The chairman of the EU’s Brexit steering group Guy Verhofstadt has claimed the UK will rejoin the EU one day because young people in Britain will want to be part of the bloc. “It will happen,” he said.
It comes as the House of Commons Commission said any money raised by the public to have Big Ben bong on 31 January could not be accepted because of parliamentary rules on financial donations.
Elsewhere, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Emily Thornberry will launch their rival bids to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, with Ms Long-Bailey vowing to end Westminster’s “gentlemen’s club”
Long-Bailey promises to end Westminster’s ‘gentlemen’s club’
Rebecca Long-Bailey will promise to end “the gentlemen’s club” of British politics when she launches her Labour leadership campaign in Manchester on Friday.
The shadow business secretary’s comments will be seen as a dig at Sir Keir Starmer, her main rival in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn and the only man in the contest.
As the leadership race stepped up a gear, Sir Keir called for an end to Labour “factionalism” and insisted he was best placed to unite the party.
Labour announced on Thursday that 14,700 people had applied to become registered supporters of the party, at a cost of £25, in order to vote in the contest.
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Rebecca Long-Bailey promises to end ‘gentlemen’s club’ of politics, as Keir Starmer calls for end to Labour ‘factions’
Shadow business secretary launches campaign as main rival says party needs ‘unifying peace’‘It will happen’: Verhofstadt predicts UK will rejoin EU one day
The chairman of the EU’s Brexit steering group Guy Verhofstadt has predicted the UK will rejoin the EU one day because young people will “want to go back”.
“I think that will happen, yes, (but) it’s difficult to say when,” said Verhofstadt.
“There will be a generation, the young generation coming in the coming decades, who will say later, “We want to go back”.
“It will happen. Maybe you will not see it in my life, but it will happen.”
Verhofstadt also confirmed that plans for an “associate” membership of the EU are still being pushed for, a move that would allow Britons to sign up to be citizens of the EU even after Brexit.
“My idea is that the European Union and European citizenship has to be possible for the European living somewhere else in the world,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Verhofstadt said his meeting with Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay on Thursday saw the government concede over allowing EU citizens to have a hard copy of their settled status confirmation.
Those who have been successful in claiming settled status were previously told to use a screenshot of their confirmation on their mobile phone as proof.
“They said we are going to look at it so people can print it so they have a physical document,” said Verhofstadt.
“People will have the opportunity to have a printout, probably a PDF document. That was the conclusion of our conversation.”
Francois wants to ‘properly celebrate becoming a free country again’
The online fundraising campaign seeking to have Big Ben bong at 11pm on January 31 has raised more than £150,000.
Mark Francois and Stand Up 4 Brexit’s “Big Ben must bong for Brexit” campaign had raised £153,000 of its £500,000 target from almost 10,000 donors on the GoFundMe website by Friday morning.
Regardless of the House of Commons Commission’s insistence there was no permitted process to accept public donations, the campaign is trying to raise another £350,000 “by this weekend”.
A statement on the crowdfunding page states that “because there is a lead time to make the necessary preparations, we would need to raise this amount by this weekend”.
On Thursday Francois accused the House of Commons authorities of exaggerating the cost of bringing the bell - which has been silent since 2017 - back into operation.
In a video posted on the fundraising site, the ERG deputy chair of the ERG group of Tory Eurosceptics said: “Please give an amount an amount on this website now so we can properly celebrate becoming a free country again.”
Commons authorities cannot accept public donations for Big Ben bongs
An update on all the Big Ben bongs for Brexit buffoonery. Tory MP Mark Francois and the group Stand Up 4 Brexit are still trying to raise £500,000 – the sum they have told it would cost to delay repair work and get the bell chiming.
On Thursday Francois expressed his frustration Boris Johnson was backing away from the crowdfunding bid. He said the donations were “literally flooding in” and fumed: “As the prime minister effectively initiated this campaign live on TV two days ago … he would be mad to back away from it.”
But last night the House of Commons Commission – the body that runs the estate and iconic clock tower – ruled that money raised could not be accepted because of parliamentary rules on financial donations.
An exasperated Sir Lindsay Hoyle said a vote in the Commons would be needed to change those donation rules.
The speaker told The Telegraph it was up to Johnson whether he wanted to table a motion on Monday ordering Big Ben to chime for Brexit.
He said: “The decision was taken in the Commission. If somebody wants to change that decision, as I said from day one, this should be the will of the House because it is political.”
A No 10 source told the newspaper: “I don’t think we ever thought it would be as complex as the Commons authorities have since set out.”
What a first-class farce this has become.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of British politics, as Rebecca Long-Bailey and Emily Thornberry launch their rival bids to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader – and Brexiteers attempt to meet a crowdfunding deadline to have Big Ben bong on Brexit night.
