Afternoon summary
- Labour MPs and the TUC have pushed back against Downing Street attempts to get more opposition support in parliament for Theresa May’s Brexit deal. (See 2.23pm and 3.38pm.)
- The SNP has struck a deal with the Greens to pass the Scottish government’s budget, as the BBC reports.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments. We plan to keep them open until about 5.30pm.
Updated
In the comments BTL readers often complain that Brexiters don’t have solutions to the problems generated by the vote to leave the EU in 2016 that they supported. In the interests of objectivity, I offer you two articles out today showing that, actually, they are bursting with creative ideas.
If even an invisible Irish border is unacceptable to the EU, another option is available: a customs territory comprising the UK and Ireland. The republic could remain in the EU but leave its customs union, agreeing instead a common commercial policy including matching tariffs with the UK. This would protect Irish consumers and businesses: the republic imports more from the UK than from any EU country, and the UK is its second biggest European export market. It would also support Irish exports: 85 per cent of its freight trade to the continent uses British ports.
What to do about the coming shortage of green groceries of which several supermarkets warned yet again this week if there is a no-deal Brexit on 29 March? I am just old enough to remember when fresh fruit and veg were in short supply at this time of year. People used to know how to store things to mitigate the problem: apples would be carefully laid out on straw-strewn shelves. We ate lots of root vegetables and not much greenery. If ever you saw a strawberry out of season it came, for some reason, from Israel. Perhaps it is time for a Brexit recipe book, like those comforting wartime rationing ones full of bright ideas for dull things. In our part of the south coast we have racier ideas. We have a centuries-old tradition of smuggling (‘brandy for the parson, baccy for the clerk’), and are ready to set out in our little ships to Dunkirk or wherever and bring back luscious black-market lettuces and French beans, oranges and lemons. Our Sussex and Kent smugglers used to be known as ‘free traders’, which is interesting and — if we have to sneak over an EU tariff wall — entirely appropriate for today.
This is from Mark Rutte, the Dutch PM.
Spoke with @JunckerEU. #Brexit now in final fase. The EU is united; the Withdrawal Agreement is the best and only deal on the table. Awaiting proposal from UK that is acceptable to EU and will enable ratfication in the UK.
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) January 31, 2019
EU officials fear Theresa May is setting the UK on course for a no-deal exit at the end of June because she will not have the political courage to ask for the longer Brexit delay they believe she needs, my colleague Daniel Boffey reports.
Labour MPs and TUC push back against No 10 bid to win left support for Brexit deal
Downing Street’s attempts to win over Labour/left support for Theresa May’s Brexit deal seems to be running into some resistance. Some Labour MPs are urging colleagues not to be taken in by what they describe as a potential “bribe”. (See 2.23pm.) And now the TUC has issued a rather critical statement after talks today between trade union and Cabinet Office officials.
The talks were triggered by the government’s admission that it wants to offer more guarantees about workers’ rights after Brexit. The Labour MP John Mann tabled an amendment during the main debate on May’s Brexit deal, and the government welcomed it. After her deal was defeated, May said offering more on workers’ rights was one of the three changes she needed to make to get her deal through parliament.
In his interview on ITV’s Peston last night Greg Clark, the business secretary, stressed the importance of getting Labour MPs to support the deal when he said he hoped it would pass by a “substantial majority”. He said:
If we are to properly move forward I don’t think we should aim for this deal to pass by a majority of one or two, you saw when the referendum result happened, how that didn’t solve … I would like to see a substantial majority for a deal, that requires understanding.
Mathematically, a “substantial majority” would be impossible without May attracting a hefty chunk of opposition support.
But, after today’s talks, the TUC issued a statement implying the government offer on workers’ rights did not go far enough. A TUC spokesperson said:
Unions are always willing to meet with ministers and officials to represent the interests of working people. But we’re not prepared to settle for warm words or half measures from government.
Our movement has been clear that working people need a binding guarantee for their rights, now and into the future. We won’t support a Brexit deal which fails this test, and the government has come nowhere close to meeting it.
The strongest possible protection for workers’ rights would come from sticking by single market and customs union rules.
