Boris Johnson has been accused of “reckless and irresponsible behaviour” after he amended his Brexit bill to prevent MPs extending the Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020 – sending the pound plunging as it puts the possibility of no-deal back on the table.
Mr Johnson is also accused of showing “two fingers to democracy” after announcing Nicky Morgan has been handed a peerage and will carry on as culture secretary, despite standing down as an MP. Baroness Morgan ruled out taking a job in any Johnson cabinet last year.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told MPs during a Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting that he was "very sorry" for Friday's election defeat. However defeated Labour MP Mary Creagh said Mr Corbyn was guilty of "preening narcissism", after revealing no one from his team had been in touch after she lost her seat.
Earlier in the day, the PM made his ministers chant false campaign claims about nurse and hospital numbers as he assembled his cabinet for the first time since the election. It comes as Angela Rayner is reportedly ready to step aside and support Rebecca Long-Bailey’s bid to become the next Labour leader.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the post-election fallout, as MPs prepare to be sworn in at parliament today.
Nicky Morgan peerage and cabinet role causes outrage
Boris Johnson has been accused of showing “two fingers to democracy” after announcing Nicky Morgan will carry on as culture secretary, despite her quitting the Commons.
No 10 said the former MP would be made a life peer and would answer questions in the House of Lords.
It still drew a furious response from opposition MPs, with Labour’s former shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant saying it “stinks”.
“You abandon your constituents, eschew the tough work of representing a constituency but remain in the Cabinet. That really is two fingers up to democracy,” he said.
His fellow Labour MP Jo Stevens said it was “absolutely disgraceful” MPs would not be able to scrutinise or challenge her on the performance of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
The Lib Dems’ culture spokeswoman Layla Moran said the “sycophancy” showed why reform of the Lords was needed while the SNP's Pete Wishart accused the Tories of showing “disdain for democracy”.
The decision to keep her on appeared to surprise even the now Baroness Morgan. “Well it turns out that leaving the Cabinet is harder than leaving the EU!” she tweeted.
Nicky Morgan will stay on as culture secretary – despite stepping down as MP
Boris Johnson hands the senior Conservative a life peerage to serve party from LordsPM accused of ‘reckless’ behaviour as he puts no-deal back on the table
Boris Johnson is to legislate to prevent MPs extending the Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020, government sources have said.
Ministers have re-worked the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) – due to come before the Commons this week – to “legally prohibit” any further extension.
Under current plans, Johnson intends to end Britain’s EU membership on 31 January, with an implementation to run to the end of 2020 while the government negotiates a trade deal.
However, key EU figures – including chief negotiator Michel Barnier – have expressed scepticism that a deal can be agreed in time, raising the fresh prospect of a no-deal break.
Labour’s Keir Starmer said it was “reckless and irresponsible”.
Boris Johnson puts prospect of no-deal Brexit back on table
Angry MPs say the move threatens jobs, the environment and the NHS in a cliff-edge crash-out on WTO termsAngela Rayner ready to back Rebecca Long-Bailey for Labour leadership, say reports
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is to step aside and support her friend Rebecca Long-Bailey to succeed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, according to reports.
Rayner is expected to run as deputy leader in a bid that would allow her flatmate, shadow business secretary Long-Bailey, to take the party’s top job.
It comes as Corbyn indicated he would quit as Labour leader in the early part of next year after the party suffered its worst general election defeat since 1935.
Tom Watson stepped down as deputy leader shortly before the election was called.
According to multiple reports, Rayner has not made a final decision, but is exploring a deputy leadership bid.
Northern voters should be ‘wary’ of PM’s promises, says Andy Burnham
The mayor of Manchester issued a warning to Boris Johnson that he could not simply offer infrastructure improvements that were “decades away” to keep his new Northern voters on side.
Andy Burnham, the former Labour leadership hopeful told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I would warn people across the North to be wary of these promises.
“Infrastructure is decades away, very easy things for politicians to promise because actually it is not going to be delivered anytime soon.”
He added: “The North definitely does need new infrastructure. The rail chaos - that we see this morning even, with more cancellations across the North - is due to Victorian infrastructure more than anything.
“But they can’t say that they are doing everything to the North by simply promising infrastructure in the distant future. They have got to deal with the here and now.”
Burnham said Labour under Jeremy Corbyn leadership had been “thwarting” its traditional voters’ views on Brexit. He said his party was in a “pretty dark place right now,” but refused to say whether an emerging leadership successor had his support.
Thornberry ‘wanted Jeremy in No 10’ – but clashed with Corbyn over Brexit policy
Emily Thornberry has admitted that three months before the general election she worried Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to take a position on Brexit could cost the party.
