Early Evening Summary
• The Democratic Unionist party is locked in what its deputy leader described as a”constructive dialogue” to try to reach an agreement to allow it to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, including with the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond.
Downing Street is convinced the support of the DUP is key to unlocking the backing of many Conservative Brexiters when May brings her deal to the House of Commons on Tuesday for the third time.
The discussions, believed to be at the Cabinet Office, are taking place on Friday and expected to continue into the weekend. They are likely to cover the role of any future Northern Ireland assembly if the Irish backstop were used – one of the issues senior DUP leaders have asked for further clarification about.
• David Lidington has insisted Theresa May’s cabinet will continue to work together “very constructively”, despite eight senior ministers, including the Brexit secretary, voting against an extension to article 50.
Steve Barclay voted against a motion tabled by the government, even though he had spoken in favour of it at the dispatch box just minutes earlier.
Others who rejected the idea of an extension were Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling.
• The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Jo Swinson, has been tipped as the frontrunner to replace the party’s outgoing leader, Vince Cable, who has announced plans to step down from the party in May.
Cable, a former business secretary in the coalition government, announced that he would set a timetable for his departure at the party’s spring conference this weekend.
• Ireland will want to avoid a series of “rolling cliff edges” if the UK requests a delay to its exit from the EU, the country’s finance minister has said.
Paschal Donohoe said London would need to convince the EU27 that an extension to article 50 would not further risk economic disruption.
“I believe it is highly important that we do all we can to avoid being in a scenario of rolling cliff edges … particularly from a financial market stability perspective and economic stability, we need to be aware of that,” he said.
Updated
DUP: 'constructive dialogue' with government
There had been a “constructive dialogue” between the DUP and the government, said the party’s deputy leader, Nigel Dodds following his talks with the attorney general and ministers.
He added that the talks would continue to also focus on the issue of the so-called ‘Stormont Lock’ and how it can be provided for.
The lock in question relates to a series of assurances on Northern Ireland and its place in the UK, which the government published in January.
Those commitments give a restored Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont - which has not sat for two years - a say on any future laws that the European Union may pass if the backstop comes into force.
A government paper promised that this “Stormont lock” on the backstop would be a legally binding commitment.
However, the DUP immediately rejected the paper when it was first put forward in January, dashing hopes that the party would get behind May for the first vote on her Brexit deal.
Dodds: DUP still seeking assurances on backstop
The DUP’s deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, has emerged from discussions with the government and said that the party is still seeking to have its concerns “assuaged” about the Northern Ireland backstop before it can support Theresa May’s deal.
The party, which in 2017 squeezed £1bn extra for Northern Ireland over the next two years as part of its confidence and supply deal to support the government, is not seeking more money as part of the talks, Dodds.
Dodds said that the chancellor, Phillip Hammond, was in the talks but “nothing more” should be read into the fact that he was present along with the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox. Michael Gove, a key Brexiteer member of the cabinet and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was also present for the talks.
“No, we are not discussing more cash,” said Dodds, in answer to questions from the press.
“It’s about Brexit and how we can protect Northern Ireland’s economic and political future,” said the MP.
Updated
The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Jo Swinson, has been tipped as the frontrunner to replace the party’s outgoing leader Vince Cable, who announced plans to step down from the party in May.
Cable, the former business secretary in the coalition government, announced that he would set a timetable for his departure at the party’s spring conference this weekend.
Three MPs were expected to be in the running – Swinson, the former cabinet minister Ed Davey and the party’s education spokeswoman, Layla Moran.
Swinson, a coalition business minister, was highly likely to announce her candidacy, according to multiple sources.
One, who is close to Swinson, said: “Jo loves the party and is passionate about wanting it to succeed. She hears the calls for her to stand very clearly, and I would put money on her going for it.”
We’re hearing suggestions that Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s deputy leader, is going to be saying something in a while about his party’s talks with the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox,
Dodds and colleagues are locked in intensive talks with Cox and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, try to reach an agreement to allow them to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
When he’s going to appear, or what he’ll say.. ‘Ulster says Yes?’ .. ‘we’ll keep talking?’ .. we don’t know yet.
The Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, has been explaining that extraordinary decision he took last night to vote last night AGAINST the government’s motion extending article 50, after he wound up the debate by making the case FOR it.
Doorstepped by the BBC’s Tom Barton, Barclay said that it had to do with the motion having two parts:
EXCLUSIVE: Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay tells me why he voted against a motion he'd spoken in favour of.
