Good morning and welcome to our daily Brexit briefing. Today: a new prime minister arrives at No 10.
The big picture
David Cameron will take his final PMQs at 12, bid farewell to MPs and his staff in Downing Street before heading to the palace to formally resign. Immediately after, Theresa May will repeat the journey to the palace seeking permission to form Her Majesty’s next government. She’s likely to make some comments on the steps of No 10 before formally announcing her first cabinet.
Relief, meanwhile, gives way to celebration for Jeremy Corbyn’s inner circle as the Labour leader looks forward to being on the ballot in an upcoming contest against Angela Eagle – and a late entry from Owen Smith.
Labour MPs are determined that there should be only one candidate that takes on Corbyn to maximise the chance of winning, with a number preferring Smith. It is understood that he will wade into the debate this morning.
Does anyone have a Brexit plan yet?
Not quite, although surely it’s getting closer. If anyone is likely to have one, it’ll be the man or woman whom Theresa (“Brexit means Brexit”) May will name as the government’s new Brexit minister. May’s spokesperson has said that work was already under way to set up a new department dedicated to negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU.
“Civil servants have already been charged with finding a building to house the Brexit department – an indication of Theresa’s commitment to get on with delivering the verdict of the EU referendum. Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it,” she has said.
You should also know:
- Labour’s civil war is continuing, with the possibility that a legal challenge could be mounted against Tuesday’s NEC ruling.
- Mark Carney has agreed to hand notes of private meetings he had with the chancellor in the run-up to the EU referendum to MPs, after a Treasury select committee hearing where the governor of the Bank of England faced questions about whether he had “peddled phoney forecasts” about the risks of a vote for Brexit.
- The government’s Prevent strategy aimed at combating homegrown terrorism is stifling freedom of expression within the classroom and risks being counterproductive, a human rights report has warned.
Diary
- 10am: Economists for Brexit press conference.
- 10am: Michael Gove gives evidence to Commons Justice committee on radicalisation in prisons.
- Noon: David Cameron’s final PMQs at the House of Commons.
- Theresa May’s first speech as prime minister, 10 Downing Street.
- 6.15pm: Angela Eagle speech on Europe.
Read these
• Campaigners behind the two main Brexit groups, Vote Leave and Leave.EU, plan to re-establish their efforts into anti-EU pressure groups that could act as a constraint on Theresa May, the FT reports.
• What might David Cameron do next? The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman writes that the outgoing prime minister sees John Major as a better model for life after Downing Street than Tony Blair
She adds: “He might, though, choose to pursue his interest in life chances and social mobility that he never got a chance to fulfil as prime minister because of his early exit. So tomorrow won’t be the end for Cameron – just the start of another type of public service.”
• Cameron is to hand out honours to some of his closest aides at No 10 in a move which risks starting another “cronies” row, the Telegraph claims.
• If you thought the new prime minister was the continuity candidate in the Tory party, you may have to think again, writes Martin Kettle in the Guardian.
Baffling claim of the day
“As plotters, they were fucking useless” – the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, tells supporters at a Corbyn rally on Tuesday night. Perhaps not entirely incorrect – after all, Jeremy Corbyn remains in place as leader of the Labour party – although it’s the kind of language in his statement which his opponents are likely to use to their advantage.
Celebrity endorsement of the day
Simon Pegg for Jeremy Corbyn: “I respect Jeremy Corbyn because I like that fact he’s brought some opposition back into party politics.”
The Sun also reports that the actor urged Theresa May to find inspiration in Star Trek by asking herself: “What would Kirk do?”
The day in a tweet
Two right-wing papers, the Mail and the Sun not exactly in agreement as Cameron bows out. pic.twitter.com/sdmJfed1wr
— SimonNRicketts (@SimonNRicketts) July 12, 2016
If today were ... a pair of shoes
Then a strong candidate would be a pair of the new prime minister’s trademark leopardskin numbers:
And another thing
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