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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Andrew Sparrow, Claire Phipps and Ben Quinn

Brexit: UK 'needs some time' Cameron says in Brussels – as it happened

Prime Minister David Cameron arrives at European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium for the first time since the British EU referendum
Prime Minister David Cameron arrives at European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium for the first time since the British EU referendum. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

Closing Summary

• David Cameron has warned Europe’s leaders that they will have to offer the UK more control over immigration at the end of a fractious day where politicians across Europe clashed over the meaning and consequences of last week’s Brexit vote.
The British prime minster used his last Brussels summit to tell Angela Merkel, François Hollande and other European heads of government that anxieties about unrestricted freedom of movement were at the heart of the decision by Britons to reject the EU.

• Boris Johnson would not call a general election immediately if he won the Conservative party leadership election and took over as prime minister, it is understood.
Johnson is one of several Tories about to formally launch their bids to replace David Cameron as nominations open on Wednesday, with his main rivals set to include the home secretary, Theresa May, and a joint ticket of Stephen Crabb, the pensions secretary, backed by Sajid Javid, the business secretary.

• Labour MPs are preparing to launch a bruising leadership contest that will aim to topple leader Jeremy Corbyn after he reacted to an overwhelming vote of no confidence by declaring he had no intention to resign.
Politicians want Angela Eagle, who has stepped down as shadow business secretary, or Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, to agree about which of them will trigger the challenge if their leader continues to hold on in the face of massive hostility.

• Firms are already freezing investment as a result of the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote, the head of the CBI business lobby group has said as she said the UK was a long way off having a plan and leadership to deal with the repercussions of Thursday’s referendum.
As a wide range of businesses – including Germany company Siemens and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin – warned about the implications for the UK, the CBI director-general, Carolyn Fairbairn, called on the government to act quickly.

• European stock markets rallied in what analysts called a “dead cat bounce”, bringing some respite after the UK’s vote to leave the European Union wiped $3tn off global stocks.
In their worst-ever rout, equity markets lost $2tn of their value on Friday, with a further $930bn wiped off on Monday when the UK was stripped of its last AAA credit rating. Some analysts have warned of a full-blown recession in the UK.

A surge of interest from Britons eager to obtain Irish passports has been continuing on a day when the Irish government called for calm and said that the processing system was coming under strain.

Here’s what some people at the Irish passport office in South Kensington, London, told me earlier about why they were applying for passports with a harp on the front.

One woman who declined to be filmed admitted that she had voted to leave the European Union last week, but was now concerned about the economic consequences and wanted to get Irish passports for her family.

Most, if not all, were remain voters however, including Dominic Allen, who said: “We have been meaning for a while to reconnect with our Irish roots so Brexit has sort of forced the issue.”

Similar thoughts were on the mind of Oscar Brennan, 17, who came out of the office in South Kensington with an application form tucked under his arm.

“I’ve always had it in the back of my mind to do this because I have always felt a strong connection to Ireland through my parents,” he said. Again, the Brexit vote had prompted him into acting.

“In terms of job prospects you just don’t know what the future is going to hold, so it’s better to be safe than sorry and be equipped to work in Europe.

It was a pale and tired looking David Cameron who expressed regret after dinner earlier that this would be his final European Council, reports Heather Stewart and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels.

Here’s their report on a fractious day in Brussels which ended with the prime minister warning Europe’s leaders that they will have to offer the UK more control over immigration:

Angela Merkel and other European leaders, meeting for the first EU summit since last Friday’s result, ruled out any special favours for Britain yesterday, insisting there would be no “cherry-picking exercise” in the exit negotiations.

In a speech to the Bundestag ahead of the summit on Tuesday, the German chancellor said: “There must be, and there will be, a palpable difference between those countries who want to be members of the European family and those who don’t.”

These words have been echoed by other EU leaders including Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi. Xavier Bettel, prime minister of Luxembourg, added that the UK could not have a Facebook-style “it’s complicated” status with the rest of the EU: Britain could have “marriage or divorce, but not something in between”.

EU leaders also insist there will be no informal talks on a future trade settlement until the UK triggers article 50, which begins the exit process.

The Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin has been listening to the EU Commission President, Jean Claude Juncker:

Merkel continued: “The discussions reflected the fact that everyone felt this was a sea change, a watershed moment. We have to make clear we respect the outcome ... We will continue to negotiate this relationship on a basis of friendship.”

“We cannot say clearly what this relationship will look like, but we have to say what conclusions we draw as the 27,” she said, adding: “We did not discuss the possibility that the UK will not invoke article 50, and I consider this an impossibility.”

Other European leaders are reacting to Cameron’s words now, each adding their warnings that the UK must act on the consequences of the referendum as soon as possible.

Merkel says she sees no way to reverse the result of the referendum.

Meanwhile, the president of the EU council, Donald Tusk, has reiterated that EU leaders want the UK’s plans “to be specified as soon as possible.”

Tusk said the leaders respected the will of British voters in deciding to leave and understood the UK would trigger the exit clause at some point in the near future.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker added: “We don’t have months to meditate, we have to act.”

Cameron has said that everyone wants to see a “clear model” for future relations between Britain and the EU. However, he made it clear once again that he himself would not be invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would trigger the start of the process of Britain leaving the EU, and that that would be a matter for his successor.

He said he couldn’t put a timeframe on when this would happen, but that Britain “needs some time” because the “overwhelming view in the the EU” is the need to get this right.

“This is a sad night for me,” says Cameron. “I threw myself in, head, heart and soul. And I didn’t succeed.”

Updated

Angela Merkel says the atmosphere with Cameron was serious, and that is was clear to her that he would have preferred a different result in last week’s referendum.

David Cameron has started speaking now. He says Britain should find the closest relationship that it can with Europe on trade and security, but it will be for the next prime minister – and their cabinet – to determine the right approach to take on negotiations.

Reflecting comments made earlier in the day by various European leaders, he says it is impossible to have all the benefits of membership of the European Union without paying the costs.

Josh Sowden, 22, who was listening quietly to the speeches in a grassy area where the demo had earlier drowned out broadcasters reporting on today’s developments, also spoke of his mixture of shock and cautious optimism.

“I was devastated as well. It’s just not the way that we need to be moving forward as a world. We need to be moving together.”

“I have all the hope that I am willing to muster that the result can be overturned, but then I had a lot of hope that we wouldn’t vote to leave. I watched the live results come in and I was just devastated.”

As it neared an end, speakers urged those gathered to mobilise using a Facebook group and work to put pressure on MPs and the media.

In Westminster, Ben Quinn writes that thousands of young pro-EU voters have been listening to impromptu speeches outside parliament, promising defiance in the face of last week’s referendum vote.

Draped in EU flags and carrying home-made placards lampooning Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, a large number are still in front of Parliament Square as night falls, after making their way down there following the earlier protest in Trafalgar Square.

In between chants of “vote it down” and “no more lies,” crowds listened to speakers call for the referendum result to be challenged or pushed aside, describing it as not legally binding.

Apparently typical of many was Laura Clarke, 23, who said that she was now beginning to feel a sense of “hope” after what she described as last week’s “devastation”.

“I felt like my future had been taken away and then I have been angry for most of the weekend,” said Clarke, carrying an umbrella in the rain and with her cheek daubed in the blue and yellow of the EU flag,” added Clarke, a native of Wales now living and working in London after graduating recently.

“So it was just really nice to come here and feel united. I’ve been feeling solidarity with other people here and also, basically just the love as well.”

Updated

Meanwhile over in Brussels, David Cameron is due to speak shortly in what will be his final European summit as prime minister.

He has so far had to go along with the programme, taking part in long-planned discussions on migration, European security and the single market. Sticking to the timetable is intended to show the EU is still in business, despite the Brexit crisis that has raised fears of the union’s disintegration.

Cameron has repeatedly insisted since announcing his departure last Friday that detailed questions about what deal Britain may want with the rest of the EU are for his successor to answer.

But as he arrived in Brussels, he made clear he hoped to smooth the path for Brexit talks. “I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible, because of course while we’re leaving the European Union, we mustn’t be turning our backs on Europe.

“These countries are our neighbours, our friends, our allies, our partners and I very much hope we’ll seek the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security, because that is good for us and that is good for them,” he said.

Our reporter Ben Quinn is down at Westminster, where the pro-EU speeches are continuing into the evening.

Thousands of people have turned out for a pro-EU rally in Westminster, despite the event being officially called off.

Thousands of people were expected to attend events in cities across the UK to voice their dissatisfaction with the result of the EU referendum, but organisers were forced to abandon several gatherings over fears about crowd sizes.

The rally today in Trafalgar Square was officially called off after 50,000 people said they would attend, but many turned out regardless and then moved down Whitehall to continue their protest in Parliament Square.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron addressed the crowd in Trafalgar Square insisting that the Brexit vote “is reversible”.
The Lib Dems have vowed to campaign to take the UK back into the EU.

Farron said: “In politics, as in life, two things are always the case for me: One, if you lose, you have the grace to accept the defeat, but you never, ever, ever give up. We as a community must stand together, this is reversible. The people of Britain are decent, outward-looking people. We will carry on direct campaigning.”

Updated

A snap survey of Guardian readers, started on Monday, suggested that Jeremy Corbyn still enjoys a large amount of support among party members in spite of reservations about his performance since becoming leader.

It comes as grassroots organisations such as Momentum and some of the biggest unions have started preparing for a new leadership campaign in defence of Jeremy Corbyn after an overwhelming vote of no confidence from Labour MPs.

Read more here about the survey, to which more than 4,000 people responded, 88% of them Labour members. It’s not scientific but does offer a large pool of opinions.

Even allowing for the likelihood that a disproportionate number of Corbyn supporters would have responded, there is much anger at the sniping against him by the parliamentary Labour party since the day he became leader.

The survey, conducted by the Guardian community team, asked readers a series of questions including whether they had voted for Corbyn last year, whether they planned to vote for him again, how they felt about his performance, and how they voted in last week’s European referendum.

Almost 90% of those who responded voted remain in the referendum in line with Labour’s position.

Of the respondents, 81% voted for Corbyn last year. Of those who voted for him last year, 95% continue to support him as party leader and said they were intending to vote for him again.

Supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hold up signs and shout during Momentum’s ‘Keep Corbyn’ rally outside the Houses of Parliament on June 27.
Supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn hold up signs and shout during Momentum’s ‘Keep Corbyn’ rally outside the Houses of Parliament on June 27. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Updated

Boris Johnson would not call a snap election if he became Tory leader

Boris Johnson would not call a general election immediately if he won the Conservative party leadership election and took over as prime minister, it is understood.

A source in Johnson’s team said the former London mayor, who has been busy seeking the support of high-profile women in the cabinet, believed the result of last week’s referendum was sufficient for him to start negotiating an exit from the EU without seeking a new mandate.

You can read more about those machinations here, including this detail about the way in which the rival ‘teams’ are lining up:

MPs say Elizabeth Truss, the environment secretary, will back Johnson in the coming days, and that he has reached out to Amber Rudd, the energy secretary. It would be seen as a coup if Johnson, figurehead of the leave campaign, secured the backing of ministers who both campaigned heavily for the remain camp before the EU referendum.

Johnson wants to show he can attract the support of remain campaigners and the liberal wing of the party, with early support from the skills minister, Nick Boles.

But a number of female MPs, including those passionate about the party’s modernising agenda, have said they plan to back May’s campaign.

Boris Johnson leaves his home in London on June 28.
Boris Johnson leaves his home in London on June 28. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

The real ‘big beast’ in that Tory leadership contest of course remains Boris Johnson of course.

It’s probably fair to say that he’s not quite flavour of the month with the pro-EU demonstrators outside parliament now who have singling him out in chants.

Over to other leadership bunfight now, the Conservative Party. Nominations by Tory MPs for David Cameron’s successor as party leader and prime minister will open on Wednesday and close the following day at noon, starting an accelerated process to see a new incumbent in place at the start of September.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker has been scrutinising the possible candidates amid a rather murky picture. The process is a rather different one from that of the Labour Party’s:

The field is likely to be packed as the contest begins. While Jeremy Corbyn had to get (and only just managed) 35 nominations from Labour MPs to stand in his party’s leadership race, Tory hopefuls need the support of just two others.

Assuming there are three or more candidates, the 330 Conservative MPs will hold a series of ballots to narrow this down to two for the party membership to choose from.

The votes among Tory MPs to whittle down the candidates to the final two will be held by the party’s 1922 Committee every Tuesday and Thursday, meaning the process could in theory take several weeks if there are half a dozen or more people standing. However, while only one candidate is officially eliminated at a time, others with very few votes will often drop out, speeding up the process.

Theresa May leaves No 10. The home secretary is officially the bookies’ favourite for the Tory leadership contest.
Theresa May leaves No 10. The home secretary is officially the bookies’ favourite for the Tory leadership contest. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Some of the participants from the remain demonstration in central London have now made their way down to Parliament Square.

Here’s Guardian video footage and interviews of the demonstration earlier in Trafalgar Square.

Thousands of pro-EU demonstrators protest at Trafalgar Square – video

Updated

So can Angela Eagle, the early frontrunner to challenge Jeremy Corbyn, pull it off? The Guardian’s Jessica Elgot has been taking a look at the credentials of Eagle, a staunch trade unionist favoured by the party’s soft left.

The Wallasey MP has both party unity credentials and economic nous, having served in the Treasury under Gordon Brown. Her backers will be making the case that she is both experienced and popular with party members, regularly topping the Labour List shadow cabinet rankings. MPs had previously urged Corbyn to make her his shadow chancellor before he chose his old friend John McDonnell.

Eagle is battle-hardened, standing in for Corbyn at PMQs and winning more accolades than the leader. She first came to mainstream public prominence when David Cameron snapped at her to “calm down, dear” at PMQs, prompting cries of sexism but which Eagle is said to have taken as a triumph.

Yet she had already made political history – in 1997 she was the first female MP to come out, and she and her sister Maria Eagle became the first set of twins to sit in the Commons when Maria was elected in 1997.

Former Shadow Business Secretary & First Secretary of State Angela Eagle on College Green, Westminster, on June 27.
Former Shadow Business Secretary & First Secretary of State Angela Eagle on College Green, Westminster, on June 27. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Read on here.

Scottish Labour leader urges Corbyn to consider stepping aside

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, has called on Jeremy Corbyn to consider standing aside following his confidence vote loss earlier.

Dugdale told the BBC she could not do her job if she had lost the backing of most of her members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs):

I would have to accept that, despite my own mandate of 72% from the party membership, if the overwhelming majority of Labour MSPs did not support my leadership, I would not be able to do this job effectively

Jeremy and I were elected leader of the UK and Scottish parties at similar times with similar mandates. We both have a job of uniting our parliamentary party to be an effective opposition and ultimately a party of government.

I would not be able to do my job if i did not have the support of the parliamentary party, regardless of the mandate that members give me. Jeremy should reflect on the outcome of the PLP vote but I would not carry on in similar circumstances. (quotes via PoliticsHome)

Kezia Dugdale and Jeremy Corbyn speak at a Labour rally during the EU referendum campaign.
Kezia Dugdale and Jeremy Corbyn speak at a Labour rally during the EU referendum campaign. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Thousands attend 'cancelled' pro-EU event in Trafalgar Square

A pro-EU demonstration is underway at the moment in London’s Trafalgar Square, where the passion on show for Europe would appear to leave most of the actual pro-remain events from the referendum campaign in the shade.

It’s not just the rain that has failed to deter those present. In a post on Facebook ahead of the event organisers said some 50,000 people had originally declared an interest in attending, prompting it to be abandoned.

Spokesman Jessica Rodgers said: “We’ve tried all we can to ensure this could go ahead. However logistically it’s not possible to ensure a safe event.

“Trafalgar Square can hold 10,000 people - and that’s with security barriers, stewards, road closures, and a full contingency plan. Considering the speed with which this event has picked up, arranging everything required in time is simply not possible.

An event planned for Broad Street in Oxford was cancelled for similar reasons, although pro-EU supporters were said to be planning a demonstration anyway under the message “stand together for Europe”.

A couple kiss as they hold European flags at an anti-Brexit protest in Trafalgar Square.
A couple kiss as they hold European flags at an anti-Brexit protest in Trafalgar Square. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Also eager to present themselves as an alternative to Labour, the Liberal Democrats have accused the party of “failing to put aside tribal interests” at a time when the UK needs politicians to “stand up”.

The Liberal Democrat President, Sal Brinton, said:

Labour are imploding. Whilst Corbyn’s MPs have voted for him to leave and for them to take control, he plans to limp on.

With every day that passes this internal chaos hurts the most vulnerable, the poorest and those who are voiceless. The Liberal Democrats will continue to work to fill the vacuum and hold this government to account.

Plaid Cymru have accused the Labour Party of “letting the Tories off the hook” by engaging in what the Welsh nationalists described as Labour’s “self destruction”.

Hywel Williams, Plaid’s leader in Westminster, said:

Not content with fanning the flames of their own civil war in the last few days with mass resignations, the Labour Party have now deposed their own leader in the ugliest way possible.

Labour is failing in its duty to provide strong opposition to what is soon likely to becoming an increasingly right-wing and regressive Tory government.

Only this morning, Chancellor Osborne announced that there would have to be further spending cuts and higher taxes in order to deal with the economic aftermath of Brexit. When the official opposition doesn’t serve its purpose, ordinary people suffer.

The latest departure from the Labour front bench is Liz McInnes, who was the Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister, according to reports.

It’s a significant one in that she is believed to have spoken up for Corbyn at the latest stormy Labour Parliamentary Party meeting.

What is about European summits and the need for their participants to refuel by sinking their teeth into the meat of young calves?

The menu being served up to David Cameron and others in Brussels this evening has come through and, you’ve guessed it, there’s veal.

Entrée:

Salade de caille et haricots verts, croustillant de fruits secs

Quail and green bean salad with a crispy dried fruit pastry triangle


Plat principal:

Mignon de veau à la ficelle, petits légumes de saison

Poached veal tenderloin with seasonal baby vegetables

Dessert:

Coupe de fraises

Strawberries

The figure most likely to emerge as an “agreed” challenger for the Labour leadership is Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary and shadow first secretary of state, according to the New Statesman’s George Eaton.

He also suggests that Dan Jarvis, the former soldier and backbencher who has long been touted as a potential leader, and the former minister Yvette Cooper, are in the loop.

The first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has warned that support for far right parties will increase if there are not clear answers from the leave side over what happens next.

Speaking during a debate on the outcome of the EU referendum at the Welsh assembly, Jones said if there were no answers, “people who have voted leave will take their anger out in different ways.”

Jones, the leader of Welsh Labour, added: “That will mean we will see support for extreme racist parties of the far right. That is my great worry. There is a duty and responsibility on all of us including the leave campaigners to explain what happens next and do that quickly. We need more than waffle, we need detail.”

He also accused the leader of the Tories in Wales, Andrew RT Davies, of launching a “fundamental attack on devolution”.

Davies has suggested funds that used to come from the EU to support deprived communities in Wales and farming could come directly from Westminster rather than be funelled through the Welsh government.

Jones said: “This [referendum] vote must not be used as a reason to leach power away from the people of Wales.”

Back for a moment now to the larger fallout from the pro-Brexit vote and it has emerged that the British and Irish governments are set to discuss the fallout from the Brexit vote for the first time on Wednesday.

Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Charlie Flanagan, and the Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa Villiers, will talk about the impact of the referendum on cross-border relations when they meet in Belfast.

Speaking ahead of the visit to Northern Ireland, where 56% of those who voted backed Remain, Flanagan said:

It is also my first visit since last Thursday’s referendum and I want again to reassure people that the Irish Government in its contacts with EU partners continues to emphasise that the Northern Ireland and all-island dimensions will be an area for priority attention in all post-referendum negotiations processes, including in relation to the status of the border.

In his interview on the BBC News (see 5.20pm) Alastair Campbell said that the Labour party was becoming a “sect” under Jeremy Corbyn. And he said that many of the new members who had joined the party because they liked Corbyn were not much help when it came to campaigning.