— Tom Barton (@tombarton) March 15, 2019
"There were two parts of the motion ... a short technical extension .. that's separate from whether you just have a long extension rather than no deal." pic.twitter.com/vuVvXGvN33
Barclay wound up last night’s debate by telling MPs: “It is time for this house to act in the national interest, it’s time to put forward an extension that is realistic”
The Guardian’s Chief Political Correspondent suggests that a fourth Brexit Secretary may be on the cards.
These comments from the Brexit secretary suggest VERY heavily he will not be prepared to negotiate a longer extension if deal does not pass.
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) March 15, 2019
"If we can get the deal through...we will now need a short technical extension, but if not we shouldn't be afraid to leave with no deal." https://t.co/bs6Y96SToL
Updated
He might be taking it easy on the hard stuff in preparation for the beginning of his big March to Leave tomorrow but Nigel Farage will surely find some use for some politically-charged beer mats that have been left on his desk at the European Parliament.
Richard Corbett, the leader of their Labour group in the European Parliament, tweeted a picture of the mats produced by the pro-remain guerrilla marketing activists, ByDonkeys.
The excellent beer mats made by Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) being placed on #NigelFarage’s seat in the European Parliament... pic.twitter.com/MV3QMDQtp9
— Richard Corbett (@RCorbettMEP) March 15, 2019
The Democratic Unionist party is locked in intensive talks to try to reach an agreement to allow it to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, including with the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond.
Downing Street is convinced the support of the DUP is key to unlocking the backing of many Conservative Brexiters when May brings her deal to the House of Commons on Tuesday for the third time.
The discussions, which are taking place on Friday and expected to continue into the weekend, are likely to cover the role of any future Northern Irelandassembly if the Irish backstop were used – one of the issues senior DUP leaders have asked for further clarification about.
Hammond is also attending a meeting in Downing Street on Friday with the DUP, first reported by the Sun, and the government is said to also be looking at what domestic legal guarantees could be offered to the party.
Updated
While MPs bicker over the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU, British citizens in Brussels who have been worrying about the impact on their lives there have been taking out Belgian citizenship.
The Belgian government’s statistics service, StatBel, this week released figures this week showing a spike in Brits becoming Belgians after the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The Associated Press has been speaking to a few of them, including lobbyist Brian O’Riordan, who described how he has been feeling: “It’s a kind of bizarre feeling, this sense of disempowerment, helplessness watching it all happen, not really understanding why.”
That uncertainty finally pushed him over the edge, according to the AP. He has lived in Belgium for two decades and speaks French to his two border collie dogs all the while being happy to be British. But with Brexit looming, he shifted his pension savings out of Britain and took Belgian citizenship.
In 2015, 127 Britons took Belgian citizenship. The following year the number soared to 506. In 2017, 1,375 of the 23,000 Brits living in Belgium a whopping 6 percent adopted Belgian nationality.
DUP and government discussing role of Stormont - report
Much of the talks between the DUP and the government are revolving around the role of the Northern Ireland Assembly - which is currently suspended - in the event of the backstop being used.
That’s according to UTV’s Political Editor, Ken Reid.
If the role of the assembly is being discussed, that’s quite new and potentially separate from the question of whether or not the backstop will need to be used, and whether it is time limited. Are they ready to jump?
Much of the discussion between the DUP and the Government is on the role of any future NI Assembly if the backstop was used.
— Ken Reid (@KenReid_utv) March 15, 2019
The DUP insists Northern Ireland must be treated like the rest of the UK. The party insists it wants a deal which is good for the whole of the UK and Ireland. Talks likely to continue through the coming days.
— Ken Reid (@KenReid_utv) March 15, 2019
Northern Ireland has had no functioning elected government since power sharing DUP and Sinn Féin collapsed in January 2017. Civil servants are left to run things but cannot make key decisions.
How that can change is an altogether different can of worms from the current Brexit impasse. Either way, if you want to know more you could do worse than read this piece from Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, about the simmering resentment in Northern Ireland as Stormont sits empty:
Updated
A DUP MP, Jim Shannon, has said that the party will not be changing its minds on May’s deal unless there are legally binding changes to ensure that the backstop is limited.
“That is what we have been asking for over the past two years to be honest with you and we can’t understand why the government has not been able to understand that,” he told the BBC’s World at One.
He warned however: “If nothing has chaned then our opinoin has not changed.”
