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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Corbyn says he still backs remain but second Brexit referendum won't happen - Politics live

David Davis (left) and Michel Barnier at their press conference.
David Davis (left) and Michel Barnier at their press conference. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

Afternoon summary

  • The Treasury has said that ministers will be allowed to spend money preparing for Brexit before they have had normal parliamentary approval. In a written ministerial statement Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said that “delaying spend until legislation has reached Royal Assent could jeopardise readiness for Brexit” and that as a result ministers will be told they can use a “technical direction” to authorise spending some of the £250m that has been allocated for this purpose.
  • Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has said that ministers need more time before they can bring the EU withdrawal bill back to the Commons for its committee stage line-by-line scrutiny. The bill is the government’s most important piece of Brexit legislation. Eight days have been set aside for the committee stage. But, when Leadsom announced the Commons business for next week, the bill was not included. She explained:

What I can say to all members is of course, there are some 300 amendments and 54 new clauses being proposed, quite rightly, by members who have very real concerns about the bill.

Those are being closely evaluated. That is taking a bit of time to have proper, thoughtful, well considered responses to those.

But we will of course be bringing forward the committee of the whole House just as soon as we’re able to.

  • Nigel Lawson, the Conservative former chancellor, has called for Philip Hammond, the current chancellor, to be sacked. Lawson spoke out (see 3.09pm) as other Tories continued to criticise Hammond, directly or obliquely, for his reluctance to spend money now on preparing for a “no deal” Brexit. (See 10.49am, 10.57am and 3.43pm.)

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

The CBI is also calling for measures to be taken to revive the Brexit talks. Carolyn Fairbairn, its director general, said:

With negotiations at such a vital juncture, talk of a deadlock will be deeply concerning to many businesses in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Both sides must show the leadership and determination to get the talks moving more quickly because jobs and investment across Europe depend upon it.

At his Foreign Office press conference Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has urged the EU to move the Brexit talks on to the next stage, the BBC’s Vicki Young reports.

UPDATE: Here is a fuller version of the quote.

Updated

And this is what Leave.EU, the Ukip-aligned leave campaign during the referendum, is saying about the Brexit talks. A spokesperson said:

Michel Barnier refuses to discuss a future deal, the European parliament will veto a deal, Labour will reject ‘no deal’ and the European court of justice can strike down any agreed deal.

This so-called negotiation is more of a fudge than David Cameron’s. The whole thing is a complete waste of time, money and effort and we should do everyone a favour and leave now.

Change Britain, a pro-Brexit group set up by key figures in the Vote Leave campaign, has issued this statement from the Tory MP Charlie Elphicke about the Davis/Barnier press conference. He said:

The European commission needs to understand that the UK is going to leave the EU in March 2019 with or without a deal, a position which today’s Sky Data poll reveals the public supports.

The UK has clearly set out its negotiating position whilst making concessions in the Florence Speech, yet the EU has dismissed these out of hand.

If Brussels is serious about reaching a deal, they should move negotiations forward to the UK-EU future trading relationship.

Elphicke is referring to this Sky poll.

The SNP says the government is to blame for the lack of progress in the Brexit talks. This is from the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman Stephen Gethins.

The worrying revelation from the EU’s chief negotiator that sufficient progress over key issues has not been made in order for talks to progress, highlights the brick wall approach that the UK government has taken in these negotiations offering little in the way of clarity.

The conclusion of this round of negotiations has revealed the utter irresponsibility and lack of preparedness on display from the UK government. It is as if they have not been in the same room, let alone on the same page as the EU officials in these negotiations.

The UK government has had 15 months to prepare and their woeful approach could have dire consequences for each and every one of us given the importance of these talks to our economy.

It is not just Nigel Lawson calling for Philip Hammond to go. The backbench MP Nadine Dorries has also taken to Twitter to point out that she starting calling for him to be sacked some days ago.

The Telegraph’s Peter Foster has an interesting Twitter thread on the Davis/Barnier press conference. It starts here.

Nigel Lawson calls for Hammond to be sacked

In an interview on the BBC’s Daily Politics earlier, Nigel Lawson, the Conservative former chancellor and leading Brexit advocate, has called for Philip Hammond to be sacked. Echoing today’s Daily Mail (see 9.51am), Lawson said that “[Hammond] may not intend it but in practice what he is doing is very close to sabotage.”