Updated
Jeremy Corbyn has also been giving interviews about Brexit. Asked if he thought that Theresa May was listening to his ideas when they met yesterday afternoon to discuss Brexit, he replied:
Well, she was sitting opposite me and somebody next to her was making notes of what I said and somebody sitting next to me was making notes on what she said - so I hope she was listening.
I set out quite clearly what I thought was a credible way forward, which is to negotiate a comprehensive customs union with the EU to protect our trade interests and our jobs, our access to the market and, crucially, legally-binding protections of consumer, environmental and workers’ rights.
Jeremy Corbyn was forced to take a car to Derbyshire to speak about cuts to bus services - after the one he was waiting on failed to show up. As the Press Association reports,
Corbyn met residents and community leaders in Ilkeston on Friday and planned to use a service that had suffered from a reduction in funding. Despite saying he was “stoic” and would “see it through”, he was forced to catch a lift to the Kirk Hallam Community Centre from Nottingham to ensure he was not late. Speaking at the bus stop in Nottingham, Mr Corbyn told the Press Association:
We’ve been waiting 25 minutes for the bus - it was due at 42 (past the hour) and I look over there and it says 11.07am - and it has even disappeared off the information board. So I don’t know what has happened to this bus but we’re stoic, we’ll wait, we’ll see it through.
But I think this kind of proves our point about private operators running buses and not doing it terribly well.
Derek Mackay, the Scottish government’s finance minister, says he has struck a deal with the Scottish Greens to get his budget through Holyrood. (See 9.51am and 2.01pm.)
Pleased to have reached agreement with the Scottish Green Party to deliver a Scottish Budget that invests in health, education, our economy and supports local services. I look forward to setting out details to Parliament shortly. #scotbudget
— Derek Mackay MSP (@DerekMackaySNP) January 31, 2019
And here is the BBC’s Sarah Smith on the deal.
A deal has been struck on the Scottish budget. Greens will vote with the SNP - saying they have secured local tax reform and protection local services. They haven't said yet how much more money is going to local councils
— sarah smith (@BBCsarahsmith) January 31, 2019
Labour MPs condemn what they claim is government attempt to 'bribe' them with community funding
The Labour MP Wes Streeting says his colleagues should not be tempted by the suggestion that, if they vote for the Theresa May’s Brexit deal, the government will increase spending on their communities. (See 12.26pm.) In a statement issued by the People’s Vote campaign, which wants a second referendum, he said:
Today the Downing Street spin machine has briefed journalists that the government would consider offering extra money to coalfield communities and a strengthening of workers’ rights if Labour MPs voted for Brexit.
It’s a promise not worth the newsprint it is printed on. Not just because every analysis, including the government’s own, shows that Brexit will leave us worse off and result in the government having less money to spend, but also because, as the analysis published by the People’s Vote campaign shows, the Brextremists on the Tory benches on whom she is now actively appeasing, will never stand for it.
Their real agenda is to slash workers’ rights, to weaken trade unions and to open up our public services to untrammelled market forces. They are fully paid-up members of the Donald Trump fan club and committed enemies of any social dimension in market regulation and service provision.
For Labour MPs to align themselves with the likes of Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith and Priti Patel on Brexit would be a mistake that would rank alongside Ramsay MacDonald’s 1931 creation of a ‘national’ government. It would never be forgiven and never be forgivable.
The Labour MP David Lammy has posted a more succinct version of the same response on Twitter.
More fool them. Socialists my arse. Cowards and facilitators. History will be brutal. https://t.co/SKHzSzw1Xv
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) January 31, 2019
And the Labour MP Anna Turley has also condemned what the government is reported to be planning.
Shocking story in Times today about the PM trying to bribe former coal towns to get her Brexit deal through. A deal which will make those constituencies worse off. After Govt has taken £6 billion out of northern communities, it's time for fairer funding not pork barrel politics pic.twitter.com/Ic7FZfe9mM
— Anna Turley MP (@annaturley) January 31, 2019
Also just published is the Department for Education’s no-deal advice to universities, most of it involving who is eligible for study and financing via student loans, including EU citizens already in the UK and those wanting to come after Brexit.
