Afternoon summary
- Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has delivered what will be seen a coded warning to Theresa May that he will oppose attempts to steer the UK towards a soft Brexit by publicly backing his backbench colleague Jacob Rees-Mogg. (See 6.06pm.) Johnson posted a tweet defending Rees-Mogg after Rees-Mogg came under sustained criticism from fellow Tories for writing an article in the Daily Telegraph that was interpreted as a threat to her leadership. Superficially Johnson’s tweet was innocuous, but at Westminster it will be seen as an indication that he backs the thrust of Rees-Mogg’s argument.
Monday’s TELEGRAPH - Mogg: Give us a real Brexit or face coup #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/yzhbSv0Rsp
— Helen Miller (@MsHelicat) July 1, 2018
- Theresa May has refused to rule out extending the Brexit transition beyond December 2020. When Labour’s Pat McFadden asked her in the Commons if there were any circumstances in which she would “support the extension of the Article 50 period or the transition period”, May simply replied: “We will be leaving the European Union on March 29 2019.”
- May has ruled out keeping the UK in the EEA (European Economic Area) after Brexit, the so-called “Norway” option that would involve remaining in the single market. When the Tory Brexiter Sir Bill Cash asked her about “disturbing reports” that that was what she was planning, she replied:
In relation to the point that he makes about the EEA, I have been clear from the start that is one of the things that the European commission had suggested was on the table. The EEA is not right because the EEA - and particularly in the form that the European commission has proposed it - would not deliver on the vote of the referendum and the vote of the British people.
- May has said she is committed to ensuring the UK remains the leading military power in Europe. (See 4.54pm.)
- Jeremy Corbyn has accused May of mishandling the Brexit negotiations “every step of the way”. Speaking in the Commons he said:
The division and infighting in the cabinet is having a debilitating effect on this country and threatens jobs and communities in every part of the UK. I don’t envy the prime minister as she prepares for her Chequers sleepover. She has many loud and competing voices in her Cabinet - not competing to do the best for this country but to do the best for themselves.
The prime minister’s primary duty is not to manage the latest division in her cabinet, but to negotiate a deal that will safeguard jobs and living standards for decades to come.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
Boris Johnson backs Rees-Mogg over his controversial 'threatening PM' Brexit article
Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary and probably the cabinet Brexiter most committed to a Jacob Rees-Mogg-style hard or “clean” Brexit, has just posted a tweet defending Rees-Mogg, the chair of the Conservative European Research Group.
At face value it looks like an innocuous message. But given that a string of Tory MPs, including two of Johnson’s junior ministers, have been condemning Rees-Mogg for what they see a “blackmail” threat issued in his Daily Telegraph column (see 9.20am) - “there is a sense at Westminster today that Mr Rees-Mogg has clumsily overplayed his hand,” James Blitz writes in his Financial Times lunchtime Brexit briefing - Johnson’s carefully-worded JRM endorsement amounts to an act of modest insubordination.
It's vital that all MPs are able to air their views on Brexit. Whatever your position, I hope we can all agree that @Jacob_Rees_Mogg is a principled and dedicated MP who wants the best for our country.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 2, 2018
Updated
May’s Commons statement is now over. I’ll post a summary soon.
DUP says it's confident UK will 'leave EU as one' after meeting with PM
This is what the Press Association filed about May’s meeting with the DUP earlier, before her statement to the Commons.
Theresa May has told the DUP that the UK will not remain in the customs union or the single market after Brexit, its deputy leader Nigel Dodds said.
The prime minister said there would be no breaking up of the UK “economically, politically or constitutionally” following Brexit, Dodds told reporters after he and party leader Arlene Foster spent almost 90 minutes in talks with May at 10 Downing Street.
A new customs plan to solve the Ireland/Northern Ireland border issue was discussed but the prime minister “didn’t go into any details”, he added.
Dodds also accused Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other European leaders of attempting to “bully and intimidate” the UK into agreeing a deal of their liking.
Asked by reporters after the talks about whether his party - which has a supply and demand deal with the Conservatives - would support Mrs May regardless of what happened at Chequers on Friday, he said: “We don’t give blank cheques to anybody and I think it is very clear that we don’t.
“On Brexit we want to see a proper Brexit which fulfils the referendum result. We have been very clear that has to be on the basis that the whole of the UK leaving the EU as one. I’m confident the PM will deliver on that.”
Labour’s David Hanson asks if the UK will remain a member of Europol after Brexit.
May says the UK is a significant contributor to Europol. Europol may well be one of the agencies the UK wants to continue belonging to, she says.
Philip Hollobone, a Tory Brexiter, asks about today’s Times splash saying May has been advised that the EU will only accept an off-the-shelf deal for the UK, not a bespoke one. Can she confirm she will insist on a bespoke deal for the UK?
May says that is what the UK is pushing for.
In response to a question from the Lib Dem Tom Brake about a second referendum, May says at the last election 80% of voters backed pro-Brexit parties.
This is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Hear that David Davis went in to see the PM this morning after not knowing about Number 10's 'new plan', but left the meeting still not having discussed the 'new plan'
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) July 2, 2018
May says the security partnership with the EU after Brexit is just as important as the economic partnership.