Hammond should be more willing to spend money preparing for a “no deal” Brexit, Lawson said.

The really important thing now is that we prepare for the no deal outcome and it is grossly irresponsible if we don’t prepare ...

You have to spend money from time to time, and there is nothing more important than preparing for what has always been the most likely outcome.

Asked if Hammond’s stance was undermining Brexit, he replied: “That may not be his intention but I fear that he is.” And, asked what Theresa May should do about this, he replied: “I think probably a reshuffle.”

Hammond, of course, has said he does support spending money preparing for a “no deal” Brexit, but not until that is necessary.

Cable announces Lib Dem reshuffle

Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, has announced a reshuffle. The party only has 12 MPs, but using peers he has rustled up a team of 28 “principal spokespersons”. The full list is here.

Cable, an economist and former business secretary in the coalition, will take the lead economics job himself. He will speak for the party in the Commons on economic and business issues, the party says.

The two other notable appointments involve former party leaders. This is from the party’s news release.

Former leader Tim Farron will take up a new position focused on regenerating the north of England. This is a sign of the Lib Dems’ commitment to building a more balanced national economy and making sure the government delivers on the Northern Powerhouse. Farron will also lead on rural affairs.

Another former leader, Menzies Campbell, has been appointed principal defence spokesman. The broader foreign affairs team includes deputy leader Jo Swinson, international affairs spokesperson Shas Sheehan and armed forces spokesperson Jamie Stone.

Corbyn says 'there isn't going to be another referendum', even though he says he still backs remain

Yesterday Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman sidestepped a question about how Corbyn would vote if there were another EU referendum now. But Corbyn himself has now been asked the question, and he has said that he is still in favour of remaining. He said:

Yes, I voted remain because I thought the best option was to remain. I haven’t changed my mind on that. But we accept the result of referendum.

But perhaps more significant was what he said about a second referendum; there isn’t going to be one, he said. The Lib Dems are actively pushing for a second referendum, the SNP are coming round to the idea, and MPs and peers will push for one as the EU referendum bill goes through parliament. But, without Labour support, any push for a second referendum is going nowhere. Although Labour says a second referendum is not its policy, it has never explicitly ruled one out. But Corbyn came close to doing so today. In answer to the question about how he would vote in one, his first response was:

Listen, there isn’t going to be another referendum, so it’s a hypothetical question.

Labour says Davis should demand new round of emergency Brexit talks to break deadlock

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has written an open letter to David Davis, the Brexit secretary, saying the government should call for new, emergency Brexit talks in the light of what Michel Barnier said today about the negotiations not making enough progress. In the letter he said:

I am deeply concerned that more than six months on from the triggering of article 50 this round of discussions has ended without an agreement, with the European Union warning of a “disturbing deadlock” over the divorce settlement. It now looks likely that the EU council next week will not be able to agree negotiations have proceeded sufficiently to open up trade talks.

The deadlock in negotiations increases the risk of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal. That would be catastrophic for jobs and living standards and must be rejected as a viable option.

That is why Labour is calling on the government urgently to request an additional emergency round of talks with EU negotiators in the coming days to try and reach an agreement before next week’s EU Council meeting. The government must recognise the gravity of the situation, must drop the ideological red lines and work round the clock to find a resolution to the current situation.

Sir Keir Starmer.
Sir Keir Starmer. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The department for international trade has put out a press release about Liam Fox’s new board of trade. (See 9.41am.) The board has various advisers, but the news release reveals that at this point the board has only one actual member - Fox himself.

Davis/Barnier press conference - Summary and analysis

Here are the main points from the press conference with David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator. Not for the first time, Barnier arrived with a headline-friendly phrase conveying doom. But he also hinted at the possibility of progress by the end of this year. That would be much later than the UK government originally wanted, and it would still leave precious little time to agree a transition deal before British businesses start to hit the panic button, but it does give Davis a sliver of good news to cling to.

Overall verdict

  • Barnier said that the two sides had not made any “great steps forward” during this week’s talks. He said:

We clarified some points without however making any great steps forward.

But Davis struck a generally more upbeat note. (This was no surprise; there have been five rounds of Brexit talks now, and at almost every closing press conference Barnier has sounded more pessimistic than Davis.) Davis said:

Now while there is still work to be done, much work to be done, we have come a long way.

