Afternoon summary
- Boris Johnson has urged parents to ignore “superstitious mumbo jumbo on the internet” and to get their children vaccinated. Speaking on a hospital visit intended to promote measures to increase vaccine uptake, he said:
I think there’s complacency on the part of parents about the need to get that second [MMR] vaccine but also, I’m afraid, people have been listening to that superstitious mumbo jumbo on the internet, all that anti-vax stuff and thinking that the MMR vaccine is a bad idea. That’s wrong.
Please get your kids vaccinated because it’s not just the right thing for them, but also of course it is the right thing for the whole population because it might not be your kid that gets it, it could be somebody else’s.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
Here is a question from below the line worth answering.
Actually, under Jeremy Corbyn’s offer to run a time-limited caretaker government, his only firm intention would be to negotiate an extension to Brexit and to then call an election. Why would he bother? I can think of plenty of reasons.
1) This would be a means of stopping a no-deal Brexit, which would earn Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour, great credit amongst remainers. It would also, they would say, be the right thing for the country.
2) If there is going to be an early election, there would be advantages for Corbyn to holding it with Brexit delayed - because the Tories would probably get crushed by the Brexit party.
3) An incumbent PM has many advantages in an election campaign. For example, s/he sets the date. And s/he can use the platform that government provides for party advantage, even though civil service resources are not meant to be spent on party political activity. Just look at the @10DowningStreet twitter feed, which reads like a Tory account even though it is a government one.
4) Being prime minister helps you look prime ministerial - which is particularly useful if, like Corbyn, you are thought not to be prime ministerial.
5) Even without a government majority, there is a lot a prime minister can do through prerogative powers, and through the use of patronage.
6) Prime ministers without a party majority have in the past managed to fight elections and come out with a majority (eg Wilson in 1974, Cameron in 2015).
7) No politician interested in changing Britain would turn down the chance to become PM - even for a short period.
Updated
Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, says that if Jeremy Corbyn really intends to do “everything necessary” to stop a no-deal Brexit, as he promised in his speech this morning, he must prove it. In a statement Brake said:
Jeremy Corbyn must now deliver and prove this is not just an empty promise. If he truly wants to stop a no-deal, he must accept that he must not be prescriptive about how we ensure that happens.
This is not about party leaders, but about stopping Boris Johnson from dragging us off the cliff-edge.
It is clear Jeremy Corbyn cannot command a majority in the House. He must do the right thing and confirm that if he cannot, he will support someone who can.
These are from the broadcaster Andrew Neil on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech.
Shadow Chancellor J McDonnell says he would campaign to Remain in the EU if Labour negotiated a new Brexit deal and put it to a referendum. Not clear if that’s Mr Corbyn’s position. If it is, what would be point of negotitating new deal you would then oppose. Why would EU bother?
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 19, 2019
There’s clearly something of a policy power struggle going on between McDonnell/Corbyn. McDonnell has concluded Labour’s only chance of forming a government is to become 100% Remain. Corbyn, still steeped in his anti-EU Bennite roots, not yet ready for such a U-turn.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 19, 2019
And here is an extract from a blog covering it written by the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush.
If the Johnson gamble blows up in his face at an election, it will be in part be because that cultural halitosis surrounding the Tory party and poshness meant that he was unable to make significant breakthroughs in the likes of Bishop Auckland while still losing seats to the Liberal Democrats in the likes of Cheltenham.
That’s why Jeremy Corbyn’s attack lines on Boris Johnson – wheeled out in his big speech today, which offered us a preview of Labour’s preferred approach to an autumn election – are worth watching. Corbyn is talking up Johnson’s membership of the elite and explicitly linking Johnson in with the Tory party and with wealth (of the nine mentions of Boris Johnson in Corbyn’s speech, all were paired with a reference to his Conservativeness and his poshness).
Boris Johnson will not get the chance to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the outgoing president of the European commission, at this weekend’s G7 summit, my colleague Jennifer Rankin reports.
