Brexit - LIVE: Government to publish tranche of documents on no-deal 'risks', as Raab seeks to quell EU roaming charge fears

Dominic Raab will today publish the second tranche of technical notes, outlining the government’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit. 

It comes as the Brexit secretary announced the government had reached an agreement with major mobile phone providers in the UK not to increase roaming charges for British customers should the negotiations in Brussels collapse. 

“We’ve had some good news from businesses, like Vodafone and Three, they’ve publicly said they won’t introduce roaming fees for UK consumers travelling on the continent,” the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“What we’ve said is we would like to see some other companies follow suit, but in any event we would legislate for a limit on roaming charges to make sure in a no-deal scenario we would protect British consumers.” 

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12:36

Jewish leaders condemn Tories over vote to defend Hungary's far-right Orban government

A leading British Jewish organisation has condemned Conservative MEPs after they voted in defence of Hungary's far-right government under Viktor Orban.

12:31

In response to Gordon Brown's intervention, the prime minister's spokesman said:  "Since 2008 we have built one of the most robust regulatory systems in the world designed specifically to ensure financial stability and protect taxpayers.

"We have, obviously, reformed regulation to put in place one of the toughest systems in the world and we have made it easier to deal with any issues that emerge on the banking front.

"In recent years we have reformed regulation of the City and put in place an incredibly robust system, one of the most robust in the world, at the same time making sure it's globally competitive.

"Bank shareholders are now first in line to pay for the losses from any bank failures. They have to hold 10 times more capital than they did before the crisis, meaning that they have larger buffers.

"Certainly, we have taken significant steps to safeguard our economy."

The world is sleepwalking towards another financial crisis, Gordon Brown warns

Former prime minister says world is currently 'leaderless' and has not learnt lessons from 2008

12:14

Tony Blair calls for greater focus on prevention strategy in fight against terrorism

Former prime minister says international community needs to reform education globally in order to root out religious prejudice

12:11

No-deal Brexit would bring 'risks and disruption' with 'delays for businesses', admits Dominic Raab

Brexit secretary talks of 'contraflow systems on the M20' - appearing to confirm plans for lorries to be parked for many miles en route to Dover

11:56

Tories were only governing conservative party in western Europe to support Hungarian far-right in EU vote

Theresa May's MEPs isolated amongst conservatives amid claims of trading favours for support on Brexit

11:44

Bank of England governor Mark Carney was present for part of the Cabinet meeting called to discuss a no-deal scenario on Thursday, Downing Street said.

A spokeswoman for the PM told a Westminster briefing: "He attended a very short section of the meeting at the top to outline the preparatory work the bank is doing around 'no deal'."

11:35

Labour MP and abortion buffer zone campaigner Rupa Huq was "disappointed" in the government's rejection of a national buffer zone plan.

The Ealing Central and Acton MP told the Commons: "The conclusions are a bit disappointing... It seems to be saying there has to be a disproportionate number of women affected before any action takes place."

11:20

Government rejects calls for buffer zones outside abortion clinics

The Government has rejected calls for buffer zones to be introduced outside abortion clinics across the UK.

 

Campaigners have called for "buffer zones" barring anti-abortion protests outside clinics to be implemented to protect women attending the services.

 

But anti-abortion groups have said banning peaceful protests or the distribution of information would be "ludicrous".

11:11

UK mass surveillance programme violates human rights, European court rules

The UK government’s mass surveillance programme violated privacy with “no real safeguards”, the European Court of Human Rights has said in a landmark ruling.

 

The Strasbourg court said the "bulk interception regime" violated the right to respect for private and family life, since there was “insufficient oversight" of the selection of intercepted communications for examination.

10:55

The government has rejected calls for buffer zones to be introduced outside abortion clinics across the country.

Introducing protest-free areas outside clinics to prevent harassment of patients "would not be a proportionate response", home secretary Sajid Javid said in a written parliamentary statement. 

While a Home Office review, launched by the former home secretary, Amber Rudd, found examples of harassment and damaging behaviour, these activities were not the norm, Mr Javid added.

He said: "Having considered the evidence of the review, I have therefore reached the conclusion that introducing national buffer zones would not be a proportionate response, considering the experiences of the majority of hospitals and clinics, and considering that the majority of activities are more passive in nature."

10:40

Theresa May's MEPs were isolated among their conservative peers on the continent when they voted to support Viktor Orban's far-right government in Hungary, our Europe Correspondent Jon Stone reports.