She says she is confident that the UK will be able to reach an agreement on security because it is in the operational interests of all sides.
Richard Drax, a Conservative, asks for an assurance that the UK will be leaving the EU and will not remain in any way a vassal state.
May says the UK will be leaving the EU. But it will so so in such a way as to maintain prosperity, while also allowing the UK to sign its own trade deal.
May dismisses claim EU Withdrawal Act’s Irish border amendment makes no deal Brexit illegal
Labour’s Chuku Umunna says the EU Withdrawal Act makes it illegal to do anything that would introduce a hard border in Ireland. But if the UK were to leave without a deal, under WTO rules it would have to impose border controls. Can May confirm then that the Act makes a no deal Brexit illegal.
May says she does not accept that interpretation. After leaving, the UK could decided for itself what it did with the border, she claims.
- May dismisses claim EU Withdrawal Act’s Irish border amendment makes no deal Brexit illegal.
UPDATE: Here is the question.
My Q to the PM just now: Clause 10 of the new EU (Withdrawal) Act makes it unlawful for Ministers to do anything that would lead to a hard Irish border – this would include wilfully leaving the EU with no deal, something that would necessitate a customs border with the Republic pic.twitter.com/vXTy77BmE0
— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) July 2, 2018
Updated
May refuses to rule out extending Brexit transition
Labour’s Pat McFadden asks May if there are any circumstances in which she would support extending the article 50 process or the transition.
May says the UK will be leaving the EU on 29 March 2019.
She does not mention the transition period.
(She could have said no, but didn’t.)
- May refuses to rule out extending Brexit transition.
Yesterday Greg Clark, the business secretary, suggested the Brexit transition may be extended beyond December 2020.
Nicky Morgan, the Tory pro-European, urges May to do what Conservative PMs have done over the years and find a pragmatic, sensible Brexit.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory Brexiter, asks May to confirm that after the transition period the UK will leave the customs union and now longer be subject to the common external tariff.
May says the UK will leave the customs union. She says her backstop plan would keep the UK subject to the common external tariff if the new customs arrangements are not in place. But she does not want that to be necessary.
May has now told both Sir Bill Cash (see 5.13pm) and Anna Soubry (see 5.15pm) exactly what they wanted to hear in response to questions.
Yet Cash and Souby have views on Brexit that are diametrically opposed.
That does suggest she is not minded to come off the fence any time soon.
Updated
Anna Soubry, the Tory pro-European, says the time for fudge is over. She urges May to come up with a clear plan on Friday that is in the interests of British business.
May says that is exactly what she plans.
Labour’s Hilary Benn, the chair of the Brexit committee, asks why May is willing to allow the UK to stay in some EU agencies, but not in the single market.
May says they are different. The UK must be outside the jurisdiction of the European court of justice.
May rules out keeping UK in some form of EEA
Sir Bill Cash, the Tory Brexiter, congratulates May on the passing of the EU Withdrawal Act. He says there are disturbing reports about May taking the UK back into some form of EEA. Will May rule that out?
May says the EU suggested that was on the table. She says that would not deliver on the referendum or the vote of British people.
- May rules out keeping UK in some form of EEA.
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has spent just four hours negotiating with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, this year.
He says EU officials are saying the deal may not be ready until December.
The Irish PM said the white paper should have been written two years ago, he says.
He says it “beggars belief” that May is holding her cabinet meeting after the EU summit, when she should have had a plan to put forward.
Where is the leadership? Where is the recognition of the responsibility that the prime minister has to protect jobs? Mr Speaker, you could not make it up.
May says it is the October deadline that matters.
She says the withdrawal agreement must contain sufficient information about the future relationship for MPs to be able to make a decision.
John Redwood, a Tory Brexiter, says May should table a free trade deal covering goods and services and challenge the EU to either accept or reject it.
May says she will be publishing new plans soon.
May is responding to Corbyn.
She says Labour said there was no progress on Brexit at every stage. But at every stage she has delivered, she says.
She says the government is on schedule.
The question is why does the Labour party spend all its time trying to frustrate Brexit.
She says she wants a good trade deal, and the ability to negotiate trade deals with countries outside the EU.
On the NHS, she says Labour used to complain it was not preparing for a no deal Brexit.
She says Corbyn called for article 50 to be triggered straight after the referendum. But now he is not ruling out a second referendum, she says.
I am very clear. I have picked the side of the British people.
Corbyn says May has mishandled Brexit talks 'every step of the way'
Jeremy Corbyn says the government had mishandled the Brexit talks “every step of the way”.
He says the infighting in the cabinet is having a debilitating affect and is threatening jobs and prosperity.
He says he does not envy the prime minister trying to manage her divided cabinet. But her job is to do what’s best for the country, not her party.
I don’t envy the prime minister as she prepares for her Chequers sleepover. She has many loud and competing voices in her cabinet - not competing to do the best for this country but to do the best for themselves.
The prime minister’s primary duty is not to manage the latest division in her cabinet, but to negotiate a deal that will safeguard jobs and living standards for decades to come.
He says crucial questions remain.