I’ve got to tell you, campaigning recently in the referendum, a lot of these new members - we did not see that many of them out there, delivering leaflets and knocking on doors.

There is academic research backing this up. Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, has carried out a survey of Labour members and registered supporters who signed up after the 2015 general election, as part of a research project into party membership, and he has found that the newcomers are not particularly active. Here’s an extract from his paper.

What is fascinating, however, is that if Labour is to win, it may have to do it largely without much practical help from its new members and registered supporters. Confirming the complaints of many a Labour MP and ward secretary, the newbies might talk (and tweet) a good game, but they don’t necessarily turn up to do the hard yards.

Just over two-thirds of Labour’s post-GE2015 members and supporters (68%) have retweeted, posted or forwarded a message supporting the Labour party on social media and nearly nine out of ten (88%) claim to have signed a petition on behalf of the party. But only 15% of them have participated in door-to-door or telephone canvassing of voters or helped out at a party function, and only 28% of them claimed to have delivered leaflets. Indeed, some 63% said they had put in no time at all on behalf of the party during recent local, mayoral and devolved elections.

Finally, 61% of Labour’s new members say they have never attended a party meeting – which could mean that MPs worried about their obvious enthusiasm for deselecting those hostile to Jeremy may have less to fear than they might think.

That’s all from me for today.

I’m handing over now to my colleague Ben Quinn.

Updated

David Ward, who was chief of staff to the Labour leader John Smith, said that when the Labour party leadership election rules were revised in 1993, no one ever thought it was necessary to insist that a leader who lost a confidence motion would have to resign - because people thought it was obvious a leader could not survive in those circumstances.

He also said the current crisis showed why Ed Miliband was so wrong to abandon Labour’s electoral college. John Smith’s legacy has been “blown up”, he said. Ward, who has elaborated on this thoughts in a blog, told me:

John Smith told me there would be no need for an ejector seat. If a leader lost a no confidence vote they would resign. You cannot survive. So we never thought it was necessary.

Labour MPs represent millions of Labour voters, not a few hundred thousand members, which is why the electoral college was originally founded to represent Labour members, MPs and the unions.

It was a huge folly to drop this. New Labour was obsessed with one member one vote and you can say now that they perhaps have reaped what they sowed. The people around Corbyn who are advising him actively want to create a crisis. That’s part of their world view. They would be quite happy to have a small rump party under the name Momentum socialists of 15 or so MPs. That would suit them just fine.

I think Corbyn will lose an electoral challenge, young people particularly are horrified at the result of this referendum.

To see John Smith’s legacy blown up like this, it’s just so awful.

And anyone who cannot fill a front bench cannot be credible as an alternative government.

The late John Smith.
The late John Smith.
Photograph: Munns Neil Munns/PA

Updated

The Labour party resignations continued. Sarah Champion says she has resigned as shadow minister for preventing abuse.

One quarter of Labour voters less likely to vote Labour after EU referendum, internal survey shows

One in four Labour voters are less likely to vote for the party following the referendum campaign, a leaked internal survey shows.

A poll conducted by YouGov for the party shows that 27% of the party’s supporters at the last general election said they were less likely to support the party following the referendum campaign.

11% of voters said they were more likely to support the party since the campaign ended on Thursday.

The figures will be seized upon by critics of Corbyn who have claimed that Labour is losing its core voters under his leadership.

The YouGov survey interviewed 2013 British adults on 26 and 27 June. It asked: “Thinking particularly about the Labour party and the Labour campaign in the referendum, would you say that this made you more or less likely to vote Labour or has it made no difference?”

It found that 6% of those who voted Labour in 2015 said it was much more likely they would vote Labour; 5% said a little more likely to vote Labour, making a total of 11%.

15% of Labour’s voters said they were a little less likely to vote Labour since the referendum campaign; 12% said it made them a lot less likely to vote Labour, making a total of 27%.

But the survey also appears to confirm previous claims by Corbyn and his supporters that 65% of Labour supporters voted to remain. It finds that only 24% voted to leave while 9% did not vote.

A spokesman for Corbyn said the party does not comment on internal surveys.

Updated

New Conservative party leader to be announced on Friday 9 September

The Conservative party has announced that its new leader will be announced on 9 September. Its party board met today to consider proposals from the backbench 1922 committee, which said the new leader should be elected by 2 September. The board has tweaked the plans, and here are the key dates.

Tomorrow - Nominations open.

Thursday - Nominations close at noon.

Friday 9 September - New leader announced.

Former civil service chief says Brexit withdrawal negotiations should not start until 2017

Our economics correspondent Phillip Inman listened earlier to a hastily arranged treasury select committee hearing on the implications of Brexit.

The meeting was attended by mostly remain MPs, with the addition of two Brexiters - Labour’s John Mann and Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg. The experts interviewed by the committee were Lord Turnbull, a crossbench peer and former head of the civil service, Stephen King, the chief economist at HSBC and David Miles, an economist at Imprial College and former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee.

Phillip writes:

Lord Turnbull said the government would be misguided if it notified the European Commission of a decision to leave using article 50 before Whitehall was sure what ministers were asking for.

Pressed by the committee chair Andrew Tyrie, he said it would be unwise to trigger article 50 until next year, and possibly not until the spring, though probably not later to avoid French and German officials being distracted by parliamentary and presidential elections, due in the autumn of 2017.

“What we don’t want is trigger article 50 and then for Angela Merkel to turn around and say she doesn’t want to talk to us because she has bigger fish to fry,” Turnbull said.

“It’s a lot of work to get through. A new cabinet and front bench will need to get into their jobs and then into the details of trading arrangements, what we are going to offer on the movement of people. We are not going to get all we want on one and not make a concession on the other,” he said.

Turnbull said he supported basing the Brexit team in the cabinet office, but argued that Oliver Letwin should only be a stop gap head of the negotiating team.

“The government has started building an apparatus and I think it’s in the right place in the Cabinet Office. At the moment it is under the charge of Oliver Letwin, who I think is completely unsuitable in the longer term. He has spent the last six years as a kind of consigliere of the prime minister. He has been absolutely at the heart of No 10. And that is not the profile needed for carrying its work forward.”

He said it needed someone committed to the cause of Brexit.

As long as Jeremy Corbyn has the support of the unions and the membership he has a strong chance of beating off the challenge. The unions provide the financial backing as well as contributing activists to organise campaign events and staff phone banks.

Len McCluskey, the leader of one of the biggest unions, Unite, confirmed his continued support for Corbyn in spite of speculation to the contrary. (See 5.14pm.) And Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, also backed Corbyn. He said:

It is almost unbelievable to watch the Labour party plunge into a crisis of its own making as its MPs involve themselves in childish, self-indulgent behaviour which doesn’t befit their office.

Updated

Alastair Campbell.
Alastair Campbell.

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former communications chief, has just been on the BBC saying Jeremy Corbyn should resign. Campbell said that his own MP, Sir Keir Starmer, was excellent but he would find it hard to vote for him in the next general election if he thought that it would lead to Corbyn becoming prime minister. Corbyn was not up to the job, he said.

Campbell has written more about Corbyn on his blog. Here’s an extract:

MPs are of mixed quality. But they are not all daft. The avalanche of resignations of frontbenchers has come not merely because of [Corbyn’s] half-hearted, ineffectual campaigning in the referendum debate. It has come because they have seen up close that he cannot do the job. And we saw again last night, just as we saw in that car crash Vice documentary, is that he is great when telling the converted what they already think (and by the way large numbers in that crowd last night are dedicated to destroying Labour not saving it) but hopeless at winning over the people we are going to need to prevent an even bigger Tory majority in the coming election, whether it is Johnson, Theresa May or anyone else at the helm from Number 10.

Updated

Unite boss says Corbyn supporters 'will be ready' for any leadership election

Len McCluskey, the head of Unite – the party’s biggest financial backer – said the behaviour of Labour’s MPs was “extraordinary” and had diverted attention from a Tory government in crisis.

If anyone wants to change the Labour leadership, they must do it openly and democratically through an election, not through resignations and pointless posturing. If there has to be such an election, Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters throughout the movement will be ready for it.

Updated

A #SavingLabour website has been set up for people who want to send in a message saying they support calls for Jeremy Corbyn to resign.

According to the New Statesman’s George Eaton, Rosie Winterton, the chief whip, and John Cryer, the chair of the PLP, are going to see Jeremy Corbyn to tell him that the game is up.

They are unlikely to have much luck. Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, tried this on Monday and did not get anywhere.

In Rosa Prince’s very useful biography of Corbyn, two themes emerge very strongly. First, Corbyn is incredibly stubborn. He could not have spent his life campaigning for unfashionable causes if he wasn’t. And, second, in any contest between his principles/conscience and the interests of the PLP, the PLP always comes out second. That is why he merrily defied the Labour whip so often.

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Corbyn refuses to resign, saying no confidence vote has 'no constitutional legitimacy'

Jeremy Corbyn has put out this statement.

In the aftermath of last week’s referendum, our country faces major challenges. Risks to the economy and living standards are growing. The public is divided.

The government is in disarray. Ministers have made it clear they have no exit plan, but are determined to make working people pay with a new round of cuts and tax rises.

Labour has the responsibility to give a lead where the government will not. We need to bring people together, hold the government to account, oppose austerity and set out a path to exit that will protect jobs and incomes.

To do that we need to stand together. Since I was elected leader of our party nine months ago, we have repeatedly defeated the government over its attacks on living standards.

Last month, Labour become the largest party in the local elections. In Thursday’s referendum, a narrow majority voted to leave, but two thirds of Labour supporters backed our call for a remain vote.

I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60% of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning. Today’s vote by MPs has no constitutional legitimacy.

We are a democratic party, with a clear constitution. Our people need Labour party members, trade unionists and MPs to unite behind my leadership at a critical time for our country.

The New Statesman’s George Eaton says that, on the basis of these figures, Jeremy Corbyn would fail to get the 50 signatures he would need to nominate him for a leadership contest without the backing of 10 MEPs (who are now included in the group that can nominate candidates).