Updated
It looks like the government is putting its back into convincing the Democratic Unionists to come on board. This from Sky’s Beth Rigby:
NEW: Understand DUP and Cox remaining in London all weekend to work on possible agreement. Looking at what additional provisions they could add to domestic law to underline interpretations on backstop (in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill?) https://t.co/K85vauHKex
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) March 15, 2019
The DUP may or may not be on the move, but Theresa May has also received a boost after Esther McVey, who quit the cabinet over Brexit policy last year, indicated she could vote for the deal next week.
McVey was speaking to the BBC’s Nick Robinson for his politics blog.
Asked if MPs would “hold their noses and vote” for Mrs May’s deal - which is expected to return to the Commons next week - the former minister said: “Yes. They will. I don’t know what the number is, but they will have to do that if they... want Brexit.”
Austria would be in favour of granting Britain a “short extension” to Brexit, according to Karin Kneissl, Austria’s Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.
However, it remains to be seen whether other EU states would also agree and it is very difficult to say where a longer one would be granted, she told BBC’s Politics Live.
“A Longer extensions of course coincides with the European Parliamentary elelctions and this cause a problem,” said Kneissl.
“It’s not just an issue of the British participating in elections. It’s about the presidency of the parliament and we could enter into a debate about parliamentary legitimacy and we could enter into a debate about parliamentary legitimacy.”
Do EU member states support an Article 50 extension?
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) March 15, 2019
“That remains to be seen” says Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Knessil#politicslive #Brexit https://t.co/aFDcd0nCcy pic.twitter.com/Jh0wukCDIZ
Updated
DUP holding "significant discussions" with government
Is the DUP about to budge from their opposition to May’s deal?
The party is holding “ongoing and significant discussions with Government” over Brexit, the Press Association reports.
The BBC’s Political Editor picked up on this last night too:
Are the DUP on the move? @DUPleader tells us they're in talks with govt, 'we want to make sure we get there' and 'when you come to end of a negotiation that's when you start to see the whites in people's eyes and you get down to point where you can make a deal'
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) March 14, 2019
Updated
The question of whether third vote on the withdrawal agreement should - or will - be ruled out by the Speaker, John Bercow, continues to be debated.
There are those who argue passionately that he has to do so for the sake of democracy:
Is Parliament really going to let itself be bullied into accepting May’s deal?
— Melanie Melvin #JC4PM (@melaniekmelvin) March 15, 2019
Bercow must stand up for our democracy against the Executive coup and block the third Meaningful Vote.#NoMV3
Then there’s this view from Jo Maugham, a QC and Director of the Good Law Project, who tweets three reasons for why Bercow should not. Here’s the second and third:
Third, this isn’t a game. It would be wrong for some arcane technicality to thwart MPs if they want to approve the Withdrawal Agreement. If it did, trust in democracy would suffer. And if you really care about democracy you can’t duck this point just because it's inconvenient. /5
— Jo Maugham QC (@JolyonMaugham) March 15, 2019
As Catherine Haddon of the Institute for Government told Sky News on Thursday however: “In the end, it’s the speaker’s discretion. Though he should follow the will of the House.”
Irish finance minister: UK "must convince" extension
Ireland will want to avoid a series of “rolling cliff edges” if the UK requests a delay to its exit from the EU, the country’s finance minister has said.
Paschal Donohoe said London would need to convince the EU27 that an extension to article 50 would not further risk economic disruption.
“I believe it is highly important that we do all we can to avoid being in a scenario of rolling cliff edges … particularly from a financial market stability perspective and economic stability [perspective], we need to be aware of that,” he said.
Theresa May is expected to ask the EU for an extension next week at the European Council summit after MPs voted overwhelming to delay Brexit until 30 June amid chaotic scenes in the House of Commons on Thursday evening.
Donohoe said the taoiseach Leo Varadkar had made it clear Ireland “would provide generous response” but that London needed to spell out what it wanted from any extension.
A delay of anything from a few months to as long as 21 months have been mooted in recent weeks with some EU leaders such as the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutter questioning the point of any extension if the UK was not clear about the Brexit it wanted.
MPs have gathered in the House of Commons for a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in the New Zealand terror attack.
Speaker John Bercow led tributes to the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings, telling the chamber the pause in proceedings at 11am was in “solidarity” with the people of New Zealand and Muslims around the world.
Labour MP Wes Streeting, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, said what had happened in Christchurch would be felt deeply by UK communities.
In the wake of “Islamophobia and anti-Muslim prejudice not just in this country but right across the world”, he said “on behalf of the whole House, you are not alone in confronting prejudice and hatred”.
