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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Andrew Sparrow, Claire Phipps and Kevin Rawlinson

Brexit triggers Labour coup attempt as Corbyn stands firm – as it happened

Jeremy Corbyn, who has said he will not stand down as Labour leader.
Jeremy Corbyn, who has said he will not stand down as Labour leader. Photograph: Niklas Halle'N/AFP/Getty Images

Closing summary: Corbyn resists resignation calls, while Johnson sets out stall

•Eleven members of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet resigned, following the sacking of Hilary Benn, who was accused of plotting a coup. Corbyn, however, received the backing of loyalists Diane Abbott and John McDonnell, as well as trade union bosses.

Despite coming under serious the pressure to quit, Corbyn was bullish; insisting he would remain Labour leader and challenging his detractors to stand against him in an election. There were conflicting claims about whether or not Corbyn would need to secure support within the parliamentary Labour party in order for his name to appear on the ballot paper, however.

•Boris Johnson set out his Brexit vision and tried to paint himself as the next leader of the Conservative party. Despite strong suggestions to the contrary by some of his leave colleagues, he claimed Britain could keep access to the European single market and limit freedom of movement after Brexit.

•The chancellor George Osborne announced he would make a speech in the morning in a bid to calm the markets as it emerged that pound had fallen in early Asian trading on Monday.

•The Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the country could try to block Brexit by withholding the necessary legislative consent.

Updated

The pound fell in early Asian trading on Monday as confusion over Britain’s course after the Brexit vote continued.

Sterling was quoted at $1.3440 after shedding more than 8% on Friday to stand at $1.3662 late in New York. The pound also slipped on the safe-haven yen to 137.16 yen from around 139.64, Reuters reported.

Updated

The Pope has warned against the “Balkanisation” of Europe in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU and urged the bloc to chart a new way forward by giving member states greater freedoms, Agence France-Presse reports.

“We have to come up with a new kind of union,” the pontiff told reporters as the EU grappled with the unprecedented task of having to negotiate a divorce from a member state.

“There is something that’s not working in this massive, heavy union. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water,” Francis said.

He warned that places such as Scotland and the Spanish region of Catalonia could push for “secession” following the seismic Brexit vote, which he said could lead to “the Balkanisation” of Europe.

And the Pope said the EU could recover its strength by being open to “creativity and healthy disunity.... That is to say, to give more independence, more freedom to countries in the European Union”.

Updated

The EU is preparing to move its European Banking Authority from London following Britain’s vote to leave, Reuters reports - citing EU officials. It sets up a race led by Paris and Frankfurt to host the regulator.

Updated

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde says the financial markets “vastly underestimated” the outcome of the EU membership referendum but insisted there “was no panic”, adding that central bankers “did their jobs” and that the market situation was “under control”.

Lagarde added that policymakers would need to work in a cohesive, positive way to deal with the aftermath of Brexit, Reuters reported.

Updated

Eurozone crisis expert Yannis Koutsomitis critiques the vision Johnson sets out:

Boris Johnson sets out Tory leadership stall

Boris Johnson, who is widely tipped to stand for the leadership of the Conservative party, has broken cover for the first time since the referendum results were announced.

He has set out how he sees Britain navigating the Brexit process and given an indication of how he would run the Conservative party, should he win its leadership.

Despite strong indications from senior leave figures that freedom of movement would be likely to stay in a renegotiated deal with the EU, Johnson claimed Britain would be able to introduce a points-based immigration system while maintaining “access” to the single market.

And, despite some of his Brexit colleagues admitting that there would not be an extra £350m to spend on the NHS as a result of Britain leaving the bloc, he insisted there would be a “substantial sum of money which we will no longer send to Brussels, but which could be used on priorities such as the NHS”.

In his weekly Telegraph column, Johnson said Brexit would “not come in any great rush” and dismissed Nicola Sturgeon’s calls for a second Scottish independence referendum, insisting he did not “detect any real appetite” for one.

And Johnson signalled how he may cast himself in the Tory leadership election, saying: “We must pursue actively the one-nation policies that are among David Cameron’s fine legacy, such as his campaigns on the living wage and life chances.”

There were more than 16 million who wanted to remain.

They are our neighbours, brothers and sisters who did what they passionately believe was right. In a democracy majorities may decide but everyone is of equal value.

We who are part of this narrow majority must do everything we can to reassure the remainers.

We must reach out, we must heal, we must build bridges - because it is clear that some have feelings of dismay, and of loss, and confusion.

Johnson expanded on his vision of post-Brexit Britain, writing:

I cannot stress too much that Britain is part of Europe, and always will be.

There will still be intense and intensifying European cooperation and partnership in a huge number of fields: the arts, the sciences, the universities, and on improving the environment.

EU citizens living in this country will have their rights fully protected, and the same goes for British citizens living in the EU.

British people will still be able to go and work in the EU; to live; to travel; to study; to buy homes and to settle down. As the German equivalent of the CBI - the BDI - has very sensibly reminded us, there will continue to be free trade, and access to the single market.

And he added:

The only change - and it will not come in any great rush - is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation: the vast and growing corpus of law enacted by a European court of justice from which there can be no appeal.

This will bring not threats, but golden opportunities for this country - to pass laws and set taxes according to the needs of the UK.

Yes, the government will be able to take back democratic control of immigration policy, with a balanced and humane points-based system to suit the needs of business and industry.

Updated

Bloomberg is reporting that Sterling dropped 1.3% to $1.3509 at 4:06am in Tokyo on Monday in a continuation of the slide from Friday.

The chancellor’s whereabouts since the referendum was the subject of much conversation earlier in the evening.

It’s emerged that he will make an early morning statement aimed at trying to reassure financial markets tomorrow.

In a speech to be delivered before the markets open, he will set out how the government intends to “protect the national interest”, following the referendum result. A Treasury spokesman has said:

The chancellor will make a statement to provide reassurance about financial and economic stability in light of the referendum result and the actions that he and the rest of the government will be taking to protect the national interest over the coming period.

Defiant Corbyn refuses to stand down

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has released a statement insisting he will not resign amid a host of resignations from his shadow cabinet. He vows to appoint a new shadow cabinet and challenges those opposed to his leadership to stand against him in an election.

Our country faces a huge challenge following Thursday’s vote to leave the European Union. And the British people have a right to know how their elected leaders are going to respond.

We need to come together to heal the divisions exposed by the vote. We have to respect the decision that has been made, hold the government to democratic account over its response, and ensure that working people don’t pay the price of exit.

Neither wing of the Tory government has an exit plan. Labour will now ensure that our reform agenda is at the heart of the negotiations that lie ahead. That includes the freedom to shape our economy for the future and the necessity of protecting social and employment rights.

One clear message from last Thursday’s vote is that millions of people feel shut out of a political and economic system that has let them down and scarred our country with grotesque levels of inequality.

I was elected by hundreds of thousands of Labour party members and supporters with an overwhelming mandate for a different kind of politics.

I regret there have been resignations today from my shadow cabinet. But I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me – or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them.

Those who want to change Labour’s leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate.

Over the next 24 hours, I will reshape my shadow cabinet and announce a new leadership team to take forward Labour’s campaign for a fairer Britain - and to get the best deal with Europe for our people.

Updated

Bryant says he didn’t really back Corbyn but, since he was elected as leader, he thought it was his duty to “make a go of it” but “last week changed everything”.

He says Corbyn failed to get a clear pro-remain message across during the referendum campaign. “If you refuse to step aside, I fear you will go down in history as the man who broke the Labour party.”

Updated

Chris Bryant resigns from shadow cabinet

Chris Bryant has resigned as shadow Commons leader, saying: “We need someone new to unite and lead Labour.” He is the 11th member of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet to resign since Hilary Benn was sacked.

Updated

Amid the shadow cabinet resignations, a source close to the shadow business secretary, Angela Eagle, has been quoted as saying: “She is heartbroken about the position in which the party finds itself and desperately worried we’re failing to connect with communities across the country.”

Updated

Karl Turner has explained in more detail why he has decided to resign from the shadow cabinet:

He says it has become “increasingly clear” that Corbyn does not enjoy the support of the shadow cabinet and the PLP at a time when the country needs a strong opposition.

Updated

My colleague Frances Perraudin reports that Iain Duncan Smith has distanced himself from the leave campaign’s pledge to spend £350m “sent to the EU every week” on the NHS, saying that he had never made the claim.

Duncan Smith was photographed in front of the Vote Leave battlebus, a sign on which read: “We send the EU £350 million a week – let’s fund our NHS instead.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, he said:

I never said that during the course of the election. The £350m was an extrapolation of the £19.1bn – that’s the total amount of money we gave across to the European Union. What we actually said was a significant amount of it would go to the NHS. It’s essentially down to the government, but I believe that is what was pledged and that’s what should happen. There was talk about it going to the NHS but there are other bits and pieces like agriculture, which is part of the process. That is the divide up. It was never the total.