But whether or not Corbyn would need to be nominated in a future leadership contest is a moot point. There is conflicting legal advice on this. His supporters have counsel’s opinion saying Corbyn would automatically be on the ballot, as a serving leader, but his opponents have legal advice saying the opposite.

Sky’s Faisal Islam has the full figures.

By comparison, when Iain Duncan Smith faced a no confidence vote as Conservative party leader, he lost by 90 votes to 75. Duncan Smith subsequently resigned, and was replaced by Michael Howard.

But Duncan Smith was obliged to resign under Conservative party rules. No confidence motions in the leader do not feature in the Labour rulebook, which is why Corbyn says he can ignore today’s vote.

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That means 81% of the Labour MPs who voted have no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn.

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Corbyn loses no confidence motion by 172 votes to 40

This is from the Sunday Times’s James Lyons.

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According to Sky News, Tom Watson and Angela Eagle are going to meet soon to decide which of them would be best placed to challenge Jeremy Corbyn.

Sky News are reporting that Jeremy Corbyn has, as expected, lost the motion of no confidence.

Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, has confirmed that he is standing for the Conservative leadership in an email to Tory MPs, Politico reports.

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These are from Sky’s Faisal Islam.

We will get the result of the Labour no confidence ballot at about 4.30pm.

Barack Obama has appealed for calm in the light of the Brexit vote. He said it was as if the pause button had been pressed on the European integration project. Norway is not a member of the EU, he said. But Norway was one of America’s closest allies, he said.

Obama warns against global ‘hysteria’ after Britain’s vote to leave EU

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This is from the BBC’s Ross Hawkins. It will be interesting to see to what extent willingness to hold, or rule out, an early election becomes an issue in the Conservative leadership party contest.

Pat Glass received death threats

Pat Glass (see 3.54pm) has also revealed that she stayed away from her local EU referendum count after death threats were made against her, the Press Association reports.

Four threats were made to the police about Glass, who represents North West Durham, and who was shadow Europe minister until she was promoted on Monday to shadow education minister.

Glass did not see the threats but they were taken seriously enough by the police for her to be warned.

She said: “Police advice was that it was best to avoid being in places I was expected to be and I decided not to attend the count.”

A malicious email was also sent to a member of her family, she said.

“To some extent people like me put ourselves out there but stuff directed at our families is beyond the pale,” the MP said.

It was understood she would normally ignore anonymous threats as the work of “keyboard warriors” but following the killing of her parliamentary colleague Jo Cox, Glass took them seriously.

A Durham Police spokeswoman confirmed the force was investigating.

Pat Glass.
Pat Glass. Photograph: Gary Calton for the Observer

Pat Glass to stand down at election after 'incredibly divisive' referendum campaign

Pat Glass, who was appointed shadow education secretary, has announced that she will stand down at the next election. She says that, although she only ever intended to serve two terms, she found the last six months “very, very difficult”. The referendum campaign was “incredibly divisive” and “bruising in many respects”, she says.

Glass got into trouble during the campaign for calling a voter “a horrible racist” - although some of us took the view that she was stitched up.

If Glass feels this way about politics after the referendum campaign, it would not be surprising if some other MPs feel the same way.

Here’s her letter.

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Fresh evidence of remain campaigners feeling let down by Corbyn

More evidence has emerged about how remain campaigners feel let down by Jeremy Corbyn’s office. Here is an extract from a leaked email sent out to supporters by Stewart Owadally, the director of Wales Stronger In Europe, and Alex Kalinik, its head of press.

We were consistently given short shrift when we requested visits from Labour figures via the Labour party in London. Our political champions from the Labour party were often unable to get hold of research or rebuttal materials from Labour HQ to help make their case. In the end we often coordinated press for Labour figures because the Labour Party was not willing to do so – but these were less powerful because they were not from the official party infrastructure.

Most strikingly felt of all was the complete disinterest from Jeremy Corbyn. As leader of our party, he should have thrown the full weight of his resources - as leader, as the leader’s office, and as the steward of the party itself - into the Labour campaign for a remain vote, but this did not happen.

This was borne out by the results. While polls suggest somewhere in the region of 60% of Labour voters voted remain across the UK, what we saw and heard in the traditional Labour heartlands told its own story. We lost them, badly. And we faced a constant barrage of opposition from people in those areas during the campaign.

The New Statesman’s George Eaton says Jeremy Corbyn will definitely face a leadership challenge - but that it is not clear yet whether it will come from Angela Eagle or Tom Watson.

Watson may well argue that he would be better placed to beat Corbyn in a leadership contest. He won the deputy leadership contest quite easily last year, when Eagle came fourth. But Eagle, an excellent Commons performer who also did well in the ITV referendum debate, may argue that she would a better leader for the party in a general election.

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The Tory leader in Wales, Andrew RT Davies, who campaigned for leave, is arguing that out campaigners ought to be given a role in preparing the country’s response to the referendum result.He said:

Despite the expectations of many, including [first minister] Carwyn Jones, Wales has proven itself to be a Eurosceptic nation.

Clearly, both the Labour party and Plaid Cymru misunderstood this. Those parties, unlike the Welsh Conservative party, do not reflect the balance of opinion which exists amongst the Welsh public.

As negotiations in relation to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU continue, the Welsh government must ensure public opinion is better reflected as part of this process.

Wales needs strong leadership that reflects the wishes of its people, and ensures the best deal for our country in this new era. That must include a role for those politicians of all parties who campaigned for a vote to leave.

The Green MEP Molly Scott Cato has written a candid post on Facebook about being back in the European parliament after the Brexit vote. Here’s an excerpt.

It is difficult to realise that European colleagues can accept our decision to reject the the European Union largely without rancour. It is painful to realise that others are more affectionate and confident about my homeland than I am able to be myself just now.

Nicola Sturgeon has called on Scotland to move forward “in a spirit of unity and national purpose” as she condemned the leadership vacuum in Westminster and called on the UK government to “get a grip” in her first statement to the Holyrood parliament since last week’s referendum result.

Describing her fear that “we are still in the early days of this period of risk and uncertainty”, Scotland’s first minster told the chamber:

These are times that call for principles, purpose and clarity - in short, for leadership. That is why the vacuum that has developed at Westminster is so unacceptable.

One thing is clear: there cannot be three months of drift while both the government and main opposition parties at Westminster immerse themselves in internal elections. That would compound the difficult situation we are already facing and risk even more damage to our economy.

We have heard that – almost incredibly – there was no plan for this outcome. It is my view that the UK government must now get a grip on this: first, to restore stability and confidence, then, to set out its plan for the way forward. It must involve the Scottish government in that work at every step of the way.

Underlining her determination to protect the Scotland’s relationship with the European Union, Sturgeon confirmed that she will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to meet representatives of the major groups in the European parliament and the president, Martin Schulz.

Nicola Sturgeon making a statement on Brexit to MSPs.
Nicola Sturgeon making a statement on Brexit to MSPs. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

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Support growing for Angela Eagle as alternative Labour leader

MPs are suggesting Angela Eagle is piling up nominations for the Labour leadership contest we’re expecting. Sources also say that there has been a high turnout for the no confidence ballot and that they expect an overwhelming result.

Sir Richard Branson says the Virgin Group has lost a third of its value since the vote for Brexit. He is also warning about the risks for a recession.

Richard Branson: Virgin Group lost a third of value since Brexit vote

Britain must continue to be a world leader when it comes to acting on global warming despite the EU referendum result last week, the UN’s climate chief has urged.

Christiana Figueres warned that should article 50 be triggered it would bring uncertainty and transition for two years but cooperation on climate change could be one area of stability and continuity between the UK and EU.

“Should that be the case [article 50 being triggered], there is going be quite a lot of uncertainty, transition, volatility for at least two years,” she told told an audience of business leaders in London on Tuesday.

Lunchtime summary

  • Labour MPs have been voting in a no confidence ballot on Jeremy Corbyn. The result will be announced shortly after 4pm. As the ballot has been taking place another four frontbenchers have resigned. Corbyn continues to insist that he will ignore any no confidence vote (which does not have any status in party rules) and force his opponents to get someone to launch a formal leadership challenge. Angela Eagle is seen as one of the strongest contenders for this role, and Tom Watson is another possibility. According to the BBC, Dan Jarvis has ruled himself out. Here is the Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith on this.

Johnson’s latest thinking will please Rupert Murdoch, who said today that if Johnson backtracked on things said during the referendum campaign, there would be ““another bloody revolt”. (See 2.12pm.)

  • Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has told the Scottish parliament that her priority in the Brexit negotiations will be protecting Scotland’s relationship with the EU.

Murdoch says Brexit vote was wonderful

Rupert Murdoch has called the British vote to leave the EU “wonderful” and described Donald Trump a “very able man” in remarks made in London on Tuesday.

In his first public comments since last week’s historic referendum vote, the owner of several newspapers including the Times, the Sun and the Wall Street Journal said leaving the EU was like a “prison break … we’re out” and suggested that a UK-US trade deal would not take long to negotiate.

Long regarded as a Eurosceptic, Murdoch kept remarkably quiet during the referendum campaign while his biggest selling UK newspaper, the Sun, took a passionately anti-EU stance.

The invite-only business summit hosted by the Times, which like many of its readers backed remain, heard Murdoch extol the virtues of the Brexit vote and the campaign itself. Referring to England’s disastrous 2-1 loss to Iceland in the Euro 2016 football match on Monday night, the media boss compared the Brexit campaign to Iceland, a team playing to win, while remainers were like England or “overpaid players expected to be good”.

Speaking at the Times CEO summit, Murdoch’s comments suggest the pro-Brexit Sun newspaper reflected his own Eurosceptic views, although the paper’s editor, Tony Gallagher, has made no secret of his own dislike for the EU in a series of leaders since he was appointed last September.

In a sign that Boris Johnson may not win immediate backing for any future campaign, Murdoch said if he backtracked on promises made during the campaign on serious things, presumably like immigration, this would trigger “another bloody revolt”.

The owner of Fox television station and Sky also made positive comments about the Republican candidate for the US president Donald Trump and compared his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton unfavourably to her husband.

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Watson disappears after Corbyn's latest 'reshuffle'

Jeremy Corbyn invited cameras in to his first meeting with his new shadow cabinet this morning but appeared to be having second thoughts about it – and the seating arrangements.

