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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Labour leadership contest: Boost for Starmer's campaign as he gets Unison's backing – as it happened

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary and Labour leadership candidate.
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary and Labour leadership candidate. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

Afternoon summary

The prime minister has been clear that the implementation period will end at the end of this year and we will work with the European Union to negotiate an FTA [free trade agreement].

  • MPs have voted down proposals to enshrine protections for child refugees as part of the government’s Brexit agreement. As the Press Association reports, following his election victory, Boris Johnson re-drafted his European Union (withdrawal agreement) bill and rowed back on the previous government’s acceptance of an amendment from Labour peer Lord Dubs to allow unaccompanied child refugees to continue to be reunited with their families in the UK after exit day. Clause 37 of the bill replaces the pledge with a watered-down vow for ministers to “make a statement” on the progress of the talks once the divorce with Brussels is complete. An attempt to re-instate the Dubs provision was defeated this afternoon by a majority of 96 votes. This is from the Green MP Caroline Lucas.
  • Three MEPs who quit - and one who was sacked by - the Brexit party have joined the Conservatives. Annunziata Rees-Mogg - sister of Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg - Lance Forman and Lucy Harris resigned the Brexit party whip only a week before the election to back the PM’s push to “get Brexit done”. As the Press Association reports, they were joined in backing Boris Johnson by John Longworth, the former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce who was sacked for “repeatedly undermining” leader Nigel Farage’s election strategy only days before the trio’s walkout. The four confirmed they have switched allegiance to become Tory MEPs in the European parliament, in a move that will more than double the number of Conservatives in Brussels. It takes the number of Tory representatives to seven.
  • Airbnb-style short-term lets could be subject to new licensing schemes from spring next year, the Scottish government has announced. As the Press Association reports, as well as handing councils the power to bring in licensing schemes, local authorities will in future be able to designate new control areas for short-term lets, with those wanting to let out properties in this way first having to obtain planning permission. The measures are being introduced following concerns about the impact such lets have on areas such as Edinburgh - one of the most popular places for Airbnb listings.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Ursula von der Leyen and Michel Barnier leaving No 10 after their meeting with Boris Johnson.
Ursula von der Leyen and Michel Barnier leaving No 10 after their meeting with Boris Johnson. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

This is from Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, who attended the meeting in Dowing Street with Boris Johnson alongside Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission.

From LabourList’s Sienna Rodgers

Jon Lansman is head of Momentum, the Labour organisation set up for Jeremy Corbyn supporters. And Matt Zarb-Cousin is a former press spokesman for Corbyn.

Here is Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary and Labour leadership candidate, responding to news that Unison is backing his campaign.

Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have been reminiscing about the fact that they attended the same school in Brussels during their meeting in No 10. Their fathers both worked for the European commission, and so they both attended the European school in Brussels, although not at the same time.

The Telegraph’s Peter Foster has a good take on the exchanges.

Boris Johnson welcoming Ursula von der Leyen to No 10.
Boris Johnson welcoming Ursula von der Leyen to No 10. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media

Updated

Northern Ireland businesses have vowed to take their fight for a Brexit mitigation package to the House of Lords any beyond.

And they have dared the government to “prove it” after the Northern Ireland minister Robin Walker told MPs that “this deal is a good deal for both businesses and individuals in Northern Ireland.”

An amendment proposing cash compensation for the extra disruption they will face post-Brexit because of checks on goods crossing the Irish sea was comprehensively defeated by 75 voters in the Commons, as was a proposal for an annual review of the new arrangements if the impact of Brexit is adverse.

“The fight will go on in the House of Lords, at Committees and with the EU. We are determined to protect NI families and the affordability and choice they enjoy,” the business groups said in a statement. The 12 business groups backing the amendment include the Ulster Farmers Union and the Confederation of British Industry in Northern Ireland.

So far there have been four votes on amendments to the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill in the Commons this afternoon. The government has won them all very easily.

Updated

Here is a rather sad tweet from Laura Smith, who was Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich until she lost her seat in the election.

These are from HuffPost’s Paul Waugh, who has been at the afternoon Downing Street lobby briefing.

Thornberry says Corbyn's advisers tried to remove condemnation of Palestinian terror attacks from manifesto

The Labour leadership candidates have mostly been wary of criticising Jeremy Corbyn directly, but they have been more willing to have a go at his advisers and none more so than Emily Thornberry, who in an interview before Christmas effectively called for Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy, who have been Corbyn’s two most powerful aides, to be sacked.

Today Thornberry has escalated her attack, saying that unnamed “advisers” in Corbyn’s office tried to remove a line from the 2019 manifesto criticising rocket and terror attacks by Palestinian groups against Israel. In a blog for Jewish News she says:

Even that didn’t prepare me for the battle I had over Labour’s 2019 manifesto, where the advisers around Jeremy Corbyn proposed to amend the language we had used in the 2017 version to remove the condemnation of rocket and terror attacks by Palestinian groups against Israel, while rightly continuing to condemn the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the blockade of Gaza.