Financial settlement

  • Barnier said that the talks on what the UK will pay the EU as it leaves were “deadlocked” and that this was “very disturbing”. This was the his headline gloom message. He said:

This week, however, the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out these commitments. There have therefore been no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions - useful discussions, but technical discussions.

On this question we have reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing for thousands of project promoters in Europe and it’s disturbing also for taxpayers.

  • Davis confirmed that the UK would not make a financial offer until later in the talks. This would be a “political agreement”, he said, implying that it would not be a matter decided simply by a legalistic assessment of what the UK owed. He said:

In line with the process agreed at our last round of talks, we have undertaken a rigorous examination of the technical detail where we need to reach a shared view.

This is not a process of agreeing specific commitments - we have been clear this can only come later.

But it is an important step, so that when the time comes we will be able to reach a political agreement quickly and simply.

Moving the talks on to discuss transition and trade

  • Davis said he hoped that EU leaders would agree at their summit next week to loosen Barnier’s negotiating mandate, so that they can start discussing new issues. Under his current remit Barnier cannot discuss the Brexit transition or the future trade relationship until “sufficient progress” has been made on three withdrawal issues: citizens’ rights, Ireland, and money. The UK has always wanted to discuss the future trade relationship at the same time, arguing (correctly) that it is impossible to settle Irish border issues until both sides know what the future trade relationship will be. (The UK is also unwilling to make a financial offer until it knows what it is getting long-term in exchange). Davis said:

I hope the leaders of the 27 will provide Michel with the means to explore ways forward with us on that and build on the spirit of co-operation we now have.

Although the UK wants the talks to move to phase two, the trade relationship bit, as soon as possible, Davis did not explicitly demand this. One solution might be to tweak Barnier’s guidelines so that outline or preliminary talks on the transition and trade can start before Christmas, without a formal move to stage two.

  • Barnier confirmed that he would not be able to advise EU leaders at their summit next week to let the talks move to phase two. He said:

On this basis I am not able in the current circumstances to propose next week to the European council that we should start discussions on the future relationship.

But EU leaders are scheduled to hold another summit in December and Barnier said that it was possible that by then enough progress might have been made to justify moving the talks to phase two. He said:

I’ve been saying since the Florence speech that there is a new momentum, and I remain convinced today that with political will, decisive progress is within our grasp in the next two months.

  • Barnier defended the EU’s decision not to allow talks on the Brexit transition now - while also hinted that he could become more flexible in future. He said the time had not yet right to discuss the transition. And he defended the EU timetable for negotiations, which says the three withdrawal issues have to be settled first.

To make a success of the negotiations we have got to do things in the right order. That is a condition of success. If we mix everything up, there are risks.

But Barnier also hinted that he would be willing to show some flexibility. He said:

Slowly but surely I will explore ways of getting out of this deadlock.

Yesterday Philip Hammond, the chancellor, told MPs that the UK government thinks Barnier does want to loosen his negotiating mandate. Davis’s comments this morning suggest ministers think EU leaders, not Barnier, are the obstacle to this happening.

A ‘no deal’ Brexit

  • Barnier said a “no deal” Brexit would be “a very bad deal”.
  • Davis said that, although the UK wanted a deal, it was “planning for all outcomes”.

Citizens’ rights

  • Davis said the UK has decided to let EU citizens in the UK with a permanent residence card get “settled status” after Brexit very easily. He said:

Today I can confirm that we want to reassure those European citizens living in the UK that their rights and status will be enshrined in UK law by the withdrawal agreement.

And yes, there will be a registration process but the administration process will be completely new. It will be streamlined, and it will be low cost.

And in addition to that any EU citizen in the UK already in possession of a permanent residence card will be able to exchange it simply for settled status in a simple way. They will not have to go through the full application process again.

  • Davis confirmed that, although both sides have made progress on citizens’ rights, there remain several areas of division. He said:

We have also focussed this week on the other remaining issues on which we have not yet arrived at a solution and Michel referred to a few of them. These are:

the right to bring in future family members;

to export a range of benefits;

to continue to enjoy the recognition of professional qualifications;

to vote in local elections;

to move within the 27 as a UK citizen;

to leave for a prolonged period and yet continue to enjoy a right to remain or permanent right of residence on return.

These issues are not easy, but we have approached them with a shared spirit of trying to find solutions and both teams will now reflect further on that.

