Theresa May has risked a fresh clash with Tory MPs after saying she is not planning to replace the controversial Northern Ireland backstop.
The prime minister had agreed to consider "alternative arrangements" in a bid to win over Eurosceptic rebels but, speaking in Belfast, suggested she was focused on trying to change the backstop rather than replace it.
It comes after Downing Street confirmed Ms May will travel to Brussels on Thursday to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to secure fresh compromises on the backstop, desipte the EU having insisted that it will not reopen negotiations.
Theresa May will give a speech in Belfast at lunchtime, in which she is expected to insist the government will honour the Good Friday Agreement and keep the Northern Ireland border open after Brexit.
Ahead of the speech, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster re-iterated her party's demand that Ms May ditch the controversial backstop part of her Brexit plan.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
"We will be reiterating our opposition to the current backstop. And the fact that Parliament has now backed that position means that she (Ms May) has a clear mandate to go back to Brussels.
"Parliament's mandate is to replace the backstop. The current backstop, as I have said all along, is toxic to those of us living in Northern Ireland, and indeed for unionists right across the United Kingdom, because it would cause the break-up of the United Kingdom into the medium and longer term."
Asked about whether her position on the backstop was making the prospect of a no-deal Brexit more likely, she replied:
“The intransigence of the European Union and the Republic of Ireland in their attitude they are actually more likely to bring about the very thing they want to avoid.”
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Letter revealing the financial support is finally released – more than two years after No 10 insisted had been no ‘special deal’The government spent £45,637 printing copies of Theresa May's withdrawal agreement, new figures have revealed.
A response to a freedom of information request from the BBC showed that 1,300 copies of the 580-page document were printed, with 1,100 being sent to MPs and peers. Many of them remain uncollected.
Speaking in Belfast later today, Theresa May is expected to say:
"I know this is a concerning time for many people here in Northern Ireland.“But we will find a way to deliver Brexit that honours our commitments to Northern Ireland, that commands broad support across the community in Northern Ireland, and that secures a majority in the Westminster Parliament, which is the best way to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.“As we do so, I hope we can also take steps to move towards the restoration of devolution – so that politicians in Northern Ireland can get back to work on the issues that matter to the people they represent.“For ultimately, the measure of this moment in Northern Ireland’s history must be more than whether we avoid a return to the challenges of the past.“It must be how, together, we move forwards to shape the opportunities of the future."
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Chris Grayling has said the EU will be to blame if there is a no-deal Brexit.
The transport secretary told the Daily Telegraph:
"We have taken to our Parliament the deal reached in November and our Parliament has said no.
"We want to work with the EU to reach a deal but if they are not prepared to do that – they will have to take responsibility that we are heading towards a no-deal exit.
"If they are not willing to compromise, if they’re not willing to work with us to find common ground – it will be down to them if there is no deal."
Sky News is reporting that Tory Brexiteers are lobbying No 10 to ask Donald Trump to urge the Irish government to back down on the backstop.
They are said to fear that the links between Dublin and the US Congress could threaten a US-UK trade deal if the UK fails to agree to the plan for keeping the Northern Ireland border open.
Dozens of Caribbean nationals are set to be deported to Jamaica on the first government charter flight to the country since the Windrush scandal last year
Dozens of Caribbean nationals to be deported on first charter flight to Jamaica since Windrush scandal
Around 50 people set to be deported on charter plane – many in UK since they were children – in what campaigners describe as ‘slap in the face’ for Britain's Caribbean communityThere will be an urgent question in the Commons later today on the imminent deportation of dozens of immigrants to Jamaica, as revealed by The Independent at the weekend.
It is being asked by Labour MP David Lammy, with home secretary Sajid Javid likely to respond for the government.
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NEW: Theresa May will travel to Brussels on Thursday for a meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission has announced
Tariffs would be slashed to zero on all imports after a no-deal Brexit under “extraordinarily damaging” plans being considered by the government, writes deputy political editor Rob Merrick.
Labour said the move would trigger “serious job losses in key industries from ceramics to farming”, by unilaterally opening up domestic markets to dramatically cheaper goods.
The GMB union condemned the idea as “the ultimate Brexit betrayal” – while the National Farmers’ Union said the impact “would be “absolutely savage”.
Nevertheless, the department for international trade confirmed scrapping tariffs is among “all options” being considered if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement.
Ministers fear failing to slash duties would sent prices soaring in the shops and hit UK producers who depend on supply chains from the EU.
Security minister Ben Wallace has told US journalists that British photographer John Cantlie, who has been held hostage by Isis since 2012, is alive.
The journalist was last seen in a propaganda video released in 2016.
Mr Wallace did not disclose where the government believes he is being held.
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, is now answering an urgent question in the Commons on the deportation of dozens of immigrants to Jamaica.
He says he is "determined to right the wrongs suffered by members of the Windrush generation" and says his commitment to this remains "resolute".
Labour's David Lammy says the treatment of Windrush migrants is a "shocking indictment" of the government's record and accuses ministers of "pandering to a far-right racism".
He says 10 months on from the scandal, "not a penny has been paid out to any Windrush victim in a compensation scheme".
He asks why more people are being deported before a review into the scandal has concluded.
David Lammy refers to the imminent deportation of dozens of migrants to Jamaica.
He says nine of those being removed came to the UK when they were under the age of ten, and 36 children will see their parents removed from the country on the charter flight.
He asks:
"Why is it that still in this country black lives matter less?"
Sajid Javid responds by criticising David Lammy's tone and says it is wrong to suggest that "there is even an ounce of racism in this House".
The home secretary says the mistreatment of the Windrush generation started under previous governments and that Mr Lammy supported tighter immigration measures on a number of occasions.
He says all those being deported to Jamaica in the coming days have been "convicted of a serious crime". Under UK law, he says, a deportation order must be issued against any foreign national who has committed a serious offence.
Addressing Mr Lammy, he says:
"If he doesn't want that to happen, he is asking me to break the law, and he's also saying that if people are convicted of a serious offence as a foreign national offender, they should be allowed to stay in this country."
Sajid Javid tells MPs that none of the people being deported to Jamaica in the coming days are British citizens and none are members of the Windrush generation.
He says:
"The flight in question is a flight to Jamaica. Every single person that will be on that flight that is being deported is a foreign national offender. They are all convicted of very serious crimes - things like rape and murder, firearms offences, drug trafficking. We are required under the law, quite correctly, to deport anyone who has such a serious conviction, and this law applies universally to any foreign national offender."
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Proposal branded 'ultimate betrayal' and 'absolutely savage' by GMB and National Farmers’ UnionIn the Commons chamber, Yvette Cooper, chair of the Commons home affairs committee, highlights a "very damning" report by the National Audit Office on ongoing Home Office immigration practices.
She says the government must publish a full response to the report that "recognises the serious anxiety that there is that many of those failings around the Windrush situation are continuing today".
Sajid Javid says only that he is "looking carefully" at the report.
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