When I repeatedly complained that this was utterly unacceptable, I was told by Jeremy’s office that they thought this was “very balanced considering the considerable imbalance in the conflict”.

Disgustingly, attacks on Israeli civilians were being deliberately dismissed in a way that would never have been tolerated of attacks on any civilians in any other country around the world.

At Labour’s clause V meeting to agree the manifesto, I finally won the argument, and succeeded in reverting the proposed text to the 2017 language, but the whole process left me deeply disturbed at the mentality of the advisers around Jeremy.

In a passage on Israel and Palestine the manifesto said:

All sides must avoid taking action that would make peace harder to achieve. That means both an end to the blockade, occupation and settlements, and an end to rocket and terror attacks.

In the blog Thornberry says she does not think Corbyn was aware that his advisers were trying to make sure the manifesto did not contain implicit criticism of groups like Hamas. She says:

As for Jeremy, based on his reaction at the meeting, I think he knew nothing about the row, even though his advisers had invoked his name several times beforehand when pressuring me to drop my objections, something I believe they frequently did without his knowledge.

She also says the party needs to be much tougher with antisemites in the party. She says:

If I was leader ... driving antisemitism out of Labour would be my most urgent and immediate priority. No more suspensions, training sessions, or forgiveness, I would just kick these scumbags out of our party, the way we should have done long before now.

Corbyn’s office has been asked to comment, but has not replied yet. I will post their response if I get one.

Emily Thornberry speaking at her election count last month.
Emily Thornberry speaking at her election count last month. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Updated

A government minister has said there will be “reporting requirements” for goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

But Robin Walker, a Northern Ireland minister, told MPs during the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill: “It is clear there are reporting requirements in terms of the functioning of the protocol.”

But Walker said the checks would be light touch. He said:

What we want to ensure is, as set out in article 6 [promising unfettered access] of the [Northern Ireland] protocol, that we use the joint committee in that to reduce those and make sure we have the absolute minimum burden.

Walker added he recognised the concerns of businesses over checks because of Brexit and the government would seek to minimise them.

They are demanding cash compensation that could run to more than £100m for the disruption caused by Brexit.

Walker said the government recognised the “strong voice” and concerns of Northern Ireland businesses but article 6 of the withdrawal agreement NI protocol gave the government the power to ensure “unfettered” access. He said:

The prime minister has been absolutely clear, that beyond our obligations under international law, there will be no new checks or processes on the movement of such goods and our manifesto commitment is absolutely clear the bill gives us the power to deliver this.

Boost for Starmer's campaign for Labour leadership as he gets Unison's backing

Unison, the largest union in the UK, has endorsed Sir Keir Starmer for next Labour leader. Starmer has already become the first candidate to get the required number of nominations from MPs (see 11.18am) and the Unison endorsement means that he can be confident of clearing the other nomination threshold: getting the support of either 10% of CLPs, or 5% of the affiliate vote. Unison accounts for more than 5% of the affiliate vote.

Under Labour rules Starmer needs another two affiliated organisations to back him – either trade unions or socialist societies. Given the support he is already attracting, he is certain to achieve this.

Explaining Unison’s decision, Dave Prentis, the Unison general secretary, said:

This is a pivotal time for Labour. We believe – if elected by the membership – Keir Starmer would be a leader to bring the party together and win back the trust of the thousands of voters who deserted Labour last month.

Unions created the Labour party to give working people a voice in Westminster. But it can only achieve for them, their families, their communities and the country’s public services when in government.

Keir has a clear vision to get Labour back to the winning ways of the past. He is best placed to take on Boris Johnson, hold his government to account and ensure Labour can return to power and once more change working people’s lives for the better.

Dave Prentis.
Dave Prentis. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA

Updated

EU chief urges Boris Johnson to reconsider his opposition to extending post-Brexit transition

Here is the full text of the speech by Ursula Von der Leyen, the new president of the European commission, at the LSE earlier. Here is my colleague Lisa O’Carroll’s write-up. And here are the key points.

  • Von der Leyen said it would be impossible to negotiate a full UK-EU trade deal by the end of this year. Boris Johnson claims it will be possible to conclude the negotiations within this time frame. But in her speech Von der Leyen said:

The more divergence there is, the more distant the partnership has to be. And without an extension of the transition period beyond 2020, you cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of our new partnership.

She went even further in the Q&A, saying:

The transition time - it is very, very tight. I briefly [in the speech] touched on the topics we have to negotiate, and this was not even the whole list. It is basically impossible to negotiate all of what I’ve been mentioning ... Therefore we will have to prioritise as long as we face that deadline of the end of 2020.