In his opening statement Barnier gave more detail about some of these areas of disagreement. He said:

For us, for example, it is important that any European citizen living in the UK can – in 10 or 15 years’ time – bring his/her parents to the UK, as would be the case for British citizens living in the EU.

In the same vain, an EU citizen who has worked for 20 years in the UK should be able to move to an EU member state and still benefit from his/her disability allowance, under the same conditions as British citizens in the EU.

Finally, an important point for the member states of the union: the UK has informed us of its intention to put in place a simplified procedure which allows citizens to assert their rights. We will study attentively the practical details of this procedure, which should really be simple for citizens.

Ireland

  • Barnier and Davis both said advances had been made on the issue of Ireland. Davis said:

This week we developed the joint principles on the continuation of the common travel area.

Our teams have also mapped out areas of cooperation that operate on a North South basis.

Concessions

  • Barnier said the EU did not intend to make concessions. In his opening statement he said:

We are not asking the British to make concessions. The agreement we are working on will not be built on concessions.

There is no question of making concessions on citizens’ rights. There is no question of making concessions on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

As regards the financial settlement, there is no question of making concessions on thousands of European investment projects throughout Europe.

David Davis and Michel Barnier (right) at their press conference.
David Davis and Michel Barnier (right) at their press conference. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

Earlier my colleague Jennifer Rankin posted this on Twitter.

Interestingly, it has been retweeted by Sabine Weyand, Michel Barnier’s deputy.

The Telegraph’s James Rothewell has a good thread on the Davis/Barnier press conference. It starts here.

Here is some Twitter reaction to the press conference.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From the Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin

From Sky’s Faisal Islam

From Politico’s Tom McTague

From Georg von Harrach

Q: The Good Friday agreement is predicated on the UK being in the single market. How will you overcome that? Is there one company in one sector that sees Brexit as anything other than a huge challenge?

Davis says the Good Friday agreement is based on what was current at the time.

When they know what the final trade relationship with the EU is, he thinks they will be able to protect the GFA. They will “move heaven and earth to do so”.

He says 90% of global growth will come from outside the EU. Many companies will benefit from improving trade outside the EU.

And that’s it.

I will post a summary soon.

Q: You both pride yourselves on being good negotiators, but you are not making progress. What are you doing wrong?

Barnier says they have made a lot of progress on citizens’ rights.

This is not about concessions, he says. He does not like the word in this context.

They have to settle the accounts.

There are consequences from the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Davis says there are points of tension in all negotiations.

You have to consider what is mutually beneficial to both sides, he says.

The important thing now is the EU council next week. He hopes it allows Barnier to move forward.

Barnier hints he will consider how talks could be moved forward

Q: [To Davis] It looks like you are losing, doesn’t it?

Davis says he does not see it like that.

At the moment what happens is decided by the European Council’s definition of progress. He says he thinks the council should broaden out the talks, to cover the transition and the future trade deal.

Q: [To Barnier] Shouldn’t you broaden out the talks now?

Barnier says he will be able to talk about a trade deal when the time is right.

He will do that “as soon as possible”.

But that means once they have got over the first stage.

He says his mandate looks ahead to these different stages.

Over the next few weeks he will explore the way forward, if there is the necessary will.

  • Barnier hints he will consider how talks could be moved forward.

Barnier signals he is not ready to start talking about a Brexit transition

Q: [To Barnier] Will you be asking the EU for a looser mandate to allow you to start discussing the transition?

Barnier says his mandate is precise in terms of sequencing.

You have to do things in the right order, he says.

The first part of the negotiations are to do with citizens, rights acquired up to Brexit, and choices made by EU nationals.

He says the question of a transition remains on the table.

They will discuss it at the appropriate time. That time has not yet come, he says.

  • Barnier signals he is not ready to start talking about a Brexit transition.

Q: [Alex Barker from the FT] Brinksmanship is reaching a high level now. What are you holding out for, and what are you gaining from holding out? And should the UK be spending money now on “no deal” scenario.

Davis says they want “a good, mutually beneficial deal”.

The process is intended to get a good deal.

But if that is not possible, the government needs to be ready for no deal, he says.

Q: [To Barnier] Shouldn’t you move on to discussing the transition?

Barnier says no deal will be a very bad deal.

He says he hopes they can find a way out of this deadlock.

Pound falls in response to Barnier says talks on money deadlocked

The pound fell when Barnier said talks on money were deadlocked, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports.