Calling over two of his aides, the Sky News microphone picked up Corbyn saying “this isn’t a good idea” as he sat between Tom Watson, his deputy leader tipped by many to be pondering a leadership challenge, and Cat Smith, a new shadow cabinet minister and Corbyn loyalist who was elected just over a year ago.

The cameras were asked to leave, and on their return there was quite a different seating plan in place. Watson and Smith were gone, replaced by Emily Thornberry and Corbyn’s PPS Steve Rotheram. The deputy leader had shifted out of sight.

Unfortunately, the captioning can lead to picture crops like this.

Here is the video footage.

‘I’m not sure this is a great idea,’ says Corbyn as he reshuffles shadow cabinet – video

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This is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.

Cameron says he wants UK to be 'as constructive as possible' over Brexit

David Cameron said he wanted to be “as constructive as possible” as he arrived in Brussels to discuss Brexit with fellow EU leaders. (Discuss Brexit, but not to negotiate Brexit – he had said he would leave it to his successor to trigger the formal start of the withdrawal process.)

As he arrived at the summit he said:

I’ll be explaining that Britain will be leaving the European Union but I want that process to be as constructive as possible, and I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible, because of course while we’re leaving the European Union, we mustn’t be turning our backs on Europe.

These countries are our neighbours, our friends, our allies, our partners and I very much hope we’ll seek the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security, because that is good for us and that is good for them. And that’s the spirit in which the discussions I think will be held today.

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If you are British and despair at the prospect of leaving the EU, a daily newspaper in Bucharest has launched a website suggesting becoming Romanian as a solution.

Cooper calls for national commission on immigration

Yvette Cooper, the former shadow home secretary and former (?) Labour leadership contender, gave a speech to the Centre for European Reform this morning. The only clip I’ve seen on the news features a passage criticising Jeremy Corbyn, but it will be a shame if that is the only passage that gets picked up because the speech was very good. It is probably the most thoughtful response to the referendum I’ve heard yet from a British politician.

Here are the main points.

  • Cooper called for a national commission on immigration to develop a consensus on what immigration policy should be. This was important because Brexit would lead to immigration reform, she said, but at present there was no consensus on what it should be.

We need a national commission on immigration charged with building a consensus across the country – drawing together faith leaders, community leaders, trades unions, employers, the voice of the small towns and the big cities. We have to face this. Britain has benefited for centuries from people coming here from abroad. We need international talent and ideas. But we also need a system that is fair and has public consent. Or the divisions will grow and extremists will be able to exploit them.

  • She said parliament should set up a joint committee to consider the UK’s Brexit negotiation strategy. It should be a cross-party committee, featuring remain and leave figures, she said.
  • She said the Labour party should get access to the civil service to allow it to develop policy because an election could be imminent. By convention, the opposition parties are usually invited for talks with senior civil servants in the months before an election. She said:

And there needs to be direct access for the opposition to civil servants now too. The leading Tory party contender has said he is considering an general election. The prime minister has accepted there may be a case for an early general election, that may be only 4 months away.

I am therefore writing to Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, to ask him to trigger the process for access talks for opposition parties.

  • She said Labour should be pushing for the UK to have a “special relationship” with the EU.

We need to build a progressive, outward-looking Labour vision of Britain’s future alongside the EU – a new ‘special relationship’ with our European partners underpinned by Labour values – social solidarity, equality, social justice and human rights.

  • She said she hoped Jeremy Corbyn would resign.

At a time when the world has changed, when an election is looming, I am very concerned that Jeremy Corbyn has no plan to reunite the Labour movement, no plan to respond to the deep and serious issues the referendum has thrown up, and no plan for a looming general election …

I got to know Jeremy last year and I always found him a kind, friendly man. He won well and he has brought more people into the party. He did not lose the referendum – the prime minister lost the referendum he called. But Jeremy did not show he had any of the campaigning zeal our party needs in a tough fight.

But he is losing us Labour support across the country – and particularly in the towns and coalfields that built the labour movement in the first place.

Jeremy would be letting down Labour voters and communities across the country who badly need a strong Labour voice right now, and who badly need a Labour government, if he drags this out any longer. I hope he does the right thing in the party and stands down swiftly because we cannot drift and leave Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith to shape Britain’s future.

  • She said it was important to understand why people voted to leave. They did not feel they had anything to lose, she said.

The cities voted in. Industrial towns voted out. Digital growth areas like the M4 corridor or the University towns voted in. The Tory shires and the Labour coalfields voted out. Scotland voted in. England and Wales voted out. The young voted in. Older votes chose out. Graduates in. Working-class communities out.

Those who saw globalisation as an opportunity voted in. Those who felt globalisation was a threat and didn’t trust “the system” to make it better voted out … Communities who didn’t believe the Remain campaigns arguments about risk because they didn’t feel they had much more to lose. People who said they didn’t believe “experts”, because too often experts have let them down ...

A Tory prime minister could not persuade them. Because a Tory government has let them down. But Labour had nothing to say that could convince them either. They weren’t convinced by staying in Europe because they couldn’t see how they benefited.

  • She said the leave vote was a sign that politics has failed.

We are here without a plan because politics has failed. Because our political process just couldn’t deal with the difficult issues so they got worse. Because too many of our politicians couldn’t work out how to solve problems so they made false promise or just walked away. Because too many towns feel they have no future. Because immigration seemed too hard to solve. Because the EU seemed too hard to reform. Because inequality is still rising and it seemed too hard to stop. Because we weren’t prepared to take action to sort out housing. Because trust collapsed. And with every layer of failure, politics just made it worse.

  • She said there was a “political vacuum” in Westminster because neither the government nor the opposition had a plan for Brexit.
Yvette Cooper speaking to the Centre for European Reform.
Yvette Cooper speaking to the Centre for European Reform. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

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Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has vowed to fight the next general election, “which could be very soon”, on a pledge to stop Brexit.

Voters deserved the chance to rethink their decision, now the EU debate has moved from the abstract to the visceral, threatening jobs and living standards, he said on a visit to Brussels.

The MP said he respected the result, but it was perfectly legitimate to put the question to the British people at an election, because the country was out of control and the campaign had been fought on lies. He said:

I think it is right that in a general election we say to the British people that if you want to get out of the increasing economic mess that we find ourselves in, where we have lost control, [where] we are at the mercy of markets, people’s jobs are going, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed and we are not taking back control … And the fact that the key tenets of the leave campaign are now proved to be lies … It would prove legitimate for the Liberal Democrats to go into the next election and say we offer you a chance to reconsider.

Tim Farron.
Tim Farron: ‘The key tents of the campaign are now proved to be lies.’ Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA

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Italian PM says UK cannot retain 'good things' from single market without 'bad things'

Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister, also said it would be impossible for the UK to retain access to the single market without accepting free movement. This is what he told CNN.

It’s impossible to belong to [the] community only with the good things, and not with the bad things. In every family, if you belong to [the] family, you must accept the good things and the bad things. It is impossible to speak only about the single market and [not] accept the politics about migration. It’s impossible to be very communitarian about the economy and not about values. This is the problem, in my view, about this campaign.

This is what Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said this morning too. (See 12.02pm.)

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Sajid Javid, the business secretary, has been holding talks with business leaders from groups such as the CBI to discuss the consequences of the Brexit vote. But trade unions were not invited. Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said:

It is disappointing that the representatives of working people are not part of these talks. At a time when the government should be looking to heal the wounds of a divisive campaign, this is a backward step.

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Jeremy Corbyn has been chairing a meeting of his new shadow cabinet this morning. Sky News has just shown some footage.

According to Sky, more than half of Labour’s frontbench posts remain unfilled because of all the resignations.

Jeremy Corbyn chairing a shadow cabinet meeting. From left, Cat Smith, Seumas Milne, Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson.
Jeremy Corbyn chairs a shadow cabinet meeting. From left: Cat Smith, Seumas Milne, Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson. Photograph: Sky News

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Labour party resignations continue

The Labour party resignations are continuing.

Alan Whitehead has resigned from his post as shadow energy minister.

Barbara Keeley and Andrew Gwynne are also reportedly resigning as shadow health ministers.

Nigel Farage may have been booed in the European parliament, but the SNP MEP Alyn Smith received a standing ovation when he delivered a passionate pro-European speech in the debate. Here’s an extract:

I want my country to be internationalist, cooperative, ecological, fair, European. And the people of Scotland, along with the people of Northern Ireland and the people of London and lots and lots of people in Wales and England also voted to remain within our family of nations. I demand that that status and that esprit européen be respected.

Colleagues, there are a lot of things to be negotiated. We will need cool heads and warm hearts. And please remember this: Scotland did not let you down. Please, I beg you, do not let Scotland down now.

And here is a video clip.

Scottish MEP given standing ovation in EU parliament

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Angela Merkel's speech – summary

My colleague Kate Connolly has more detail from Angela Merkel’s 20-minute speech to the Bundestag earlier. She was firm but rather passionate, and here are the key points.

  • Merkel said the UK would not be allowed to engage in “cherry picking” – keeping the advantages of the single market but rejecting free movement. She said:

We will make sure that negotiations will not be carried out as a cherry-picking exercise. There must be and there will be a palpable difference between those countries who want to be members of the European family and those who don’t ...

Whoever wants to leave this family cannot expect to shed all its responsibilities but keep the privileges ...

Those for example, who want free access to the single market will in return have to respect European basic rights and freedoms ... That’s true for GB just as much as for the others.

Free acccess to the single market is granted to those who accept the four basic European freedoms: that of people, goods, services and capital. Norway for instance is not a member of the European Union but has access to the single market because it accepts open migration from the European Union.

  • She said she would conduct the Brexit negotiations taking into account Germany and the EU’s own interests first and foremost. She also reassured Germans living in the UK that Germany would work to give them all the assurances they need about their future.
  • She said negotiations would not start, either formally or informally, until the UK formally initiated the withdrawal process. She said that “there can be no misunderstanding as to what the framework of the rules [for an exit] are. Under article 50 Great Britain needs to formerly declare” its intention to exit, she said. No discussions “either informal or formal” would take place before that, she insisted.