I can only recommend that we prioritise in a way we first of all tackle those topics where, at the end of the year, when we are running out of time, we will not have an international agreement or something to fall back on, but only a hard exit, which would not be good for the UK, nor would it be good for the European Union. Therefore the priorities will have to be sorted out.

  • She urged Johnson to reconsider his opposition to an extension of the post-Brexit transition period. Johnson has amended the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill to make it illegal for the government to agree an extension with the EU. But Von der Leyen said this option should remain open. In the Q&A she said:

I would prefer that we look at the whole scenery during the summer, or before the summer starts would be better, because we might together want to take reconsideration of the time frame before 1 July. But let us start first of all at 1 February with sorting the field and going into the negotiations determined to work as hard as we can, as much as we can, but there are of course limits.

The 1 July deadline is important because, if the UK and the EU do want to extend the transition period for one year or for two years, as allowed under the withdrawal agreement, they have to decide that by that point.

  • She said that after Brexit the UK and the EU would continue to be “the best of friends and partners”.
  • She said that after Brexit the UK’s relationship with the EU would change. In her speech she said:

The truth is that our partnership cannot and will not be the same as before. And it cannot and will not be as close as before – because with every choice comes a consequence. With every decision comes a trade-off. Without the free movement of people, you cannot have the free movement of capital, goods and services. Without a level playing field on environment, labour, taxation and state aid, you cannot have the highest quality access to the world’s largest single market.

The more divergence there is, the more distant the partnership has to be.

  • But she did say the EU wanted a trade deal “unprecedented in scope”. In her speech she said:

We are ready to design a new partnership with zero tariffs, zero quotas, zero dumping. A partnership that goes well beyond trade and is unprecedented in scope. Everything from climate action to data protection, fisheries to energy, transport to space, financial services to security.

When asked in the Q&A what she meant by a zero tariffs, zero quotas, zero dumping relationship, she replied:

Zero quotas, zero tariffs, zero dumping means level playing field, clear level playing field, on both sides. So whatever is diverging from a level playing field decreases the uncomplicated access to the single market.

  • She said Brexit had strengthened faith in the EU project. In her speech she said:

One consequence of the Brexit vote has been to strengthen the unity and the faith in Europe as a project for the common good. The truth is that Brexit has highlighted the value of being together in today’s ever more unsettled world.

  • She praised the contribution of Britons to Europe and to the European Union. She said:

Before the ashes of the second world war had even settled, it was Winston Churchill who made the best case for a united Europe. I read out passages from his 1946 Zurich speech the last time I was here – it is the most eloquent and powerful case for the European Union you could ever wish to read ....

As president of the European commission, I want to pay tribute today to all those British people who contributed so much to the 45-plus years of EU membership. I think of the British pragmatism and leadership when it came to opening up our union to members of our family who had been out in the cold for so long. The successive EU enlargements were historic steps for our continent and they bear the British hallmark. I think of those who helped to build our institutions.

People like Commissioner Arthur Cockfield who was known as the ‘father of the single market’. Or Roy Jenkins, president of the European commission while I was at LSE, who did so much to pave the way for our single currency. I think of the European civil servants of British nationality who devoted their lives and careers to Europe and have done so much to build our Union.

  • She stressed her love for the UK. Speaking about her time as a student at the LSE, she said:

I got to know a warm, vibrant, colourful, multicultural society – the likes of which I had not really experienced before. I saw people from different walks of life going out together, enjoying life, breathing in freedom. I immersed myself in this melting pot of cultures, traditions and music. And I truly fell in love with this city and this country.

This country, strong-willed, open-minded and big hearted. Proud and patriotic. Kind and generous in spirit.

Ursula von der Leyen giving her speech at the LSE.
Ursula von der Leyen giving her speech at the LSE. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

Clive Lewis, the Labour leadership hopeful, has revealed plans for increased cooperation with the Greens if he takes over from Jeremy Corbyn, highlighting what seems likely to be an increasing focus for Labour as it comes to terms with its latest election defeat.

Lewis, the Norwich South MP and shadow Treasury minister, said that if he became leader he would seek to work directly with the Greens on a so-called green new deal, the idea of investing heavily to transform the economy on a sustainable basis. He said:

We need a new politics of collaboration and openness as the building blocks of the political forces and practices necessary for progressives to take power nationally by 2024 at the latest.

The Greens’ sole MP, Caroline Lucas, said she welcomed the idea of cooperation on the green new deal, an idea pioneered in the UK by her party.

In practical terms this probably won’t make much difference, for two reasons. Firstly, while the Greens would argue for a more radical reshaping of the economy than Labour, it seems inevitable they would back a Labour green new deal plan in parliament anyway. Also, Lewis is currently seen as an outsider to win the leadership contest.

But it is nonetheless a notable move, cementing ideas of the so-called progressive alliance on the left as a way to circumvent the first-past-the-post electoral system. Lewis himself is a notable Labour proponent of proportional representation, which does tend to necessitate closer cross-party collaboration.

