Tory leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt has unveiled his 10-point plan to handle a no-deal Brexit, vowing to “cease all discussions” with Brussels on 30 September if the EU fails to budge.
He also claimed to have been told by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, that she would be willing to look at any new Brexit the next British PM comes up with.
It came as his rival, Boris Johnson, was heckled at a garden centre and accused of misrepresenting the ideas of a 14th century Tunisian scholar after claiming he could cut taxes and increase revenue.
Meanwhile, pro-Jeremy Corbyn organisation Momentum has launched a fresh drive to unseat Mr Johnson – who could not name the amount paid under the living wage during his latest TV interview – at the next general election.
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Momentum insiders have told The Independent they expect hundreds of campaigners to flock to Boris Johnson’s parliamentary constituency in a bid to unseat him at the next general election.
Here’s Ashley Cowburn with the details.
Momentum launches fresh drive to unseat Boris Johnson at next general election
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Jeremy Hunt has pledged to create a £6 billion war chest to handle a no-deal Brexit.
Food producers should be treated like the financial services industry during the 2008 financial crash, the Tory leadership candidate is expected to tell supporters at a hustings event later this morning.
Mr Hunt will set out a 10-point plan, including a Cobra-style committee to “turbocharge” Whitehall preparations and keep Britain open for business in the event of World Trade Organisation (WTO) tariffs coming into effect.
He is also preparing to set up a temporary “No Deal Relief Programme”, including the war chest for farmers and fishermen exporting to Europe.
It follows his admission on the Andrew Marr show that a no deal Brexit would destroy jobs, having previously criticised his rival Boris Johnson for his willingness to bring on such economic pain.
Labour MPs who back a fresh Brexit referendum face losing their seats to the Lib Dems unless pro-EU parties form a “Remain alliance”, new analysis has found.
Here’s our political correspondent Benjamin Kentish with the details.
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Boris Johnson has again criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin’s claim that liberalism is dead, saying Britain was the best example of the “triumph of liberal values”.
“The country that possesses these essential building blocks of liberalism will succeed; the country without them will - eventually - face disaster,” he wrote in the Telegraph.
“I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, Vladimir, but there are some countries where capitalism is believed to be in the hands of oligarchs and cronies, where journalists are shot, and where ‘liberal values’ are derided ... and where real incomes have declined for each of the past five years.”
If you missed his interview with Sky News host Sophie Ridge, Boris Johnson revealed he didn’t know how much the living wage currently is.
He also defended his infamous description of black people in Africa bearing “watermelon smiles” as “wholly satirical”.
Boris Johnson says 'watermelon smiles' remark was 'wholly satirical'
‘The quotations have been wrenched out of context,’ claims Tory frontrunner on notorious columnMore on Jeremy Hunt’s no deal Brexit plan. He is set to outline more details at a Policy Exchange hustings event at 11am this morning.
He is expected to say: “I will mitigate the impact of no-deal Brexit on you and step in to help smooth those short-term difficulties. If we could do it for the bankers in the financial crisis, we can do it for our fishermen, farmers and small businesses now.”
Here’s what we know so far.
Jeremy Hunt set to unveil ‘detailed’ no-deal Brexit plan
Foreign secretary’s proposal includes Cabinet Task Force and £6bn stimulus packageLib Dem leadership contender Jo Swinson has said she would not rule out a future deal with either the Conservatives or Labour.
The deputy leader, running against Sir Ed Davey for the top job, said there is no immediate prospect of becoming allied with either the Tories and Labour currently as both are “led by Brexiters”.
But in an interview with The Herald newspaper, she said a confidence and supply arrangement might be possible. “I have not said never in any future scenario, where things are different.
“I’m looking at the situation right now in terms of being led by Brexiters on both sides. The same holds for confidence and supply. We need to stop Brexit and work with people who agree with us on that, and that's not the leadership of the Conservatives or the Labour Party.”
Boris Johnson has been accused of trying to appropriate and misreading the economic ideas a 14th century Tunisian scholar with his claims taxes could be cut and revenues raised.
Following Tory MP Liam Fox’s warning about the possibility of the break-up of the union in a no-deal scenario, a former Labour minister at Holyrood has said Scottish independence could soon “become inevitable”.
Malcolm Chisholm, who served as both health minister and communities minister, said that both Brexit and the current state of the Tory party had “given great impetus to the move towards independence”.
He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “I would go as far as to say if we have continuing Conservative governments independence will become inevitable.”
The former MSP added: “I might in future vote for independence but it would totally depend on what the situation was and what the alternatives on offer were in terms of the UK.”
According to the BBC’s political editor, some Tory members are switching from Boris Johnson to Jeremy Hunt.
As Jeremy Hunt prepares to outline his no-deal Brexit plan at the latest leadership hustings event, he is facing heavy criticism for his admission he is prepared to accept jobs losses and the collapse of businesses.
Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna called him “out of touch” and his comments on Sunday “a load of nonsense from someone who should know better”.
And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has attacked his ideas as “turbocharged disaster capitalism”.
Although Nigel Farage has unveiled 100 parliamentary candidates for his Brexit Party, he has yet refused to name any of the would-be MPs.
Here’s our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan with the details.
Nigel Farage unveils 100 MP candidates for the Brexit Party but refuses to name any of them
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Jeremy Hunt has taken to the stage at his Policy Exchange hustings event and is unveiling a 10-point plan to handle a no-deal Brexit.
“All government departments will be expected to act on the basis that we are leaving without a deal on October 31,” he says.
He has pledged to create a special no-deal cabinet task force, and a new negotiating with members of the ERG, DUP, One Nation Group & Welsh & Scottish Conservatives”.
Hunt has also claimed he and the Brexit Secretary “will engage with European leaders and the European Commission during July and August”.
More details. Alongside pledging extra protection for the fishing and farming industries by way of a £6bn stimulus package, Jeremy Hunt will produce a no-deal Brexit budget, with corporation tax slashed to 12.5 per cent and 90 per cent of high street businesses exempted from having to pay rates.
Jeremy Hunt says he will allow only three weeks for negotiations with EU after a vote for a “new plan” in the Commons.
“As PM I will make a judgement on 30th September as to whether there is a realistic chance of a new deal being agreed that can pass the House of Commons,” he says.
“If my judgement is that there is no deal to be done I will immediately cease all discussions with the European Union and focus the whole country’s attention on no deal preparations.”
Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill will write to Jeremy Corbyn after the Labour leader demanded an inquiry into civil service leaks on his health, according to our correspondent Lizzy Buchan, attending this morning’s lobby briefing.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “Impartiality is one of the fundamental values of the civil service and underpins its ability to effectively serve the government of the day.
“It would clearly be inappropriate and unacceptable for comments of this sort to have been made or briefed to the press.
“The cabinet secretary will be writing to the leader of the opposition shortly. I don’t think you would expect me to divulge the contents of that letter in advance of it being sent.”
Jeremy Hunt has also warned MPs against any attempt to block a no-deal Brexit.
Here’s Jeremy Hunt explaining how he imagines August, September and October could pan out under his no-deal Brexit preparation plan.
