The Conservatives and Labour have resumed talks aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock as pressure mounts on both parties ahead of looming elections.
It comes as Jeremy Corbyn is set for a showdown with MPs on Monday night ahead of a crunch meeting of his party's ruling body to sign off Labour's manifesto for the European elections.
On Monday, 22 out of 70 of the party's MEP candidates for the election also signed a pledge to campaign for a public vote on any Brexit deal.
The signatories include 12 current members of the European parliament, alongside the leader of Labour's MEP's Richard Corbett and his deputy Seb Dance.
The pledge - organised by the grassroots Remain Labour campaign - commits the candidate, if elected as an MEP, to "campaign to give the people the Final Say, with a referendum that offers a choice between a Brexit deal and the option to Remain in the EU".
The Conservatives also face losing 800 council seats in local elections this week and a mauling in 23 May's European parliament vote amid anger from Tory supporters over the UK's delayed departure from the EU.
This live blog has now closed, but you can read updates from Monday below
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's politics live blog at the start of what looks set to be another dramatic week in Westminster.
Pressure is mounting on both Labour and the Conservatives as the two parties resume talks aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse.
Jeremy Corbyn is facing growing pressure to back a second Brexit referendum ahead of a crunch meeting of his party's ruling national committee, which will make a decision on the issue on Tuesday. The row is likely to dominate a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party tonight.
The Tories, meanwhile, are braced for wipeout in local elections on Thursday amid anger among supporters over the UK's delayed departure from the EU. One poll has predicted they could lose as many as 800 council seats across the country.
Labour could sign up to a Brexit deal without a fresh referendum attached if the government makes significant concessions in the ongoing talks, the shadow business secretary has suggested.
Asked if the inclusion of a public vote was a “red line” for Labour in the negotiations, Rebecca Long-Bailey said the party was not “hugely prescriptive” on its terms.
Her comments will be a blow to pro-EU supporters as shadow chancellor John McDonnell prepares for talks with Tory counterpart Philip Hammond today. My colleague Lizzy Buchan has the full story:
Labour could sign up to Brexit deal without a second referendum, shadow minister says
Party facing angry backlash over failure to mention public vote in draft election leafletSome 115 MPs and MEPs have signed a letter urging members of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to explicitly back a second referendum in the manifesto.
The letter, organised by the Love Socialism Hate Brexit group of MPs, comes ahead of a crunch meeting of the NEC tomorrow that will determine the party's stance on the issue.
Twenty-two Labour candidates in the European elections have also pledged to campaign for a referendum and back efforts to remain in the EU regardless of the party's decision.
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson used his Twitter account to urge followers to lobby NEC members to back a public vote.
But calls for a second referendum are divisive within the top ranks of the Labour movement, with concerns that the party could alienate voters in Leave-supporting heartlands.
The Conservatives face losing 800 seats in the upcoming local elections amid grassroots fury over Brexit, according to polling analysis.
Theresa May's party could lose almost a fifth of Tory-held seats, if Election expert and Tory peer Robert Hayward's predictions are correct.
Lord Hayward said the Liberal Democrats were most likely to capitalise on the collapse in Tory support, picking up more than 500 seats, while Labour could claw back around 300.
Political correspondent Lizzy Buchan has more details:
Conservatives face losing more than 800 seats in local election hammering amid Brexit fury
Deputy chair admits 'frustrated' voters could use the polls to give the Tories a bloody noseThe signatories include 12 current members of the European parliament, alongside the leader of Labour's MEP's Richard Corbett and his deputy Seb Dance.
The pledge - organised by the grassroots Remain Labour campaign - commits the candidate, if elected as an MEP, to "campaign to give the people the Final Say, with a referendum that offers a choice between a Brexit deal and the option to Remain in the EU".
22 Labour MEP candidates sign pledge to campaign for second Brexit referendum
Move comes ahead of crucial meeting of Labour's governing body to sign off European election manifestoCross-party talks aimed at ending the Brexit impasse are to resume later today, although there is little optimism about a breakthrough.