Updated

More from Diane Abbott on the shadow cabinet resignations:

ITV News’ Chris Ship suggests that Corbyn’s team will not manage to get a team together for a shadow cabinet meeting tomorrow.

Updated

Diane Abbott, asked about Jeremy Corbyn’s position as the 11th resignation is announced, says the Labour leader does not represent the status quo in Westminster politics, which she says people dislike.

“Labour MPs running around in circles today have been planning this for months,” she says, adding that those MPs have used Labour’s handling of the in campaign as a pretext for a coup.

Anna Soubry, asked if she wants Boris Johnson as prime minister, says: “I’m not friends with Boris at the moment.” And, while she says there is an argument for leaving him to work through the Brexit process, she says she wants to see an experienced statesman, which she says Johnson is not.

Turner becomes the 10th member of Corbyn’s shadow cabinet to resign, following the sacking of Hilary Benn.

Corbyn hit by a further shadow cabinet resignation

Karl Turner, the shadow attorney general has said he has resigned “with a very heavy heart”.

Updated

Writing for the Guardian, Phil Wilson - the chair of the Labour in for Britain group - has called on Jeremy Corbyn to resign, claiming he sabotaged the party’s remain campaign.

[Corbyn] himself issued a note to all MPs on 17 September 2015 telling them that Labour would campaign to remain in the European Union. And yet he decided to go on holiday in the middle of the campaign. He did not visit the Labour heartlands of the north-east and instead raised esoteric issues such as TTIP which had no resonance on the doorstep.

This leads to me to the greatest betrayal and the final straw for many MPs. I have been told and shown evidence by an overwhelming number of unimpeachably neutral Labour remain staff that Corbyn’s office, for which he must take full responsibility, consistently attempted to weaken and sabotage the Labour remain campaign, in contravention of the party’s official position.

Ukip’s Paul Nuttall just called for a “Brexit government” led by either Boris Johnson or Michael Gove.

Giles Fraser, however, argued for a “government of national unity”, pointing out that Britain did not vote on the issue of who should lead the country. He adds that the division between Leave and Remain supporters is no longer relevant because the referendum is over.

In a special edition of Question Time on BBC One right now, the Tory MP Anna Soubry - who backed Remain - has just drawn a sarcastic laughs from the audience when she claimed the chancellor George Osborne has not been seen in public since the referendum result because he has been working all weekend to try to save the economy.

The New Statesman has reported that, in the event of a challenge for the Labour leadership, the party’s general secretary Iain McNicol will not put Jeremy Corbyn on the ballot paper “unless the parliamentary Labour party does so”.

The Guardian understands, however, that legal advice commissioned for McNicol and the party’s national executive committee contradicts that, saying there is no question that Corbyn would be on the ballot paper.

Tom Watson declines to back Corbyn's leadership

Tom Watson, the deputy Labour leader, has issued a statement on today’s development. Here it is in full.

I was deeply disappointed to see Hilary Benn sacked in the early hours of this morning and equally saddened that so many talented, able and hard-working colleagues felt they had to leave the shadow cabinet. My single focus is to hold the Labour party together in very turbulent times. The nation needs an effective opposition, particularly as the current leadership of the country is so lamentable. It’s very clear to me that we are heading for an early general election and the Labour party must be ready to form a government. There’s much work to do. I will be meeting Jeremy Corbyn tomorrow morning to discuss the way forward.

Here are the key points.

  • Tom Watson declines to endorse Corbyn’s leadership.
  • He says Labour needs to be “an effective opposition”.
  • He predicts an early general election.

Analysis: Tom Watson is positioning himself to replace Jeremy Corbyn this week as a caretaker Labour leader - perhaps with a view to grabbing the job permanently. At least, that’s what his statement implies. Talking about “effective opposition” is Labour code for “we need a new leader”, because it implies Labour is not providing effective opposition now. It is very noticeable that Watson does not defend Corbyn’s leadership, or urge colleagues to support him. And the reference to an early election is key too. On Friday the prospect of an early election was little more than speculation. Today almost all the Labour and Tory politicians on the political programmes have been treating it is a near-certainty, which is significant because forecasts of this kind can become self-fulfilling.

The Conservative party has its famous “men in grey suits” who are supposed to tell the leader when his time is up. Watson wears flash pin-striped suits, but his line about “meeting Corbyn tomorrow morning to discuss the way forward” suggests he is about to play the same role. He did not quite say he would have a bottle of whisky and a pearl-handled revolver for Corbyn in his briefcase, but that’s clearly the implication ...

That’s all from me for today.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now.

Updated

Lord Falconer resigns from shadow cabinet

Lord Falconer, the shadow justice secretary, has resigned.

This, from the Labour MP Stella Creasy, seems aimed at Jeremy Corbyn.

On her blog the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg says she has seen evidence that backs up claims that Jeremy Corbyn’s office tried to water down the Labour remain campaign. Here’s an excerpt.

One email from the leader’s office suggests that Mr Corbyn’s director of strategy and communications, Seumas Milne, was behind Mr Corbyn’s reluctance to take a prominent role in Labour’s campaign to keep the UK in the EU. One email, discussing one of the leader’s speeches, said it was because of the “hand of Seumas. If he can’t kill it, he will water it down so much to hope nobody notices it”.

A series of messages dating back to December seen by the BBC shows correspondence between the party leader’s office, the Labour Remain campaign and Labour HQ, discussing the European campaign. It shows how a sentence talking about immigration was removed on one occasion and how Mr Milne refused to sign off a letter signed by 200 MPs after it had already been approved.

The documents show concern in Labour HQ and the Labour Remain campaign about Mr Corbyn’s commitment to the campaign - one email says: “What is going on here?” Another email from Labour Remain sources to the leader’s office complains “there is no EU content here - we agreed to have Europe content in it”. Sources say they show the leader’s office was reluctant to give full support to the EU campaign and how difficult it was to get Mr Corbyn to take a prominent role.

This is from BuzzFeed’s Jim Waterson.

These are from the New Statesman’s George Eaton.

Labour has got one prominent new member today. This is from the author Robert Harris.

Here is some Twitter comment on Zoe Williams’ intervention. (See 4.48pm.)

From CapX’s editor, Iain Martin

From Theo Bertram, a former Labour Downing Street adviser

My colleague Rowena Mason thinks Labour MPs are deploying a form of industrial action.

Vernon Coaker resigns from shadow cabinet

Vernon Coaker has now resigned as shadow Northern Ireland secretary.

Westminster Public Affairs, a PR company, has conducted a survey of 50 people who stood as Labour candidates in 2015. It says 62% of them think there should be a leadership contest.

My colleague Zoe Williams thinks it is time for Jeremy Corbyn to move on. Here’s an extract from her latest column.

I don’t agree that his time as leader has been a disaster – leave would have won the referendum regardless. It would always have turned the debate into a conversation about immigration and hammered out its racist cant, whoever opposed it. A more centrist Labour leader would have made more concessions – offered bogus and unworkable migrant caps – but the more strident voice would still have won. Corbyn has been a one-man Occupy movement, squatting in the office of Labour leader on behalf of the people (of whom I was one) who felt the party’s high command was lifeless and intellectually spent. The point has been made, and the apparatus now has to be put to better use.

And here is Zoe’s article in full.

This is from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh.

This is from Newsnight’s diplomatic editor, Mark Urban.

This is from Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel (who voted remain).

Whose fault is that, Rachel?

Updated

Len McCluskey implies Unite will try to deselect MPs disloyal to Corbyn if leadership challenge happens

Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has written a piece for the Guardian defending Jeremy Corbyn. He implied that, if there is a leadership election, Unite would favour trying to deselect MPs disloyal to Corbyn.

Here’s an extract.

A new leadership election is divisive and unnecessary. But if enough MPs want one, then bring it on. I am sure that Corbyn will secure a fresh mandate. But let me make two things clear.

First, if anyone is undemocratic enough to think that there can be a new leadership election with the existing leader kept off the ballot, then they are setting the Labour party on course for a split.

And second, Unite has hitherto opposed any plans to change the party rules governing mandatory re-selection of Labour MPs. That, too, we have looked on as a divisive distraction.

But those MPs who have missed no opportunity to tweet and brief against the party’s elected leader over the last 10 months will find that their disloyalty finds no favour with party members and will make this an increasingly difficult line to hold.

And here is the full article.

Seema Malhotra has released the text of the letter she sent to Jeremy Corbyn resigning as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.