Davis says they must discuss the future relationship.

He says he hopes the EU27 will allow Barnier to let the talks move on to discussing that.

He says he hopes this is agreed at the EU council next week.

On the financial settlement, he says they have taken a rigorous examination of the technical issues.

This does not lead to a settlement. That will be a “political issue”, he says. But when the time comes for a decision, the technical work will enable that to be taken quickly.

Turning to Ireland, Davis says there is more work to do. But further progress has been made.

He says they have agreed to start working on common undertakings to protect the Good Friday agreement.

David Davis is speaking now.

He says, while there is still a lot of work to do, they have come a long way.

On citizens’ rights, he says they focused this week on ensuring how rights could be guaranteed in a fair way. And the withdrawal agreement will be fully implemented into UK law.

He says the UK and the EU have not yet reached an agreement on how to enforce these rights, but they have looked at various options and are confident they will reach a deal soon.

There are some other issues that are not resolved. These issues are not easy, but both teams will reflect further.

He wants to highlight on particular issue.

There has been anxiety about EU citizens’ rights to settled status.

There will be an adminstration process. But it will be new, simple and cheap.

Any EU citizen with residency will be able to swap that for settled status easily.

The commission is offering similar guarantees to Britons living in the EU.

Barnier says 'decisive progress' could be made by Christmas

Barnier is now concluding.

There is a new momentum, he says. He says, with political will, “decisive progress is within our grasp over the next two months”.

  • Barnier says “decisive progress” could be made by Christmas.

Further talks over the next two months have been agreed.

Barnier says EU and UK have reached 'deadlock' over money, which is 'very disturbing'

Barnier turns to money.

May’s commitment at Florence was important.

But the UK said this week it was still not ready to spell out what its commitments were.

So there were not negotiations on this, just technical talks.

  • Barnier says the UK and the EU have reached a state of “deadlock” over the financial settlement. He says this is “very disturbing”.

Barnier says that means not enough progress has been made.

Turning to Ireland, he says the EU and the UK have reached an agreement on the common travel area.

They are looking at north/south cooperation. There is more work to do, he says.

This is necessary to identify solutions.

He says they agreed that the six principles agreed by the EU in September would guide its intentions.

Barnier says the EU and the UK share the same objectives: protecting rights of EU citizens, safeguarding the peace process in Northern Ireland and getting a financial settlement.

The EU wants to achieve these objectives.

So, how far have we got, he asks.

On citizens’ rights, he says there are two common aims: ensuring the withdrawal agreement has direct effect, and ensuring the interpretation of these rights is “consistent” between the EU and the UK.

Both sides are working on this, he says. It would involve the European court of justice.

There are still divisions about family reunification and the export of benefits.

Any EU citizen in the UK should be able to bring his parents to where he is living. And he should be able to return to the EU with his pension, under the same conditions as British citizens living in the EU.

And the UK has told us that it intends to introduce a simplified procedure to allow citizens to enforce their right. The EU will look at this. But it must be simple, he says.

The press conference is now starting.

“Here we are again,” says Michel Barnier.

He switches to French.

He says Theresa May’s speech gave momentum to the process.

This week they have clarified some points, without making great progress.

And this is from the Sun’s Harry Cole.

This is from Sky’s Mark Stone, who is waiting for the Davis/Barnier press conference to start.

Bitter divisions between Philip Hammond and Tory Brexiteers are down to “temperament”, a Leave- supporting aide to the chancellor has said. As the Press Association reports, Kwasi Kwarteng insisted his boss is “clear-eyed” and has a “very realistic view” of the Brexit negotiations after attacks on Hammond were ramped up when he refused to spend cash preparing for Britain to quit the European Union without a deal. The Tory MP also dismissed claims that the chancellor is at odds with Theresa May after the Prime Minister struck a different tone on Britain’s readiness to walk away from talks with Brussels. The PA story goes on:

Kwarteng, a parliamentary private secretary to Hammond, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He had a very clear statement, he’s got a complete mastery of his brief, he knows the detail inside out, he’s very clear-eyed about the possibilities and also some of, not the dangers, but the challenges we face.

“Now I think what he said was that we would have all necessary funding in the case of no deal and the prime minister herself has said that where money needs to be spent it will be spent.

“So, I don’t see much of a contradiction actually.”

Kwarteng conceded there were “slight differences of opinion” between Remain-supporting Hammond and those who backed Brexit.