Will trade be greater outside the customs union? If the government thinks that, will it provide the evidence? The government’s impact assessments suggest the country will be worse off outside the customs union, he says. He says even the NHS is having to prepare for a no deal Brexit.
How will the government avoid a hard border in Ireland? Where are these flexible solutions? The people of Northern Ireland deserve honesty.
Does May want a close relationship aligned with the EU, or does she want the UK to be a low regulation tax haven?
Will immigration be included in the white paper?
Is she confident she can get a deal? It is not clear she can get a deal with her own cabinet, he says. He says even cabinet minsters are saying she will not be able to get a deal in time.
He says May says no deal is better than a bad deal. But no deal is a bad deal, he says.
Updated
Turning to Brexit, May says the government will come forward with more details of her plans for an Irish backstop.
She reaffirm her opposition to a hard border in Ireland.
There remain some real differences between us and the European Commission on Northern Ireland.
On the protocol on Northern Ireland I want to be very clear: we have put forward proposals and will produce further proposals, so that if a temporary backstop is needed there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
We are absolutely committed to the avoidance of such a border and we are equally committed to the avoidance of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Northern Ireland is an integral part of our country and we will never accept the imposition of a border within our United Kingdom.
She says she wants a sustainable and close relationship with the EU after Brexit.
But she says parliament will not vote vote the withdrawal agreement unless it includes proper detail about a future trade deal.
Updated
May says she is committed to keeping UK the leading military power in Europe
May says the UK is the leading military power in Europe, “and the governnment I lead will ensure that is exactly how we remain”.
(That answers the gap left by the lobby briefing - see 12.56pm.)
May says EU leaders agreed that it would be important to show European unity at next week’s Nato summit.
But she says she also urged all Nato members to meet the Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.
This is from MailOnline’s Tim Sculthorpe.
Commons benches rather sparse for a post-summit PM statement pic.twitter.com/o2fMAbX1rA
— Tim Sculthorpe (@timsculthorpe) July 2, 2018
And this is from the Sun’s Steve Hawkes.
Sparse chamber for PM but Labour’s EEA brigade here on the same bench. McFadden, Emma Reynolds, Chuka, Reynolds, Yvette, Leslie and Benn. Tory “naughty” squad. And the Sceps
— steve hawkes (@steve_hawkes) July 2, 2018
May says she made the case for a new security partnership with the EU after Brexit.
Theresa May's Commons statement on EU summit and Brexit
Theresa May is making her Commons statement now.
She says the EU summit focused on migration and security. The UK made important contributions on both, she says.
Urgent question on rendition - Summary
Here are the main points from the urgent question on rendition.
- Sir Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister, said the government will decide within the next few weeks whether or not to order a judge-led inquiry into British collusion in the rendition and torture of terror suspects after 9/11. In the face of calls for such an inquiry from the opposition parties and from Ken Clarke, the Conservative former justice secretary, Duncan said:
The government will give careful consideration to the calls for another judge-led inquiries and will update the House within 60 days of the publications of the reports.
However Duncan also said inquiries into these matters had been going on for many years already, implying some scepticism about the case for a new inquiry.
- Duncan accepted that it took British intelligence agencies too long to respond to the abuse of detainees by their allies. He told MPs:
With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that UK personnel were working within a new and challenging operating environment for which in some cases they were not prepared. It took too long to recognise that guidance and training for staff was not adequate, and too long to understand fully an take appropriate action on the risks arising from our engagement with international partners.
- He criticised Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, for saying British intelligence officials were “involved in torture”. He went on: “They were not. They were not involved in torture.” Duncan also said he thought Ken Clarke was going to far when he talked about British “complicity” in torture.
- Duncan confirmed that the government has asked Lord Justice Sir Adrian Fulford, the investigatory powers commissioners, to review the guidance issued to the intelligence agencies relating to the treatment of detainees abroad. Theresa May mentioned this in a written ministerial statement last week.
Dominic Grieve, the Conservative MP who chairs the intelligence and security committee, says it is not up to his committee to decide whether there needs to be a judge-led inquiry.
He says his committee did not ask to speak to officials because it wanted to pass judgment on what they did. It wanted to speak to them to find out what happened.
He says his committee does not want to take responsibility for looking at the Libyan cases, given the difficulties it had with its general report.
And he takes issue with Duncan’s point about this all taking a very long time. That is partly because it took the government almost a year to reconstitute the committee after the election, he says.
Duncan says the important question is, could this happen again? He says the intelligences services now work under new guidelines. And the government has legislated to make the intelligence services more accountable, he says.
Duncan is responding to Thornberry.
She says Thornberry said British officials were “involved in torture”. That is not right, he says.
He says these were unusual times. British officials were being asked to respond to circumstances they had not been trained for, and they had not encountered before.
It took them time to adjust to the new circumstances taking place. But to their credit they did adjust, he says.
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, says we still have not been told the full truth about what happened.
She says officials, ministers and security chiefs need to be questioned about what happened.
She says the government should listen to the intelligence and security committee, to Clarke, and to the opposition parties and order a judge-led inquiry.
Duncan is responding to Clarke.
He says when the government wound up the Gibson inquiry, it said it would later take a view as to whether a judge-led inquiry was necessary. That is still the case, he says.