Shadow cabinet - Who's in, and who's out
Shadow cabinet - Who’s in, and who’s out

Heseltine says MPs should 'start the fightback' and make the case for 'rethinking' referendum result

Lord Heseltine, the Conservative former deputy prime minister, was interviewed on Sky News earlier. He said he thought the House of Commons would not pass legislation to leave the EU without either a general election, or a second referendum once the terms of withdrawal are clear.

There is a majority of something like 350 in the House of Commons broadly in favour of the European relationship. There is no way you are going to get those people to say black is white and change their minds unless a) they know what the deal is and b) it has been supported either by an election or by another referendum. So there’s a dramatic urgency to get on with the negotiations.

He also said that an all-party group of MPs should “start the fightback” and make the case of rethinking the result of the referendum.

My preoccupation is to start the fightback now. And to start the fightback, we need an all-party group of members of the House of Commons who will preserve the options and articulate the case for Britain rethinking the result of the referendum. That process needs to start today.

Byrne says Corbyn should resign

Liam Byrne, the former Labour cabinet minister, is on Sky News now. He says that he has been talking to activists in his constituency and they do not think Jeremy Corbyn is the right person to lead the party forward.

He says Britain has to negotiate a divorce with Europe. The Labour party needs to put forward its own proposals.

Corbyn has done a great job “resetting the Labour party”, he says. But now he needs to hand the baton over, he says.

He says Labour needs to be able to field its A-team. It needs to then win an election, and then negotiate withdrawal from Europe on Labour’s terms.

Q: Who should replace Corbyn? You?

Absolutely not, says Byrne. He says he agrees with John McDonnell that party members are sovereign. But activists who have slogged their guts out during the referendum realise that Corbyn is not the person to lead the party now.

Q: These activists supported Corbyn last year. What has changed?

The job has changed, says Byrne. He says the vote to leave the EU means that Labour needs a leader who can go through the mind-numbing detail of getting the Brexit agreement right. And the party needs a leader who can inspire people.

Corbyn has “lost the confidence of the locker room”, he says.

Liam Byrne.
Liam Byrne. Photograph: Sky News

Lilian Greenwood, who resigned earlier as shadow transport secretary, has just told Sky News that having sat in the shadow cabinet for nine months she is clear that Jeremy Corbyn is not suited to be leader.

She said she would not be standing herself for the leadership. She did not have the skills set for that, she says. Asked who she would like to see leading the party, she said there were a number of suitable candidates.

She said many ordinary members had been in touch saying the party needed a new leader.

Q: A few days ago you posted a message on Twitter saying politicians should focus on uniting the country.

Greenwood said, if Labour was going to unite the country, it needed a credible leader.

Q: Do you think Jeremy Corbyn will have the stomach to hang on?

Greenwood said she hoped Corbyn would reflect. She spoke to him this afternoon and she hoped he would consider his position.

Lilian Greenwood.
Lilian Greenwood. Photograph: Sky News

Updated

Survation carried out a poll for the Mail on Sunday this weekend. It found, among other things, that a majority of people, and a majority of Labour voters from 2015 too, think Jeremy Corbyn should resign.

Survation poll findings.
Survation poll findings. Photograph: Survation

Ironically, the same poll also shows Labour level pegging with the Conservatives, with both parties on 32%, which is one of Labour’s best performances in a recent poll.

According to the Lib Dems, more than 4,000 people have joined the party since the EU referendum. Tim Farron, the party leader, said this was because the Lib Dems were committed to keeping Britain in the EU. He said:

We are the only party committed to a future for Britain at the heart of Europe.

Naturally we respect the result of the referendum, but Brexit will hit livelihoods, homes and jobs. As the Brexit camp renounce their promises on the NHS and immigration before the slogans have even been peeled off their battle bus, it is now clear that the British people were told lie after lie.

We have always believed our economy and place in the world is stronger in Europe and it is only right that we offer that as a choice to people at the next general election – whenever that might be.

Tim Farron.
Tim Farron. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA

Updated

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has been speaking about Brexit ahead of a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome. He said that although the US did not want Britain to leave the EU, Washington thought the international community would find a “sensible, thoughtful” way of dealing with the situation. He said:

One country has made a decision. Obviously, it is a decision that the United States had hoped would go the other way. But it didn’t. And so we begin with a fundamental respect for voters. In a democracy, when the voters speak, it is the job of leaders to listen and then to make sure that they are moving in a way that is responsible to address the concerns. I am absolutely convinced – and I say this to the marketplace, I say this to citizens who are wondering what is going on – I am absolutely convinced, President Obama is absolutely convinced that we will be able to work through this in a sensible, thoughtful way that takes the best strengths of the EU, the best strengths of the marketplace, the best interests of our national security and international security, and works to keep them moving in the right direction for our countries.

John Kerry with the Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni in Rome today.
John Kerry with the Italian foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni in Rome today. Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

The Labour MP Paul Flynn has denounced those of his colleagues who are trying to bring down Jeremy Corbyn.

The Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, has denounced the coup against Jeremy Corbyn as “pathetic”, Channel 4 News’s Michael Crick reports.

Crick says McCluskey believes Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, will support Corbyn.

Updated

Momentum organises rally to express support for Corbyn

Momentum, the Labour group for Jeremy Corbyn supporters, is organising a rally outside the House of Commons tomorrow at 6pm (when the parliamentary Labour party is meeting) to express support for Corbyn. In an email to supporters, it says:

The future is uncertain. We face a Tory Brexit, Cameron has resigned and we will likely have a general election with the potential of Britain lurching yet further to the right.

A small number of Labour MPs are using this as an opportunity to oust Jeremy, disrespect the Labour membership who elected him and disregard our movement for a new kind of politics.

We cannot let this undemocratic behaviour succeed.

Join us at 6pm outside parliament tomorrow, Monday 27th June.

The parliamentary Labour party will be meeting inside, so let’s make sure they can hear us, the Labour party members and voters, outside.

We must now stand strong to #KeepCorbyn and build our movement.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn has left his home. He ignored journalists asking if he was going to resign (although he was very friendly to the police officers in attendance).

Shares are expected to suffer fresh losses on Monday as the unfolding political crisis in Britain grips the financial markets.

The FTSE 100 index is currently tipped to fall by 2.8% tomorrow morning, according to a market being run today by IG, the City spread-betting firm.

That would knock around 180 points off the blue-chip index, on top of the 199 points lost during Friday’s whirlwind session.

Germany’s DAX is being called down 2% too, reflecting concerns that the eurozone’s largest economy will suffer from Brexit uncertainty.

Friday’s rout wiped more than $2tn off shares worldwide. Middle East markets, which were closed on Friday, are suffering heavy losses in Sunday trading. Egypt’s index has slumped by 5%, Dubai is down 3.15% while the Qatar and Kuwait bourses dipped around 1%.

Updated

Seema Malhotra resigns from shadow cabinet

Seema Malhotra has resigned as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, my colleague Anushka Asthana reports.

STV News is reporting that a former chair of Scottish Labour, Jamie Glackin, will back independence in a second referendum.

Glackin, who has served on Labour’s Scottish executive for six years, told STV News:

The whole landscape has changed. We are in a completely different place now. We have to accept the consequences of this vote. If a second referendum on independence were held tomorrow, Yes would win. The Labour party cannot be seen to stand in the way of that.

On Saturday the former Labour first minister Henry McLeish likewise signalled he would be minded to support independence in a second referendum, writing for Holyrood magazine:

More significantly the constitutional or Scotland question has been reframed.

In 2014 the referendum question of “yes or no” was about remaining in the UK which of course carried with it automatic membership of the European Union ... The debate about Scotland’s future has psychologically, constitutionally and politically moved on. This is no longer a narrow nationalist vote, an SNP issue or just another “indy ref 2” on the question of in or out of the UK.

Updated

As the coup against Corbyn began, deputy leader Tom Watson was notably distancing himself, posting pictures of himself partying at Glastonbury on social media.

He was partying until 4am at the silent disco at the festival, and returned home by train this morning.

He apparently uploaded pictures and video of himself on to Snapchat which quickly went viral.

The timelapse video started at 9pm last night with the MP for Bromwich East at Tom Robinson’s gig singing along to his hit 2-4-6-8-Motorway, and showed him later at the main Pyramid stage for Adele. It ended around 3.30am at the silent disco adjacent to the VIP hospitality bar.

Seen as the party unifier when he took on the role as Corbyn’s deputy, Watson was spotted just before 10am at the local train station just as the party putsch began.

Updated

Lilian Greenwood's resignation letter

The Press Association’s Jack Maidment has posted Lilian Greenwood’s resignation letter on Twitter.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow defence secretary, is on the World at One now defending Jeremy Corbyn.

She says she is surprised by today’s resignations. She says that Ian Murray, who resigned this morning as shadow Scottish secretary, spoke out against Corbyn at Friday’s shadow cabinet meeting, but that other shadow ministers didn’t.

