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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Lizzy Buchan

Brexit: Corbyn compares Theresa May's deal to 'Frankenstein's monster' amid ridicule over lorry test

Jeremy Corbyn has compared Theresa May's Brexit deal to "Frankenstein's monster" as the prime minister faced pressure on all sides ahead of a crunch Commons vote.

As MPs returned to Westminster after the Christmas break, rival Brexit factions turned up the heat on Ms May over her blueprint, which is expected to be voted down in a parliamentary showdown on January 15.

The Labour leader said there could be "no more hiding and no more running away" from holding the long-promised meaningful vote on Ms May's deal, with only three months left until exit day.

He accused ministers of pushing a "Frankenstein's monster of a deal" and criticised "shambolic" no-deal Brexit preparations by transport secretary Chris Grayling.

His comments came as the government faced ridicule over its first major tests of plans for no-deal chaos at UK borders, when scores of lorries travelled from Manston Airport, near Ramsgate, in Kent, to Dover, to trial contingency plans to ease congestion on the roads and at ports.

To follows events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below

Welcome to The Independent's politics liveblog, where we will be bringing you the latest updates throughout the day.
One of the big stories of the morning is a live trial of no-deal lorry tests taking place in Kent. More than 150 lorries are being dispatched from Manston airfield near Ramsgate, Kent, which officials are planning to use as an “HGV holding facility” if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.
 
Read our write-up on the plans: 
My colleague Tom Peck has been in Kent, watching the lorry tests unfold.
 
 
 
 

Pro-EU campaigners are furious at the lorry tests underway in Kent this morning, describing the move as a "taxpayer-funded farce".

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who backs the Best for Britain campaign, said: "No deal doesn't need to be a real prospect but the government are just throwing money down the drain for effect.

"Chris Grayling and his department have spent tens of thousands to create the spectacle of vehicles in a traffic jam to get into a disused airport , who then wait on the site for the green light to then create a traffic jam by snaking their way, interested in convoy, to Dover. 

"The idea that creating a fake traffic jam will show the EU we are ready for no deal is just plain stupid. On days like this you have to think the UK has made a wrong turn somewhere."

Tory grandee Lord Patten has told the Today programme that the live lorry trials are "enough to make one weep".

He said that the Commons must reject as "snake oil" the option of a "managed no-deal" plan and instead vote to extend or revoke Article 50 to allow more time to work out a "sensible" future relationship with the EU.

"If we can't do that by getting a majority for staying within the single market and customs union, then I think we have no alternative but to go back to the people for another vote," he said.

He added: "I don't like referendums, but we got into this miserable shambles because of a referendum, and it may be the only way we can get out of it."

MPs are returning to Westminster today after the Christmas break - and they've had plenty of time for plotting.
 
One group has written to the PM calling for her to officially rule out a no-deal Brexit. More than 200 MPs - both Leavers and Remainers - have signed the letter.
 
Read our take here:

On the other side, Boris Johnson has insisted that a no-deal Brexit was closest to what people voted for in the referendum.

He used his Daily Telegraph column to dismiss "downright apocalyptic" messages about a Brexit on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms, arguing that people could "sort fact for nonsense".

Mr Johnson said: "They didn't vote for anything like Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement. They voted to come out.

"It is no deal or WTO terms that actually corresponds to their idea of coming out, and they view that option with a confidence that is now directly proportional to the growing strength of the government's warnings against it."

Brexit minister Kwasi Kwarteng brushed aside suggestions that the government had accepted it would lose next week's 'meaningful vote' on Theresa May's Brexit deal and was seeking fresh concessions from Europe.

"The plan is to win the vote on Tuesday, or whenever it comes," Mr Kwarteng told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The plan, the focus, the objective is to win the vote."

Asked whether the government was heading for defeat, he said: "I don't accept that at all. A week is a very long time in politics. We don't know what the numbers are.

"We have got a week. I think the situation - as it always does - has developed, it evolves. I am very hopeful that the deal will be voted through next week."

Lorries are beginning to arrive back at Manston Airport ready for the second trial run due to take place at around 11.

Up to 150 lorries were expected to take part  in the first run but a Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman on Monday morning confirmed 89 had attended.

Our sketchwriter Tom Peck is in Kent this morning and has sent this dispatch from the front line of the government's no-deal planning.

In the darkness before dawn, more than a hundred lorry drivers had been paid by the government to meet at a disused airport in Kent. Well, it was meant to be more than a hundred, but in the end only 89 turned up.

Their task was to then drive in convoy the thirty miles to Dover, to show the European Union that Britain is serious about no deal Brexit.

Because, in the event of no deal Brexit, this disused airfield is where up to 6,000 lorries are currently scheduled to wait, to east congestion on the M20 motorway, which will itself resemble a car park.

Independent analysis that is not seriously disputed by either side, shows that even short inspection delays at the port of Dover will threaten just-in-time supply chains that are crucial to British manufacturing.

These lorries, which represent around a sixtieth of those that will be held there in the event of no deal, were not being checked for anything.

Nevertheless, they set off about fifteen minutes late.