He says this has gone on for a very long time.
He questions Clarke’s use of the term “complicity”. He says the ISC says there is no evidence that the intelligence services turned a blind eye.
And he asks if it would be right for someone who was in a junior role 15 years ago to be questioned about what they did, when it should really be for their superiors to face questioning.
Ken Clarke says he still wants to know why the Gibson inquiry had to be wound up.
He says the intelligence and security committee was not allowed to speak to British intelligence officers involved in these cases when doing its inquiry.
That meant it could not carry out a full report, he says.
He asks what reputable reasons there are for not holding an inquiry.
Minister says government considering case for judge-led inquiry into British involvement in rendition cases
Duncan says the government will carefully consider the case for a judge-led inquiry into British involvement in the rendition and torture of suspects.
Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office minister, is replying.
He says the government welcomes the two reports published last week.
He says between 2014 and 2106 he was himself on the intelligence and security committee when it was conducting this investigation.
He says Theresa May set out the government’s initial response to the reports in a written statement last week.
He says it took the intelligence services too long to realise that they were dealing with new circumstances.
Ken Clarke asks his question now. (See 3.56pm.)
Urgent question on British involvement in rendition and torture of terror suspects
Ken Clarke, the Conservative former justice secretary, is about to ask a Commons urgent question about the two reports released last week about the involvement of Brititsh intelligence services in the rendition and torture of terror suspects. Our main story on those reports is here.
Clarke was the justice secretary in the coalition government who set up an inquiry under Sir Peter Gibson, a former judge, into whether the British were involved in the mistreatment of detainees. That inquiry was aborted after police inquiries meant it could not complete its work.
In his question Clarke is asking for a judge-led inquiry to be reinstated.
Updated
The Telegraph’s Peter Foster has a good Twitter thread on what the government’s new, third post-Brexit customs option might entail.
The 'third way' is now the new thing in the #Brexit debate. Like No.10 suddenly discovered something last weekend after two years of trying.
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) July 2, 2018
So here's a long read on why there are no magic bullets to fix the customs conundrum - my latesthttps://t.co/9ThLz7Vb2o
Sky’s Beth Rigby says we may have to wait until Thursday week to find out that it is.
And it looks like the White Paper has been pencilled in for July 12th, the very day that Donald Trump arrives in the UK. No detail for month and months only to get it on the very day the whole of SW1 is on another huge story. Smart politics some would say #Brexitwhitepaper
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 2, 2018
She says even David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has not yet been told what the customs “third way” actually involves.
No papers sent to cabinet re the ‘third way’ on customs and Brexit sec David Davis has apparently not seen proposal Surely No 10 will have to run this by him before Chequers. Feels like a Brexiteer ambush
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 2, 2018
Aha... am told by Brexiteer source that David Davis is going to Downing Street this afternoon in the hope of being briefed on the third way.
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 2, 2018
If you are interested in the real reasons for the resignation of Andrew RT Davies as the Welsh Conservative leader last week, this long article by Martin Shipton for WalesOnline is worth a read. Davies did not explain his decision to go, at the time it was assumed he had been forced out because of his anti-Airbus comments, but Shipton argues that he had been under pressure for some time.
Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, says he was “surprised and delighted” to be invited to an LGBT Pride reception at Downing Street. He claims he was “banned” when Tony Blair, Gordon Brown or David Cameron were PM, saying he was seen as the “unacceptable face of LGBT activism”.
The World Transformed, a Momentum-inspired event running alongside the Labour conference for the last two years, has announced that it will be back for this year’s conference in Liverpool, and bigger than ever. It will be “the UK’s largest political festival for decades”, it says. In a press release it explains:
After selling out in 2016 and 2017, organisers have doubled the capacity of this year’s festival to 10,000 people and with more than 170 talks, workshops and parties over four days, The World Transformed 2018 will be the UK’s largest political festival for decades.
Open to both conference delegates and the public, the festival will host hundreds of speakers, musicians and artists including Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, political scientist Leo Panitch, theorist Chantal Mouffe, Syriza minister Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, author Hilary Wainwright, Liverpool MP Dan Carden, think tank director Faiza Shaheen and journalist Ash Sarkar.
This year’s festival will focus on the strategic challenges facing Labour before the next election and how to build a broad based social movement that can transform Britain for the many, not the few.
There will also be debates on key policy areas including migration, policing, foreign policy, the environment and Brexit as well an expanded international focus, with speakers and activists expected to attend from political parties and campaigns from around the world.
The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman says MPs who are suffering stress are being advised to cut down or give up on Twitter. Here’s an extract from her blog on the subject, but the whole thing is worth reading in full.
One MP told me that she had started to believe what tweeters were saying about her. I often notice MPs replying to tweets between 10pm and midnight, presumably when they are lying in bed and when they should be trying to get to sleep. Instead, they’re engaged in a late-night stand-off with someone who they’ve never met, who may actually be a paid Russian troll, or who is working out their own sense of inadequacy by sneering endlessly at others.
It’s something that the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service is increasingly worried about, as nearly every MP who seeks help for their mental health (a very high number) cites social media when listing the problems that have made them ill. I understand that the wellbeing staff are advising MPs to withdraw from the social media site as much as possible, telling them that it’s the equivalent of dipping their private parts in honey and exposing them to angry bees.