Jean-Claude Juncker will not attend this weekend's G7 meeting, where he was due to meet Boris Johnson. Juncker remains in hospital in recovery following urgent surgery and is not able to travel.
— Jennifer Rankin (@JenniferMerode) August 19, 2019
The EU is not a G7 country, but for some reason two of its presidents (president of the commission and president of the council - there are several others) normally attend, making it effectively a G9 meeting.
Here’s an extract from Jeremy Corbyn’s speech.
Corbyn's speech and Q&A - Summary and analysis
Boris Johnson has been in hyperactive campaign mode since becoming prime minister and some Labour figures have reportedly been complaining that Jeremy Corbyn has given him something of an easy ride. Today Corbyn responded with a lengthy and wide-ranging speech that set out the case Labour would put to the public in the general election widely expected within the next few weeks or months. You can read the full text here. It was clear and coherent, and as a round-up of Labour’s policy offer, it was fine (although the party could probably still go a lot further in terms of boiling it down to a two or three-point message that everyone would remember).
Johnson makes much of his ability to project optimism, and there was some evidence in the speech of Corbyn trying to respond in kind, for example when he spoke of the possible “fantastic” future available under Labour. (See 11.36am.) But exuberance isn’t a Corbyn forte, and he was much better when he was critiquing the government. The best passage was probably the one where he described Johnson’s spending announcements as an admission that Labour has won the argument on austerity (see 11.29am), and the points he made about crime and youth services that he used to back this up (see 11.31am).
But you can’t take down a government with a single speech, and so at best this was just a start. It may also have been infused with a bit of wishful thinking. Corbyn has often spoken in terms that suggest he wants to move on from Brexit and his speech contained a persuasive passage arguing that the problems facing the country go well beyond Brexit. (See 11.02am.) They do. But politicians have to campaign in the world as it is, on an agenda not always of their own choosing, and the Q&A made it clear that the prospect of the next election not being dominated by Brexit seems remote.
There is a summary of some of the main lines in the Corbyn speech here. And here is a summary of the main points from the Q&A.
- Corbyn said any MPs serious about stopping a no-deal Brexit should back him to lead an interim government. Asked about calls for him to allow someone else to form a cross-party, interim government to block no deal, he replied:
I am the leader of the opposition, the leader of the Labour party. All the constitutional precedents are, when a government collapses, it’s the leader of the opposition that takes over.
There seems to be an awful lot of very imaginative what iffery in the press at the present time. We will put a motion of no confidence in the government. We will do everything we can to stop a no deal Brexit.
I have written to the leaders of all of the other opposition parties inviting them to join me in this and I simply say to them, and to those probably quite small number of Conservatives who are alarmed at the prospect of a no deal Brexit: “If you’re serious about stopping an no-deal Brexit, then back my motion of no confidence to stop this government taking us over a cliff edge on the 31st October.”
- Corbyn played down the prospect of MPs being able to stop a no-deal Brexit by any means other than using a no confidence vote to install him as an interim prime minister. He said:
We offer to form a minority administration in order to give the people the choice in the future through a general election. That’s what we’re saying. That is the constitutional precedent. That is the norm.
All this speculation about lots of other options - they actually don’t exist. The option that exists is the constitutional precedent of the opposition taking over in order to facilitate an opportunity for an election campaign.
This is slightly different from the line taken by John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, in his Today interview this morning in which he stressed that a no confidence motion was not the only means available to stop no deal. (See 9.33am.)
- He refused to commit to backing remain in a second referendum held by Labour after a general election. (See 11.55am.)
- He refused to rule out Labour officially remaining neutral in a second referendum on Brexit held after a general election. (See 11.46am.)
- He accused the media of bias, saying that if the UN had produced a report on conditions in the UK under a Labour government like the recent damning one produced by Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, there would have been uproar. He said:
When the UN produces a report that says millions of people in the fifth richest country in the world are living in poverty, and it’s getting worse - if that came out under Labour government, every media outlet in the land would be condemning us, and they would be right. Where’s the voice against the Tories for doing that?