The risk of the backstop being weaponised by European governments to force the UK to make concessions on unrelated issues is now much less, according to a new paper from the Policy Exchange thinktank.
Readers might recall that Macron said in November that the UK will be trapped in a customs union after Brexit unless Downing Street offers European fishermen full access to British waters during the coming trade negotiations.
Three lawyers who have penned ‘A Second Look at the UK’s Legal Position in Relation to the Backstop’ argue anumber of points made earlier in the week during Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s fateful legal take on the backstop “may have been lost, overlooked, or not fully appreciated”.
They emphasise the force of “good faith” obligations in international law, while also adding:
While the AG’s assessment on legal risk for the UK in the event of EU compliance with its obligations (and absent a fundamental change of circumstances) is correct, the risk of the backstop being used as leverage for the next phase of the negotiations in order to lock the UK into a backstop-like arrangement indefinitely has receded significantly.
Frayed nerves? Wondering if you have the right number of tins of beans stashed away in the attic?
Spare a thought for the Guardian’s Westminster sketchwriter John Crace. Here’s a snippet from his digested week (online here):
Wednesday
A nightmare. A day when I basically had to rip up three-quarters of the sketch I’d already written and start again from scratch with barely 40 minutes to the latest deadline. My nerves can’t take much more of this. I’m a broken man.
I’d thought for once in the ongoing Brexit shitshow that we were in for a relatively quiet day. That May had surely now found a vote she couldn’t possibly lose.
After all, a government motion to take a no-deal Brexit off the table was something on which every MP, with the exception of a few delusional members of the ERG, who demanded the certainty of businesses in their constituencies going bust on 29 March, could agree.
Some folks have been asking below the line on the blog about whether the Speaker, John Bercow, will allow May to bring her rejected deal back to Parliament for another attempt to get it passed.
When, asks @Aphex on Twitter, will we know what his decision is on this matter?
The short answer is that we probably won’t know definitively until Tuesday next week
Those interested in the same question might also be intrigued by a recent exchange between a Westminster committee and the just-retired clerk of the House, who suggested it was not for the Speaker to apply “theological” rules in the face of political reality.
There is a general rule against being asked to decide again on the same question in the same Session, Sir David Natzler, told the Exiting the EU Committee in October.
He added:
If it was a different document, obviously there would be a different motion. I do not know; I would not want to speculate.
If it was exactly the same document and they came back three months later for another bite, I do not think the procedures of the House are designed to obstruct the necessary business of Government in that way in such a crucial thing. I hope that is helpful.
He went on:
I do not want to speculate on various things the chair might do, but the chair is there to facilitate the business of the House, not to operate a series of strange theological rules, with no disrespect to theology. They are there for a purpose, and it is the purpose that has to be looked at.
Updated
I suspect a re-run of the Geldof versus Farage ‘Battle of the Thames’ isn’t quite on the cards yet, but a group of fishing boats has set off on the River Tyne to protest against the Prime Minister’s Brexit plans.
The flotilla (if that’s quite the right word), which comes the day before Farage starts out on his March to Leave, from Sunderland to London, has been organised by a group call Fishing for Leave.
After setting off from North Shields the flotilla made its way towards Newcastle’s Quayside through the choppy waters of the Tyne. A battered trawler was driven on the back of a lorry by road, heading for a meeting point.
A Fishing For Leave spokesman said: “The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement are an existential threat to fishing and a total betrayal of Brexit and Britain.
“It means a second surrender of our industry and coastal communities and places a constitutional bomb under democracy.”
David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister and de facto deputy prime minister has insisted Theresa May’s cabinet will continue to work “very constructively” together, despite eight senior ministers, including the Brexit secretary, voting against an extension to article 50.
Steve Barclay voted against a motion tabled by the government, even though he had spoken in favour of it at the dispatch box just minutes earlier.
Others who rejected the idea of an extension included Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling.
Lidington, who is the Cabinet Office secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’ve been working very constructively with Steve Barclay since his appointment a couple of months ago despite the fact that he and I were vigorously on opposite sides of the debate during the referendum, and we are continuing to work very constructively together today and in the days to come.”
The motion called for a three-month delay to Brexit – or a potentially much longer one, if parliament does not back the prime minister’s deal next week. That will now become government policy.