Updated

Speaking to reporters after PMQs, Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said it was “hard to see” how the assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in a US drone strike could be justified as a legal action. The spokesman said:

Since the assassination of senior officials, generals, or ministers of internationally recognised governments is, on the face of it, entirely illegal in international law, that defence – the defence of an imminent threat – has to be made public for there to be any question of there being legality around it.

No such evidence has been forthcoming and, on the face of it, it’s hard to see how that would be the case. But, of course, if that was produced by the US government then that would have to be taken seriously.

The spokesman also said if the Iraqi government called for the expulsion of foreign troops then the British government should respect that.

Following the decision of the Iraqi parliament by 175 votes to none to request the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Iraq, if that is subsequently requested by the sovereign Iraqi government then that must be respected.

If Iraq is a sovereign country, and the British government and the US government have always said that that was their intention following the invasion and occupation of Iraq, then that sovereignty must be respected and if such a request is made then that should be respected.

He also said there should be an emergency meeting of the UN security council to de-escalate the crisis.

Updated

Ursula von der Leyen: UK deadline makes full Brexit deal impossible

Here is my colleague Lisa O’Carroll’s story on the Ursula von der Leyen speech.

And this is how it starts.

The president of the European commission has said it will be “impossible” for the UK to negotiate a comprehensive deal covering all aspects of Brexit within the timeframe set by Boris Johnson.

Speaking before her first face-to-face bilateral meeting with the prime minister in Downing Street on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen said the price of the clean-break Brexit the prime minister was pursuing was a “distant” partnership with the EU.

Unless the UK accepted a level playing field in the UK and EU’s trade positions after Brexit, there would inevitably be barriers for British manufacturing, she said in a speech at the London School of Economics.

Updated

Clive Lewis says he cannot imagine ever using nuclear weapons if he were PM

Labour leadership hopeful Clive Lewis has said he cannot think of any reason why he would authorise the use of Britain’s nuclear weapons should he ever become prime minister. In an interview on Wednesday morning, the former shadow defence minister said he did not believe the country needed nuclear weapons and that they did not act as a deterrent.

Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show about whether he would ever “press the nuclear button”, Lewis said:

I couldn’t conceive of any circumstance where I would. Think about what you’re doing, you’re wiping out millions of women and children and probably consigning the planet to perpetual night, darkness, death, famine, destruction. Why would any politician want to boast about pushing the nuclear destruction of billions of people on this planet?

I find that quite difficult. I could not conceive of a situation where I would push the button.

The former infantry officer, who served on a three-month tour in Afghanistan in 2009, said the party was committed to paying for the renewal of the deterrent. However, he said his personal opinion was that were other means of defending the UK should it be threatened by a nuclear power.

Jeremy Corbyn has been a long-standing opponent of nuclear weapons but in November he said Britain’s Vanguard submarine fleet, based at Faslane in Scotland, would continue if he became PM but would be part of the “equation” when it came to non-proliferation discussions. Lewis said: “Our party policy is to renew [the nuclear deterrent].”

Asked how he would mark Corbyn out of 10 (in the light of Rebecca Long Bailey’s awarding Corbyn “10 out of 10” on Tuesday), Lewis said he would give Corbyn six out of 10 for his performance during the election. “It wouldn’t be 10 out of 10. I would say maybe six out of 10,” he said. He explained:

There were mistakes made in terms of our position on Brexit and actually sticking to a position and understanding this was a rightwing, hard-right project and we should have stuck to our guns on our position from 2016. That’s one of my own personal views.

Stronger and better leadership was needed on antisemitism, he said, as well as a better strategy during the election campaign. The individual policies in the manifesto were correctly “radical”, he said, but it needed to be explained that they would take place over several years and not all in one go.

Clive Lewis.
Clive Lewis. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Updated

PMQs - Snap verdict

Who won? Well, it was obviously Sir Lindsay Hoyle, because he has transformed PMQs, getting it back down to a brisk, 30-minute event, instead of the sprawling fixture it was under John Bercow normally lasting the best part of an hour. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing, it is probably too early to tell, but it means that Hoyle has stamped his authority on the place. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn were clearly warned in advance that they weren’t going to be allowed to talk as much as in the Bercow era, and both questions and answers were tighter than in the past.

It was the first time Johnson has spoken in public about the Iran crisis – in fact, it was the first time he has spoken in public on anything in 2020 - and he came out with about the strongest endorsement heard so far from the UK government of the US decision to assassinate the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani. Suleimani had supplied “improvised explosive devices to terrorists, which I’m afraid killed and maimed British troops”, he said. “That man had the blood of British troops on his hands.” But even in this answer he avoided saying outright that the US attack was lawful, and overall Johnson sounded like someone who would rather be commenting on other matters, not this one. (See 10.14am.)