Updated
Boris Johnson says EU will have to compromise for Brexit deal to happen
In an interview in Cornwall during his hospital visit, Boris Johnson also said that the EU would have to compromise for there to be a Brexit deal. Asked whether progress would be made during his talks with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron later this week, Johnson replied:
Well that is, I’m afraid, very much up to our friends and I hope that they will compromise.
They have seen that the UK parliament has three times rejected the withdrawal agreement, the backstop just doesn’t work, it’s not democratic and I hope that they will see fit to compromise but in the meantime we get ready to come out on October 31.
No 10 claims leaked Operation Yellowhammer warnings about no deal 'out of date'
Here are the main points from this morning’s Number 10 lobby briefing.
- Number 10 said the Operation Yellowhammer document about the impact of a no-deal Brexit leaked to the Sunday Times yesterday was “out of date”. The prime minister’s spokeswoman said: “We are making all necessary preparations ahead of October 31”. She went on:
In relation to business we have been engaging widely and will continue to do so and that’s been significantly stepped up in recent weeks.
We have published numerous documents on how businesses can prepare.
You can expect to see further information being published in the coming weeks in relation to how the public ... can further prepare and the changes that they are likely to see across a range of areas.
- The spokeswoman said that there would be an immediate change to the rules affecting EU nationals with criminal records wanting to enter the UK after 31 October. Commenting on a report claiming that Priti Patel, the home secretary, wants to end free movement for EU nationals immediately after 31 October, instead of withdrawing the right gradually as Theresa May’s government intended, the Downing Street spokeswoman said “freedom of movement as it currently stands will end on October 31 when the UK leaves the EU.” The spokeswoman went on:
So for example we will introduce, immediately, much tougher criminality rules for people entering the UK.
Details of other changes immediately on October 31 for a new immigration system are currently being developed.
The prime minister has obviously been clear that we want to introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system.
The spokeswoman said Boris Johnson and Patel would set out more details of their plans shortly.
- The spokeswoman said Johnson would not agree to calls for parliament to be recalled. She said:
The House of Commons agreed the date it would rise for summer recess, as well as its return on September 3 and this was passed by a majority of close to 200 MPs.
Boris Johnson claims he is 'confident' EU will shift its position on backstop
Boris Johnson has been speaking to broadcasters on a visit to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where he has been promoting measures to increase the number of parents getting their children vaccinated. Here are the key points he has been making.
- Johnson claimed he remained “confident” that the EU would shift its position on the Northern Ireland backstop, allowing a Brexit deal to be agreed before 31 October. Asked about planning for no deal, he said:
I’m not going to suggest that there won’t be - as I said on the steps of Downing Street - there may well be bumps in the road but we will be ready to come out on October 31 deal or no deal.
Now of course our friends and partners on the other side of the Channel are showing a little bit of reluctance at the moment to change their position.
That’s fine - I’m confident that they will - but in the meantime we have to get ready for a no deal outcome.
I want a deal. We’re ready to work with our friends and partners to get a deal but if you want a good deal for the UK, you must simultaneously get ready to come out without one.
It is hard to see why Johnson is confident that the EU will back down because European leaders have been saying, almost unanimously and ad nauseam, that they are not willing to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.
- He said the UK would be ready for a no-deal Brexit on 31 October if that proved necessary. Speaking about no-deal preparations, he said:
If you look at the preparations the UK had made by March 29, we were very far advanced and things then slipped back a bit but we’re very confident that by October 31 we will be ready and that’s the crucial thing.
I think that’s what people want. People are very confident themselves that they can do it.
I’m not pretending that there won’t be bumps on the road. There will be, I said that on the steps of Downing Street, but if everybody puts their minds to it I have absolutely no doubt that we can get ready.
In his Q&A Jeremy Corbyn would not commit to backing remain in a second referendum staged by Labour after a general election, and he would not rule out the party being neutral in such a contest. (See 11.46am and 11.55am.) But Corbyn has, of course, said that if there were a referendum now on a Tory Brexit, or on no deal, Labour would campaign for remain. I’ve amended the wording in those earlier posts because they did not make that clear. Sorry.
