launched a criminal investigation.

The investigation focused on £2m reported to have been loaned to Better for the Country by Arron Banks and his group of insurance companies and a further £6m reported to have been given to the organisation, on behalf of Leave.EU, by Arron Banks alone.

£2.9m of this money was used to fund referendum spending on behalf of Leave.EU and donations to other campaign groups during the EU referendum.

Following its investigation, the Commission has reasonable grounds to suspect that:

- Mr Banks was not the true source of the £8m loans made to Better for the Country.

- Loans to Better for the Country, on behalf of Leave.EU, involved a non-qualifying or impermissible company – Rock Holdings Limited, which is incorporated in the Isle of Man.

- Arron Banks, Elizabeth Bilney and others involved in Better for the Country, Leave.EU and associated companies concealed the true details of these financial transactions.

- A number of criminal offences may have been committed.

Due to multiple suspected offences, some of which fall outside the Commission’s remit, the Commission has referred this matter and handed its evidence to the National Crime Agency.

Updated

As my colleague Dan Sabbagh reports, at the Number 10 lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman, asked about reports that the EU and the UK have agreed a deal on financial services (see 10.17am and 10.30am), made it clear that he wasn’t impressed by the BBC’s news judgment this morning.

Downing Street does not think Tracey Crouch has resigned as a sports minister over fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT), journalists were told at the Number 10 lobby briefing. These are from the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment and ITV’s Paul Brand.

Updated

I’ve already mentioned the Times’ story about a possible Brexit deal on financial services. (See 10.17am.) Here are some of the other Brexit stories around this morning.

EU negotiators are open to accelerating talks and calling a special Brexit summit for the bloc’s leaders later in November.

But limited progress in the Brexit talks in recent days has led diplomats to almost write off the prospects of a summit. One figure on the EU side said he was “flabbergasted” at expectations of an imminent breakthrough.

The Telegraph understands from senior EU sources that Mr Barnier is now under growing pressure to accept British proposals that the withdrawal agreement should now include an open-ended customs union with the EU.

The move comes as central European and western EU member states privately express concerns that the ‘backstop’ agreement as originally conceived by Mr Barnier will never be accepted by Mrs May.

Labour’s Nick Smith asks if Tracey Crouch has threatened to resign over this decision.

Wright says he is clear that Crouch is doing a great job. But this is a decision for the government to take collectively, he says.

  • Wright refuses to deny that Tracey Crouch has threatened to resign over the FOBT decision.

The Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the Commons education committee, tells Wright that he wants to see action on FOBT “sooner rather than later”.

David Jones, the Conservative former Welsh secretary, tells Wright he is “engaging in semantics” when he claims that introducing the cut in the maximum FOBT stake in October next year not April is not a delay, when it is.

Wright does not accept that. He says this is about introducing the change in an orderly way.

The campaign group Scotland for a People’s Vote hosted a packed launch event in Edinburgh on Thursday morning as it released polling showing that 59% of voters in Scotland backed a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal, while 64% believe that a new referendum would result in the UK voting to stay in the EU.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon underlined her own support for a second EU referendum last month at her party conference, but since then a number of senior nationalist figures have expressed concern that this could set a dangerous precedent for another Scottish independence vote.

Speaking at the launch, director of the Scottish Centre of European Relations Dr Kirsty Hughes insisted that the campaign was a “broad church” that deliberately did not take a view on Scotland’s constitutional future. She said:

What we have very strong opinions on it that Brexit will be very bad for Scotland whatever its constitutional future.

The campaign has plans a Scotland-wide day of action on Saturday Nov 10.

Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative chair of the health committee, says the betting industry has had plenty of time to adapt to these changes. She says the government should prioritise suicide prevention and introduce the cut in the maximum FOBT stake sooner.

Wright says this is not about pacifying the betting industry. If the government was worried about that, it would not be cutting the maximum stake in the first place, he says.