In an interview with the BBC in September, due to be broadcast on Tuesday evening, the shadow foreign secretary said a neutral position would “make it more difficult” to win an election.
“What worries me is that every single interview he does will all be about Brexit,” she told the BBC documentary, The Brexit Storm Continues.
Asked at the autumn party conference whether Labour could win a public vote with a neutral stance, Thornberry added: “I think it makes it more difficult.
“That’s why I’m really pushing this because I want Jeremy in No 10,” she said, according to a clip previewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Putting no-deal on the table will ‘focus minds,’ says Liam Fox
Former international trade secretary Liam Fox said Boris Johnson’s decision to use UK legislation to rule out an extension to EU trade talks would focus minds in the negotiations.
“We’ve got a very, I think, big sea change now in the relationship with Europe,” the senior Conservative told the BBC.
“They know that there’s no chance that Britain won’t leave the EU. Up till now I think there’s always been a view in Brussels that ‘maybe they just might stay’.
“We’re going to be leaving by the end of January. We’ve got a government with a big majority committed to doing that, that will produce a different, I think, attitude in Brussels.
“They now know that there will be a finite amount of time to get an agreement done.”
Next Labour leader doesn’t need ‘ovaries or Northern accent,’ says Starmer ally
Jenny Chapman, a key ally of leadership contender Sir Keir Starmer, has ridiculed the idea that the next Labour leader must “have ovaries or a Northern accent”.
The former Labour MP, who lost her seat at the election, told the BBC: “Nobody on doorsteps of Darlington said the next leader has to have ovaries or a northern accent, and I think that’s such a patronising attitude to think that presenting someone who speaks the northern accent means you're going to win support in the North.”
Keir Starmer ally insists next Labour leader doesn't need 'ovaries or a Northern accent'
Fightback begins even as Long-Bailey is poised to enjoy clear run as the Corbynite candidateIs Zac Goldsmith also heading to the House of Lords?
There’s been plenty of criticism for Boris Johnson’s decision to retain Nicky Morgan in the cabinet and give her life peerage despite her decision to stand down in the Commons.
And there are reports the PM is ready to hand Zac Goldsmith – who lost his Richmond seat to the Lib Dems last week – a role in the House Lords.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Johnson wants to appoint various Brexit supporters to the upper chamber, and say Goldsmith is “tipped for promotion”. Robert Peston suggested he could then stay in cabinet with his “green job” (as an environment minister).
Brexit deadlines ‘concentrate minds,’ claims Gove
Michael Gove has been asked if the amendment to the Brexit bill making any further extension illegal – and putting no-deal back on the table – is “putting a gun to Britain’s head”.
The cabinet office minister said both sides, the UK and the EU, had “committed themselves to concluding the new relationship … by the end of 2020”.
He claimed the government would “operate at pace” and it would help “get Brexit done promptly”.
Earlier Gove earlier suggested there would be no need to crash out of the EU at the end of next year because “deadlines concentrate minds”.
Pound declines after no-deal fears revived
The pound slumped more than 1 per cent after No 10 announced the amendment to the Brexit bill to outlaw any extension to the transition period, according to Bloomberg.
“The pound is right back where it was before the December 12 vote and the subsequent ‘Boris bounce’,” said Valentin Marinov of Credit Agricole SA.
Corbyn facing calls to sack his advisors
Jeremy Corbyn is set to address a meeting of his parliamentary party in Westminster on Tuesday, as MPs return for their first day back after last week’s landslide victory for Boris Johnson.
The Labour leader is facing demands to apologise for the party’s election defeat – and sack those closest to him deemed responsible for the failure – when he faces the diminished group.
Corbyn is resisting calls to step down immediately from senior MPs, including former deputy leader Harriet Harman, amid concerns he is staying on to ensure his successor takes on his left-wing agenda.
More details here:
Demands for Jeremy Corbyn to apologise as he faces MPs after historic defeat
Calls from senior aides to Labour leader to go after devastating election resultUnemployment rate stays at 3.8 per cent
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits decreased by 13,000 to 1.28 million for the quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.
It meant the rate of unemployment stayed flat at 3.8 per cent, surpassing analyst expectations which had forecast an increase to a 3.9 per cent rate of unemployment.
However, the reduction in unemployment came as wage growth stalled over the period and the number of job vacancies also shrank.
Youngest MP will give majority of her salary to charity
Lots of in interest in the new arrivals at Westminster today.
Nadia Whittome, a 23-year-old project worker for a social enterprise, became the youngest member of parliament after Thursday’s poll when she was elected to represent Nottingham East.