Corbyn says zero-hours contracts represent a return to the insecure labour conditions that used to apply to people working at the docks. Labour would end zero-hours contracts, he says.
In response to a question from a Labour supporter who asked what Corbyn would do about the media who tell lies, Corbyn says he is a member of the NUJ. A free press is very important, he says. But he says he wants to ensure that reporting is balanced, and that people have a right to reply. He set out plans for media reform in a speech in Edinburgh last year. Those plans would form the basis for Labour’s plans, he says.
He says it is crucial that people who are attacked in the media get a right of reply.
And that’s it.
I will post a summary shortly.
Corbyn says he represents a constituency where only around a third of people own their own homes. He wants more council housing, he says. He says Margaret Thatcher’s right to buy has led to a huge increase in the number of people having to rent from a private landlord.
Corbyn says there has been a lot of speculation about what other mechanisms might be used to block a no-deal Brexit. But those options are not available yet, he says. The option that is available is a no confidence vote.
Corbyn refuses to commit to backing remain in second referendum
Q: Why do you think so many Labour MPs do not see you as the right person to lead an interim government?
Corbyn says he was elected Labour leader in 2015, to the surprise of the mainstream media. He was elected again in 2016. He is sure all Labour MPs want to join him in backing a no confidence motion against the government.
Q: John McDonnell said this morning he would campaign for remain in a second referendum. Would you? And if not, can you see why remainers have doubts about your leadership?
Corbyn says McDonnell was giving his personal view.
He says the real issue is what must be done to end inequality in Britain.
- Corbyn refuses to commit to backing remain in a second referendum held by Labour after a general election, fuelling speculation that the party might officially remain neutral. (See 9.33am and 11.46am.)
He says that if the UN produced a report about Britain under a Labour government as critical as the Philip Alston report was every media organisation would feature it very prominently.
This gets a huge cheer from the Labour supporters in the audience.
Updated
Corbyn says what happened to Northamptonshire council (it went bust) was symptomatic of how the Tories have underfunded local government.
Corbyn's Q&A
Corbyn is now taking questions.
Q: You say you will do anything in your power to stop a no-deal Brexit. Would that include stepping aside as leader of a caretaker government?
Labour supporters in the audience shout “no”. At least one person says the question is a disgrace. They also complain when a second journalist suggests Corbyn does not have enough support to become PM himself.
Corbyn says he will do everthing to stop a no-deal Brexit.
He is leader of the opposition, he says. All the precedent is that the leader of the opposition should be given the chance to form a government when the government falls.
There is a lot of “what iffery” around, he says.
He says if Tory MPs and others are serious about stopping no deal, they should support his no confidence motion. They should “get on board”, he says.
- Corbyn says all MPs opposed to no deal should back him as PM of an interim government.
Q: Do you think parliament should be recalled immediately?
Yes, shout Labour members in the audience.
Corbyn says he does support the recall of parliament.
Q: Could Labour remain neutral in a second referendum on Brexit?
Corbyn says he wants to bring people together. There has to be an understanding of why particular communities voted leave. He is offering policies that would transform society, he says.
He says Labour would make sure people have the final say and the final choice.
- Corbyn refuses to rule out Labour officially remaining neutral in a second referendum on Brexit held after a general election.
Updated
Corbyn proposes 'massive injection of democracy'
Corbyn proposes a “massive injection of democracy”.
After years of elite-driven austerity and neglect, we will recharge our politics with a massive injection of democracy kicking out the big money interests and putting the people in the driving seat.
And here is his peroration.
We will drive up people’s living standards by boosting pay, improving rights, and running our utilities and economy in the interests of the millions, not the multi-millionaires.
And we will transform our communities with investment in every part of our country breathing new life into our high streets, giving security to older people and hope and opportunities to our young people.
This is a historic moment, with the potential for real change to transform our country if we grasp the opportunity.
Corbyn says the future could be “fantastic” under Labour.
We can’t afford more of the same, but even worse. The future could be fantastic. New technologies have the power to liberate us and help tackle the climate emergency.