If this was a PR exercise for the benefit of the European Union, it did absolutely everything it was always going to do, which was to solidify yet further the image of a once proud nation that has absolutely lost its mind.

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke has criticised the government's lorry plan as "too complex" and likely to cause "enormous confusion" for drivers.

On Twitter, he said: "Routing lorries via Manston is not the answer.

"Far better to extend the tried and tested traffic management system on the A20 at Dover to Kent's motorways.

"That way lorries can be effectively managed, got most speedily to the ports and all our motorways can be kept open. Manston should only be used as a last resort.

"Trying to explain to lorry drivers - many from overseas - to go there will be very difficult. The whole route plan is far too complex and will cause enormous confusion.

"Better to stick to what lorry drivers are most used go - going to the Channel Ports via the M20/A20. Yet using traffic management to keep the motorways open and use Manston only after road capacity is used up."

 
 

A government-funded exercise being carried to test the resilience of the transport network under a no-deal Brexit is "enough to make one weep", according to a former Conservative chairman.

The remarks from Lord Patten came as dozens of lorries occupied a disused airfield in Kent in a "live test" of how ministers plan to ease congestion on roads to the Channel port if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal. 

More here: 

Indy political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has been digging into the numbers around the no-deal lorry trials.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed that 89 drivers were involved in its no-deal test at the disused airfield in Kent and each were paid £550 - amounting to £48,950.

Haulier Eddie Stobart has confirmed that 15 lorries in its fleet are being used in the no-deal Brexit planning exercise.

A spokesman said: "After being approached by the Trade Association on behalf of the DfT and in support of the FTA, we are supporting Operation Brock by supplying 15 of our vehicles for today's trial."

Ben Pearce, who was taking part in the test from haulier firm Jempsons, said the test seemed to be going well.

He told the Press Association: "It will give them a fair idea how the traffic will behave if they do use the space as a holding bay.

"The airport itself is plenty big enough for a large amount of lorries.

"If they do say there's no-deal Brexit and they use Manston, I think it will be busier in this area because there's one stretch of the route which is a single carriageway that gets quite narrow."

There was also a problem with congestion around the entrance to the airfield which needs resolving, Mr Pearce added.

He is being paid at his normal rate for taking part in the exercise and added: "It is not too bad just sitting here, drinking my coffee."

​Theresa May is now making a speech in Liverpool to unveil the NHS 10-year plan, which aims to save half a million lives over the next decade by tackling killer diseases with earlier treatment, healthy living improvements, and technology to remove waits and assist diagnosis.
 
Here's our earlier story:
'The NHS is the public's priority, so I have made it my number one spending priority,' says Theresa May.
 
She says the plan looks at integrating health and social care - and at using new technology to boost healthcare improvements. She repeats her commitment to invest £20.5bn in the NHS over the next 5 years, which was announced in July for the 75th birthday of the health service.
 
Not everything can be done at once, so careful choices need to be made, the PM says. Hints at the challenges the health service still faces.
There will now be a Q&A.
 
May is asked about her claims of a Brexit dividend - which have been widely discredited - and how she can fund the NHS if Brexit doesn't work.
 
She says she is talking to colleagues and speaking to European leaders about her Brexit deal. She says she will be setting out measures specific to Northern Ireland and also to speak to parliamentarians.
 
The vote is due to happen in the coming days, she says.

May is asked about how preventative measures are going to be delivered as local authority budgets have been slashed.

She says its not all about prevention and they will make sure the NHS is the best in the world.

Asked about efficiencies the NHS needs to make, she says the government is going to try to make sure people are kept out of hospital.

Another person asks May about targets. She admits the NHS has been slipping against some targets and performance still matters, but needs to ensure that they are the right targets for the future.

And that's it.

It is going to be a busy day in the Commons today, as MPs return after the two-week Christmas recess. The day begins at 2.30pm with Work and Pensions questions to Amber Rudd, which should be interesting in the wake of reports she is delaying the roll out of Universal Credit.
 
There will be two urgent questions from 3.30pm. Jeremy Corbyn has managed to secure an eye-catching one on the Brexit deal, while Tulip Siddiq the Labour MP, has a question on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Tehran.
 
Then there are three statements on the NHS, migrant crossings and the drone chaos at Gatwick over Christmas.
 
 
To frighten the EU into believing we are serious about no-deal Brexit, the country has staged a fake traffic jam all the way to Dover, writes the Indy's Tom Peck.
 
Read his full sketch here: 

Also from the lobby briefing, Ms May will hold talks in Downing Street on Thursday with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe who has expressed concern about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit.

Downing Street was mocked when a supposed communications grid for Ms May's Brexit deal was leaked, which boasted that Mr Abe would back the plans.

Nervous journalists also asked about reports that February recess might be cancelled so MPs can get the legislation through parliament. 

He said: "We are committed to ensuring the statue book is ready for exit day and will do whatever is required to deliver that"

These bills include the Trade Bill, Agriculture Bill, Fisheries Bill, Healthcare Bill,  Immigration Bill, Financial Services Bill - and the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill.



The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.

Sign our petition here

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