One interesting nugget in the advice is: “Entitlement to student finance and home fees status for EU students starting a course at an English institution in academic years after the 2019 to 2020 academic year, is under consideration.” Should the UK’s exit be delayed, that leaves open the possibility that universities may be able to recruit EU-based students and offer home tuition fees backed by student loans, for at least one more year.
Lunchtime summary
- The Department for Education has said that schools may need to be flexible about what goes into pupils’ meals in the event of a no-deal Brexit. (See 1.31pm.)
With just an hour to go until the debate on the Scottish budget (see 9.51am), it was confirmed talks are still taking place between Derek Mackay, the Scottish government’s finance secretary, and the Scottish Greens, the Press Association reports. A government source said: “We will hopefully get a deal by the end of the day, but we will see where we get to.” Discussions over the last 48 hours have been “intense”, he added, saying: “We’re not taking anything for granted but we are hopeful we can reach agreement.”
With improved funding for local government one of the key demands from the Greens, the source said ministers are “very open” to the idea of allowing councils to introduce a levy on hotel rooms.
Updated
Some light relief ...
First minister’s questions in the Holyrood chamber focused on concerns about a third infection outbreak in a Glasgow hospital, which has been linked to the deaths of two premature babies, and homelessness. There was a brief mention of the budget – to be voted on later and as yet the SNP’s minority government has not found the support it needs to pass its spending plans – with Nicola Sturgeon saying she was “hopeful” that a deal would be reached in time with the Scottish Greens.
Earlier in the day, the deputy first minister John Swinney confirmed the suspension of an inquiry into whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code during the Scottish government’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations made against Alex Salmond.
He said it had been agreed that the inquiry, which will be led by Ireland’s former chief prosecutor James Hamilton, should be deferred while criminal investigations against Salmond are active. He added that the Scottish government’s review of the application of its procedure for handling complaints about ministers or former ministers would also “not be progressed at this stage”.
Sturgeon referred herself for investigation earlier this month after questions over whether she had breached the code by failing to declare five meetings and phone calls with Salmond last year.
Schools may need to be flexible about what's in lunches for pupils in no-deal Brexit, DfE says
Schools may need to be “flexible” to provide school lunches in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Department for Education has told schools and colleges in England in its EU exit advice note out today. It says:
The government, including the Department for Education, will continue to work with food suppliers to prepare for a no deal departure from the EU. Schools have significant flexibilities within the school food standards. Local authorities and schools must exercise their power to provide meals to all registered pupils who request one.
The DfE’s advice means schools could ignore guidelines on nutrition and content if there are shortages, rewinding Jamie Oliver’s good work and suggesting it could be back to processed potato waffles and chicken nuggets for British school children.
Schools are also told that hiring teachers from abroad will get more difficult because their qualifications may not be automatically recognised.
“In a no deal scenario, the current system of reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications between the EU, EEA EFTA and Switzerland and the UK will not apply after 29 March 2019,” the department states, although teachers who have already had their qualifications recognised in the UK will not be affected.
For school trips, the DfE notes that there are “a number of issues you will need to be aware of when planning travel to the EU for staff or students,” including passport duration.
During business questions in the Commons Sir Oliver Letwin, one of the Conservative MPs who supported the Yvette Cooper amendment intended to give MPs the chance to firmly block a no-deal Brexit, asked what would happen if another government Brexit deal gets voted down by 13 February. Theresa May has said that, if there is no new deal by 13 February, she will give MPs a vote on an amendable motion on 14 February, which would allow them a new vote on Cooper-type amendment. But if MPs have voted down a deal by then, would they still get a further vote on an amendable motion, Letwin asked.
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, said it was “very difficult” for her to say what would happen in the event of a deal being voted down for a second time.
Given that, ahead of the first vote, MPs voted for an amendment to the business motion that ensured that they did get a vote afterwards on what was going to happen next, it is hard to imagine that not happening again. But the Conservative MP Nick Boles, who came up with what ultimately became the Cooper amendment in the first place, said he thought Leadsom’s answer was worrying.