We understand that the UK doesn’t want to put forward this decision yet, but Britain needs to understand they’ll be no negotiations whatsoever until this decision has been made.

  • She predicted that the Brexit negotiations would be “firm and friendly”.

In my view Great Britain should have a great interest in ensuring the negotiations are both firm and friendly. Of course Germany is interested in this as well.

  • She said that Germany would “always stick to the idea and values of the European community even in these difficult times” and could be proud of the European values of “freedom, democracy and the rule of law”.
Angela Merkel addresses the Bundestag with a government declaration on the recent Brexit vote.
Angela Merkel addresses the Bundestag with a government declaration on the recent Brexit vote. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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Khan says he will challenge Tory leadership candidates to commit to single market access

When you look at those countries outside the EU who have negotiated a deal in relation to the single market, they will have had to offer free movement of people. It’s for Boris Johnson to do the intellectual gymnastics he’ll have to do to explain his position.

Sadiq Khan speaking about increased autonomy for London
Sadiq Khan speaking about increased autonomy for London Photograph: Sky News

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Liz Truss.
Liz Truss.

Conservative MPs are under the impression that Boris Johnson has secured the support of the environment secretary, Elizabeth Truss, who was a high profile campaigner for Britain to remain in the EU. There had been talk of her running herself, so quite a coup for Johnson. Not confirmed yet so watch out.

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Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, gave a speech this morning at the Times CEO summit. Responding to the petition calling for London to become an independent city state, he said that much as he liked the idea, he did not think it was practical.

But he did want London to have more powers, he said.

In the four days since the referendum, 175,175 Londoners have signed a petition calling for London to become an independent city state.

This petition wasn’t started by a politician or pushed by any particular interest group.

It was an organic movement born out of Londoners desire to have more control over their city’s future.

Now, as much as I might like the idea of a London city state, I’m not seriously talking about independence today.

I am not planning to install border points on the M25!

But on behalf of all Londoners, I am demanding more autonomy for the capital - right now.

More autonomy in order to protect London’s economy from the uncertainty ahead.

More autonomy to protect the businesses from around the world who trade here.

According to his office, Khan wants “the devolution of fiscal responsibility including tax raising powers, as well as more control over business and skills, housing and planning, transport, health and policing and criminal justice.”

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Plaid Cymru sees Brexit as the chance to move towards an independent Wales.

Today it is suggesting EU countries open diplomatic missions in Wales. Plaid’s spokesperson for external affairs, Steffan Lewis, said:

The leave campaign promised that Wales would still be able to trade with the EU, but until Westminster gets its act together, Welsh trade and Welsh relations with EU partners are stuck in limbo.

Welsh jobs and businesses cannot wait for this to happen. Plaid Cymru is calling on Welsh government to seek full and unfettered access to the UK’s diplomatic network in order to rebuild relations with our partners based on Welsh interests so that steps can be taken immediately to defend Welsh jobs and trade.

Plaid Cymru is also issuing a plea to our EU partners to open diplomatic offices in Cardiff so that a firm foundation can be laid for constructive and distinct relations between Wales and the rest of Europe. It is crucial that Wales finds its own international voice before article 50 is triggered by London and before we are irreversibly bound by the isolationist agenda that is prevailing in Westminster.

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In his speech Nigel Farage said the UK should invoke article 50 of the Lisbon treaty to begin withdrawal talks quickly. “I don’t think we should spend too long doing it,” he said.

And then he infuriated MEPs by saying none of them had had a proper job.

Now, I know that virtually none of you have ever done a proper job in your lives or worked in business or worked in trade or indeed ever created a job. But listen, just listen.

This prompted some MEPs to turn their backs on him. Martin Schulz, the president of the parliament, intervened and told Farage he was wrong to say this. Farage replied:

You’re quite right, Mr Schulz. Ukip used to protest against the establishment. Now the establishment protests against Ukip. So something has happened here.

Farage says UK will not be last country to leave the EU

Here is more from the Nigel Farage speech.

What happened last Thursday was a remarkable result. It was a seismic result, not just for British politics, but for European politics [and] perhaps even for global politics too. Because what the little people did, what the ordinary people did, what the people who have been oppressed over the last few years and who have seen their living standards go down [did], they rejected the multinationals, they rejected the merchant banks, they rejected big politics. And they said, actually, we want our country back. We want our fishing waters back. We want our borders back. And we want to be an independent, self-governing, normal nation and that is what we have done and that is what must happen.

And in doing so we offer a beacon of hope to democrats across the rest of the European continent. I will make one prediction this morning; the United Kingdom will not be the last member state to leave the European Union.

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Farage tells MEPs they are in denial about the EU failing

Here is the start of Nigel Farage’s speech.

Isn’t it funny? When I came here 17 years ago and I said that I wanted to lead a campaign go get Britain out of the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well, I have to say, you’re not laughing now, are you?

And the reason you’re so upset, the reason you’re so angry, has been perfectly clear from all the angry exchanges this morning. You, as a political project, are in denial. You are in denial that your currency is failing.

At this point Farage was jeered. He went on:

Well, just look at the Mediterranean. As a policy to impose poverty and the rest of the Mediterranean, you’ve done very well. And you are in denial over Mrs Merkel’s call last year for as many people as possible to cross the Mediterranean into the European Union. [It] has led to massive divisions within countries and between countries.

But the biggest problem you’ve got, and the main reason the United Kingdom voted the way that it did, is that you have, by stealth, by deception, without ever telling the truth to the British or the rest of the people’s of Europe, you have imposed upon them a political union.

And when the people in 2005 in the Netherlands and France voted against the political union, when they rejected the constitution, you simply ignored them and brought the Lisbon treaty in through the back door.

Farage booed by MEPs

Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has just finished addressing the European parliament.

MEPs turned their backs on him after he said none of them had ever done a proper day’s work, and they booed him at the end.

I will post a summary soon.

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According to the BBC, Liam Fox, the Conservative former defence secretary, has decided he will stand as a candidate in the Tory leadership contest.

Here is how the Press Association has written up the opening of the European parliament debate.

Nigel Farage has come under fire from European commission president Jean Claude Juncker for attending an emergency session of the European Parliament to discuss the fallout from the Brexit vote.

The Ukip leader took his place along with other MEPs in the Brussels chamber as Juncker addressed members about the next steps.

“That’s the last time you are applauding here,” Juncker said after the fiercely anti-EU politician applauded his opening statement that Europe “must respect British democracy and the way it has expressed its view”.

“To some extent I am really surprised that you are here,” he told him.

“You were fighting for the exit, the British people voted in favour of the exit. Why are you here?”

Why are you here, Juncker asks Farage in EU parliament – video
Nigel Farage arriving for today’s European parliament debate.
Nigel Farage arrives for today’s European parliament debate. Photograph: ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Farage talking with Jean-Claude Juncker before the debate starts.
Farage talks to Jean-Claude Juncker before the debate starts. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images
Nigel Farage listening to the debate.
Farage listens to the debate. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

In the European parliament debate Manfred Weber, the German MEP who heads the European People’s party group in the parliament and who is an ally of Angela Merkel’s, told MEPs that David Cameron was to blame for what happened last week.

This is from the Daily Mail’s John Stevens.

And these are from Antti Timonen, who works for the EPP.

Manfred Weber.
Manfred Weber. Photograph: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images

Merkel says UK cannot stay in free market but restrict free movement

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has just finished speaking about Brexit to the German parliament.

  • Merkel said Brexit talks with the UK could not start until London formally initiated the withdrawal process.
  • She said access to the single market depended on accepting the free movement of labour.

It is already clear that this could be the most difficult issue in the Brexit negotiations. Boris Johnson, in a Telegraph article yesterday, and Jeremy Hunt, in a Telegraph article today, have both said the UK should retain access to the single market alongside some limits on EU migration. As Merkel’s comments suggest, EU leaders would find that very hard to accept.

Angela Merkel speaking to the German parliament.
Angela Merkel speaking to the German parliament. Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Juncker says UK must clarify what it wants from Brexit as soon as possible

Juncker says he wants the British government to clarify its position on Brexit as soon as possible and says what it wants.

Juncker also says there must be no secret negotiations on Brexit. This is from my colleague Jennifer Rankin.

Juncker is now getting rather personal.

He says he is not unwell, as some newspapers have complained.

He also says he is not a faceless bureaucrat, or a robot, as he is presented in the British press.

Updated

Juncker says he has told European commission officials that they cannot start Brexit negotiation talks with the British until Britain formally commences the withdrawal process (by invoking article 50 of the Lisbon treaty).

Updated

Juncker says he is sad about Brexit vote, but wants the British to remain friends of the EU

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, is addressing the European parliament now in its debate on Brexit.

He says the European parliament must respect the democratic views of the UK.

Turning to Nigel Farage, he asks him why he is still here.

Juncker says he is sad, and makes no secret of this. It is not mawkishness; he really wanted to UK to remain in the EU.

He says the British will remain the EU’s friends.

‘Why are you here?’: Juncker asks Farage in EU parliament – video

Updated

Here is Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, saying he is “seriously considering” a bid for the Conservative party leadership.

Jeremy Hunt ‘seriously considering’ bid for Tory leadership

Updated

The National Grid has warned that energy bills will rise and energy security will fall if the UK does not retain access to the internal energy market (IEM) when it negotiates Brexit, my colleague Damian Carrington reports.

The debate in the European parliament on the Brexit vote is just getting under way.

Here is Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, greeting Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president and his arch-foe. This is from the Daily Mail’s John Stevens.

Updated

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.

The Labour MP John Woodcock, who is firmly on the right of the party and a vocal opponent of Jeremy Corbyn, has also been giving interviews this morning, ahead of the no confidence vote. He told Sky News that many party members who voted for Corbyn last year were now having second thoughts.

A lot of people who voted for Jeremy last year have looked at what’s happened and thought, ‘No, actually it’s not right’. And this has real consequences. We are not just talking about a man who can say nice things and who can make us feel good about our party ... I think party members are changing their view, right across the country. Of course there are people who want him to stay on but many are thinking, this is the time to change.

He also said that one of Corbyn’s problems was that he was surrounded by leftwingers who were not bothered about the best interests of the Labour party.