(read on)
Updated
European Press Reaction
• “At long last, MPs now have to decide where they stand,” said Die Zeit in Germany after the Commons voted in favour of a short extension to article 50 on Thursday evening, having earlier in the week rejected both Theresa May’s Brexit deal and no deal. “Empty promises to voters and pithy speeches in parliament will no longer cut it. The drama currently being played out in Westminster represents, at long last, the painful intrusion of reality into Britain’s Brexit debate.”
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungreckoned the UK’s “battered prime minister may perhaps have slightly more reason for hope than before. Who knows, it could just be that the Brexit drama in London will come to an end soon after all.”
• France’s Libération rejoiced that at long last one thing looked more or less likely: “Britain will not be leaving the EU on 29 March.” Except, it added, the country was traversing a period “so utterly extraordinary, so totally unprecedented, in which all the existing logic of votes and established political forces has been so completely overturned, that nothing, nothing at all, can any longer be predicted.”
• Le Monde warned that the “apparent bright spot” masked “a weakening of May’s authority that is alarming not just for her political survival but for the democratic functioning of the country”. She had “lost control of her party and cabinet to the extent that 188 Conservative MPs and eight ministers voted against the government’s motion to postpone Brexit”, the paper pointed out.
In Spain’s El País, the commentator Rafa de Miguel said the hardcore Brexiters were like “enraged children who despise any gift that is not the one they want”. Having twice rejected May’s deal, parliament was now completely confused: “Yes to Brexit but no to no deal; No to May’s plan but also to any other solution.”
• In Dublin, the Irish Times said that after the “chaos and humiliation of a double defeat in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Theresa May had a relatively good day” on Thursday. But the paper’s commentator, Stephen Collins, was brutal on what the week’s events in Westminster had revealed.
After the chaos, contradictions and incompetence, European media have spotted a glimmer of light at the end of the Brexit tunnel.
That’s according to the Guardian’s John Henley, who has been reviewing reaction to the past 48 hours on the continent (below).
On past form, of course, it will soon be extinguished, but the endgame seems – at least for now – to be approaching.
This is Ben Quinn picking up the blog by the way. As regulars know, the best way to get my attention is to tweet me.
"Highly important to do all we can to avoid rolling cliff edges".
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) March 15, 2019
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe tells audience at Bloomberg in London.
My colleague Lisa O’Carroll at Bloomberg HQ
Irish finance minister asked whether he would prefer 3 month or 21 month extension said:
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) March 15, 2019
"There are many in the EU who would want to be very clear on how this extension would be used" but also said it was important to be ensure "stability" in the markets.
Labour took a city council seat from an independent in the latest local by-elections.
The party’s gain came in a contest in the Coxford ward of Southampton City Council caused by the resignation of an independent councillor.
Voting was: Lab 668, C 529, Lib Dem 450, Socialist Alternative 368, Integrity Southampton 178, Ind 174, Ukip 123, Green 53. The turnout was 25%.
Elsewhere, Labour comfortably held two seats: one at Croydon (Norbury & Pollards Hill ward) and one at Durham (Wingate division).
One member of ERG tells FT he's looking for way to support May https://t.co/WQOaF9xfBh
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) March 15, 2019
Mr Hogan added that MPs in Westminster were behaving in an unacceptable way.
“They have had a long time to do all of this up until now and leaving it until the eleventh hour is creating instability and uncertainty for their own people, but also for Irish people and for the European Union generally.
“That is certainly not an acceptable way of political behaviour from the mother of parliaments.”
He said he would not pre-judge whether European leaders would be prepared to offer Mrs May a Brexit extension.
Mr Hogan also insisted the EU stood ready to support Irish farmers who might be adversely impacted by Brexit but urged those in the sector to “remain calm” until the final shape of Brexit was clear.
“We are well advanced for all scenarios including very difficult situations for farmers in Europe generally and indeed for Irish farmers because we are very exposed, particularly in the beef sector,” he said.
He added: “The European Union is ready to help them at the appropriate time when we see what the conclusions of the negotiations in London are.”
Mr Hogan said there was not yet a market crisis - characterising the situation as only a “political crisis”.
He said Irish farmers had weathered previous troubled periods, such as mad cow and foot and mouth diseases, with EU help.
“We shouldn’t talk ourselves into a crisis.”
EU Commissioner Phil Hogan believes the UK’s no-deal tariff plans - proposals that would see no import duties levied on goods entering Northern Ireland across the border - are likely to breach World Trade Organisation rules.
Mr Hogan, who is commissioner for agriculture and rural development, claimed the plans unveiled by Whitehall this week were “political” and designed to “change in the news cycle from the political chaos on London”.