Very worrying answer by @andrealeadsom to question from Oliver Letwin in Business Questions. We were told that the PM had agreed to lay an amendable motion by 15th Feb in the event she brings back a revised deal on 13th Feb and it is rejected. Now in doubt.
— Nick Boles MP (@NickBoles) January 31, 2019
The announcement that the Commons recess may be cancelled coincided with the publication today of a report from the Institute for Government (pdf) looking at whether the government is ready for a no-deak Brexit. The IfG says it is “increasingly unlikely” that all the legislation could pass in time. It says:
It looks increasingly unlikely that the prime minister will be able to get the six outstanding Brexit bills through parliament in time. Some of the major bills still have not started their Lords stages – where the government does not control time. Any piece of legislation can become a target for people wanting to frustrate the government’s intentions.
The government is also behind on secondary legislation. Despite a major push from government departments, only around 100 of the 600 statutory instruments required for a no deal Brexit have made their way through parliament.Almost half are yet to be tabled
Legislation can theoretically be rushed through parliament, but that would bypass important scrutiny and, most importantly, require a stable majority – something the government cannot currently bank on. That means there is a very significant risk that the laws that need to be in place for a no deal Brexit will not be on the statute book.
Overall, the report is damning. Bronwen Maddox, the IfG’s director, told the BBC that the UK is “not ready for no deal”, adding:
The disruption from no deal - simply from the lack of preparation - would be extremely damaging. It cannot be dismissed as a mere blip.
Updated
Jeremy Corbyn has been visiting Ilkeston today. Asked about the reports about the government proposing to shovel cash at Labour leave areas in the hope of getting extra votes for the Brexit deal (see 12.26pm), he said he would be happy to see these communities get more investment, but that this would be more likely under a Labour government. He said:
I think they should look at the needs of their constituencies - of course, every MP should do that and demand appropriate resources for their constituencies.
Many, particularly from mining areas, have been disgracefully treated by this Tory government and indeed previous ones - ever since the miners’ strike in the 1980s.
Clearly, there has to be investment in those communities - but the Brexit plan proposed by Theresa May doesn’t solve that any more than the government’s austerity programme is going to solve any of that.
I simply say to people, if you voted leave or voted remain, your need for a government who will invest in your communities are exactly the same - we need a government that is going to invest in communities and create good-quality, secure jobs.
Corbyn also rejected the suggestion that Labour’s opposition to the government’s Brexit policy had been ineffective. As the Press Association reports, when asked why he thought Labour had not laid a glove on the government despite the difficulties the Tories were in, he replied:
Hang on, they were defeated on a notion from us on contempt of parliament.
They were defeated on their Brexit plan, they were forced to hold a meaningful vote by Labour action.
They were forced to bring forward proposals to grant a European Union citizen’s right to stay in Britain.
That is Labour taking them to task in parliament, the fact that the media choose not to report what Labour says is not my fault.
No 10 dismisses Jeremy Hunt's suggestion Brexit may be delayed
At the lobby briefing this morning the prime minister’s spokesman also dismissed Jeremy Hunt’s suggestion that article 50 may be delayed. (See 8.57am.) Asked about Hunt’s comment, the spokesman said the government was “determined” to ensure all arrangements were in place for the UK to leave on time. He went on:
The prime minister’s position on this is unchanged. We are leaving on March 29.
No 10 denies 'cash for votes', but confirms more cash for Labour leave areas being considered
This morning the Times splashed with a story (paywall) saying the government is exploring the idea of promising to spend money on leave-voting former mining communities in the hope of getting some of the Labour MPs who represent those areas to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The paper reports:
The prime minister’s allies believe that she needs the backing of about 20 Labour MPs for a modified agreement to offset the number of Tory rebels, even if she wins the support of the DUP.
Potential Labour backers are now being wooed with the promise of local investment as Downing Street increases efforts to build a parliamentary majority before a second vote.
“There’s a willingness to look again at coalfield communities and make good the promises that former Labour governments failed to deliver,” a well-placed government source said. “It’s about allowing Labour MPs representing Brexit communities to show that they have extracted something tangible in return for their vote. And, frankly, it’s not an unreasonable ask.”