“I think the chancellor’s position has always been clear,” he said. “There’s no question that there are slight differences of opinion but what he’s trying to do is get the best deal for Britain.”

Pressed on the criticism discussed among his Leave-supporting friends, Kwarteng said “there are a lot of passions on this”.

Asked if he ever told the chancellor to cheer up, he replied: “A lot of it is an issue of temperament. He is someone who is very clear-eyed, he has a very clear view intellectually of where we are.

“He is not going to exaggerate possibilities or diminish some of the challenges.

“Temperamentally he has got a very realistic view of where we are and he’s got the intellectual honesty to describe what he sees and I think that’s the best we can expect.”

David Davis and Michel Barnier hold press conference

The Davis/Barnier press conference is about to start. This is from my colleague Daniel Boffey.

Barnier says “no deal” Brexit would take UK’s relationship with EU back 40 years

The Scottish parliament has published minutes of a meeting its culture, tourism, Europe and external relations committee had with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, on 11 September. Mike Russell, the Scottish government’s Brexit minister, has tweeted the link.

Here’s an extract.

Mr Barnier explained that it was not a typical negotiation as usually a no deal scenario would imply retaining the status quo whereas in this case, a no deal scenario would mean the UK becoming a third country without a deal with the EU. A no deal scenario would have very serious consequences for the UK and the EU, and would mean the relationship between the EU and the UK going back forty years.

  • Barnier says “no deal” Brexit would take UK’s relationship with EU back 40 years.

Another leading pro-Brexit Tory, Sir Edward Leigh, seems to be taking a swipe at Philip Hammond this morning. He has just posted this on Twitter.

Commons international trade questions - Summary

Here are the main lines from international trade questions in the Commons.

  • Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, has defended Philip Hammond, the chancellor, over claims the Treasury is objecting to spending money preparing for a “no deal” Brexit. Hammond has infuriated Tory Brexiters, and today the Daily Mail has published a blistering editorial saying he should be silenced or sacked. (See 9.51am.) When asked about this, Fox said:

There is no difference between the chancellor and myself. The chancellor says that we need to spend money only as necessary. I think that’s correct. But we also need to be sure that we spend money on all areas where contingency plans are necessary.

Fox also said that his department had a “unique agreement” with the Treasury and that he had been told it would pay for him to increase staffing levels it it needed to because of Brexit.

  • Mark Garnier, an international trade minister, has said that Brexit has not harmed investment and that he and other pro-remain supporters were wrong about this before the referendum. He said:

Since the Brexit vote we are seeing a huge number of investment projects coming into the UK that are creating new jobs. Doom-mongers like myself who during the referendum were part of the Project Fear campaign have been proved wrong. I think it is important that we stand up and say so far we have not got this right and that is incredibly good news for both Britain and our individual constituencies.

Garnier did not sound as if he intended his words as a rebuke to Hammond, but they contradict what Hammond told MPs yesterday. Hammond told the Treasury committee:

While the UK’s economy is fundamentally strong and in good shape, we are being affected by uncertainty around the negotiation process that we are engaged in.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that businesses and consumers are waiting to see what the outcome is, or what the direction of travel is, before firming up investment decisions and consumption decisions.

  • A Conservative MP, Philip Hollobone, has implicitly criticised Hammond for being too gloomy about Brexit. In a question to Garnier clearly alluding to the chancellor, he said:

Given that this country voted to leave the European Union, isn’t it the duty of every member of this House to talk up the British economy and the chances of British manufacturing exploiting the new opportunities that will be presented to it around the world.

On Twitter John Redwood, another Tory Brexiter, made a similar point this morning.

Responding to Hollobone, Garnier said that he was an “unashamed patriot” and that it was “the duty of everybody in this House” to support businesses that export, although he seemed to be talking in general terms, and not with an anti-Hammond twist.

Clearly [Gardiner] doesn’t a) what a process is and b) what a negotiation is. It is quite clear that the very first offer we make is not the final thing that we expect to be accepted because, for example, we have no agreement yet with what will happen with unused quota, or what will happen with AMS [aggregate measurement of support], and these are issues to be dealt with in a negotiation.

Liam Fox
Liam Fox Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Peter Bone, a Conservative, asks Liam Fox if he will publish his plans for a “no deal” Brexit before Christmas.