But for too many, the future is frightening and uncertain because those technologies have been used instead to benefit the wealthy elite while driving down pay and security for millions.
The next Labour government will take on those who really run our country the bankers, tax dodgers and big polluters. So that the real wealth creators, the people of this country, can have the services, jobs and futures they deserve.
Because when Labour wins, we all win. The nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student wins, the office worker wins, the engineer wins, we all win.
Corbyn turns to the climate crisis, and says Labour is that party that has shown real leadership on this.
We ensured our parliament was the first in the world to declare a climate emergency.
That must be followed by radical and decisive action that will only be delivered by a Labour government.
It certainly won’t come from the Tories the party that scrapped the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, effectively killing off new onshore wind power projects, and is forcing fracking on local communities who oppose it.
Labour would restore public services, Corbyn says, because we understand they are the glue that binds society together.
We’ll restore pride in our NHS by funding it properly and end the sell-offs and privatisation.
And we’ll create a National Education Service providing free learning from the cradle to the grave including free school meals for all primary children smaller class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds and no tuition fees at university or college.
And he argues that Labour can be trusted to rebuild public services more than the Tories under Boris Johnson.
Corbyn says Labour would make it compulsory for councils to provide youth services
Corbyn turns to the issue of crime to underline the point he has just been making.
Take crime which the prime minister is now trying to turn to his political advantage, with yet more promises to tackle what the Tories have failed to bring under control for a decade.
In the 2017 election, Labour won the argument that Tory cuts to the police had made people unsafe, and we pledged to hire more officers.
The Conservatives have now conceded that we were right, but police cuts are not the only reason violent crime has doubled.
What the Tories won’t address is the much wider impact of austerity; the closed youth services; under-resourced mental healthcare; and the lack of funding for community mentoring.
We take youth services so seriously that we will make it compulsory for local government to deliver them.
Corbyn says Johnson's recent spending announcements show Labour has won the argument on austerity
Corbyn says Boris Johnson’s recent spending announcements show that Labour has won the argument on austerity.
The new prime minister has been making some pre-election spending pledges over the past few weeks.
That shows Labour has won the argument that austerity damages our country and that it was always a political choice.
But it insults voters’ intelligence to expect them to be grateful for a bit of extra money here and there, with no confidence that it will actually be delivered when it’s Boris Johnson’s Tories who ran our public services into the ground in the first place.
Corbyn summarises some Labour policies to address inequality.
We’ll introduce a real living wage of £10 an hour, including for young people who deserve equal pay for equal work.
But we need to go further. The problem with an unfair economy isn’t just the imbalance of wealth; it’s the imbalance of power.
Labour will give working people more power to win better wages and have security at work.
We’ll put workers on company boards and give the workforce a 10% stake in large companies; paying a dividend of as much as £500 a year to each employee.
And Labour won’t tell people they have to work until they are 75 before getting their pension, as Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank has suggested – a policy that discriminates against working class people – especially in manual jobs.
It’s past time that we rewrote the rules of the economy – to shift wealth and power – from a small elite at the top into the hands of the majority.
He confirms Labour’s intention to bring rail, mail, water and the national grid into public ownership.
And the party would give more rights to tenants, he says, “including controlling rents, so dodgy landlords can’t rip them off”.
Corbyn says Labour would tackle inequality.
But together, we can take our future into our own hands and tackle the great challenges facing our country alongside Brexit; inequality and an economy run for the richest; public services that have been stripped back and sold off; and the climate emergency threatening our children’s future.
Inequality holds all of us back. It means the talent of millions of people is squandered.
We don’t have to be a country of food banks and rough sleepers at one end while the super-rich dodge taxes at the other.
And he says Labour would raise tax for the richest.
Labour will raise tax for the richest and make sure they pay their share towards the common good.
The Tories will cut tax for the richest.
Labour will require the big multinational corporations to actually pay the tax they owe in this country.
The Tories will cut tax for big corporations.
It’s Labour that will get more money into your pocket rather than line the pockets of multi-millionaires.
Corbyn says Labour would offer a real change in direction.