Corbyn has spent his life denouncing US warmongering and last week it felt as if President Trump’s decision to order the killing of Suleimani vindicated everything the Labour leader has ever said about Washington being a threat to the world order. But he did not make that case very well at PMQs, and Johnson successfully brushed him aside. Ministers can’t say clearly that they think the killing of Suleimani was a wise thing to do (presumably because they don’t think it was – their support has been quite qualified) and they seem to have some doubts about the legality of the operation too. But it would have taken sustained, forensic questioning to get this to show up at PMQs, and Corbyn did not pull that off. He is obviously right about Johnson being nervous about criticising Trump in public. But British prime ministers are always wary of criticising US presidents, and so Corbyn’s attempt to link this to sensitivities around a US trade deal was unconvincing.

But with the date for his departure already set, Corbyn could be forgiven for not operating at full pelt. Johnson seemed relatively disengaged in their exchanges too, and his anti-Corbyn put-downs felt rather underpowered. He seemed much more animated arguing with Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, but that is not surprising; looking ahead over the next five years, Scotland will be much more of a threat to his premiership than Corbyn.

Updated

Labour’s Karl Turner asks about a constituent serving a life sentence. But the constituent was also one of the people who tackled the terrorist in the London Bridge attack. Will the PM congratulate him?

Johnson says he hopes this gallantry is respected in the usual way.

And that’s it. PMQs is over.

The SNP’s Douglas Chapman says the SNP’s mandate is much stronger than Johnson’s. He says the Scottish government has an “oven-ready” plan for an independence referendum. When will discussions begin?

Johnson says he has already addressed this.

Asked what he has done to restore the Iran nuclear deal, Johnson says the UK still thinks the JCPOA is the best way forward. He says he thinks that way forward will remain. It is a shell at the moment. But it is a shell into which substance can be put.

Labour’s Colleen Fletcher asks Johnson to support a new walk-in centre for Coventry.

Johnson refers this one to the health secretary too, saying he is sure he will be able to do something about it.

Dehenna Davison, a new Conservative MP, asks about the NHS.

Johnson congratulates Davison on her election victory. He says the health secretary is looking into the matter raised by Davison.

Shailesh Vara, a Conservative, asks the PM if he agrees that overseas companies would invest in Northern Ireland if the assembly were revived.

Johnson says the UK is the third highest recipient of inward investment in the world. Northern Ireland could get more with the assembly up and running, he says.

David Morris, a Conservative, says the north of England needs an Eden project. Does the PM support it going to Morecambe?

Johnson says Sajid Javid, the chancellor, tells him the Eden project is “very likely” to come to Morecombe.

Updated

The SNP’s Brendan O’Hara says Margaret Thatcher and other Tory leaders accepted the union with Scotland would only survive by consent. What mechanism is available to the Scottish people to give their consent to maintaining the union, he says.

Johnson says the Scottish people had a mechanism, they used it in 2014, and it was a once-in-a-generation vote, he says.

Updated

Labour’s Ian Murray asks Johnson to accept that he will be responsible for any negative consequences from Brexit.

Johnson says, contrary to the claims of doomsters, unemployment is at a record low. He will get Brexit done, he says.

Johnson says he will chair a new cabinet committee to drive forward change on climate change.

Plaid Cymru’s Hywel Williams asks what the PM’s vision is for the relationship between Wales and England.

Johnson says he wants it to go from strength to strength.

Paul Holmes, a Conservative, asks about a Lib Dem housing plan for Eastleigh.

Johnson says the government wants more home on brownfield sites.

Fiona Bruce, a Conservative, asks what the government will do to support troubled families?

Johnson says it was thanks to Bruce that “family hubs” were proposed in the Tory manifesto. They will be introduced, he says.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, asks: who should decide the future of Scotland – the PM, or the people of Scotland?

Johnson says the people of Scotland decided to stay part of the UK.

Blackford says this is about democracy.

That provokes some laughter from MPs.

Blackford says people voted for the SNP. Why is the Tory government dismissing the will of the people of Scotland?

Johnson says the real question is why the SNP keeps going on about breaking up the most successful union in history to distract from its appalling domestic record.

Updated

Penny Mordaunt, a Conservative, asks how many people are being held in inappropriate adult social care settings, like Winterbourne View.

Johnson says the number is 2,190, but it is coming down.

Corbyn says he asked if the UK would respect the sovereignty of Iraq. He says Johnson did not answer.

He says the UK has not been putting the interests of the UK first. He says Johnson has been prioritising his relationship with President Trump. He is not standing up for the UK because he has prioritised a trade deal with the US.

Johnson says he was waiting for the “little green men” to come out at the end of Corbyn’s contribution, implying that Corbyn is reciting a conspiracy. He says Corbyn took £10,000 from Iranian TV. He says he is surprised the Corbyn has yet to condemn Suleimani’s activities.