Some might say that MPs should be thick-skinned enough to shrug this stuff off, but I’m not so sure that our democracy would benefit from having more people in it who don’t care whether they are doing a good job and who ignore criticism. Similarly, thick skins don’t always make for good constituency MPs: you need a fair bit of emotional intelligence to get through a surgery packed with people whose lives have been totally messed up and who need your help. Others might argue that MPs shouldn’t go on Twitter at all, which sounds simple enough, but is quite difficult given it’s the modern coffee house where news and debate first appear.
Lunchtime summary
- The US defence secretary, James Mattis, has made a surprise intervention in the row over UK defence spending by warning France could replace the UK as Washington’s closest military ally in Europe. No 10 said the UK has the biggest defence budget in Europe, but the prime minister’s spokesman refused to say the government was committed to maintaining this into the future. (See 12.56pm.)
- James Brokenshire, the housing secretary, has said new housing developments that want access to government funding schemes will not be allowed to include “unjustified” leasehold agreements. The “abusive” arrangement risks turning “dream into nightmare” for homeowners and makes newbuilds unattractive to buyers, he said in his first major speech on housing. As the Press Association reports, Brokenshire also said the government would look at the case for a “specialist housing court” to deal with disputes. Speaking at the Policy Exchange thinktank in central London, he saidL
Any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leaseholds for new houses. We want to build new homes yes, but not at any cost. This will bring real change and is an essential step to restoring pride and dignity to homeowners everywhere.
Leasehold generally applies to flats in shared buildings to make multiple ownership straightforward. But the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government last December warned that developers have been increasingly selling houses on these terms, adding costs to “overstretched” home buyers. Legislation banning new-build leasehold homes except where they are necessary will be introduced at the earliest opportunity, Brokenshire said.
Obama did get Brexit 'back of the queue' line from No 10, says former speechwriter
On the Today programme this morning Ben Rhodes, a former speechwriter for President Obama, reignited one of the more arcane controversies from the EU referendum campaign when he said Obama was asked by Number 10 to say that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” for a trade deal with the US if it left the EU.
The claim was the highlight of an Obama/Cameron press conference in London before the referendum that was dominated by Obama’s views on Brexit. Obama had been expected to say something in favour of remain, but commentators were surprised by quite how outspoken his intervention was. Leave supporters immediately accused him of reciting a Downing Street script, focusing on the word “queue” and arguing that this line must have been fed to him in advance because an American would always say “back of the line” if speaking naturally.
Rhodes effectively told Today that the suspicions of the leave campaign were correct. He said:
We had come here to try to help the remain campaign and we had a meeting with David Cameron and his team and we were all kind of in violent agreement about the negative consequences of Brexit. And in talking about the press conference they were going to hold together - Cameron and Obama - we were discussing the arguments for the Brexit campaign. And some of the arguments were based on the notion that the United States could just negotiate its own free trade agreement with the UK quickly and we were all agreeing that that was unlikely to happen.
As Obama was saying that, somebody on the British side said: ‘We’d end up being at the back of the queue,’ and everybody laughed and Obama said ‘That is exactly right’. Then he was asked: ‘It would be good if you could repeat that point in the press conference’, and of course he did.
Asked whether it was the then prime minister himself who made the request, Rhodes said:
Yes. To be fair to Cameron, I don’t know that Cameron was suggesting the exact phrase that had been used on his side, but that is what was put forward. Obama said: ‘Yes, I’m here to be helpful.’ Substantively, it was correct. It wasn’t true you could just skip to the front of the line, but ‘queue’ is not a word Obama uses in casual conversation.
The Sun’s Harry Cole points out that Rhodes’s account is difficult to square with what Sir Craig Oliver, Cameron’s communications chief at the time, said about the incident in his memoir of the campaign.
But here is Sir @CraigOliver100’s recollection of that event. Says it is “not correct” to say the queue line was “fed” to Obama and the “president can speak for himself.” pic.twitter.com/owKFFYwaah
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) July 2, 2018
Oliver is now saying it was wrong to say that Obama was “told” to say “back of the queue.
Claims that President Obama was told to say “back of the queue” on a post-Brexit trade deal are incorrect. As I said at the time, the President was clear in his own mind and spoke for himself. We were surprised when he used the phrase.
— Craig Oliver (@CraigOliver100) July 2, 2018
This is a good example of how spin doctors use pedantry to defend comments that are misleading. Doubtless Obama was not “told” to say “back of the queue”, and it is always correct to say that leaders themselves are responsible for the words they use, but Rhodes’ account shows that Number 10 was clearly involved in helping to craft the line and it might have been better not to pretend otherwise.
Updated
There are two urgent questions in the Commons later.
Two UQs granted from 3.30: 1. Kenneth Clarke to ask @BorisJohnson about judge-led inquiry into ISC reports of rendition
— Labour Whips (@labourwhips) July 2, 2018
2. @jreynoldsMP ask @sajidjavid if he will make a statement on the ongoing fire at Saddleworth and Tameside Moor.