 

The Tories were the only governing conservative party to back the leader, with only one MEP dissenting.

 

Nonetheless, the European Parliament voted by a two-thirds majority, 448–197, to begin Article 7 proceedings against Hungary meaning sanctions may eventually be placed on Mr Orban's government.

 

Tories were only governing conservative party in western Europe to support Hungarian far-right in EU vote

Theresa May's MEPs isolated amongst conservatives amid claims of trading favours for support on Brexit

10:38

Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, is currently delivering her major speech on Labour's immigration policy. 

 

This is what she is expected to talk about: 

 

Diane Abbott to dismiss Theresa May’s ‘arbitrary’ immigration targets in major speech

 

My colleague Rob Merrick, who is at the event, has just tweeted this: 

10:33

No-deal Brexit would bring 'risks and disruption' with 'delays for businesses', admits Dominic Raab

Brexit secretary talks of 'contraflow systems on the M20' - appearing to confirm plans for lorries to be parked for many miles en route to Dover

10:18

Theresa May's 100,000-entry immigration target is unreachable, according to a former Home Office civil servant.

 

Sir David Normington said Brexit was unlikely to lead to a reduction in the number of migrants coming to the UK.

 

The former permanent secretary also said it would be "very difficult" to keep tabs on the number of people leaving and arriving in Britain without the introduction of identity cards.

 

Sir David said a hard cap on migration would be "very inflexible" and would probably not be met in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

10:01

This morning Dominic Raab was also grilled about the potential return of mobile roaming charges after Brexit.

 

He claimed they would be "limited" but stopped short of committing to a full ban on their reintroduction.

 

Two companies - Vodafone and Three - have already said they will not impose the charges anew, Mr Raab said.

 

All extra charges for phone calls, texts and internet use on mobile phones within the EU were eliminated in June 2017.

 

Roaming charges would be 'limited' in event of no-deal Brexit, Dominic Raab says

But minister stops short of committing to full ban on reintroduction of fees for Britons using their devices in Europe

09:43

The day after the UK's security minister admitted the pair smuggled a chemical weapon through an airport baggage check, the editor of RT - formerly Russia Today - claims the men suspected of poisoning Sergei and Yulia Skripal will appear on her TV channel.

 

 

Margarita Simonyan asked and answered a series of questions about how the interview had come to pass.

 

She tweeted: "How did you find them? I did not look for them. More precisely, our editorial staff searched for them in the same way as all other professional editions: on social networks, sources, etc.

 

"As a result, real (as far as it can be checked) Petrov and Boshirov called me personally. On the mobile phone. Why me? They refused to give interviews to anyone else, not even our journalists, as they said, they know me on the air and read my social networks."

 

The original interview was in Russian and has been translated, Ms Simonyan added.

 

Last week Theresa May told MPs the two men accused of carrying out the novichok attack in Salisbury were members of Russian military intelligence, and that their mission had been approved at "a senior level of the Russian state".

 

Russian spies smuggled chemical weapons through airport baggage checks, UK security minister admits

Ben Wallace says novichok used against Sergei Skripal had potential to kill 'hundreds of people'

09:20

Tory MP names 30 Russians linked to 'murder' amid criticism of government for failing to sanction them

Former ministers and officials have all been targeted in other countries over death of Sergei Magnitsky, but not in the UK – despite passing of legislation four months ago

09:01

Speaking this morning, Dominic Raab said warnings the UK would not pay all of its £39 billion divorce bill were a "statement of fact", not a threat.

He said it was "unlikely" there would be no deal but the EU could not "cherry pick" the parts of the negotiations that had gone well if that happened.

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's not a threat, it's statement of fact as part of our no-deal planning that, yes, we would be mindful of our strict legal obligations, but the amount and the phased way it is set out in the withdrawal agreement would fall away because there would be no deal.

"It's not a threat and it's not an ultimatum, it's a statement of fact. I don't say anything outside of the negotiation room that I haven't and wouldn't directly to our EU friends and partners, and I think it is well understood on both sides."

08:40

  ↵

The world is sleepwalking towards another financial crisis, Gordon Brown warns

Former prime minister says world is currently 'leaderless' and has not learnt lessons from 2008

08:40

Conservatives accused of seeking Brexit favours after backing Hungary's authoritarian leader Viktor Orban

Two Conservative MEPs refused to go along with the rest of the Conservative group and lend a supportive vote to Mr Orban

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