Johnson says the British government should be doing everything it can to protect the integrity of Iraq.

Corbyn asks what evidence there is that the killing of Suleimani was legal.

Johnson says it is not for the UK government to provide this evidence. But he refers to Suleimani’s record. He says Suleimani helped orchestrate bomb attacks on British troops in the region. He had the blood of British troops on his hands, he says.

Corbyn asks what representations the PM will make to President Trump to make sure the Iranian foreign minister can attend the UN in New York.

Johnson says the US is obliged to let people attend the UN.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn starts by paying tribute to Andrew Miller, the former Labour MP who died on Christmas Eve.

He says the Australian fires are a warning of what climate change does.

He asks the PM to confirm that he opposes any further retaliation or violence in the Middle East.

Johnson says of course he can confirm that. He says the UK has been working with its EU allies to urge a de-escalation. But he says the EU three criticised the “baleful” role played by Qassem Suleimani. He says Corbyn has not condemned Suleimani in the same way.

Corbyn ignores this, and asks Johnson if is he confident that UK personnel in the region are safe.

Johnson says non-essential personnel have been moved. The government wants to de-escalate this, he says.

Updated

Andrew Lewer, a Conservative, asks for a review of the rules affecting benefit claimants with terminal illnesses.

Johnson says the DWP is reviewing these rules.

Boris Johnson starts by condemning the Iranian attacks on US bases. He says Iran should not pursue these attacks.

He offers condolences to those affected by the Australian bushfires, and by the crash of a Ukrainian airliner.

Updated

PMQs

Boris Johnson is taking PMQs now.

EU chief says negotiating comprehensive trade deal with UK by end of 2020 'impossible'

Q: Would it be possible to negotiate parts of a trade deal this year, and then conclude it after 2020? Or is it all or nothing?

Von der Leyen says it will be “impossible” to conclude a comprehensive deal by the end of this year.

It is impossible to negotiate all of what I have been mentioning [in 2020] ... Therefore we will have to prioritise.

She says therefore they should prioritise negotiating on issues where, if there is no deal by the end of 2020, there is a fall-back that does not involve “no deal”.

  • Von der Leyen says getting a comprehensive UK-EU trade deal by the end of 2020 will be “impossible”.

She says she would like both sides to consider where they are before the summer, so that they can “reconsider the timeframe”.

  • Von der Leyen says she does not want to rule out extending the trade talks beyond 2020. Johnson has ruled this out.

Updated

Here is the full text of the Von der Leyen speech.

Updated

Ursula von der Leyen is now taking questions – from students in the audience, and from journalists.

Q: Are you concerned about the UK watering down its protections for EU nationals living in the UK after Brexit? How should the UK respond?

Von der Leyen says of course this is a pressing issue. She says there are around 3.5 million EU nationals living in the UK, and around 1.2 million Britons living in EU countries. The good news is people will be able to stay where they work and live until the end of their lives, she says.

Q: What will the security arrangements be like after Brexit?

Von der Leyen says the UK will be a third country after Brexit. There are rules that prevent third countries being involved in agencies like the European Defence Agency. But these rules are being reviewed. She says she wants the EU to be clear-minded, and for it to build an unprecedented security partnership.

Talking about relations with China, Von der Leyen says it is important for the EU to be very clear on issues where it disagrees with China. For example, the cybersphere. But on other issues, like climate change, the two sides have the same agenda.

Updated

Here is some Twitter commentary on the speech from Peter Foster, the Daily Telegraph’s Europe editor.

Von der Leyen says Brexit does not just mark the end of something.

It marks the beginning of a new relationship, she says.

Addressing her audience, she says young people can shape this future.

EU willing to offer UK trade deal going 'well beyond trade' and 'unprecedented in scope', Von der Leyen says

Von der Leyen says the EU’s priority will be to protect the single market.

But she says the EU is willing to offer a trade deal including zero tariffs, zero quotas, and zero dumping. It can go well beyond trade and be “unprecedented in scope”, she says.

She says the EU is willing to work day and night to achieve this.

It must be ambitious in scope, she says.

Here is the key quote.

Updated

Von der Leyen says the UK and the EU will still share the same values after Brexit, as well as the same geography and history.

As one door closes, another will open, she says.

She says now is the time to look forward, time “for the best and oldest friends to build a new future together”.

She says during the first stage of the Brexit negotiations, the uncertainty about whether Brexit would happen caused difficulties. Now there will be more clarity, she says.

She says the EU wants to go as far as it can in building the new relationship.

But the relationship will not be as close as before.

Without free movement of people, you cannot have free movement of capital and services, she says.

And without a level playing field, the UK cannot have full access to the single market.

She says both sides will have to prioritise in the talks.

Von der Leyen says the UK and the EU will still be “the best of friends and partners” after Brexit.

And they will still have a lot to learn from each other.