Updated

Burnham urges Labour not to plunge into civil war

Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, has urged Labour not to plunge itself into civil war.

Seven shadow cabinet ministers have left so far (six resigned, one sacked)

Here’s a list of the seven members of the shadow cabinet who have gone today.

Updated

Kerry McCarthy resigns from shadow cabinet

Kerry McCarthy, the shadow environment secretary, has also resigned, according to Sky News.

Lucy Powell resigns from shadow cabinet

Lucy Powell has resigned as shadow education secretary.

You can tell an opposition leader is in trouble when the fact that the shadow home secretary is not resigning makes the news. But that is what Sky News is reporting about Andy Burnham. Burnham is trying to get elected as Labour’s candidate for mayor of Greater Manchester, and he may have concluded that joining a coup against Jeremy Corbyn would not help his chances.

Updated

What is the German government’s view of the Article 50 question? In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio aired on Sunday, Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said he expected the formal mechanism for Britain’s departure from the European Union to be triggered “within weeks or months” rather than days.

Asked if he thought Article 50 would be triggered at Tuesday’s summit in Brussels, as the European parliament president, Martin Schulz, has asked for, Peter Altmaier said:

I don’t have any indication that this will happen, but I rather think that the application will take place in the coming weeks or months, possibly even after the new government has been formed.

Proposed with a scenario where Britain’s exit could end up a reverse mirror image of Turkey’s accession to the EU, a process seemingly forever postponed, the former environment minister and European commission official who is seen as one of Merkel’s closest allies said:

My starting point is that Great Britain has made a clear decision. I assume that there will be a formation of a new government which will organise itself and in time make its application. We should wait for this to happen with calm. We should make clear that all remaining European states will pull together.

Altmaier’s interview appears to mirror the sentiment behind chancellor Merkel’s statement on Friday, in which she seemed to deliberately downplay the drama of the moment, repeatedly appealing for “calm and level-headedness”.

But the German government’s stance on this is by no means unanimous. Foreign minister Steinmeier on Saturday emphatically urged Cameron not to waste any time in starting the departure process, and with the Social Democrats gearing up for the general election next year, any public clashes with Merkel will be relished by her coalition partners.

Updated

Vernon Coaker, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, has said he is considering his position. He said:

All of us are going to have to consider the positions that we hold and the best way forward for our party. Clearly we are all going to have to reflect on what that should be, whether we stay or whether we go. That’s a decision I will have to make along with all of my colleagues.

Lilian Greenwood resigns from shadow cabinet

Lilian Greenwood, the shadow transport secretary, has resigned, Sky reports.

The Labour MP Wes Streeting has just told BBC News that Jeremy Corbyn should resign. He said that Corbyn had many redeeming features, but “being an effective leader of the opposition is not one of them”. He said that he was disappointed by Corbyn’s performance during the EU referendum, but that that was not the only problem. Corbyn cannot land blows on the Tories, Streeting said. He said a particularly good example came when Corbyn delivered a Commons statement after the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith and virtually ignored that.

Streeting said that Corbyn was good at speaking to the faithful and to the converted, but that he could not win people over to Labour or provide “clear, strong leadership”.

He said Labour party members were turning against Corbyn.

And he urged any Labour members who were unsure to watch the half-hour Vice News fly-on-the-wall documentary about Corbyn. He said he would defy anyone to watch that and conclude that Corbyn was running a “credible, competent team ... ready to take on the mantle of government”.

Updated

Farron says Lib Dems will go into next election opposing EU withdrawal

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has just told BBC News that the Lib Dems will go into the next election saying the UK should remain in the EU, or rejoin. He says that he accepts the result of the referendum, but that politicians should continue to fight for what they believe in.

He also said that what was dubbed “Project Fear’ in the referendum campaign could now be seen as “Project Colossal Understatement” in the light of what happened to the pound and the stock market on Friday.

Farron’s comment raises the prospect that the Lib Dems could be the only main party going into the next election firmly committed to rejecting EU withdrawal. Labour is also a strongly pro-European party, but we don’t know what its manifesto stance on this would be. Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, said this morning (see 9.52am) that he thought the party would have to respect the result of the referendum.

UPDATE: Here is my colleague Patrick Wintour on what Labour could say about the EU in its election manifesto.

Updated

Although Nicola Sturgeon is suggesting the Scottish parliament could stop the UK withdrawing from the EU (see 12.10pm), Prof Adam Tomkins, now a Scottish Tory MSP and also a leading expert on UK constitutional law, has tweeted immediately to say this is not so.

Apart from the inherent political contradiction of Sturgeon insisting that Westminster cannot deny or thwart the will of the Scottish people over a second independence referendum, Tomkins says that Holyrood’s legislative consent powers do not override Westminster’s will.

Ian Murray is now speaking to BBC News. He says Diane Abbott is wrong about the shadow cabinet resignations being planned months ago. (See 10.23am.) He says his final decision to resign was prompted by the sacking of Hilary Benn.

He says he likes Corbyn, and finds him principled and funny, but thinks he is not suited to lead the party into an election.

Ian Murray.
Ian Murray. Photograph: BBC

Updated

Ian Murray, the shadow Scottish secretary, was also on the Sunday Politics Scotland. He said Labour could not recover with Jeremy Corbyn in charge.

The Labour party needs to stop talking to itself. I don’t think at this moment in time [Corbyn] can be prime minister.

The Labour MPs Stephen Kinnock and Tristram Hunt have both told Sky News this morning that Jeremy Corbyn should resign. Kinnock said the party needed a “hard-headed negotiator” to take charge in the light of the challenges thrown up by the referendum result. And Hunt said that if Corbyn was having to resort to sacking someone like Hilary Benn in the middle of the night he could find himself unable to find people to fill all his frontbench posts.

Updated

Sturgeon says Scotland could try to block UK withdrawal from the EU

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has told the BBC that the Scottish parliament could try to block the UK leaving the EU.

It would do this by withholding “legislative consent”. Some UK laws require the consent of the Scottish parliament and it is arguable that a bill to take the UK out of the EU would come into this category. Sturgeon said:

The issue you are talking about is would there have to be a legislative consent motion or motions for the legislation that extricates the UK from the European Union?

Looking at it from a logical perspective, I find it hard to believe that there wouldn’t be that requirement - I suspect that the UK government will take a very different view on that and we’ll have to see where that discussion ends up.

And she told the Sunday Politics Scotland that that vetoing withdrawal would be an option, because it would be in Scotland’s interests.

If the Scottish parliament was judging this on the basis of what’s right for Scotland then the option of saying look we’re not to vote for something that’s against Scotland’s interest, of course that’s got to be on the table.

Earlier the SNP MP Pete Wishart pointed out that the House of Lords European Union committee suggested that withdrawal from the EU would require Scottish legislative consent.

Nicola Sturgeon speaking to the media on Saturday.
Nicola Sturgeon speaking to the media on Saturday. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Updated

Momentum, the Labour group for Corbyn supporters, is encouraging people to use an ‘I’m with Corbyn’ twibbon.

Updated

Conservative divisions over who should succeed David Cameron have broken into the open, with Philip Hammond warning Boris Johnson and other Brexit supporters they need to tell voters how they plan to reconcile “mutually incompatible” promises made during the referendum campaign.

While Jeremy Corbyn is facing a very open revolt from his shadow cabinet, tensions among Tories are thus far less obvious but appear set to increase as Johnson, Theresa May and a series of other likely candidates jostle for supremacy in the coming weeks.

Also on Sunday, Iain Duncan Smith insisted that the next Conservative leader must come from the pro-leave camp, a condition which if met would exclude May, seen as the closest rival to Johnson.

Hammond, the foreign secretary, meanwhile held out the possibility of a new prime minister opting for the UK to remain within the EU’s free trade area, even if that meant allowing uncontrolled flows of people from the bloc.

Hammond warned that Johnson had a potentially difficult task ahead. “The key leave campaigners made contradictory promises to the British people,” Hammond told ITV’s Peston show. “I’m sorry to say that but they did.” He added: “Boris is one of those.”

Hammond continued:

Now they will have to resolve that by explaining how they will balance the tradeoffs between the different things they promised which are mutually incompatible. That will be hugely disappointing to a lot of people in this country who voted leave. How that tradeoff is made is the key question now for the future prosperity of this country.

McDonnell says if there is a Labour leadership contest it should take place quickly.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has told BBC News that if there is a Labour leadership contest, it should not last as long as last year’s.

He said he would like it to be over in two or three months, so that Jeremy Corbyn can return as leader in October, in time for a general election.

  • McDonnell says, if there is a Labour leadership contest, it should take place quickly.