The Conservatives hope Britain's participation in the 23 May European elections - in which the Tories are expected to be beaten into third place by Nigel Farage's Brexit Party - can be avoided if a compromise deal can get through parliament before polling day.
But Labour has played down the prospects of a breakthrough in the cross-party talks, accusing Theresa May of refusing to budge on her red lines.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have accused Labour of stalling, something which shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey denied on Sunday.
She told Sky News: "I think the discussions so far have been productive, they've gone into a lot of detail, there seems to be a willingness on both sides to move towards some form of consensus.
"As yet we haven't seen the government move on any of their red lines, we're having further discussions this week and hopefully we'll see some movement."
Long-Bailey will join shadow chancellor John McDonnell, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman and senior aides in talks with government counterparts this afternoon.
The Brexit impasse was caused by Theresa May "rushing in" to discussions on the terms of the UK's divorce from the EU rather than insisting they should take place in parallel with trade talks, a former director general of the World Trade Organisation has said.
Pascal Lamy told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "My view is that we may have made the wrong choice in deciding that we would negotiate first the Withdrawal Agreement - which is a sort of divorce agreement - and then the rest."
May's government initially argued that the issues of withdrawal and future relations should be negotiated together, but swiftly folded in 2017 as Brussels insisted the divorce must be settled first.
"She was in a hurry, she was under huge pressure from Boris Johnson, Brexiters and the rest and she said 'Brexit is Brexit, we will Brexit' and they rushed into this first stage without understanding that this huge unclarity on the next stage would have a big bearing on the discussion," said Lamy.
He added: "I know full well from experience that negotiating a trade agreement takes years and years, so I understand why they couldn't wait for that in order to Brexit for those of the British public who wanted to Brexit rapidly."
It was now time for the EU to offer "clarity" on future relations to allay the fears of both Brexiters and Remainers that the UK will be "cheated", said Lamy, who led the WTO between 2005 and 2013.
He suggested both sides should seek a "totally open trade relationship", retaining as much as possible of current arrangements.
Jeremy Hunt is today setting out on a week-long trip to Africa with the goal of boosting trade and diplomatic links as the UK seeks post-Brexit allies.
In his first trip to the continent as foreign secretary, Mr Hunt will seek to increase the UK's presence in French-speaking countries where it has previously played a more minor role.
Mr Hunt said he wanted to work "within and alongside" African nations to tackle international threats and forge new opportunities as the UK leaves the EU.
The trip will take in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya.
As part of the drive to expand British influence, the UK is funding an almost £4m English language programme in French and Portuguese-speaking countries aimed at reaching 7.5 million young people a year.
Mr Hunt said:
Africa is a continent growing at an extraordinary rate, full of transformative potential.
In a future where Britain is no longer a member of the EU, I want us to work within and alongside African nations to make sure, together, we combat the threats we all face, and capitalise on the opportunities open to people wherever they live.
To do this, I want to set out the stall for the UK to be the new partner of choice across Africa.
Homes with Labour, Lib Dems and Green posters vandalised in suspected Brexit-related attacks
Properties displaying Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green Party posters Sussex have been vandalised, in attacks thought to be linked to Brexit.
The houses targeted in Lewes had the words “traitors” and “hypocrites” spray painted on their exterior walls.
“The vandalism includes damage to property and the public footpath,” a spokesperson for Lewes Labour Party said in a statement.
Theresa May's spokesman has confirmed reports that the PM is planning to delay a vote on the Queen's speech until the autumn.
According to The Times, the PM fears a possible Queen's speech - setting out her legislative agenda for the year ahead - could be defeated by MPs, and deliver a fatal blow to her administration.
Asked about the report at a Downing Street briefing this morning, the PM's spokesman confirmed the government intends to pass the withdrawal agreement bill beforehand.
Labour takes sizeable poll lead over Tories as Brexit Party surges, ahead of European elections
Labour has taken a seven-point lead over the Conservatives ahead of the European elections, a new poll has found.