“I think they are incompatible with WTO rules,” he said after arriving at an agriculture conference in Dublin.
He added: “I think the timing of it was unfortunate and it was a deliberate attempt to put Ireland more on the agenda, as if it wasn’t on the agenda already.”
My colleague Lisa O’Carroll is at Bloomberg HQ
Irish finance minister at Bloomberg in London: “extension of A50 is deeply welcome and very significant.
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) March 15, 2019
but simply agreeing that a no deal should be avoided is not enough.”
Jeremy Corbyn sends his condolences following the New Zealand shootings
My heart goes out to the victims of the horrific terror attack in New Zealand.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 15, 2019
We stand in solidarity with the Muslim community in Christchurch and around the world.
We must defeat the bigotry which fuels such hatred and violence.
Updated
Andrew Adonis reacting to David Lidington’s comments
David Lidington all but accepts that there will now be a long extension & he hasn’t the faintest clue how Brexit will be resolved! @BBCr4today
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) March 15, 2019
David Lidington has denied the Government was falling apart after seven Cabinet ministers including Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay voted against the Prime Minister’s motion on delaying EU withdrawal.
He told the Today programme: “It was a free vote in that division yesterday. Now, what happens this morning is that the entire Cabinet has accepted the position that Parliament voted for last night.
I’ve been working very constructively with Steve Barclay since his appointment a couple of months ago despite the fact that he and I were vigorously on opposite sides of the debate during the referendum, and we are continuing to work very constructively together today and in the days to come.”
Mr Lidington said he believed that Leave-backing ministers had used the free vote as “an opportunity to register how unhappy they were with being in the position where we don’t really have an option as a country except to seek an extension of our time in the European Union”.
He said that leaving on March 29 with no deal remains the “legal default position” but the likelihood of it happening had “diminished” after this week’s votes.
He said he was still hoping that the UK will “leave as soon as possible in an orderly fashion” by MPs backing Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement next week.
Theresa May’s effective deputy, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington, said the Christchurch attacks highlighted the need to “stamp out” Islamophobia.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “On behalf of the whole British Government, I’m sure that the whole British people would want to share the sense of shock and grief that must be felt throughout New Zealand today.
“Our hearts go out particularly to the families of those who’ve lost people in New Zealand and also feelings of strong solidarity with Prime Minister Ardern and her government in New Zealand.”
While I don’t want at this early stage to comment on what the motivation of the criminals concerned might have been, Islamophobia is an evil. I know that there will be Muslim constituents of mine and Muslim British fellow-citizens throughout the country who will be worried about the reports from New Zealand and the implications for their own safety.
“All of us as a country, wherever we came from, whatever our ancestry, whatever our political loyalties may be, need to demonstrate a sense of solidarity and friendship with our British Muslim fellow-citizens.
“They are part of our country, they contribute so much to life in so many respects in the United Kingdom. They are welcome here, they are valued parts of our community and we need to demonstrate that friendship and solidarity and be very clear - across any political parties - we need to stamp out Islamophobia and take action against it wherever it is found.”
Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said Labour was pursuing cross-party discussions in the search for “something which can become the consensus that Parliament solidifies around” as a solution to Brexit.
Mr Gardiner said parties should be ready to accept that “none of us may think this entirely suits what we might ideally have liked and put forward, but this is a way of uniting the country”.
We have always said that it will be the case that the option of a further public vote is there to stop a no-deal, to stop a bad deal. I believe that we should still try to achieve a deal and that’s what we are now working for in the Labour front bench.”
Mr Gardiner said the extension to Brexit sought by Theresa May last night was only delivered because of Labour votes.
“It was only because the Labour Party voted with Theresa May that the extension went ahead, because the Government could not get its own Cabinet ministers to back that extension, which was its own policy,” he said.
“This is extraordinary and that’s why Parliament must now take back control.”
Activist Gina Miller has ruled out putting her name in the ring for the Lib Dem leadership contest after Sir Vince Cable announced he will step down in May to make way for a “new generation”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “No, no, no, I’m definitely not doing that.”
Updated
Theresa May has sent her condolences after40 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch.
On behalf of the UK, my deepest condolences to the people of New Zealand after the horrifying terrorist attack in Christchurch. My thoughts are with all of those affected by this sickening act of violence.
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) March 15, 2019
Activist and businesswoman Gina Miller believes the moment to call for a second referendum is “when all else fails”.