Asked about Corbyn’s decision to sack Hilary Benn, McDonnell said that Corbyn is one of the kindest people in politics but that he was “really disappointed and saddened” when he found out that Benn was involved in a plot against him. McDonnell said Corbyn rang Benn when he heard about this and Benn admitted it. Corbyn then had no choice but to sack him, McDonnell said.

Updated

According to Sky News, Ian Murray, the shadow Scottish secretary and the only Labour MP in Scotland, has now resigned. We were tipping him to resign earlier.

Pat McFadden, who was sacked by Jeremy Corbyn as shadow Europe minister, is on Sky News saying Labour needs a new leader.

He says that for Labour the exam question changed on Thursday. When Corbyn was elected, people did not expect an election until 2020. Now it looks as if there could be one much earlier.

He says the EU referendum campaign showed Corbyn’s inability to show leadership.

He says that, if the Tories were to win the next election easily, the country could end up with a one-party, rightwing Tory state.

Liam Fox says he is thinking of standing for the Conservative party leadership

Liam Fox, the Conservative former defence secretary, told the Sunday Politics that he was thinking of standing for the Conservative party leadership. Asked about this, he replied:

I have not decided yet. I am thinking about it, it would be dishonest to say otherwise. But I will make a decision once I have spoken to my colleagues in parliament.

Food prices are likely to go up as a short-term consequence of Britain’s vote to leave the EU, owing to the UK’s dependence on imports, according to the president of the National Farmers Union, my colleague Adam Vaughan reports.

Updated

Emily Thornberry, the shadow defence secretary, has just told BBC News that now is not the time to having a leadership contest. She says she cannot understand why colleagues are challenging Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour has to do the best it can for the country, she says.

Half the country voted to leave the EU, she says. That is because they feel the system is not working for them.

She says the party turned in on itself after the Scottish referendum, and lost support. It must not do that again, she says.

Q: But Corbyn is not very effective during the EU referendum.

Thornberry says she does not accept that. She says she thinks Corbyn’s voice was more honest during the referendum than David Cameron’s. Remain would have done better if Corbyn had been given more prominence.

Q: But his position is untenable.

Thornberry says she does not accept that. He has a lot of support in the country, she says.

John McTernan, the former Tony Blair adviser who is firmly on the right of the Labour party, has just told BBC News that Jeremy Corbyn should go. Addressing the argument that Corbyn has a mandate from the members, he said: “He did not have any mandate to be utterly useless.”

Updated

John McDonnell is on Sky News now. It is his fourth interview of the morning.

He says, even more explicitly, that he will not stand for the leadership. He will not be a candidate come what may, he says.

De Piero tells Corbyn that he cannot deliver a general election victory

Here is an extract from Gloria De Piero’s resignation letter, as quoted in Anushka’s story. De Piero told Corbyn:

I have always enjoyed a warm personal relationship with you and I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve in your shadow cabinet. I accepted that invitation because I thought it was right to support you in your attempt to achieve the Labour victory the country so badly needs.

I do not believe you can deliver that victory at a general election, which may take place in a matter of months. I have been contacted by many of my members this weekend and It is clear that a good number of them share that view and have lost faith in your leadership.

Gloria de Piero.
Gloria de Piero. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Updated

Gloria De Piero resigns from shadow cabinet

Gloria De Piero, the shadow minister for young people and voter registration, has resigned, my colleague Anushka Asthana reports.

Gloria de Piero has become the latest high-profile MP to resign from Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet, with more than half of the team expected to stand down on Sunday in a coup against Jeremy Corbyn, triggered by the result of the EU referendum and the leader’s decision to sack Hilary Benn.

Several members of shadow cabinet told the Guardian they were writing their resignation letters after Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, stepped down on Sunday morning.

Updated

The Labour MP Ivan Lewis, a former shadow cabinet member who is now running to be the party’s candidate for the Greater Manchester mayoralty, has said Corbyn should resign. He said:

Unfortunately, it is clear Jeremy Corbyn cannot lead us back to government and there is a real risk we will suffer a worse election result than in 2015.

The grassroots movement widely seen as responsible for ensuring that Jeremy Corbyn became Labour’s leader has launched a campaign to save him in the face of resignations from the shadow cabinet.

Momentum is already planning to set up phone banks across the UK to bring out its claimed 100,000 supporters, and recruit new ones, sources said.

The BBC is saying that up to nine members of the shadow cabinet will resign.

Nicola Sturgeon has warned any future Conservative prime minster against blocking a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Asked on the Andrew Marr Show this morning what her reaction would be should the next Tory leader refuse to allow a new independence poll, Scotland’s first minister replied:

I think the people of Scotland would find that completely unacceptable.

I don’t think it is acceptable in the context we find ourselves in for anybody trying to dictate to Scotland the terms of how we seek to take the country forward. It is simply not acceptable and I would caution any future prime minister against putting themselves in that position.

Surgeon also insisted that if a second independence referendum is held, prompted by the UK-wide vote to leave the EU, despite every local authority in Scotland voting to remain, “it is not going to be a re-run of the 2014 referendum”.

The context and the circumstances have changed dramatically the UK that Scotland voted to remain within in 2014 doesn’t exist anymore.

Her warning came as a polling carried out immediately after the EU referendum result reveals a healthy bounce in support for independence. In 2014, Scotland voted to remain part of the UK by 55% to 45%.

John McDonnell's interview on Peston on Sunday

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is up next.

Q: Can Corbyn survive?

Yes, says McDonnell. He says he is saddened and disappointed by what is going on.

Q: You won’t put yourself forward?

No, says McDonnell. If there is contest, Corbyn will stand, and McDonnell will run his campaign. He says Corbyn will win again. He has walked every electoral contest he has faced.

McDonnell is repeating some of the points he made earlier on the Sunday Politics.

Heidi Alexander's interview on Peston on Sunday

Heidi Alexander, who resigned this morning as shadow health secretary, is on Peston on Sunday.

She says she is not standing for the leadership herself.

Q; How many more shadow cabinet ministers will resign?

Alexander says she thinks “a fair number” are in the same position.

Q: We have heard 10.

Alexander says she is not sure what the numbers are.

Q: When should Labour get a new leader?

Alexander says many in Labour are desperately unhappy with the the EU referendum result. She says she thinks it makes sense for Labour to have its leadership contest at the same time as the Tory one.

Updated

The former Labour MP Chris Williamson, a Corbyn supporter, has criticised those trying to undermine him.

He has also flagged up this research which challenges claims that Corbyn fought a low-key campaign in the referendum.

Q: Remain might have won if Labour had not fought such a half-hearted campaign?

Blair says he has made his comments about that.

A lot of Labour voters will be realising voting leave was not a smart move.

Q: Should there be a coup against Corbyn?

Blair says he came on this programme to talk about Europe. This is for the parliamentary party. It is not right or helpful for him to intervene, he says.

Back to the Blair interview.

Q: Why did remain lose?

Blair says the remain side could have lost in a similar referendum in any country in Europe.

Q: But why did remain lose?

If you take dissatisfaction with the status quo, and flatlining incomes, and anxiety about immigration, plus the media fuelling that, it is going to be tough to win.

Q: People felt the elite were not listening to them?

Blair says you do have to listen to people on immigration. He fought the 2005 election on this. But he says eastern Europeans have made a good contribution to this country.

Q: You did not build enough houses.

Blair says his government invested massively in these communities, in health and education. Housing is a problem, he says. But he says you need to provide housing for the population as a whole.

Tony Blair on the Sunday Politics.
Tony Blair on the Sunday Politics. Photograph: BBC

Updated

Chris Leslie says Corbyn should resign

Chris Leslie, the former shadow chancellor, is on Sky News. He is calling on Jeremy Corbyn to do the decent thing and resign.

Tony Blair's interview on the Sunday Politics

Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, says the UK is like a family that has taken a decision to swap its home without knowing what the new home will look like. Some people say the new home will be great. Others say it will be terrible. We do not know what our future outside the EU will look like, he says.

He says he would advise the government to take its time, and to ensure the public are still engaged.

Q: What kind of relationship do you favour?

Blair says it is important to have as much access to the single market as possible. And he says he wants Britain to continue to have influence.

He says we are independent now. He says he cannot think of a time when he was prime minister when Europe stopped him doing something he wanted to do.

Q: Do you rule out another referendum?

Blair says he cannot see how you can do that. But why rule anything out. The markets have fallen. Perhaps they will steady. The British public need to see the reality.

Q: Once we know what our relationship with the EU will be like, should we have a referendum on that?

Blair says he cannot see how you would do that. But parliament will want to consider the deal.

Updated

McDonnell says Labour no longer needs to defend free movement of labour because that has now gone, following the decision of the public to vote to leave the EU.

He says the referendum was not just about immigration. It was about communities that feel left behind voting to leave, he says.

Updated

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is on Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics now.

McDonnell says he thinks there will be an election in November but it could be May next year. He says he thinks the new prime minister will want a mandate.