Downing Street lobby briefing - Summary
Here are the main points from the Number 10 lobby briefing.
- Downing Street refused to say whether the government was committed to keeping the UK’s defence budget the highest in Europe. The question was prompted by the leak of a letter from James Mattis, the US defence secretary, suggesting France could replace the UK as America’s number one military ally if the government does not increase defence spending. (See 10.40am.) Asked if Theresa May was worried about France becoming Washington’s primary defence partner, the prime minister’s spokesman said:
We, the US and France are close allies and partners who are willing to act together in defence of our shared values and interests. There’s a very real example of that in the decisive action that we took together against the Syrian regime following the chemical weapons attack in Douma.
The spokesman said that it was “a matter of fact” that the UK’s defence budget was the highest in Europe. But he would not say whether it was policy to ensure this continued into the future. And when it was put to him that Mattis clearly wants the UK to spend more than 2% of GDP on defence, the spokesman said the UK was already spending above the 2% Nato target but refused to promise further increases. He said:
I would make the point that the UK has the biggest defence budget in Europe, and the second biggest in Nato. I would also point you to the Nato secretary general’s own words following his meeting with the PM when he was clear Nato appreciates the UK’s commitment and leadership in the alliance ...
We have said that we will continue to meet Nato’s target. We are committed to spending more than £179bn on equipment and support between 2017 and 2027 to ensure we are able to provide our armed forces with cutting-edge equipment.
For reference, here are figures from a Nato table (pdf) showing defence spending by Nato members up to 2017.
And here is Nato defence spending by country as a proportion of GDP, from a Commons library briefing document (pdf).
- The spokesman said Downing Street was not planning to publish details of its new, alternative post-Brexit customs proposal before the Chequers summit on Friday. “Ahead of Friday, there’s nothing I can useful say,” the spokesman said.
- The spokesman played down suggestions the Brexit white paper which is due to be published next week will contain options on customs or other issues, instead of firm proposals. Asked about this, the spokesman said: “I think it will set out the detail of the future partnership we want to achieve.”
- The spokesman refused to respond to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s warning about what might happen if she opts for a softer Brexit. Asked about his comments, the spokesman just said:
Our focus is on delivering the will of the British people. The prime minister has set out what she wants to achieve. That is to leave the single market, leave the customs union, leave the jurisdiction of the ECJ [European court of justice] and be free to sign and implement trade deals around the world.
The spokesman also refused to say whether or not May agreed with Sir Alan Duncan about Rees-Mogg’s attitude being insolent. See 9.48am.
- David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, will make a statement to MPs after May’s statement this afternoon about the infected blood inquiry.
- Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, has today launched an app to give NHS patients the ability to make GP appointments and order repeat prescriptions online.
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And here is Richard Harrington, a business minister, hitting back at Jacob Rees-Mogg.
I do wish people would stop putting their own dogma above the good of the country and the Party. We should all support the Prime Minister and the businesses that employ so many people in good jobs and export so much
— Richard Harrington (@Richard4Watford) July 2, 2018
My colleague Jessica Elgot has a full story here about the anti Rees-Mogg backlash.
Richard Benyon, the Conservative former minister, has joined colleagues telling Jacob Rees-Mogg it would be best to shut up. (See 9.48am.)
I think we would all benefit from a period of 🤫 from the ultras on both ends ... https://t.co/rMSlaLVxxt
— Richard Benyon (@RichardBenyonMP) July 2, 2018
And Sir Nicholas Soames has been tweeting more on this topic. (See 10.47am.)
So let’s be clear :the Nation expects the PM and her Cabinet to come to a firm position on Brexit and to deliver the best arrangements that she can for our Country.If Members of her Cabinet don’t like it they shld leave #timetorisetothelevelofevents
— Nicholas Soames (@NSoames) July 2, 2018
No 10 won't say government committed to keeping UK defence budget biggest in Europe
I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing. It was a relatively low-key, defensive briefing, to a large extent taken up with the prime minister’s spokesman fending of questions about government splits.
The highlight came when reporters asked about the Sun story about the Mattis letter. (See 10.40am.) The spokesman said that the UK was the biggest military spender in Europe but, perhaps significantly, would not say that the government was committed to ensuring the UK remains the highest-spending military power in Europe. Asked about the prospect of France becoming America’s number one military ally, he read out a pre-prepared statement about how the US, the UK and France already cooperate as military allies - prompting one journalist to say “it’s not a special relationship anymore, it’s a ménage à trois”.
I will post a full summary shortly.
McCluskey says Labour should pay more attention to concerns of working-class voters outside London
Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, has been speaking at Unite’s policy conference in Brighton this morning. Here are some of the main points he’s been making.
- McCluskey revealed that Unite now has £35m in its strike fund, making the threat of industrial action more potent. He said:
£35 million is now sitting in our strike fund, ready and waiting. That fund has already won many victories for Unite members, often without a penny of it being spent.
The mere fact that we are willing as a union to set aside so much money to win justice in the workplace is enough to bring employers to their senses because smart companies realise the game is up.
Unite’s resources are an indication of our determination to win for our members, and speak to the bad bosses in the language they understand best – cash.