I don’t think last night was the time to lay down this amendment,” she told the Today programme.
“Yesterday was about extension and the day before was about taking no-deal off the table.
“You have to try to exhaust all the other options first, and if Parliament can’t resolve it, it’s at that point that it goes back to the people.”
An amendment calling for a fresh public vote, tabled by The Independent Group’s Sarah Wollaston, lost by 334 votes to 85 last night with Jeremy Corbyn telling Labour MPs to abstain.
Updated
Barry Gardiner also said Labour will back a second referendum.
We in the Labour party lost the referendum, we campaigned to Remain.
“If it’s [second referendum] the only way to stop a no deal or a bad deal”.
Speaking on the Today programme, Labour MP Barry Gardiner said the party’s mission is to bring unity following a turbulent week, citing last night’s Question Time programme.
“To see people in the audience arguing so aggressively with each other, that is what is happening now with Brexit. That is what Labour is trying to do with these cross party talks.”
Good morning everyone, I am Nadeem Badshah and will be taking over the politics blog from my colleague Kate Lyons
More tweets from MPs are pouring in in support of those in New Zealand affected by the horrific shootings that resulted in the deaths of 40 people at two mosques in Christchurch.
This is so awful. Sympathy and solidarity to everyone in New Zealand. https://t.co/dFiTaWTyhd
— Harriet Harman (@HarrietHarman) March 15, 2019
Awful Tragedy in #NewZealand. Innocent mosque worshippers slain.
— Robert Halfon MP #WorkingHard4Harlow (@halfon4harlowMP) March 15, 2019
Solidarity and compassion for all the families.
Appalling news from Christchurch. I was there last summer marking the deep links with Scotland. My heart goes out to the families of those caught up in this outrage and the people of New Zealand
— David Mundell (@DavidMundellDCT) March 15, 2019
So shocked to hear the tragic news unfolding in New Zealand, my deepest sympathy to all those affected, and my admiration for the leadership shown by PM Jacinda Ardern
— Margot James (@margot_james_mp) March 15, 2019
Updated
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has compared the UK’s handling of Brexit to a sketch from Monty Python.
Speaking ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Wolff said: “For some time I found it really tragic but the tragic has somehow changed into real good entertainment.
“Every evening I watch the House of Commons and I’m not quite sure whether it’s a Monty Python thing or what is really happening.
“For us, we have 26 nations in our company and we are living from the ‘just in time’ principle of getting goods in.”
There are seven F1 teams based in the UK and bosses including Wolff and McLaren chief executive Jonathan Neale have previously expressed concern about the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the sport.
Christian Horner, principal of Red Bull Racing, added: “Trying to follow what on earth is going on in British politics at the moment is rather difficult for all of us.
“It will be business as normal, we will wait and see what and if and when Brexit does happen, and when it happens then we’ll deal with it.
“But of course you try and put as many ‘what if’ scenarios in place as you can to protect the operation of your business.”
For the first time in what feels like a very long time (can it really just be four days?), a key Brexit motion is not on the agenda for the House of Commons.
House of Commons order of business. pic.twitter.com/NWOKfU6LrV
— Kate Lyons (@MsKateLyons) March 15, 2019
Finally. Theresa May had found a vote she could win. A narrow two-vote victory. A largely pyrrhic victory, as the government had won on a motion to extend article 50 it had never actually wanted to put to the house in the first place. Even when the Leader In Name Only is winning, she still contrives to lose. Another crank of the pathos handle. The government still just about had control of the parliamentary timetable. For a few more days at least.
Not that Lino took any pleasure in the result. No smile escaped her lips, no signifier of relief. Just a hunched figure, lost in a near catatonic state. She clearly hates her life almost as much as she hates many of her colleagues. Hating is one of the few things she does well. The body language between her and Philip Hammond was of a couple who had long since realised there had never been two of them in this relationship. She left long before the final result was declared.
With Lino’s voice on either life support or a damage limitation exercise – take your pick – it had been left to the Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, to open the latest Brexit debate the government had been hoping to avoid. He looked like a man who knew he had drawn the short straw.
Tom Watson, deputy Labour leader, has also tweeted his concern for the people of New Zealand at this time.
My thoughts are with the good people of New Zealand this morning. https://t.co/9id9QJwI2g
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) March 15, 2019
Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, is speaking now and has confirmed that 40 people have been killed in the two shootings in Christchurch. A truly shocking event and by far the worst shooting event New Zealand has suffered.