Q: Jeremy Corbyn is out of touch with Labour supporters on immigration.

McDonnell says he thinks Corbyn was where most people are – in favour of the EU but sceptical about it.

The leave camp won by a small margin, he says.

He says people think we can now get a better deal out of the EU.

Q: The leader of a party needs the support of his parliamentary party. Corbyn has lost it.

McDonnell says the sovereign body in the Labour party is the membership. If they need to test the views of members again, they will do so.

Updated

There is a question over what happens next. The mass resignations from the shadow cabinet will destabilise Corbyn’s leadership, and are likely to trigger a direct challenge. His team believes that he has the automatic right to be back on the ballot paper, knowing that he might struggle to get enough MPs to nominate him. But others disagree.

A Labour source said:

When Jeremy Corbyn nominated Tony Benn in 1988 against the democratically leader of the time, Neil Kinnock, Benn and Kinnock had to get nominations.

The other question is whether rebels have any hope of toppling him among members. One shadow cabinet source said it would be difficult to beat Corbyn but that members had shifted position. One shadow cabinet source said:

I have been struck by the number of grassroots party members getting in touch with me over the last 24 hours who said they had voted for Jeremy but now he has to go.

Updated

Abbott says Corbyn's critics have been planning a coup for months

Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary and Corbyn’s staunch ally, said that some of her colleagues have been planning to launch this coup for months, whatever the result in the EU referendum.

She called the challenge to his leadership “a recipe for unhappiness” and called for the party to fall in line, saying they could not challenge either the unions who back Corbyn or the membership who overwhelmingly support him.

This has been planned for a long time. There has been a plan to challenge Jeremy for a long time, because many have failed to reconcile themselves with his victory last year.

They have planned this for months, it would have happened almost whatever happened. They planned this for months, everyone knows that. They held off for the local elections because they didn’t want to disrupt the European campaign.

I think there has been a group of MPs who have never reconciled themselves with last year’s leadership election and it has never stopped.

She warned that they would not be able to overcome Corbyn’s support in the party’s members who voted overwhelmingly for him in last year’s leadership election.

They are the ones who are picking a fight with the membership and we will have to see how that goes. That doesn’t exist in the Labour party rule back. If they want a new leader, they have to find a candidate and run for election.

But this idea that it is all to do with the Euro referendum, is not true.

She criticised Hilary’s Benn’s decision to resign, saying he is wrong to blame Corbyn for failings in the referendum campaign.

Some of these people challenging Jeremy have themselves had a big vote to leave in their own constituency.

If you look at Hilary Benn’s constituency, there is a big majority for leave. So if they had a magic answer on how to get disaffected Labour voters to come out for Labour voters, I am surprised that they didn’t actually exercise that solution in their own constituencies.

As it happens, 60% of the Labour vote have come out to vote for remain. If Cameron had got a similar proportion of Tory voters, we would have won the referendum.

I think party members are going to be baffled and upset. What they want is for the party to unite at a difficult time for the country.

I don’t think this will lead to the break-up of the party. I came through the whole SDP period. The trade unions who provide the foundation and support for the labour movement are behind Jeremy, they are not going to swing behind some breakaway Labour party faction.

Diane Abbott.
Diane Abbott. Photograph: Jon Super/EPA

Updated

McDonnell rules out standing for the Labour leadership

Q: Corbyn said on Friday morning the government should trigger article 50, to start the EU withdrawal process, immediately. Twelve hours later he was saying that should be delayed.

McDonnell says Labour wants what is best for the country.

Q: Are you on leadership manoeuvres.

McDonnell says he will never stand for the leadership of the Labour party.

  • McDonnell rules out standing for the Labour leadership.

If there is another contest, McDonnell says he will chair Corbyn’s leadership contest.

Q: To clarify - if Corbyn was not a candidate, you would not stand?

McDonnell says Corbyn would be standing.

Q: Why is Seema Malhotra, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury and part of your team, been ringing around MP canvassing support for a leadership bid by you.

McDonnell says she is not doing that.

Q: We have been told she has.

McDonnell says he has not spoken to her about that. But he thinks this is not true.

And McDonnell’s interview is over. I will post a summary soon.

John McDonnell's interview on the Sunday Politics

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally, is being interviewed on the Sunday Politics.

He says Jeremy Corbyn is not going anywhere. He says he was elected with a huge mandate less than a year ago.

He says if shadow cabinet ministers resign, they will be replaced.

He says Labour is on course to win the general election. Every electoral test Corbyn has faced since he was elected, he has won.

Q: Except for the EU referendum.

That was not just Corbyn’s challenge, McDonnell says.

He says Corbyn was expected to deliver Labour supporters and young people. And both those groups backed Remain.

Hilary Benn's Marr interview - Summary

Here are the key points from Hilary Benn’s interview on the Andrew Marr show.

  • Benn said that Corbyn should resign. He said that it had become increasingly clear that Corbyn was not qualified to lead the party.

[Corbyn] is a good and decent man, but he is not a leader.

  • Benn said that there were people who voted for Corbyn as leader who are now saying that he is not up to the job.
  • Benn said it was “very difficult” to see how Corbyn could survive a vote of no confidence. (Under Labour rules, a vote of no confidence in Corbyn by MPs does not oblige him to resign.)
  • Benn sidestepped a question about whether there would be further shadow cabinet resignations today.
  • He said he would not stand for the leadership himself. And he said he was not pushing an alternative candidate himself.
  • He criticised Corbyn’s conduct during the EU referendum, saying he had not campaigned with enthusiasm.

This is from the BBC’s Callum May.

Q: Does Labour need a new structure to cope with having a PLP out of tune with the membership?

Benn says that is not a matter for today.

He says he does not blame Corbyn for the referendum result. But he did not bring much enthusiasm to the task, he adds.

And that’s it. I will post a summary in a moment.

Updated

Q: Should Corbyn resign now?

Benn says he no longer has confidence in him. That would be the right thing for him to do. But it is up to him.

Q: Do you have a preferred alternative leader?

No, says Benn. He says this is not about pushing an alternative.

Q: If Corbyn is trounced in the confidence vote, is it over for him?

Benn says it would be very difficult for him to survive.

Updated

Q: Even if the parliamentary party rejects Corbyn, the membership will choose him again, won’t it?

Benn says that depends. He says there are people who voted for Corbyn who are now saying it is not working.

The party has to be an effective political force, he says. He says there are polling figures showing a third of people who supported Labour in 2015 would not vote for the party now.

Updated

Q: Could Labour stand for election on the basis that it would overturn the referendum result?

Benn says he thinks the party has to respect the decision the country has taken.

Q: Would you stand for the leadership?

No, says Benn.

Q: Corbyn was elected with a large majority less than a year ago. Isn’t this the worst time to be doing this?

Benn says he wanted Corbyn to succeed. But it is clear he is not succeeding. He says Labour has a duty to provide the country with a strong opposition.

Q: Do you think Corbyn will have to go on Tuesday, when the no confidence motion is voted on?

Benn says we need strong leadership to deal with the challenges the country faces. We need to work out what relationship we have with Europe.

He says he wants the UK to retain access to the single market.

Updated

Q: Do you accept you were disloyal?

Benn says he said what he thought was true. That is important, he says.

Hilary Benn's interview on Andrew Marr

Hilary Benn is on the Andrew Marr Show now.

He says it was becoming increasingly clear to him that there was increasing concern in the party about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. He told Corbyn this last night. Corbyn then dismissed him.

He says he is not confident the party could win a general election with Corbyn as leader.

Q: Will there be more resignations?

Benn says it is for each individual to make their decision.

He says:

[Corbyn] is a good and decent man, but he is not a leader.

This is from a shadow cabinet source.

I have been struck by the number of grassroots party members getting in touch with me over the last 24 hours who said they had voted for Jeremy but now he has to go.

Corbyn won't resign, ally says

According to one of Jeremy Corbyn’s allies, Corbyn will not resign. And if Labour MPs trigger a leadership challenge, Corbyn will stand again as a candidate. The source told me:

They don’t have a candidate, they don’t have a programme, they don’t have the supporters to win a leadership election. Rather than just engage in self-indulgent destabilisation they should work with Labour leadership to respond to the a momentous national event that needs a united Labour party.

Jeremy is not going to resign, and if there is a challenge he will fight it.

Anyone that resigns can be replaced. It is obviously disappointing and a distraction. If they want to challenge Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership they can collect the nominations and stand. He will be standing for election.

Updated

The Labour MP Ian Lucas is calling for Corbyn’s resignation, and he says his local party support him.