Duncan Smith criticises government for delaying reduction in FOBT maximum stake

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, urges Wright to “think again” and bring forward the point at which the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals are reduced. They are a “scourge”, he says.

Wright says the government has not been influenced by concern about the profits of betting companies. But it has taken into account the impact on jobs in the industry, he says.

Jeremy Wright plays down speculation Tracey Crouch has resigned over FOBT

Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, is responding to Tom Watson’s urgent question on fixed odds betting terminals. (See 9.41am.) He defends the decision to introduce the cut in the maximum stake from £100 to £2 in October next year, not April as expected, saying the delay protects jobs and government revenue. He does not mention Tracey Crouch, the sports minister who is reportedly on the verge of resigning over this.

Tom Watson, the shadow culture minister, asks if Crouch is resigning. He says when the government first announced this policy, it implied the cut would come into effect in April next year. He accuses Wright of capitulating to the gambling industry.

Wright says Crouch “is doing an outstanding job as minister for sports and civil society”. He says she deserves much of the credit for the government deciding to cut the maximum stake.

  • Jeremy Wright plays down speculation that Tracey Crouch has resigned, saying she is doing an ‘outstanding job’ as a minister.

Updated

Tory MSP faces suspension from Scottish parliament for leaking committee report

A Tory MSP, Annie Wells, faces being suspended from Holyrood for five days after a parliamentary committee ruled she had leaked details of a report on prisoner voting to the media.

Wells was quoted at length in an official Scottish Tory press release in May protesting about proposals to support limited voting rights for some Scottish prison inmates, a measure now being considered by Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister.

That press release was issued to amplify a story in that morning’s Scottish Daily Mail, based on a leak of the equalities committee report. Wells is a member of that committee and was named in a complaint by Gail Ross, a fellow committee member with the Scottish National party.

The standards, procedures and public appointments committee unanimously agreed with the findings of an investigation that Wells had “sought political advantage by making advance public comment on the equalities and human rights committee’s report on prisoner voting in Scotland.”

The Tory press notice quoted Wells saying:

Victims of crime will be horrified that that, yet again, the rights of criminals are being prioritised above the experiences of victims.

These proposals simply demonstrate just how out of touch the other parties are. Only the Scottish Conservatives will stand up for victims and their families.

With the committee’s decision expected to be ratified by the parliament as a whole, Wells is the third MSP to be suspended for leaking committee reports, in breaching three parts of the MSPs code of conduct.

Mike Pringle, the Lib Dem MSP, and Brian Montieth, formerly a Tory MSP, have both been excluded for a week for the same offence in the past.

There was no immediate comment from Wells or the Scottish Tories.

More from the chamber.

Updated

This is from the Times’ Patrick Kidd.

This is what the Brexit department is saying about the Times story about a deal on financial services (see 10.17am) this morning. A spokesperson said:

While we continue to make good progress agreeing new arrangements for financial services, negotiations are ongoing and nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

In culture questions Labour’s Kevin Brennan asked Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, why Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, was not present and if it was true that she was having a meeting with the chief whip (presumably about her threat to resign - see 9.41am and 9.50am.) Wright said that Crouch was not in the Commons for culture questions because she was returning to the UK this morning from the US and they could not be sure she would arrive on time. But he refused to comment on the report that she was meeting the chief whip.

This morning the BBC news was giving prominence to a story that the Times (paywall) printed on page 14 saying the UK and the EU have reached a tentative agreement on City access to EU financial markets after Brexit. According to the Times, the deal on financial services would be based on “equivalence” - a relatively limited form of access - although, according to the Times, the form of “equivalence” being discussed would give City firms more security than standard “equivalence” regimes in trade deals.

We’ve been told the treat the story with some caution. Here is my colleague Pippa Crerar’s take on it.

Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, is not in the Commons for culture question and is reportedly meeting the chief whip, Julian Smith, the Times’ Patrick Kidd reports. According to the Telegraph, she is considering resigning. (See 9.41am.)