The Tories cannot be trusted to deliver on their quick-fix promises because their first priority is tax cuts for the big corporations and the richest.
The Tories can’t be trusted to deliver for the majority because they will always look after their own. Instead of fixing a failed system, they will turbocharge its inequalities, insecurities and climate destruction.
Labour can be trusted to deliver to end austerity, to take on the elites and the vested interests holding people back and to transform our country for the many, not the few.
Corbyn is now making the point about how a Labour government could offer “once-in-a-generation change”. But, instead of saying this could be “on the scale of 1945 or 1979”, as he did in the extracts released in advance, he just said “on the scale of 1945”.
I don’t think anyone assumed that the reference to 1979 meant he was planning to emulate Margaret Thatcher - he was making a point about the scale of change envisaged, not the type of change envisaged - but he seemed to be more comfortable leaving the reference to her out.
Corbyn confirms intention to call no confidence vote in government
Corbyn confirms his plan to call a no confidence vote.
Labour will do everything we can to protect people’s livelihoods.
We will work together with the MPs from across parliament to pull our country back from the brink.
I will bring a vote of no confidence in the government, and if we’re successful, I would seek to form a time-limited caretaker administration to avert no deal, and call an immediate general election so the people can decide our country’s future.
If MPs are serious about stopping a no deal crash out, then they will vote down this reckless government and it falls to the leader of the opposition, to make sure no deal does not happen and the people decide their own future.
Corbyn say, as we look to the return of parliament in September, the country is heading into a political storm.
Boris Johnson is driving the country towards a no-deal cliff edge, he says. Labour will do everything necessary to stop that, he says. (See 11.02am.)
Jeremy Corbyn's speech
Jeremy Corbyn is speaking now.
He says the Pen Green children’s centre, where he is speaking, was the inspiration for Labour’s Sure Start programme.
Beth Miller, Labour’s candidate for Corby, is introducing Jeremy Corbyn at the Labour event now.
Corby is a marginal constituency, currently held by the Conservative Tom Pursglove with a majority of 2,690.
This is from Naomi Smith, the CEO of the anti-Brexit group Best for Britain, commenting on John McDonnell’s interview this morning. (See 9.33am.)
John McDonnell is right. There’s no mandate for no-deal and the parliamentary gridlock can only be broken by asking the public where they now stand on Brexit.
But when there is a public vote, Labour as a party cannot stay neutral. They must make the case for remaining in the EU. Their members and voters are unashamedly in favour of remaining and would be shocked to see the party adopt any other position.
Extracts from Jeremy Corbyn's speech
Jeremy Corbyn will be delivering his speech on Labour’s vision for Britain in Corby shortly. There will be a live feed at the top of this blog.
Here are some of the main points he will be making, based on extracts released by Labour overnight.
- Corbyn will say that Britain faces bigger problems than those posed by a no-deal Brexit. Labour would address these by offering radical change, as transformative as that introduced by Attlee or Thatcher, he will say.
While Brexit is the framework of the crisis we face, the problems facing our country run much deeper. A general election triggered by the Tory Brexit crisis will be a crossroads for our country. It will be a once-in-a-generation chance for a real change of direction, potentially on the scale of 1945 or 1979. Things cannot go on as they were before.
The Conservatives, and the wealthy establishment they represent, have failed our country. They have failed to protect living standards, savaged our public services, deepened inequality and failed to keep us safe. Boris Johnson and his hard right Tory cabinet have direct responsibility for the Tory decade of devastating damage done to our communities and the fabric of our society.
However the Brexit crisis is resolved, the country faces a fundamental choice. Labour offers the real change of direction the country needs: a radical programme to rebuild and transform communities and public services, invest in the green jobs and high tech industries of the future, and take action to tackle inequality and climate crisis.
- He will dismiss Boris Johnson as a “fake populist”.
The Tories have lurched to the hard right under Boris Johnson, Britain’s Trump, the fake populist and phoney outsider, funded by the hedge funds and bankers, committed to protecting the vested interests of the richest and the elites, while posing as anti-establishment.