Hodge and Coffey write to Labour MPs saying party faces 'political oblivion'

Dame Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey, the two Labour MPs who are calling for a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn, have written a joint letter to other Labour MPs saying the party faces the prospect of “political oblivion” under Corbyn’s leadership. It said:

If a general election is called later this year, which is a very real prospect, we believe that under Jeremy’s leadership we could be looking at political oblivion.

We all see at first-hand the terrible problems that exist in our constituencies and we can’t do anything about them while the Tories run the country.

We believe Jeremy is standing in the way and preventing us from securing the confidence of a majority of voters.

Ukip is targeting our traditional heartlands. Not only do we need strong leadership to reconnect with these voters but also to make connections with those who voted to remain in the EU ...

We must never forget that adulation at rallies of activists hearing exactly what they want to hear is not a substitute for votes at the ballot box. We need to be able to communicate our passion with alienated voters who have shown their anger not their apathy. The lesson of Scotland should be at the front of everyone’s mind.

We believe that Jeremy needs to consider his position. Throughout the referendum campaign he did not show the leadership that the party or the country needed. When he did engage it was half-hearted and in the end Labour party members and voters didn’t know where the leader really stood on this crucial issue.

Dame Margaret Hodge
Dame Margaret Hodge. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Ann Coffey
Ann Coffey. Photograph: Dave Thompson/Getty Images

Updated

Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, the Labour group for Corbyn supporters, and a very close ally of Corbyn’s, has been tweeting this morning. He was unhappy about Hilary Benn being invited on the Andrew Marr Show.

And this is what he said about the Heidi Alexander resignation.

These are from the New Statesman’s George Eaton.

Earlier I mentioned that Jeremy Corbyn was heckled at Pride. Craig Murray has an alternative view of what happened here, on his blog.

Updated

Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, was doorstepped by reporters as he left his house this morning. He said:

We need strong and effective leadership of the Labour party. I told Jeremy Corbyn last night that I no longer had confidence in his leadership and he dismissed me from the shadow cabinet. I want to thank him for having given me the chance to serve our party.

He will be on the Andrew Marr Show later.

Hilary Benn.
Hilary Benn. Photograph: Sky News

This is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.

There is a lot of ‘what if’ Labour speculation around this morning. What if half of the shadow cabinet does resign? Jeremy Corbyn probably could just about find enough supporters in the parliamentary Labour party to replace them, but it would be a struggle and the shadow cabinet would have a distinctive D-list look to it.

On Sky News, the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire has also been speculating about the Labour party in the country and the parliamentary Labour party electing different leaders.

Updated

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

Sunday morning is often a busy time politically, but that is because it is dominated by set-piece political interviews on the TV programmes. Instead, this morning we’re in the midst of a dramatic running story; what is effectively a shadow cabinet coup against Jeremy Corbyn is under way. Colleagues are urging him to resign, but his office is saying he is not budging. He is engaged in a trial of strength with his party. It is possible that by the end of the day he may have resigned.

Only a few weeks ago Labour MPs were discounting the possibility of a leadership challenge. That was partly because Labour’s performance in the local elections was not as bad as some people as predicted, but also because a YouGov survey of Labour members in May showed that Corbyn was even more popular with members in May than he was when he was elected in September last year. It said 64% of members would vote for him in another contest.

So what has changed? Two factors are crucial.

First, there is general consensus that Corbyn’s performance in the EU referendum campaign was lacklustre. Labour party members (unlike Labour voters) are strongly in favour of EU membership, and it is widely felt that Corbyn did not pull his weight. This Politico.EU long read puts the case against him well. A measure of how much unhappiness this has caused is the fact that Corbyn was heckled when he spoke at Pride yesterday.

And, second, the vote for leave in the EU referendum has made the prospect of an early election much more likely, The Conservative party is due to elect a new leader by October, and it is thought that the new prime minister will want a fresh electoral mandate - particularly if he or she thinks Labour is in a weak position. In theory the Fixed-term Parliaments Act means that there will not be a general election until 2020, but a vote of two-thirds of MPs can over-ride that.

Updated

At this point, I will hand you over to Andrew Sparrow to follow all the latest developments, resignations and whatever else Sunday throws at us.

Thanks for reading and for all the comments.

The BBC’s Marr show has begun, with host Andrew Marr asking:

What happens now, and is anybody in charge?

So it’s not just me, then.

Hilary Benn is due to be on the show this morning, as is shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

The Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh says – of that list below – that Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle and Chris Bryant could all quit today, along with the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham.

But Waugh says Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, isn’t expected to follow them:

Updated

If – and it’s very much an if – Robert Peston is right that those who voted with Benn to back airstrikes on Syria last year are the ones who will now resign, here are the names of those who voted that way:

  • Angela Eagle
  • Tom Watson, deputy leader
  • Maria Eagle
  • Lucy Powell
  • Hilary Benn – sacked overnight
  • Heidi Alexander – resigned this morning
  • Chris Bryant
  • Vernon Coaker
  • Gloria de Piero
  • Luciana Berger

'More than half' shadow cabinet to resign

More than half of the Labour shadow cabinet is expected to stand down on Sunday in a major coup against Jeremy Corbyn, triggered by the result of the EU referendum and the leader’s decision to sack Hilary Benn.

The decision of Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, to resign on Sunday morning is seen as hugely significant, because unlike Benn she was a more “loyal and pragmatic” member of the Corbyn team, a Labour source said:

She is seen as a moderate, practical and pragmatic voice. Hilary always had a problem with Jeremy. Now that Heidi’s gone, most of the shadow cabinet will step down. He can’t just replace those positions because other front bench ministers won’t step up to the roles.

Loyal members of shadow cabinet told the Guardian they were now writing their resignation letters in a coup that will be impossible for Corbyn to contain

Updated

Corbyn 'will not resign'

Jeremy Corbyn’s office has issued a defiant message:

There will be no resignation of a democratically elected leader with a strong mandate from the membership.

Heidi Alexander resignation letter in full

Dear Jeremy,

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you to resign from the shadow cabinet.

The result of the referendum last week means that our country is facing unprecedented challenges.

Those who will be hit hardest by the economic shock associated with the vote to leave the EU need a strong opposition, as do those communities who fear rising levels of intolerance, hatred and division.

More than ever, our country needs an effective opposition which can hold the government to account and which is a capable of developing a credible and inspiring alternative to an increasingly rightwing and backward-looking Conservative party.

As much as I respect you as a man of principle, I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a change of leadership is essential.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve in the shadow cabinet.

Yours sincerely,
Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander has resigned from the shadow cabinet.
Heidi Alexander has resigned from the shadow cabinet. Photograph: Alecsandra Raluca Dragoi for the Guardian

The Guardian’s political editor, Anushka Asthana, says:

Sources say Alexander’s resignation will trigger over half the shadow cabinet stepping down because she is seen as a more loyal and “pragmatic” member.

ITV News political editor Robert Peston also goes along with what we are hearing: that other shadow cabinet members are following Benn out of the door.

Chuka Umunna sounds less direct and more philosophical than most this morning, but this isn’t exactly a slap on the back for Corbyn:

Here is Heidi Alexander’s resignation, posted to Twitter just now:

Heidi Alexander resigns

Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, has resigned

Labour sources tell me to expect shadow cabinet resignations first through the day, then other frontbenchers.

One senior backbencher told me:

If the shadow cabinet don’t resign now then they will have no place to hide when parliament returns tomorrow.

And some more Labour MP reaction: still pro-Benn so far.

And this reaction from Jim Fitzpatrick to a report by the BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, that half the shadow cabinet could resign:

Shadow cabinet members told the Guardian that Corbyn’s decision to sack Benn could cause a mutiny. One loyal member said they were “staggered”. Another added:

A bad-tempered sacking is likely to lead to more trouble for Jeremy.

A Labour spokesman insisted that the leader had to act following a middle-of-the-night conversation with his shadow foreign secretary:

Hilary Benn was sacked because Jeremy’s lost confidence in him. Corbyn rang Benn at 12.50 and following that conversation he sacked him.

Updated

I should point out that this is not something I’m able to verify. But the BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, is saying Benn could be followed out of the shadow cabinet today by several more MPs – perhaps as many as half of them.

Updated

Labour reaction on Twitter has so far been supportive of Benn (I’d be happy to include the counter view, but it’s pretty much all one-way so far).

The phone call that ended Benn’s shadow cabinet tenure came after a report in the Observer said he had been sounding out Labour colleagues on whether they would back a move to oust Corbyn.

Daniel Boffey reported:

It is understood that the shadow foreign secretary called fellow MPs over the weekend to suggest that he will ask Corbyn to stand down if there is significant support for a move against the leader. He has also asked shadow cabinet colleagues to join him in resigning if the Labour leader ignores that request …

Senior sources said on Saturday that Benn had been ringing shadow cabinet colleagues over the past 24 hours asking two questions. First, sources say, he asks whether he should ask Corbyn to stand down. He is then said to ask if they will join him in resigning should Corbyn refuse.