Jeremy has surrounded himself with people who have never cared about the electoral fortunes of the Labour party. It is a project on the very fringes of the left. So you have the image of Jeremy being given a stark and dignified message at the PLP meeting and then to go and address a rally that sf full of people from the Socialist Workers party and the very hard left and people walking around wearing T-shirts saying ‘Get rid of the Blairite vermin’.

That not only suggests that Jeremy is wrapping himself in a bubble from which there is absolutely no chance of us being able to change the country and also to allow tacitly that message which dehumanises members of parliament.

I’ve taken the quotes from PoliticsHome.

Updated

I’m handing over to Andrew Sparrow now, to guide you through the rest of the day.

Thanks for reading and for your comments so far.

My colleague Aditya Chakrabortty has written powerfully today about the spate of racist incidents reported since the vote to leave the EU:

None of this is coincidental. It’s what happens when cabinet ministers, party leaders and prime-ministerial wannabes sprinkle arguments with racist poison. When intolerance is not only tolerated, but indulged and encouraged. For months leading up to last week’s vote, politicians poured a British blend of Donald Trumpism into Westminster china. They told 350m little lies. They made cast-iron promises that, Iain Duncan Smith now admits, were only ever ‘possibilities’. And the Brexit brigade flirted over and over again with racism.

Michael Gove and Boris Johnson peddled their fiction about Turkey joining the EU. One didn’t need especially keen hearing to pick that up as code for 80 million Muslims entering Christendom. Foregoing any subtlety, Nigel Farage said allowing Syrian refugees into the UK would put British women at risk of sexual assault. In order to further their campaign and their careers, these professional politicians added bigotry to their armoury of political weapons.

FTSE 100 rises in early trading

European stock markets are rallying at the start of trading after two days of big falls. In London, the FTSE 100 has jumped by 125 points, or about 2%, to 6,109 – recovering some of yesterday’s losses.

Every share has risen, led by builders, who endured the brunt of the Brexit backlash. The French and German stock markets are also up by about 2% this morning, matching the recovery in London.

Updated

Diane Abbott: snap summary

Diane Abbott has criticised the process facing Corbyn today, arguing that the no-confidence motion is not part of the rules and the secret ballot unfair. She suggested the leader would do better if the vote was public, claiming that you wouldn’t even run a “parish church” in this way.

The new shadow health secretary argued that the only way forward was a leadership election, and said if Corbyn won again then the party had to fall into line.

UPDATE: A reader has been in touch to say some parish councils are run like this.

Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Updated

Pressed on how Labour will fare in an election, Abbott says presenter Sarah Montague is being “very Westminster-centric”. But she says “of course” Corbyn wants to win and form a government.

This isn’t about Westminster MPs, this is about the party and the country.

Updated

Diane Abbott is next up on Today to back Corbyn.

She says there is nothing in the rule book that permits today’s confidence vote. You wouldn’t run a parish council like this, she says.

But if it goes back to the membership, Abbott adds:

There’s a very good chance that Jeremy will win a leadership election. The party will want MPs to rally behind the leader. Party members will look dimly on MPs who have chosen to unleash this kind of mayhem.

Updated

George Osborne confirms he won’t run for the party leadership and isn’t endorsing anyone else “at the moment”.

It could be a pro-remain candidate, he says, if that someone has a clear vision for the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

Osborne: 'We need a plan'

Osborne: Do I think there’s going to be a postmortem about why the campaign was lost? Of course. We didn’t win. We need a plan as a country to get ourselves out of this, while respecting the decision of the British people.

We have extensive contingency plans for the financial stability consequences of Brexit … and we spent a long time preparing those plans.

It was not the responsibility of those who wanted to remain in the EU to explain what plan we would follow if we voted to quit the EU.

Updated

Osborne says UK 'is going to be poorer' as a result of the Brexit vote

The chancellor says the markets will inevitably be a bit up and down:

We are in a prolonged period of economic adjustment … it will not be as economically rosy as life inside the EU. It’s very clear that the country is going to be poorer as a result of what is happening to the economy.

Will we get that emergency budget, he’s asked. Pressed on those doomy warnings (just a fortnight ago) that there would be spending cuts and tax rises, Osborne says: “Absolutely.”

But he adds:

That decision will come under a new prime minister.

Updated

George Osborne is next up on Radio 4.

He says he warned of the economic risks of leaving the EU, but will now do “everything I can” to steer the country through it.

I don’t think you can take the attitude: ‘The people have made a mistake, you need to elect a new people.’

He says he agreed with “the collective decision … to have a referendum”.

Margaret Hodge says the rally in Parliament Square last night in support of Jeremy Corbyn does not mean he should stay as leader.

Those weren’t Labour party members – they were members of the Socialist Workers party and of Momentum.

She describes each of them as an “extreme left grouping”.

Hodge said she had been expecting opposition to her move against the party leader:

I thought I would get attacked … Actually I have had hundreds of emails from Labour party members and supporters asking me to pursue what I’m doing.

There were 9.3 million people who voted Labour in the last election – it’s their interests we have to serve.

MPs from every wing of the party are saying: Jeremy is a problem on the doorstep.

Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge says she’s had hundreds of emails supporting her move against the Labour leader. Photograph: Suki Dhanda

She said she would plead with Corbyn ...

... to do what we all know decent men do … and resign with dignity. This is the time when friends* should come up to the mark and say … this is the best interests of the party. The country needs strong opposition and a clear route forward.

[It’s worth clarifying here that Hodge was, it seems, referring to Diane Abbott, Corbyn ally and newly installed shadow health secretary, who is also appearing on the Today programme this morning.]

Updated

Margaret Hodge – who kickstarted today’s vote of no confidence in Corbyn with a letter circulated to Labour MPs last week, has been talking on the Today programme.

She says MPs might have stayed with Corbyn if he had mounted a stronger campaign in favour of remaining in the EU:

If we’d had that strong, effective, decisive leadership, that might have made a difference.

Jeremy Hunt 'seriously considering' leadership bid

Jeremy Hunt has now confirmed that he is “seriously considering” running for the Conservative leadership and the keys to No 10.

Hunt told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

I am seriously considering it. Nominations close on Thursday lunchtime. But what I want to do now is start making an argument as to what we do next as a country. This is a big, big change and if we get it right we can succeed.

Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt: ‘seriously considering’ running for the Tory leadership. Photograph: Mark Thomas/Rex/Shutterstock

In his Telegraph column today, Hunt dangles the prospect of a second referendum, once the terms of a Brexit have been hammered out:

Firstly we must not invoke article 50 straight away because that puts a time limit of two years on negotiations after which we could be thrown out with no deal at all.

So before setting the clock ticking, we need to negotiate a deal and put it to the British people, either in a referendum or through the Conservative manifesto at a fresh general election.

The knowledge that once again we will trust the British people to decide on whether or not it is a good deal will concentrate minds across the Channel: if they want to conclude this amicably and quickly, which is in their interests as much as ours, they need to put a ‘Norway-plus’ deal on the table.

By Norway-plus, he explains, he means access to the single market but with some restrictions of freedom of movement.

Updated

Global stock markets have suffered their biggest two-day rout ever, thanks to Britain’s shock decision to vote to leave the EU.

Yesterday, $930bn was wiped off the world’s stock markets, in a fresh bout of selling. That followed the rout on Friday, which destroyed $2.03tn of value.

S&P’s Global Broad Market index, known as the BMI, has fallen almost 6.9% since Thursday night, its biggest ever loss in cash terms.

The scale of the losses shows how unprepared investors were for the leave campaign’s surprise victory in the early hours of Friday morning.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 has fallen by over 5% over the last two days, with bank shares sliding to their lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

America’s S&P 500 index, the broadest stock index, has lost 5.37% in its worst two-day decline since last August.

Updated

Sky News says it believes Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, will throw his hat into the ring to be the next Tory leader (and prime minister).

It wouldn’t be a huge surprise, given his column today in the Telegraph, in which he plots in some detail how he believes Britain ought to negotiate its new relationship with the EU (it’s “Norway-plus”, in a nutshell). The final paragraph certainly sounds like a declaration of sorts:

The Conservative modernisation project succeeded in reassuring many younger and more liberal voters – but will not be complete until we are also connecting with many who are struggling to make ends meet at the more brutal end of modern capitalist economies.

We need to unite the party after a bruising battle on the referendum – but we must remain resolved to unite the country as well. This is a time to remember our heritage as the party of one-nation Benjamin Disraeli as much as the free-trading Robert Peel – and tap into their remarkable vision and optimism for the future.

Updated

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has been speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in defence of Jeremy Corbyn.

He thinks Corbyn will win today’s confidence vote and accuses the Labour leader’s opponents of a “well-planned, orchestrated coup” – and says the wider Labour membership won’t thank them for “playing silly games”.

And he dismissed claims by some of those resigning from the front bench – including Andy Slaughter, who has gone this morning – that they had done so after getting the backing of local party members.

If people really want to consult local party activists, they will have to go to a vote. They feel they can force Jeremy Corbyn to resign without any genuine democratic process.

Updated

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has asked supporters of the beleaguered Labour leader not to protest outside the offices of those MPs who aren’t backing Corbyn:

In the Spectator, Isabel Hardman reports that Labour MPs were last night offered advice on safety after the fractious meeting of the PLP:

Labour MPs have this evening been contacted by their whips to advise them on their personal safety as they leave parliament after the late votes. They have been advised on what entrances are being kept open for their safety, and told that anyone who is worried should contact the serjeant at arms.

The Guardian account of that meeting reports:

Ian Murray, the former shadow Scotland secretary, asked his leader to “call off the dogs” after facing protests outside his constituency office following his decision to resign from Labour’s frontbench at the weekend.

“Momentum are people you and your office control,” he said, to shouts from others of: “They’re outside.”

Jess Phillips said she had faced antisemitic abuse since stepping down, tweeting a Momentum email that accused her of being bought by “Zionist money”.

Updated

Andy Slaughter resigns from frontbench

The shadow justice minister, Andy Slaughter, has left his post this morning, adding to the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn on the day Labour MPs vote on a motion of no confidence in him.