Von der Leyen is now paying tribute to the contribution of individual Britons to the EU, like Roy Jenkins, a former president of the commission, and Lord Cockfield, a European commissioner. Cockfield helped to pave the way for the single market, she says.

Von der Leyen praises Churchill as she pays tribute to UK's contribution to EU

Ursula von der Leyen is speaking now. She says she spent just a year at the LSE, but she learned a lot while she was here. The time she spent here “opened my eyes”, she says. She saw a warm, vibrant, multicultural society. She fell in love with London, and with the UK.

The UK is strong-willed, open-minded, patriotic, kind and generous, and full of contradictions, she says. She says she learned there can be a hidden meaning in every sentence.

Before and after the referendum she thought about this period a lot – not just because of her love for the UK, but because of what the UK has contributed to Europe.

She says it was Winston Churchill who made the best case for a united Europe. She says his Zurich speech is the best case made for a united Europe.

Updated

At the LSE Minouche Shafik, the LSE director, is introducing Ursula von der Leyen. Shafik says that Von der Leyen was a student of the LSE, and that her daughter has studied there too.

Sir Keir Starmer has become the first Labour leadership candidate to get the 22 nominations from MPs that he needs to be on the ballot, Sky’s Sam Coates reports.

But Starmer, and all the other candidates, will also need to clear the threshold from nominations either from CLPs or from affiliates. The details of those rules are here.

Von der Leyen's speech on UK-EU relations

Ursula von der Leyen, the new president of the European commission, is due to start her lecture at the LSE on UK-EU relations very soon.

From Politico Europe’s Cristina Gallardo

Yesterday Rebecca Long Bailey, a candidate for the Labour leadership, said she would give Jeremy Corbyn 10 out of 10 as a leader. On Sky News a few minutes ago Margaret Hodge, the Labour former minister and one of Corbyn’s most outspoken critics in the PLP, said this was “crazy”. Hodge, who is supporting Jess Phillips for leader, told the programme:

I think Rebecca Long Bailey would be a disaster for the Labour party ...

For Rebecca Long Bailey to give 10 out of 10 to Corbyn when we’ve all come back from the election where on the doorstep Corbyn was a huge problem, to deny that is crazy. And to say that it’s all the media’s fault is an insult to the intelligence of the electorate. What was so interesting about this election was that people sussed what Labour was about in the offer we were giving, and they voted against it. If you don’t hear that, if you don’t listen to that, you are actually condemning the Labour party to history.

Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Burgon says he would be a campaigning deputy Labour leader like John Prescott

Richard Burgon speaking at a Stop the War rally at the weekend.
Richard Burgon speaking at a Stop the War rally at the weekend. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Labour MPs are currently listening to candidates for the deputy leadership speak at a private hustings organised by the parliamentary Labour party (PLP). One of the candidates is Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, and according to extracts from his speech released by his office, he is saying that he would like to be a campaigning deputy leader in the style of John Prescott. Burgon says:

Whoever is leader – I’ll be a team player. I don’t see this job as an alternative pole to the leader. Or as leader in-waiting. It’s important in its own right.

When I joined the party back in the mid-90s, I was impressed by how John Prescott used it as a campaigning role.

I’ll be a campaigning deputy leader, one focused on getting us election-ready to win local, mayoral and devolved elections – but most importantly to win that next general election.

One focused on powerful local campaigning to demonstrate to those communities, whose trust we’ve lost, that we’re on their side.

The reference to a “leader-in-waiting” deputy will be seen as a jibe at Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, who is seen as favourite in the deputy leadership contest. Some of her supporters think that she would be a good leader now, and that if she wins the deputy leadership, that will put her in a strong position to take the top job next time round.

Burgon’s speech also repeats some of the points he made in his pre-Christmas Tribune article, saying Labour’s election defeat was largely down to Brexit and that a special commission should be set up to consider how it can win back leave voters.

John Prescott, the former Labour deputy leader and deputy PM. Richard Burgon has said that, if he wins the deputy leadership, he would be a campaigning deputy in the way Prescott was.
John Prescott, the former Labour deputy leader and deputy PM. Richard Burgon has said that, if he wins the deputy leadership, he would be a campaigning deputy in the way Prescott was. Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian

Updated

In an interview this morning Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, rejected claims that Boris Johnson should have taken a higher public profile over the Iran crisis. Although No 10 has issued statements, Johnson has not been speaking about it in public, and yesterday he got Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, to give an oral statement to the Commons on the subject, instead of doing it himself. But Barclay said it was not fair to say Johnson had been absent. He said:

The prime minister has been engaging, he has been speaking on a regular basis with world leaders, he is continuing to do that today, as are my colleagues across government.

According to Annabelle Dickson at Politico Europe, Johnson is deliberately keeping a low profile on this issue. In her story she says:

According to officials familiar with the thinking in Downing Street, the prime minister’s decision to delegate the foreign policy spotlight to other cabinet ministers – leaving Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to do the flagship media interviews and Wallace to face MPs in the Commons — is deliberate. It is also a sign of things to come.