It now looks as if Hilary Benn might be appearing on the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC from 9am – we’ll cover it live if so.

George Eaton, the New Statesman political editor, says Benn will be on in place of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who was due to be on the programme.

We’ve still yet to hear publicly from Corbyn, McDonnell or others close to the Labour leader. A short statement from a Corbyn spokesman overnight merely said that Benn had “lost the confidence” of the Labour leader.

Updated

Hilary Benn statement in full

Hilary Benn issued his defiant response to his sacking in a statement just after 3.30am on Sunday:

It has now become clear that there is widespread concern among Labour MPs and in the shadow cabinet about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of our party.

In particular, there is no confidence in our ability to win the next election, which may come much sooner than expected, if Jeremy continues as leader.

At this critical time for our country, following the result of the EU referendum, we need strong and effective leadership of the Labour party that is capable of winning public support so that we can stand up for the people of Britain.

In a phone call to Jeremy, I told him that for these reasons I had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party and he then dismissed me from the shadow cabinet.

I thanked him for having given me the opportunity to serve him and the party as shadow foreign secretary.

Updated

Morning briefing

Well, that was an unexpected night. Most people – and newspapers – went to bed on Saturday night thinking (if this is the kind of thing they think about on a Saturday night) about divisions in the Conservative party, as MPs jostle to take over from David Cameron at No 10. “Tories at war” screeched the Sunday Telegraph front page.

And then at 1am, Jeremy Corbyn sacked Hilary Benn from the shadow cabinet.

I’ve rounded up the key news here in our morning briefing before the live blog whisks you briskly though the day ahead. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

The big picture

So to an already crowded Sunday morning agenda – the Tory party leadership strife, the small matter of the UK negotiating its way out of the European Union – we now add a Labour leadership crisis. Whether the departure of the shadow foreign secretary is a further wobble that tips a shaky ship or a decisive act by Corbyn (given a report in the Observer that Benn had been marshalling opposition to the party leader) might well depend on what you thought of the whole thing before 1am.

In a statement issued at 3.40am, Benn said:

In a phone call to Jeremy, I told him … I had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party and he then dismissed me from the shadow cabinet.

Benn expanded on those reasons:

It has now become clear that there is widespread concern among Labour MPs and in the shadow cabinet about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of our party.

In particular, there is no confidence in our ability to win the next election, which may come much sooner than expected, if Jeremy continues as leader.

At this critical time for our country, following the result of the EU referendum, we need strong and effective leadership of the Labour party that is capable of winning public support so that we can stand up for the people of Britain.

A spokesman for Corbyn said Benn had lost the Labour leader’s trust.

Corbyn had earlier on Saturday acknowledged tremors within the party, as several MPs (including Tristram Hunt and Stephen Kinnock) spoke out openly against him:

Yes, there are some people in the Labour party, and the parliamentary Labour party in particular, who probably want someone else to be the leader – I think they’ve made that abundantly clear.

Corbyn heckled at Pride in London

European leaders have insisted that Britain begin moves to leave the EU right away. An emergency meeting of ministers from the bloc’s six founder members on Saturday resulted in an assertion by Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that negotiations should begin “as soon as possible”.

Prominent pro-Leavers, including Boris Johnson, have said there is no rush to trigger article 50, which begins a two-year countdown to exit. The Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, who voted out, writes in the Observer today:

There is no need to plunge into tabling article 50 now, whatever Mr Juncker may want. The period of informal negotiation prior to an article 50 process will be crucial and should not be rushed. We should engage widely as we take the negotiation forward.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, appeared to agree, telling a news conference on Saturday:

Quite honestly, it should not take ages, that is true, but I would not fight now for a short time frame. The negotiations must take place in a businesslike, good climate.

Nicky Morgan. Heal the world. Make it a better place.
Nicky Morgan. Heal the world. Make it a better place. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

In the meantime, there’s also the vexing question of who the prime minister will be. Cameron has said he’ll be out of Downing Street by October, which has sent Tory MPs skittling.

The “Stop Boris” camp could be grouping around the home secretary, Theresa May. Or the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, who writes in the Sunday Times today about the need to “heal divided communities and to build a truly United Kingdom”. Or the work and pensions secretary, Stephen Crabb, who writes in the Sunday Telegraph about the need to “mend our divided society”. Or even George Osborne, who’s presumably hoping colleagues will have forgotten about the “punishment budget” falling-out.

The Sunday Times political editor, Tim Shipman, thinks these could be the runners and riders. (Let me save you a trip to Google: Freeman is George Freeman, minister for life sciences. Yeah, that guy. No, me neither.)

You should also know:

Poll position

After that petition to parliament to trigger a second referendum topped 2.7 million signatures, a ComRes poll for the Sunday Mirror found 39% of respondents thought there should be a re-run, with 50% saying the result should be honoured and 11% admitting they just didn’t know. Can you please go away and stop asking about this, I have a headache.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Post claims a new poll puts support for Scottish independence at 59% following the Brexit vote. On Saturday, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said she would lobby member states directly to find a way for Scotland to remain part of the EU. A second independence referendum was, she said, “very much on the table”.

Diary

It’s possible there might be some tweaks to the guest lists on the Sunday morning TV shows but here’s what we know:

  • The Andrew Marr show at 9am has rounded up Nigel Farage, Iain Duncan Smith, Sajid Javid, Nicola Sturgeon and John McDonnell.
  • Peston on Sunday at 10am has Sturgeon again, plus Philip Hammond, Esther McVey and Ed Balls.
  • BBC Sunday Politics, also at 10am, has Martin McGuiness and Stephen Kinnock.
  • A special post-Brexit Question Time on the BBC at 10.35pm sees Dominic Raab, Anna Soubry, Diane Abbott, Alex Salmond, Paul Nuttall and Guardian columnist Giles Fraser on the panel.
  • Away from the telly, Piotr Serafin, Donald Tusk’s head of cabinet, holds a press conference ahead of the EU summit in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nicola Sturgeon outlines her next steps after the UK voted to leave the EU.
Nicola Sturgeon outlines her next steps after the UK voted to leave the EU. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Read these

So Benn has been sacked. What happens if there is a leadership contest, wonders Stephen Bush in the New Statesman:

Much depends on the disposition of Labour’s 20 MEPs. Prior to Britain’s Brexit vote, they were believed to be the most sensitive to the concerns of the party’s activists, as Labour members vote on the order of the party’s list, making anti-Corbynites vulnerable.

Now all 20 MEPs are out of a job at or before the next European election regardless, the question is whether they decide to keep Corbyn off the ballot or try to curry favour with Corbyn’s supporters in the membership prior to making a bid for seats at Westminster.

Jeremy Paxman, writing in the Telegraph, says the Brexit result has exposed a gaping chasm:

The political leaders of any of the main parties have more in common with each other than they have with many of their foot-soldiers, and the referendum has made that plain. This is clearly one of those issues (capital punishment is always said to be another) on which the governing class and the people they purport to represent are entirely at odds.

David Cameron knew that a referendum was a constitutional nonsense, and that potentially one day a House of Commons overwhelmingly made up of people who believe in the European Union would have to pass the laws to leave it.

Anne McElvoy in the Mail on Sunday says pro-Brexit voters who wanted an end to free movement might not get their wish:

Less than an hour after Cameron announced he would stand down, I interviewed Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary. He knows the realities and constraints of our EU dealings inside out.

The price of free trade access to Europe’s large single market will, he told me, be retaining freedom of movement with only cosmetic tweaks. Without that commitment the EU has no reason to keep trade with Britain free of barriers that will do us severe economic damage. That might not be what the jubilant Brexiteers want to hear this weekend. It is nonetheless true.

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson: outwards and upwards. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

You’ve likely already clicked to it, but Nick Cohen in the Observer is excoriating on Boris Johnson and Michael Gove:

The media do not damn themselves, so I am speaking out of turn when I say that if you think rule by professional politicians is bad, wait until journalist politicians take over. Johnson and Gove are the worst journalist politicians you can imagine …

Never has a revolution in Britain’s position in the world been advocated with such carelessness. The leave campaign has no plan. And that is not just because there was a shamefully under-explored division between the bulk of Brexit voters who wanted the strong welfare state and solid communities of their youth and the leaders of the campaign who wanted Britain to become an offshore tax haven. Vote Leave did not know how to resolve difficulties with Scotland, Ireland, the refugee camp at Calais, and a thousand other problems, and did not want to know either.

The day in a tweet

And the Greens are having their own leadership contest, too, though of course it’s all rather more civil.

If today were a Blur song ...

It would be Sunday Sunday: TV, old soldiers, talk of the past, two world wars, “the England he knew is now no more”, Songs of Praise, sleep.

And another thing

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Updated

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