The Labour MP is promising to keep only £35,000 of her MP’s salary, donating the rest to charity.
“It’s not berating MPs for taking the full salary,” she told The Independent. “It’s not saying MPs don’t deserve the £79,000. It’s saying workers need a pay rise - carers, teaching assistants, nurses - and I’ll take mine when they take theirs.”
UK’s youngest MP vows to donate more than half of salary to charity
‘Workers need a pay rise – carers, teaching assistants, nurses – and I’ll take mine when they take theirs’Baroness Morgan laughs off questions about life peerage
Nicky Morgan – now Baroness Morgan – has arrived at No 10, waving at reporters.
The culture secretary has been retained despite standing down as an MP, as Boris Johnson rushed through a role in the House of Lords for her in less than a day.
When asked if she was pleased with her life peerage, she laughed.
Three out of four Labour members want PR voting system
Just over three-quarters of Labour members want the party to support electoral reform and adopt proportional representation (PR) as a policy, new polling shows.
A survey by YouGov found that 76 per cent supported the change, with just 12 per cent opposed and a further 12 per cent who said they did not know.
It follows a study by the Electoral Reform Society that showed Boris Johnson would have been denied a majority if we had used the voting system adopted for European parliament polls at the general election.
While Labour would have won 10 more seats and the Greens another 11, the Lib Dems would have been the biggest beneficiaries by taking 59 more seats.
Three-quarters of Labour members want party to back proportional representation
Survey comes as Conservatives win majority with 43 per cent of the vote
PM gets cabinet to chant false claims – and mixes up employment with unemployment
Boris Johnson has addressed his new cabinet, thanking them for their “hard work” in the election.
The PM also got his cabinet members to chant in unison some of the false claims made during the campaign – about 50,000 more nurses and 40 new hospitals being built.
The FullFact group has pointed out that the claim the government was building 40 new hospitals was false because money had only been committed for six new ones.
The 50,000 more nurses claim was universally debunked, since the figure included almost 19,000 existing nurses. Also, Johnson used the word “hire” today. “How many more nurses are we going to hire?”
The cabinet members shouted: “50,000!”
The PM told them: “We should have absolutely no embarrassment about saying that we are a people’s government and this is a people’s cabinet and we are going to be working to deliver on the priorities of the British people.
He added: “Of course, the first 100 days were very busy, 140 days or whatever it was, you may remember it was a very frenetic time, but you ain’t seen nothing yet folks.”
Johnson also said: “I’m proud to say today that Saj has just passed me some, at the risk of sounding more North Korean than normal, Saj has passed me some good economic news that unemployment is up again … employment is up again and unemployment is down.”
Cummings wanted to ‘whack’ favoured people into the House of Lords
After all the criticism about Nicky Morgan’s ennoblement, a 2014 clip has emerged showing Boris Johnson’s closest adviser Dominic Cummings talking about how much he wanted the prime minister could appoint “whoever he wants as a minister”.
The PM’s right-hand man claimed you should you should be able to “take ministers from wherever and whack them in the House of Lords” – and said it would be “on my to-do list if I ever successfully manage to get control at No 10”.
BuzzFeed News’ Mark Di Stefano shared the clip.
The age voters more likely to vote Tory than Labour down to 39, YouGov finds
YouGov has carried out a huge, post-election, interviewing over 40,000 British adults to discover patterns across demographics: age, gender, class, education and previous votes.
It finds that age remains the biggest dividing line in British politics.
The “youthquake” factor was not quite as striking as it might have been for Labour: 56 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds for Jeremy Corbyn’s party, while 67 per cent of over-70s voted Tory.
For every 10 years someone ages, their chance of voting Tory increases by around nine points, the pollster found. The new age at which a voter is more likely to have voted Conservative than Labour is 39, down from 47 at the last election.
The Tories also comfortably beat Labour across all social classes, although support was more striking among working-class groups.
The new Tory MPs: C4 reality star, Krypton Factor champ – and a former dolphin trainer for Terry Nutkins
The new batch of Tory MPs will no doubt be doing lots of TV interviews after they’re sworn in this afternoon. But some have a strange amount of telly and telly-related experience already.
Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland, appeared in the Channel 4 reality show Bride And Prejudice two years ago, which showed the then 24-year-old marrying a Conservative councillor 35 years her senior.
Aaron Bell, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, appeared on University Challenge in 2001 and became champion of the rebooted Krypton Factor in 2009.
And Virginia Crosbie, MP for Ynys Mon. once trained dolphins with Animal Planet host Terry Nutkins at Woburn Safari Park. “One child actually jumped in before we could stop her, but she got out fine.”