The prime minister will make domestic priorities such as the UK’s public health care system, the National Health Service, and rebalancing the economy toward the north of England and the Midlands his public focus, according to one official.

Updated

Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has caught up with yesterday’s news that the government is looking for a career civil servant to replace Sir Kim Darroch as ambassador to Washington. Farage used to claim that he did not want the job himself, despite Donald Trump once saying he would be ideal for the role, but judging from this tweet, perhaps he was still hoping that he, or one of his Brexit party chums, would get the call.

Updated

Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, has been giving interviews this morning (although not to the BBC’s Today programme, which is still subject to a No 10 boycott for reasons that have never been properly explained by Downing Street). Judging by the interviews I did hear, Today didn’t miss much, but Barclay did use a new argument to justify the government’s claim that it will be possible to conclude a trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020.

This is what he told Radio 5 Live:

When you say there needs to be this much time for parliamentary scrutiny and so forth, just look at what happened in the House of Commons yesterday. When I was involved in the withdrawal agreement bill in the previous parliament, I was constantly being told that there needed to be much more time for parliamentary scrutiny, that the House of Commons needed to be able to go through the bill in great detail, that it was a very significant bill, and that the time put forward by the government was insufficient.

We had time yesterday in parliament that was not used. We had additional time available for scrutiny of the bill, and yet we actually finished the scrutiny early because the house did not want to go into more detail.

So people speculate as to how much time is needed. I’m optimistic about the deal. Both sides have said they want to have a close partnership. The commission president is here as part of that commitment and discussion on the EU side.

Barclay is right about the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill debate taking much less time than expected yesterday. Eight hours had been set aside for the first day of the committee stage debate. Yet MPs started voting after less than three and a half hours of debate.

There were three divisions but the government won them all, with majorities of 90, 86 and 92 respectively. The era of knife-edge Brexit votes is well and truly behind us.

Stephen Barclay
Stephen Barclay Photograph: Sky News

The BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler, has posted a helpful thread on Twitter about the talks between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen in Downing Street today. It starts here.

It is worth reading the thread in full (just click on the link above), but here is a key assessment.

Johnson to tell EU chief at first meeting that UK-EU trade deal won't be based on 'alignment'

One of Boris Johnson’s ambitions for 2020, apparently, is to turn Brexit into a story for the business pages and not the front pages (assuming he fails in his reported ambition to get people to stop using the word altogether). You might think some of the Brexiters have concluded that the whole process hasn’t been quite the triumph that some of them were predicting in 2016. But it would be surprising if the UK-EU trade negotiating taking place this year does not end up being a front page story and, although that negotiation is not starting today, there will be an important landmark in the process when Boris Johnson holds his first meeting with the new president of the European commission, the former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen. They will meet in Downing Street this afternoon, a few hours after Von der Leyen delivers a lecture on the UK-EU relationship at the LSE.

According to Downing Street, Johnson will tell Von der Leyen that he is firmly committed to wrapping up the negotiation this year (which many experts think is unrealistic), that he is firmly opposed to extending the post-Brexit transition period and that the new deal will not be based on “alignment” with EU rules. In a statement last night Downing Street said:

At the leaders’ first face to face meeting since Von der Leyen took office in December, the prime minister is expected to stress the importance of agreeing a confident and positive future relationship by the end of December 2020.

He is expected to tell President Von der Leyen that, having waited for over three years to get Brexit done, both British and EU citizens rightly expect negotiations on an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) to conclude on time. There will be no extension to the implementation period, which will end in December 2020 as set out in the political declaration. The withdrawal agreement bill enshrines this in UK law.

The prime minister will likely underline that the upcoming negotiations will be based on an ambitious FTA, not on alignment.

As my colleague Jennifer Rankin reports, Von der Leyen is expected to tell Johnson that this might not be as beneficial for the UK as he thinks.

Von der Leyen and Johnson will not be holding a press conference, and so it is not clear quite how much we will learn about what gets said at their meeting, but I will be covering everything that does emerge in full.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: Candidates for the Labour party deputy leadership take part in a private hustings for Labour MPs in the Commons.

10am: MPs start voting in a ballot to elect two deputy Speakers. These two posts are both for Conservative MPs, and there are five candidates.

11.15am: Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, gives a speech at the LSE in London entitled “Old Friends, New Beginnings: building another future for the EU-UK partnership.”

12pm: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.

After 12.30pm: MPs resume their debate on the EU (withdrawal agreement) bill.

3.30pm: Von der Leyen meets Johnson in Downing Street.

The Iran crisis is likely to come up at PMQs, and of course I will be covering what gets said there, but generally I will be leaving coverage of developments in this story to our separate live blog, which you can read here.

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. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup 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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