One of those involved in the negotiations said that Downing Street was pressing for details of potential investments. “We are being asked to get all our demands in as soon as possible. There is a real urgency about this all of a sudden.”
May woos Labour MPs with cash to back Brexit#tomorrowspaperstoday@AllieHBNews#Brexit pic.twitter.com/tVG1QoftEQ
— The Times Pictures (@TimesPictures) January 30, 2019
At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the prime minister’s spokesman rejected the idea that this amounted to “cash for votes”. When this was put to him, he replied: “I absolutely wouldn’t characterise it like that.” But otherwise he was happy to confirm that the government was considering pumping money into these areas. The spokesman said:
The prime minister has a long-standing commitment to tackling inequality between communities.
We are determined to lead a programme of national renewal post-Brexit by rebuilding and reconnecting communities, driving prosperity and unleashing the potential and creativity of hard-working people in every part of our country.
No community should feel that they are left behind.
The Sun’s Steve Hawkes says government MPs may be on a one-line whip during the February recess. A one-line whip means MPs don’t have to turn up. Like me (see 11.15am), he suspects this may just be about ensuring that the government does not get criticised for letting MPs take a holiday at a time of crisis.
Growing talk that MPs will only be on a one-line whip for February non-recess. Surely it's not just a PR move by the Govt?
— steve hawkes (@steve_hawkes) January 31, 2019
Leadsom signals February recess likely to be cancelled - even though no Brexit legislation being debated next week
This is what Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, told MPs about the prospect of the February recess being cancelled. She said:
The House will know that recess dates are always announced subject to the progress of business. In this unique session of parliament, and in light of the significant decisions taken by the House this week, it is only right that I give the House notice that there are currently no plans to bring forward a motion to agree dates for the February recess, and that the House may therefore need to continue to sit to make progress on the key business before the House.
I realise that this is short notice for colleagues for House staff, but I do think our constituents will expect that the House is able to continue to make progress at this important time. I will endeavour to provide confirmation of the sitting arrangements and business for February as soon as possible.
I am very sorry for the inconvenience this will cause to colleagues, House staff and their families. Where House staff are concerned, conversations are underway to ensure that disruption is limited and no one is out of pocket. And where members have family, ministerial or constituency commitments, the usual channels [the party whips] will work hard with members to limit the inconvenience.
MPs were expecting the government to cancel the February recess because there is a backlog of legislation that needs to be passed before Brexit, and it is hard to see how there will be time for it all to go through without MPs having to sit longer hours.
But what is curious is that, at the moment, most of this legislation cannot be passed because the government does not have a Brexit deal. Today, as she does every Thursday, Leadsom announced the Commons business for next week and, as you can see, it is remarkably light. There is no Brexit legislation on the agenda, and the motions that are being debated certainly don’t need a full four days.
The business for next week will be: pic.twitter.com/typd105PsP
— Leader's Office (@CommonsLeader) January 31, 2019
Ministers want to keep open the option of cancelling the February recess, just in case there is a deal before 14 February. But, based on what Jeremy Hunt was saying this morning (see 9.44am), that seems highly unlikely.
But Leadsom seemed to imply that the recess would be abandoned, regardless of whether or not there was a deal. Why? She may have given it away when she said: “Our constituents will expect that the House is able to continue to make progress at this important time.” Even if there is no Brexit legislation ready to pass in the February half-term, MPs are like to be sitting in the chamber anyway to convey the impression they are taking the crisis seriously.
Updated
Leadsom tells MPs their February recess may be cancelled
Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has just announced in business questions that the government may have to cancel the February recess. She said it was important for parliament to be able to make progress at this time.
She apologised for the inconvenience to MPs, and to staff who work in the Commons.
MPs were due to start their half-term recess after Thursday 14 February, and return to the Commons on Monday 25 February.