As Bob Dylan sang ‘money doesn’t talk – it swears’, so let’s say that our dispute fund, our strike pay, sends a message that is well understood in the boardrooms.
- He said Labour should pay more attention to the concern of working-class voters outside London. He said:
My second message is to Jeremy and our comrades in the party leadership. We all know that the next election is far from in the bag. One problem is a weakness in some industrial areas outside the big cities, among older working-class voters in particular. There is a broader sense of disconnect between London and the often run-down and ignored industrial areas.
Extra seats in London are not going to get Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street. So test every policy against how it is going to play in Walsall and Wakefield, Mansfield and Middlesbrough, Glasgow and Gateshead.
Put the necessity of decent secure jobs, skilled work, at the heart of everything. If you’re talking about any policy which cuts against that, it is almost certainly a mistake.
- He said Corbyn’s critics in the Labour party should “put a sock in it”.
This wretched Tory government is reeling and on the ropes. We have to be ready to be rid of them when the opportunity arises.
So in that constructive spirit let me say two things. The first is addressed to the small but noisy group of backbench Labour malcontents: Get behind our leader and put a sock in it.
The only people being served by the constant disloyal sniping, the feral smearing of our own party and leader, are the Tories. If you disagree with a particular policy, say so. Otherwise, try saying nothing.
- He claimed Gerard Coyne’s unsuccessful attempt to challenge him for the Unite leadership last year was part of a “shadowy conspiracy” against the union. He said:
In the last week, details have emerged of the vast extent of the interference in our union by organisations and individuals outside it – right-wing Labour politicians, a data company and others – pouring money and resources into trying to change Unite’s leadership.
They - a shadowy conspiracy of big money and Westminster intrigue took aim at Unite but their real target was Jeremy Corbyn.
So, let me say loud and clear to the tawdry tabloid lie specialists, and the shady machine politicians who sought to hijack Unite – get out of our union and stay out. We don’t need you. Our solidarity will always be stronger than your smears.
I’m off to the lobby briefing now. I will post again after 11.30am.
£35 million now in Unite strike pay fund, leader Len McCluskey warns bosses pic.twitter.com/51rUAjWnTv
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) July 2, 2018
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Sir Nicholas Soames, the former minister, has joined colleagues this morning (see 9.48am) criticising Jacob Rees-Mogg’s latest Brexit intervention.
A message for my old friend @Jacob_Rees_Mogg shut up #letthePMdoherjobwithoutthisconstantcarpingputasockinit
— Nicholas Soames (@NSoames) July 2, 2018
My colleague Pippa Crerar has a bit more on the new Downing Street post-Brexit customs plan.
The third way: Downing St’s fresh customs plan likely to be max fac plus, which basically means a delay. Question is, will it ever happen? Sources tell me new customs partnership is “dead”.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) July 2, 2018
Also gather that on free movement of workers May isn’t going to budge. “There’ll be no trade off,” I’m told. But what incentive is there then for EU to allow (even temporary) alignment?
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) July 2, 2018
Washington hints France could replace UK as its main ally if defence spending does not increase
The Sun has a good scoop this morning. James Mattis, the US secretary of defence, has written to Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, saying Washington is “concerned” at the UK’s diminishing defence capabilities and hinting that it could be replaced by France as America’s number one ally if it does not spend more.
According to extracts published by the Sun, Mattis said that “the credibility of the UK’s armed forces” had been crucial in securing its place on the world stage. He went on:
I am concerned that your ability to continue to provide this critical military foundation for diplomatic success is at risk of erosion, while together we face a world awash with change ...
A global nation like the UK, with interests and commitments around the world, will require a level of defence spending beyond what we would expect from allies with only regional interests. Absent a vibrant military arm, world peace and stability would be at further risk ...
As global actors, France and the US have concluded that now is the time to significantly increase our investment in defence. Other allies are following suit ...
It is in the best interest of both our nations for the UK to remain the US partner of choice.
In that spirit, the UK will need to invest and maintain robust military capability.
It is not for me to tell you how to prioritise your domestic spending priorities, but I hope the UK will soon be able to share with us a clear, and fully funded, forward defence blueprint that will allow me to plan our own future engagement with you from a position of strength and confidence.
In advance of that, the president and I look forward to hearing details of the progress you have made with your Modernising Defence Programme at the upcoming NATO summit.
Asked about the letter, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said:
The UK maintains the biggest defence budget in Europe and we have been clear we will continue to exceed Nato’s 2% spending target. The defence secretary launched the Modernising Defence Programme to strengthen our armed forces in the face of intensifying threats.
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Rees-Mogg triggers backlash from fellow Tories angry at his 'blackmail' threat to PM
Several remain-voting Conservative MPs, including ministers, have used Twitter to condemn Jacob Rees-Mogg for threatening the prime ministers.