Abbott warns that hard Brexit could turn UK into 'safe haven for Mafia and paedophiles'

The UK is at risk of becoming a safe haven for the Mafia, terrorists and paedophiles under the government’s proposed terms to leave the European Union, the shadow Home Secretary he told police chiefs.

Diane Abbott told a summit of police leaders that Labour will vote down any deal that leaves the UK’s security and policing in a worse situation than before. Abbott warned that being outside Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, losing use of the European arrest warrant and not having access to EU criminal databases would damage the UK’s ability to “mount effective policing”.

Addressing the summit of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) she said:

Put simply, the government’s hard Brexit and its lack of progress on security matters contains a real risk that this country could become a safe haven for the terrorists, the Mafia type criminals, the smugglers and the paedophiles on the run from the EU 27. This is not a prospect either this country or the EU should contemplate.

Diane Abbott speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool in September.
Diane Abbott speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool in September. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

At 10.30am there will be an urgent question on fixed odds betting terminals.

That seems to have been prompted by this story in the Daily Telegraph (paywall) claiming that Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, is on the verge of resigning because she is so angry about the budget decision to delay the cut in the maximum stake from £100 to £2. Imposing the cut later than expected saves the betting industry and the Treasury hundreds of millions.

Here is how Steven Swinford’s Telegraph story starts.

A minister is on the brink of quitting after the government delayed to plans to slash the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2, The Telegraph has learned.

Tracey Crouch, a culture minister, is understood to be furious after the Treasury announced in the budget that the reduction in the stakes will be delayed by six months until October 2019.

On Wednesday evening Ms Crouch, the sports & civil society minister, refused to rule out quitting when contacted by the Telegraph during a visit to the US. She was due to return to the UK on Thursday morning.

Javid overrules Nokes and rules out immediate new hiring checks for firms if there's no deal Brexit

Amid some competition, Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, currently holds the title for worst-performing minister in this government. Her appearance at the home affairs committee on Tuesday was widely written up as one of worst by any member of the government for some time, not least because she appeared to announce an impossible duty for employers in the event of a no deal Brexit next spring. Here is our story about the hearing and this is how it starts.

Employers will be expected to check whether EU nationals have the right to work in the UK if there is a no deal Brexit, even though it will be almost impossible to assess this, and the nature of the checks remain unknown, Caroline Nokes, the immigration minister, has told MPs.

Her disclosure caused dismay among employers’ groups, which have said they have “serious concerns” that the Home Office may give them an impossible task with just five months left until Britain leaves the EU.

In a fractious appearance before the home affairs select committee, Nokes said it would be up to companies offering jobs to EU nationals after Brexit to determine whether those applicants were eligible to work in the UK.

Last night Sajid Javid, who has home secretary is Nokes’ boss, had to repair the damage. In an interview on ITV’s Peston, he said that if there is a no deal Brexit, employers hiring EU nationals won’t be expected to check when they entered the country. As Politico Europe reports, he told the programme:

We’ve just got to be practical. If there was a no deal, we won’t be able to immediately distinguish between those Europeans that were already here before March 29, and those who came after — and therefore as a result I wouldn’t expect employers to do anything different than they do today … There will need to be some kind of sensible transition period.

Last night the3million, the campaign group which represents EU nationals living in the UK, said it had had the same message from the Home Office.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Ben Wallace, the security minister, speaks at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners summit.

10am: Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about the budget.

10am: The high court hears an application for judicial review of the government’s decision not to go ahead with part two of the Leveson inquiry.

10.30am: Theresa May holds a roundtable meeting with industrialists at Number 10.

After 11.30am: MPs resume the budget debate. At 5pm they will vote, including on a Labour amendment saying the government should publish a distributional impact of Labour’s plans to increase taxes for high earners.

As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up, probably around 5.30pm.

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 BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time.

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

Updated

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