Updated
One of the great unknowns in British politics at the moment is whether or not the EU would be willing to re-open the Brexit deal. Amongst Brexiters it is axiomatic that, whatever EU leaders are saying now in public, in practice, when faced with the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, at the last minute Brussels would back down. Pro-Europeans seem inclined to take what EU leaders say at face value, not least because during the Brexit process EU statements have turned out to be a more reliable guide to eventual outcomes than UK government ones. As far as anyone can tell, the Downing Street view seems to be somewhere in the middle; that some “give” will be possible, but only up to a point.
On the Today programme this morning Sir Martin Donnelly, a former permanent secretary at the Department for International Trade, was asked for his opinion. Did he think that, when EU leaders rule out renegotiating the withdrawal agreement, we should take them at face value? Yes, he said. He explained:
This agreement took 18 months of tough, detailed negotiation. It’s over 500 pages of legal text. And that’s really important in the Brussels setting. And now the concrete has set very hard around it. It’s just not possible for any negotiators, however brilliant, to go back and say: ‘We want to re-open a fundamental part of this deal. We’re not quite sure how exactly we’re going to do that, but it’s very important we do it in a couple of weeks.’ People in Brussels just don’t that that seriously, I’m afraid.
Donnelly also said that there would be a “serious paralysis” of parts of the British economy in the event of a no-deal Brexit. He said:
There is so much just-in-time trade, there is millions of lorries and containers crossing the border, particularly in the Dover choke point every year, it’s just not possible to put in extra controls and expect that system to continue working. Sooner or later, probably in a matter of weeks, there would be serious paralysis of significant parts of the UK economy.
There are 10,000 containers a day just for the motor industry, components for example. Then there is all the fresh food. Then there is the fact that, if lorries get stuck in Dover or Calais, then they can’t be moving between Leeds and Manchester. And our transport system is very integrated. So the whole thing just isn’t going to work.
When it was put to Donnelly that other ports could take some of the traffic currently going through Dover and Calais, he replied:
You have to look at the reality here. I think, if you talk to the Freight Association, if you look at the space in ports, there just isn’t room. There isn’t space in, say, Holyhead for all the traffic that now goes smoothly to Ireland and back ... You can’t just say we will just fix up a few car parks and it will all work. All the evidence is, it won’t.
Rough sleeping up 13% in London
More than 4,500 people slept rough on the streets of England last year, according to official figures released after the UK had its coldest night of the winter. As the Press Association reports, local authorities estimated around 4,677 people slept rough on a single night last autumn, according to data (pdf) from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This was up 2,909 since comparable records begun in 2010, but marked the first decrease of the decade, with a 2% drop since 2017. Despite the fall across England, London saw a 13% increase with 1,283 sleeping on the streets.
Updated
While Brexit machinations continue at Westminster, Thursday at Holyrood sees the first parliamentary vote on the SNP’s budget, with cross-party negotiations ongoing to muster enough support to pass the SNP minority government’s plans. While the SNP have previously relied upon the Scottish Greens, this year a row over council funding means their support is still wavering.
Indeed, the Scotsman is reporting this morning that Nicola Sturgeon has warned her party to prepare for a possible Scottish election if the Holyrood government fails to pass its budget today. According to the Scotsman, during a meeting of the SNP group at Westminster attended by Sturgeon on Monday, she warned her MPs that they should prepare for a snap Holyrood election if the SNP government fails to get its budget through. This adds to speculation that Sturgeon may seek a fresh mandate from the electorate to secure another referendum on independence, as she prepares to reveal her plans in the coming weeks.
The Scottish Green’s Andy Wightman was on BBC Radio Scotland this morning insisting that his party were not being “obstructive”. Although they have the promise of legislation by the end of this parliament and a green light for a local tourist tax, the sticking point remains their call for a hefty increase in spending on local government this year. It’s going to be a long day at Holyrood.
Jeremy Hunt's Today interview - Summary
Here is a full summary of what Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, said in his Today programme interview about Brexit.
- Hunt admitted that Brexit may have to be delayed. (See 8.57am.)
- He played down prospects for the UK being able to put new proposals to the EU for resolving the backstop anytime soon. Speaking about the next steps for the government, he said:
The first thing we have to do is demonstrate that our commitment to the Belfast agreement, the Good Friday agreement, is absolute. And we will do that.