- He will argue that the next election will be fought on the issue of trust.
The Tories under Boris Johnson cannot be trusted to deliver on their quick fix election promises - because their first priority is tax cuts for the big corporations and the richest. Boris Johnson and the Tories can’t be trusted to deliver for the majority because they will always look after their own. Instead of fixing a failed system, they will turbocharge its inequalities, insecurities and climate destruction.
Labour can be trusted to deliver: to end austerity, to take on the elites and the vested interests holding people back, and to transform our country for the many, not the few.
Labour can be trusted to take the radical steps necessary to protect the environment and provide hope, decent jobs, secure homes, opportunity to every nation and region, and build a fairer country that works for all.
- He will accuse Boris Johnson of advocating a hard-right “Trump deal Brexit”.
The Conservative party’s failure on Brexit, and its lurch to the hard right, has provoked the crisis our country faces this autumn. After failing to negotiate a Brexit deal that would protect jobs and living standards, Boris Johnson’s Tories are driving the country towards a no-deal cliff edge.
We will do everything necessary to stop a disastrous no deal, for which this government has no mandate. Boris Johnson’s government wants to use no deal to create a tax haven for the super-rich on the shores of Europe and sign a sweetheart trade deal with Donald Trump: not so much a no deal Brexit as a Trump deal Brexit.
- He will for a general election as the best way to resolve the Brexit crisis.
Labour believes the decision on how to resolve the Brexit crisis must go back to the people. And if there is a general election this autumn, Labour would commit to holding a public vote, to give voters the final say, with credible options for both sides, including the option to remain.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, says that, like John McDonnell, should would also personally campaign for remain in any second referendum.
Great interview by @johnmcdonnellMP on Brexit. He says when there is a Brexit referendum he will campaign for remain. So will I #BrexitShambles https://t.co/Bu0xnE3EY2
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) August 19, 2019
Caroline Lucas says parliament must be recalled to avoid 'disaster' for UK
The Green party’s Caroline Lucas was one of the 100 MPs who signed the letter, coordinated by Luciana Berger and Stephen Doughty, calling for parliament to be recalled. In an interview with Today this morning she said the leak in the Sunday Times yesterday about Operation Yellowhammer, government planning for a no-deal Brexit, made a recall even more necessary. She explained:
I think there is ever more evidence of the, frankly, impending national emergency that we are facing. MPs should be in parliament holding an increasingly reckless prime minister to account.
Since his election as prime minister, Boris Johnson has been subject to, I think, about three hours of scrutiny, and yet he is putting his foot on the accelerator, driving the country off the cliff-edge as if he had a huge mandate and overwhelming support. Well he has no mandate for this. The government has a majority of precisely one.
I think at a time of such emergency, the public are rightly saying ‘Where are MPs? Where are they when it comes to holding this prime minister to account?’.
Yesterday Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, said a no deal would lead to “bumps in the road”. Lucas told today it would be more likely to produce “cavernous sink holes”. She went on:
Unless MPs get back into parliament and hold this prime minister to account, we are going to go into those sink holes and it’s going to spell a disaster for this country.
Labour could be officially neutral in any second referendum, John McDonnell suggests
Good morning. We’re in the depths of the summer recess, but with Jeremy Corbyn making a major speech on Labour’s vision for Britain this morning, and Boris Johnson making his first visits to Berlin and Paris as prime minister later this week, Politics Live is back for the next few days to cover all the developments.
Here is my colleague Rowena Mason’s overnight preview of the Corbyn speech.
This morning John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been giving interviews ahead of it. Here are the main points from what he told the Today programme.
- McDonnell said Labour was backing the call made by 100 MPs, from all the opposition parties and from the Conservatives, for parliament to be recalled. Asked if Labour supported the initiative, he replied:
I agree - I think it is a good initiative by this group of MPs to say that we need to get back into parliament. We are facing a critical issue here and should be debating it in parliament ...
There is a need now to bring MPs back together again because we need time now to really have a proper debate and discussion about this matter.