A recap of last night’s vote
In case you missed it, here is the result of last night’s vote, as parliament opted overwhelmingly to request an extension to article 50.
The prime minister is now expected to bring her twice-defeated Brexit deal back to parliament on Tuesday, after she narrowly retained control of the next steps of the process.
The votes, the last in a series of vital parliamentary decisions on Brexit over several days, mean that Britain’s departure from the EU should not now take place before 30 June and gave the prime minister a window to resuscitate her plan.
Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay wound up the debate for the government, saying: “It is time for this house to act in the national interest, it’s time to put forward an extension that is realistic”.
The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said: “This evening the Brexit secretary voted against his government’s own motion on Brexit, which earlier in the day he had defended in the House of Commons. That’s the equivalent of the chancellor voting against his own budget. This is a government that has completely lost control.”
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has tweeted this morning about the horrific attack in Christchurch today, in which an as-yet unconfirmed number of people were killed when a shooter or shooters targeted two mosques. Our rolling coverage of that event is here.
Our hearts go out to the people of New Zealand following the news of this terrible act in Christchurch. NZ is one of the most peaceful, peace-loving and generous nations in the world. Your friends in the UK stand with you today in deepest sympathy.
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 15, 2019
What the papers say about extending article 50
The vote to delay Brexit for a yet-to-be-determined length of time has been met in the papers today with a mix of incredulity, calls for more time and speculation as to whether it will boost May’s hand in negotiations.
Guardian front page, Friday 15 March 2019: Cabinet split exposed as MPs vote overwhelmingly to delay Brexit pic.twitter.com/0DyC4UuCAO
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 14, 2019
The Times 15/3/2019
— The Times Pictures (@TimesPictures) March 14, 2019
Bryony Frost, 23, from Devon celebrates on Frodon, winning the Ryanair Chase making her the first woman to win a grade 1 jumps race at Cheltenham Festival. Photo : David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile#thetimes #tomorrowspaperstoday #cheltenhamfestival @thetimes pic.twitter.com/9MwepnflII
Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Friday 15 March https://t.co/61tdMGkFbD pic.twitter.com/wq7LSsRgS5
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) March 14, 2019
Friday's Daily Telegraph front page: 'One last roll of the dice' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/GgUU5Ploio
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 14, 2019
Tomorrow's @Daily_Express front page:
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) March 14, 2019
- You have decided to delay #Brexit... what a damning indictment of our democracy
- Palace split for William and Harry #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/6SdMTja71G
Theresa May’s hopes of winning over Eurosceptics and the DUP to back her deal have been dealt a fresh blow after the “Star Chamber” of Brexiteer lawyers rejected a further attempt to allay their concerns about the backstop.
The group of lawyers, led by veteran Tory Sir Bill Cash, said the suggestion that the UK could use the Vienna Convention - the international treaty that lays down the rules about treaties - to unilaterally pull out of the backstop was “badly misconceived”.
The panel of lawyers, which significantly also includes DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds, rejected supplementary legal advice from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.
The Attorney General’s advice hinges on Article 62 of the Vienna Convention, which says that if there has been “a fundamental change of circumstances” following the conclusion of a treaty “which was not foreseen by the parties”, then the countries involved would be allowed to withdraw from it.
But the Brexit-backing lawyers said “given the high burden that a state must meet to use it, and given the extreme reluctance of international courts and tribunals to accept it” the Vienna Convention route “supplies no assurance whatsoever that the UK could terminate the Withdrawal Agreement in a lawful manner”.
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the day’s politics news.
This is Kate Lyons bringing you all the Brexit news until Andrew Sparrow and Matthew Weaver join later on to take you through the day.
What a week it has been. A week of votes and humiliating defeats, ruptured cabinets, unheeded whips and prime ministerial flip-flopping. I don’t blame you if your head is aching and you’re ready to dive into the weekend and never come back from it.
But, of course, it is not over. After parliament voted last night to ask for a delay to Brexit, meaning the UK would not leave on 29 March, May will bring her deal back to Parliament for a third time next week.
MPs also overwhelmingly rejected an amendment calling for a second referendum, quashing the hopes of those who thought a People’s Vote might put an end to the current crisis. Labour ordered its MPs to abstain, believing the timing to be wrong, and only 85 MPs voted for a referendum that would have had remain as an option, which led to five Labour frontbenchers resigning as shadow ministers.
Please get in touch with questions and comments. You can do that on Twitter, via email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com) or in the comments below.
Ready team? Let’s do this.