In a letter to the Labour leader, Slaughter writes:

The decision is my own, but taken after consultation with the officers of my local party and other members and councillors in Hammersmith. The view, by a clear majority, is that I should take this course.

Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter has resigned as a shadow minister
Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter has resigned as a shadow minister. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Updated

Morning briefing

Welcome back to another busy day of EU referendum fallout. I’m kicking things off with the morning briefing to set you up for the day ahead and steering the live blog until Andrew Sparrow takes his seat. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

The big picture

The big picture is now beyond big. It’s a large-scale installation. Let’s break it down.

UK flag in Brussels
Another casualty of Brexit: the UK flag in Brussels. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

EU leaders meet in Brussels

Today is the first day of a two-day summit. David Cameron is attending only the first day, today, because tomorrow the 27 other leaders need to talk about the UK behind its back. The soon-to-be-former prime minister first meets Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, and Donald Tusk, the European council president, before joining the full group of EU leaders for dinner. The sole item on the agenda – presumably circulated on half a Post-it note – is Brexit.

The prime minister’s spokeswoman told the Guardian that – as Cameron insisted in the Commons on Monday – he would not be attempting to define the relationship that his successor might want with the European Union:

He’s likely to talk about a number of factors that he thinks were issues in the campaign, and in the debate. He will want to encourage people to think about how both the UK and the EU need to work together to make the best of the decision the British people have taken.

He will reiterate that article 50 is a matter for the next prime minister.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French president François Hollande and Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi
Merkel, with Hollande and Renzi: ‘We don’t want this to turn into a never-ending story.’ Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

Will EU leaders be content with the wait-and-see approach? Speaking on Monday evening, after a meeting with the French president François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the three had:

... agreed that there will be no informal or formal talks about an exit of Great Britain until a request has been submitted to the European council.

We don’t want this to turn into a never-ending story … So I await a communication about article 50 from the UK addressed to the EU … We should not wait a long time.

The markets are still wobbling

Monday added to Friday’s woes, with £1tn wiped off world stock markets – adding to $2tn in losses on Friday – making this the largest two-day stock rout of all time.

The UK also waved goodbye to its last AAA rating, with credit agency Standard & Poor’s saying the Brexit vote was “a seminal event” that would “lead to a less predictable, stable and effective policy framework in the UK”. Credit agency Fitch swiftly followed, lopping the UK’s rating from AA+ to AA.

Sterling fell on Monday (and in this instance didn’t win a penalty) to $1.32, its lowest point in more than 30 years. The Guardian business live blog will have all you need to know on the money stuff today.

The upside to England’s loss against Iceland? No more Sterling/sterling jokes
The upside to England’s loss against Iceland? No more Sterling/sterling jokes. Photograph: Bertrand Langlois/AFP/Getty Images

Jeremy Corbyn faces a no-confidence vote

Labour MPs vote today in a secret ballot on a motion of no confidence in Corbyn. The parliamentary Labour party agreed in a heated Monday evening meeting to go ahead with the move, prompted by a letter circulated by Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey, which asked:

Have you got confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the parliamentary Labour party when this country is facing immensely challenging times?

The Guardian account of the meeting accords with the verdict of one MP who labelled it “wild”. The Times called it “open warfare”, Buzzfeed described it as “miserable”, and the Mirror said Corbyn had “lost control”, using its front page to tell him: “Go now.”

Andy Slaughter is the latest frontbencher to leave this morning. He might not be the last, with the whips office being closely watched. Rosie Winterton, the chief whip, and Jonathan Ashworth, shadow cabinet office minister, are the only two of the “old” shadow cabinet not to have declared one way or the other if they’re staying or going.

Having marshalled a new shadow cabinet following the resignations of 20 former members and a slew of frontbenchers, Corbyn has insisted he is staying put – and was rewarded on Monday evening with a rousing rally of several thousand grassroots Momentum supporters gathered in Westminster. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, told them:

Let me make it clear: if there is another leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn will be standing again and I will be supporting him.

‘Corbyn’s the only person who can beat Boris’: Labour members rally outside parliament

With the result of the vote expected around 4pm today, do we then move on from resignations to candidacies?

As with the will-they, won’t-they over article 50, nobody seems quite sure whether Labour party rules plonk Corbyn straight back on to any new leadership ballot or whether he’ll need to round up nominations again. And standing against him? The deputy leader, Tom Watson, and Angela Eagle are the most bandied-about names so far.

The Tory leadership race speeds up

George Osborne, writing in the Times, says he’s not going to be the next PM:

I will not be a candidate in the Conservative leadership election to come.

It isn’t in my nature to do things by half-measure, and I fought the referendum campaign with everything I’ve got … So it is clear that while I completely accept the result, I am not the person to provide the unity my party needs.

With the decision by the Conservative party’s backbench 1922 committee that everyone should just jolly well stop faffing about and elect a new leader, we’ll have a fresh prime minister in place by 2 September. Nominations open tomorrow morning and close on Thursday. A Times/YouGov poll has Theresa May as the favourite, ahead even of Boris Johnson, by 31% to 24% among Tory voters.

Theresa May arrives for Monday’s cabinet meeting
Theresa May arrives for Monday’s cabinet meeting, and possibly to check the fixtures and fittings. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

May’s supporters are said to be tantalising vote-sick voters with the notion that a new general election would not be needed in the event of a win by the home secretary, as she could share the mandate won in 2015 by Cameron.

Johnson at least has the backing of his brother – these things aren’t always a given – with the universities minister (and remainer) Jo Johnson saying he’s the man for the job.

Also mooning about on the sidelines are Stephen Crabb and Sajid Javid, said by some to be considering a joint ticket for the keys to Nos 10 and 11; Nicky Morgan, Amber Rudd and pro-leavers Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt might also be waggling a toe over the water with a column in the Telegraph today setting out how he thinks Britain could stay in the single market but not with that pesky free movement element: “a Norway-plus option”.

You should also know:

Diary

Action across Europe and the UK today, but I’ve stuck to BST for timings because life’s confusing enough at the moment:

  • From 9am, the European parliament holds a plenary session: expect speeches from Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Schulz and Nigel Farage.
  • At 11am, Yvette Cooper makes a speech on where Britain goes next; that’s in London (the speech, not where Britain goes next).
  • From 1pm EU leaders are due to arrive in Brussels, with talks getting under way at 2pm.
  • At 2pm in the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon will make a statement seeking a mandate to protect Scotland’s place in the EU.
  • By 4pm, we should know the result of the no-confidence vote against Jeremy Corbyn.
Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak in Parliament Square after the PLP meeting. He finds out how Labour MPs voted this afternoon.
Jeremy Corbyn arrives to speak in Parliament Square after the PLP meeting. He finds out how Labour MPs voted this afternoon. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
  • At 4.15pm, expect a press conference from European parliament president Martin Schulz.
  • Also at 4.15pm business secretary Sajid Javid gives a press conference in London.
  • At 5pm, there’s a rally for pro-EU supporters in Trafalgar Square.
  • And in the evening, David Cameron endures awkard referendum chat over dinner with fellow (for now) EU leaders.

Read these

Roger Cohen in the New York Times says the European Union “was the dream of my generation”:

No miracle was ever so dull. Britain tended to see the EU in prosaic terms: it had not been delivered from ignominy or tyranny by European integration. Still, it gave the union heft, a free-market prod, a universal language and its second-largest economy. It was that recalcitrant member any good club needs …

The union, for all its failings, did not deserve to be betrayed by a huckster. It will not die because of this imbecilic vote, but something broke – a form of optimism about humankind, the promise of 1989.

There’s a despairing column on LabourList from Peter Edwards:

It is not the job of LabourList to take sides on a day like this but the party cannot go as it is. The current situation is untenable and, after a day of quickfire resignations, it is deteriorating faster than many hacks can even type …

Corbyn has repeatedly said the leader will not resign. Nor will he do as John Major did 21 years ago and issue a ‘put up or shut up’ ultimatum to rebellious backbenchers, sources have confirmed. Corbyn sees no need to demand a fresh vote, given that he was elected so decisively less than a year ago, and he does not have the power to call an election. It is only if – or, rather, when – the Labour rebels muster the signatures of 51 MPs and MEPs that they will be able to trigger a leadership ballot. It is possible this could happen as soon as today …

For much of the winter we spent our time asking ourselves if voters were listening to us. Now, rest assured, they most definitely are. It is just that they might not like what they hear.

Boris Johnson uses a mobile phone as he walks through buildings inside the Houses of Parliament and Portcullis House in central London on June 27, 2016. Top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson sought Monday to build bridges with Europe and with defeated Britons who voted to remain in the EU in last week’s historic referendum. London stocks sank more than 0.8 percent in opening deals on Monday, despite attempts by finance minister George Osborne to calm jitters after last week’s shock Brexit vote. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
Boris Johnson: probably wishing autocorrect would recognise ‘Brexit’ by now. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Rachel Sylvester in the Times says Boris Johnson might not find his glide to No 10 as straightforward as planned:

To govern is to choose. A potential prime minister does not have the luxury of being able to fudge it. But Mr Johnson is riding two horses that are galloping towards rapidly diverging paths. If the nation is split between young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, then so are the Brexiteers: between the buccaneering free marketeers who want to conquer the world and the anxious traditionalists who want to pull up the drawbridge.

Mr Johnson and Michael Gove are in the first group … but they won the referendum by securing the support of the ‘left behind’ voters in the second group, who feel alienated by globalisation and angry about immigration.

And if you missed this yesterday: Martin Kettle’s annotated guide to what Johnson said about Brexit – and what he really meant.

Celebrity endorsement of the day

James Ward, booted out of Wimbledon on Monday by defending champion Novak Djokovic by rather more than a 52-48 margin, revealed he’d voted leave and “I’m not fussed saying it”:

I think we’ll be all right. Everyone needs to stop panicking and we’ll be fine.

The day in tweets

Roy Hodgson, for one, knows the difference between England and the UK:

If today were a reality TV show ...

It would be Big Brother. Day five in the Big Brexit house and the nominations for evictions are flying, there are tearful confessions of morning-after regret and some of the participants are trying to escape over the wall.

And another thing

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Updated

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