Secondly, we have to show that any solution that changes the backstop won’t lead to us trying to access the single market by the back door. And we recognise that the way that we access the single market, because we are not going to be embracing free movement, will change.
If we can overcome those two issues, which I think we can, then I think we will be able to have substantive discussions.
But this is not going to happen in the next few days. We have to put these proposals together, we have to work them up, we have to go through them in detail with our partners in the EU.
This is significant because Theresa May has already said that, if no deal is reached by Wednesday 13 February, she will make a statement to MPs, and table an amendable motion to be debated the following day (ie, a fortnight today). Hunt’s comments implied that he does not expected a deal before then, and that the debate will go ahead. The EU has already made it clear, from its reaction to the Commons votes on Tuesday, that it is not about to offer a compromise and today’s Times even says that “Angela Merkel will ‘go to the edge of the precipice’ with Theresa May as the European Union prepares to reject any change to the withdrawal agreement in time for a crucial vote in two weeks.” Bruno Waterfield’s story (paywall) goes on: “Diplomatic sources said the German chancellor believed that people needed ‘to look into the abyss before a deal is done at five to midnight — that is how she works’.”
- Hunt refused to back what Greg Clark, the business secretary told ITV’s Peston programme last night about technical solutions to the Irish border problem being unavailable. The UK government is calling for “alternative arrangements” to the backstop, and one option would using new technology to avoid the need for physical controls at the border. But Clark told Peston last night that he did not think these solutions were available. He said:
I’ve visited the border between Norway and Sweden, one country outside the EU, one country inside, they do have physical checks there. So I myself don’t see [a technological solution] being currently available but I don’t want to pour cold water on an attempt by people who are on different sides of the argument to come together to try to find a way forward.
When Hunt was asked if he agreed, he refused to endorse what Clark said. Instead he said:
[Clark] has got a view, and lots of people have got a view.
- Hunt said the idea that the government was not committed to the Good Friday agrement was “distressing” and “nonsense”. He said:
We have to show the EU, and show Ireland, that our commitment to the Belfast, Good Friday agreement, is absolutely unconditional. In fact, it is quite distressing for people like me and you, who grew up in the 1980s with bombs going off in Harrods or in Hyde Park and all over the country - any suggestion that we would ever waver in our support for the peace process, which was the greatest achievement of both John Major and Tony Blair, is absolute nonsense.
Hunt was responding to Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, saying on Tuesday night that the vote calling for an alternative to the backstop showed that the Conservative party had “effectively ripped apart the Good Friday agreement”. This claim has clearly infuriated Tory MPs, who repeatedly raised it in the Commons chamber yesterday.
Updated
UK may have to delay leaving EU, Jeremy Hunt admits
Brexit may have to be delayed, a senior member of the government has now admitted. This is not, of itself, a startling observation - in Brussels this has been the working assumption for some time - but it is not something that anyone at the top of government has ever said this bluntly before. Whenever Theresa May gets asked about the prospect of article 50 being delayed, she either says the UK is leaving on 29 March, period, or, in her more candid moments, says that this is not an option being considered. But on the Today programme this morning Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, was much more direct. When it was put to him that it was “likely” that Brexit would have to be delayed, he did not challenge the premise of the question. Instead he replied:
I think that depends on how long this process takes.
I think it is true that if we ended up approving a deal in the days before the 29th March, then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation. But if we are able to make progress sooner then, that might not be necessary.
We can’t know at this stage exactly which of those scenarios would happen.
I will post more from his interview soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Annual figures on rough sleeping are published.
10.10m: Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, takes questions in the Commons.
10.15am: Jeremy Corbyn holds a meeting in Ilkeston focusing on bus services.
After 10.30am: Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, takes business questions in the Commons.
11.30am: Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary, speaks at the doteveryone conference.
2.30pm: MSPs start debating the Scottish government’s budget. As the BBC reports, it is in danger of being voted down.
As usual, I will also be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, but I expect to be focusing mostly on Brexit. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I finish, at around 5pm.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply ATL, although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.
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