From Sir Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister
Rees-Mogg’s insolence @Telegraph in lecturing & threatening PM is just too much. Risks debasing govt, party, country & himself. PM must be given maximum latitude & backing. The ideological right are a minority despite their noise & should pipe down. #totalsupportforMay&UK https://t.co/H5YQjaEDSI
— Sir Alan Duncan MP (@AlanDuncanMP) July 2, 2018
From Alistair Burt, another Foreign Office minister
😳Enough. Just tired of this endless threat and counter threat. Why don’t we want the best for the U.K. than for our own ideological cliques? And there are others in this negotiation as far as I’m aware? https://t.co/bPL517qt3p
— Alistair Burt (@AlistairBurtUK) July 1, 2018
From Simon Hoare, parliamentary private secretary to Damian Hinds, the education secretary
He’s simply wrong in his predictions. The hectoring nonsense / blackmail has to stop, the reality of parliamentary arithmetic dawn and the calamity of a Corbyn Government woken up to. Tories are common sense pragmatists NOT dogmatic vestal virgins https://t.co/kZ655wpMhA
— Simon Hoare MP (@Simon4NDorset) July 1, 2018
The vast majority of MPs on a x party basis will do what’s right for the country, jobs, economy and national interest. It’s not an ego-fest and we all need to remember that https://t.co/VnTPvhE47K
— Simon Hoare MP (@Simon4NDorset) July 2, 2018
Peel was also delivering freer trade and cheap bread which the growing industrial towns needed and demanded. Like the Maynooth Grant and Catholic Emancipation Peel put country before party #alwaystherightchoice https://t.co/CLQ8po7Xqw
— Simon Hoare MP (@Simon4NDorset) July 2, 2018
From Sarah Wollaston, the chair of the Commons health committee
At least the Mogglodytes have made it to the 19th century. #cornlaws were wrong then just as business-destroying hard Brexit would be wrong now. Trade with our closest neighbours needs to be frictionless and free
— Sarah Wollaston MP (@sarahwollaston) July 2, 2018
No ‘mutineers’ cover from @Telegraph for the hard Brexiteers who are repeatedly threatening the PM unless she bends to their will. They should take note; there is no Parliamentary majority to just walk away and destroy business with a disastrous hard Brexit.
— Sarah Wollaston MP (@sarahwollaston) July 2, 2018
May could split Tory party if she softens her Brexit red lines, Rees-Mogg warns
On Friday next Theresa May will mark - “celebrate” might be stretching it - the two-year anniversary of the day she became prime minister. Since then much of her time has been spent trying to hold together a cabinet and a party with two wings whose views on Brexit are probably incompatible.
As time goes on that task gets harder and harder and there has been some speculation (most colourfully summed up in this Sun on Sunday headline, “PM is warned of Cabinet ‘bloodbath’ over plan to break Brexit deadlock with Chequers lock-in”), that when the cabinet meets on Friday to finalise its Brexit white paper, the hedging and waffle and splitting the difference and constructive ambiguity will have to stop, and May will have choose a side.
Or perhaps not; a good rule in politics is that, when a situation looks so dysfunctional as to be unsustainable, actually things will probably just carry on much the same.
There is some evidence of that this morning with the news that Theresa May is working up a new plan for customs arrangements with the EU after Brexit. Number 10 won’t give details, but confirms that a third plan is being considered. Previously ministers were looking at the just two options: a new customs partnership, the proposal favoured by May, which would involved the UK collecting tariffs on behalf of the EU, that Brexiters think is unworkable; and “maximum facilitation”, or “max fac”, which would involve using new technology to minimise customs checks, but which would cost business up to £20bn a year according to HMRC.
But this morning Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP who chairs the European Research Group, which represents around 60 of the most pro-Brexit Tories, is trying to force May to make a firm choice. In an article in the Daily Telegraph (paywall), he effectively says that if May compromises on her Brexit red lines - as she is reportedly planning to do - she will split her party. Rees-Mogg writes:
Any attempt by the EU to impose its laws and court on the UK, either directly or indirectly, must be rejected. Any EU agreement that restricts the country’s ability to make trade agreements with other states, restricts our ability to control our migration policy, makes us pay to trade or interferes with our fishing waters could not be accepted.
Indeed many MPs would vote against such propositions if brought to parliament. In this regard, Michael Gove was right to tear up any form of the idiotic customs partnership.
The prime minister commands the support of Brexit backing members of parliament, Conservative party members and Brexiteers in the nation at large. This is why her opinion poll ratings remain so high. Yet the metropolitan establishment of fashionable society and the beau monde is still against her. Theresa May must stand firm for what she herself has promised.
One former Tory leader, Sir Robert Peel, did decide to break his manifesto pledge and passed legislation with the majority of his party voting the other way so leaving him dependent on opposition votes. This left the Conservatives out of majority office for twenty-eight years, 1846 to 1874.
It is a rather odd analogy because Peel’s policy, repealing the corn laws, was widely considered to be great success, and the Conservatives never tried to reverse it. Rees-Mogg does grudgingly acknowledge this. But normally the people you would expect to be comparing Brexit to the corn laws are those who remainers who would argue that both represent flawed policies backed by a reactionary elite and detrimental to working class living standards.
There will be more on this as the day goes on. Here is the agenda.
9.30am: James Brokenshire, the housing secretary, gives a speech on housing.
11am: Downing Street lobby briefing.
3.30pm: Theresa May gives a statement to MPs about the EU summit and Brexit.
As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another at the end of the day.
You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.
Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.
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