But MPs are not due to return to the Commons until a fortnight tomorrow, and parliament only gets recalled during a recess in response to a request from the government. And Number 10 is firmly ruling out a recall.
- McDonnell reaffirmed Labour’s opposition to backing an interim government to stop a no-deal Brexit led by anyone other than Jeremy Corbyn. Asked to confirm that Labour would not support a vote in the Commons for someone else to lead an interim, cross-party government of this kind, McDonnell replied:
No, we won’t. We want to abide by the normal constitutional practice.
Labour argues that, if the prime minister loses the confidence of the Commons, the normal procedure is for the leader of the opposition to be invited to form a government.
- McDonnell said Corbyn would host talks with other opposition party leaders next week to discuss what could be done to prevent a no-deal Brexit. He said:
Jeremy is going to bring the [leaders] of the opposition parties together - he has already had some conversations - he will bring them together again next week and talk about how we go forward. We don’t believe [having an interim government led by someone other than Corbyn] is a negotiable issue.
- McDonnell said that a no confidence vote, leading to the establishment of a new government, was not the only mechanism available to prevent a no-deal Brexit. He said:
I think the big issue now is how do we prevent [no deal], and the no confidence motion is one mechanism.
But, as Jeremy has said today, there’s other mechanisms people are looking at, other parliamentary mechanisms, and we want to have a proper discussion and dialogue on a cross-party basis on what those mechanisms are.
- McDonnell claimed there was growing support in the Commons for holding a second referendum. He said:
I think the opposition parties and reaching across to Conservative MPs as well, I think there is still a majority in parliament to say to Boris Johnson that we will not accept a no-deal.
I think there is a gaining majority now to say we have to go back to the people in some form of public vote and that is, in my view, a referendum, that’s the Labour party policy now, and therefore we are narrowing down the discussion into what then goes on the ballot paper.
- He did not rule out the Labour party officially being neutral in any second referendum on Brexit. Labour has said it would go into a general election promising a referendum on Brexit, with voters given the choice between backing remain and a credible leave option. McDonnell said he personally would campaign for remain. But asked if he would be happy for the party as a whole to be “agnostic” on the issue, McDonnell replied:
That’s one of the issues we’ve got to debate in the party. You know our democratic processes. I know people get frustrated with this ... but we’re a democratic party.
Although most Labour members want to remain in the EU, the shadow cabinet is deeply divided on this issue and there have been hints before that Corbyn could resolve this tension by allowing Labour members to take either side in a second referendum, with the party machine staying neutral. This is broadly the approach Harold Wilson took in the 1975 referendum. Recently Corbyn told the shadow cabinet that he had been reading a Wilson biography to learn more about how the then prime minister handled that issue.
- McDonnell said a future Labour government could hold a second referendum before negotiating a new Brexit deal with Europe. When this idea was put to him, he said this was “one option” being looked at. But he also said that, if the party decided to negotiate a new Brexit deal first, before putting it to the people, that process could be concluded relatively quickly. He rejected the suggestion it would take a year. He explained:
If you look at what’s happened in the past, the reason it has dragged on in the negotiations in the past, to find out what is credible and what is not, is because the options that have been put forward have not been credible.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11am: Jeremy Corbyn gives a speech on Labour’s vision to rebuild Britain.
11am: Number 10 lobby briefing.
And Boris Johnson is visiting a hospital in Cornwall at some point this morning to promote measures to increase the number of parents getting their children vaccinated.
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 publish 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.
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Updated
Andrew, (or anyone else)...can you help explain why Corbynn wants to be a temporary time limited PM of a fragile unity govt?
If Labour want to transform the economy etc, why fight so hard to lead a govt that time limited, and policy limited to one policy (delay brexit, referendum - what's on referendum paper is another Q). If there's any deviation from this policy, Govts majority will instantly go, it's leader very publically tarred with the 'untrustworthy' brush...why would you aspire to lead this unity Govt?
Better to appear statesman like, offer it up to someone else - based on the above reason, and then take your argument for society to the country, aiming to lead for 5-10 years?
So what's in it for JC and Labour just now? What am I missing?