A study by Opinium put Labour on 33 per cent, the Conservatives on 26 per cent and the insurgent Brexit Party on 17 per cent, when the public was grilled on how they would vote in a general election.
The Liberal Democrats were on 6 per cent, with Ukip, the Green Party and the new centrist party Change UK all on 4 per cent.
"It has been an honour to represent the Lothian region for Labour in the Scottish Parliament and to have had the opportunity to serve the party in a variety of roles for over a decade - from party organiser to leader," she said in a statement.
"All through that time the passion and commitment of our members has been inspirational.
"No matter how difficult things were, activists were always willing to hit the doorsteps to spread Labour's message."
She added: "I have devoted my working life to public service and this is an incredibly exciting new opportunity for me to lead the work of the John Smith Centre.
"Throughout my career I have taken on tough and challenging tasks and my next task is to rebuild faith in our politics.
"Disruptive events and the rise of populism has led to increasingly polarised and emotional politics where rational, evidence-based thinking has lost its standing.
"Faith in public service, politics and the political process has to be restored and that progress must be sustainable.
"John Smith said 'the opportunity to serve our country - that is all we ask'.
"It will be an honour to build on his legacy and inspire his values of public service in a new generation."
Labour must 'stop vacillating' over new referendum, says SDLP veteran
One of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement has piled pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to “stop vacillating” over Labour‘s support for a second referendum.
Seamus Mallon, a former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, said a new Brexit vote was “absolutely essential” and expressed concern about the ongoing political chaos threatening the peace process.
Mr Mallon, an MP for Labour’s sister party in Northern Ireland, the SDLP, for nearly 20 years, appealed to Labour bosses, saying the public was “craving for straight, honest and effective leadership” as the situation was “too serious” for division.
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has been granted an urgent question on reported government plans to hike tuition fees for EU students:
Under proposals first reported by BuzzFeed News last week, EU students from would lose their right to pay the same fees as home students from the 2021/22 academic year. It also means they would pay significantly more than international students from non-EU countries.
The EU's Brexit coordinator has said he will write to Theresa May to stress the bloc "will never accept" proposals to charge international students more to study at UK universities:
The former head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has dismissed Tory Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith's claims about alternatives to a backstop as "pie in the sky".
Appearing on the BBC's Politics Live this afternoon, Pascal Lamy told the former Conservative leader he was demonstrating "total confusion" about the situation on the Irish border after Brexit.
Duncan Smith had said the backstop was unnecessary because "alternative arrangements" could ensure there was no need for a hard border in Ireland.
Lamy, who was the WTO's director general between 2005 and 2013, replied:
With respect, I was director general of the World Trade Organisation for eight years, which has something to do with customs procedures. And this notion that exiting the internal market implies no border is pie in the sky. There is no way you can exit the internal market without a border.
I’m sorry, this is a total confusion ... between the internal market and the customs union. The customs union is about tariffs, goods. The internal market is about regulation. If you want to diverge ... you have to accept that there will be a border because we, the EU, have to control things which abide by different regulatory requirements.
US may withhold intelligence from UK if it lets Huawei build 5G network, official says
The US may withhold intelligence from the UK if Theresa May’s government uses Chinese firm Huawei to build its next-generation mobile internet infrastructure, an American official has suggested.
“It is the United States’ position that putting Huawei or any other untrustworthy vendor in any part of the 5G telecommunications network is a risk,” Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber, international communications and information policy at the US state department, said.
“If other countries insert and allow untrusted vendors to build out and become the vendors for their 5G networks we will have to reassess the ability for us to share information and be connected with them in the ways that we are today.”
Tory Mayor apologies for calling Sikh temple a 'mosque'
A Tory Mayor has apologised after he called a Sikh temple a “mosque” during a religious festival in Birmingham.
Andy Street, the former managing director of John Lewis, made the gaffe while thanking the local community at the Vaisakhi celebrations on Sunday.
“Brilliant to join the nagar kirtan here from the guru nanak mosque in smethwick,” he told KTV, referring to a procession involving the singing of hymns.