Fox says his department is making plans for this scenario. But the government hopes it will get a deal, he says.

And that’s international trade questions over. I will post a summary soon.

Labour’s Kerry McCarthy was one of the MPs who asked Fox about TRQs. (See 10.01am.) She has posted these about the response she got.

Updated

Liam Fox says there is no difference between himself and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, on the need to spend money preparing for the possibility of a “no deal” Brexit. He says they both agree that money should only be spent when necessary.

MPs are now asking Liam Fox about the row about the UK/EU plans to carve up the EU’s tariff-rate quotas (TRQs). The US and other countries have objected to the plans. Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, says this contradicts Fox’s claim that these could be divided smoothly.

Fox says Gardiner does not understand how a negotiation works. He implies that the US and other countries are just making an opening bid, and that there will be an agreement in the end.

Updated

In the Commons the Conservative Brexiter Philip Hollobone has just asked Mark Garnier, the international trade secretary, if he agrees that it is the duty of all ministers to talk up the economy. Garnier said he agreed.

Hollobone seemed to be aiming his comment at the chancellor, Philip Hammond, who today is the subject of a remarkably critical editorial in the Daily Mail. Under the headline “A treacherous Chancellor and why Mrs May must get a grip”, it calls him “dismal, defeatist [and] relentlessly negative” and says that, if he does not stop talking Britain down, he should be replaced, possibly by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The Daily Mail also calls Hammond a “Jeremiah”. Bloomberg’s Robert Hutton says the Mail might not realise quite what this implies.

Updated

In an article for the Times’ Red Box (paywall) Liam Fox has written about the new board of trade he is launching today. He says:

The board will bring together leading figures from business and politics from all four nations – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It will meet four times a year, rotating around the UK to guarantee businesses in every region have the chance to raise the issues that matter most to them.

The board’s members and advisers will have a clear objective. To make sure British companies can seize the opportunities that come with leaving the EU, and have the support they need to boost exports and become successful global companies.

Liam Fox takes international trade questions

Liam Fox has started taking international trade questions in the Commons.

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary who is about to take questions in the Commons, was due to appear on the Today programme this morning by cancelled last night citing a diary clash, Nick Robinson told the programme this morning.

That is a shame, because he might have been asked about this FT story (paywall) saying that when he took “27 officials to Washington to open trade talks with the US this year, the team had next to no experience negotiating trade deals”.

Mr Fox’s delegation in July was made up mostly of senior staff from the UK Department for International Trade and the Department for Exiting the EU. The London emissaries included some experienced civil servants, including career diplomats, but only a minority had worked in trade and none had directly carried out trade negotiations.

The UK’s relative lack of experienced negotiators can be explained in part because the European Commission has taken the lead in international trade negotiations since the 1970s. British officials, like their counterparts from other EU member states, have typically sat behind EU negotiators during trade talks ...

By contrast, the 77-strong US working group in Washington was made up largely of seasoned negotiators ...

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, said the newly-released documents showed a “staggering” experience gap between the two sides.

“These are some of the most important negotiations Britain has engaged in since the war, but it seems the UK is as prepared as someone turning up for the Wimbledon final wielding a ping-pong bat,” he said.

When Theresa May formed her first cabinet, she appointed “three Brexiteers” to top jobs: Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary; David Davis, the Brexit secretary; and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary. Today, with even the most ardent Brexit advocates finding it hard to argue that the process is going exactly according to plan, we will be hearing in public from all three.

By far the most important intervention will probably come from Davis, who is holding his regular press conference with Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, at the end of the latest round of Brexit talks. These press conferences amount a progress stocktake and reports coming out of Brussels suggest that today Davis and Barnier will find it particularly hard finding some positive news to announce. This is from Alex Barker’s report in the Financial Times (paywall), which says the talks are at a standstill.

Expectations were low for the final UK-EU negotiating round before a crucial summit next week, where EU27 leaders are almost certain to declare there has been insufficient progress to move from divorce to trade talks.

Negotiators were still surprised, however, at the lack of movement in any areas this week, most notably on the big outstanding questions over citizen rights. One official directly involved in the process said: “There was nothing, zero, no progress.”

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, takes questions in the Commons. Later he is hosting the government’s first board of trade meeting.

9.30am: NHS England publishes waiting time figures for September

Around 11am: David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, hold a press conference at the end of the latest round of Brexit talks.

Around lunchtime: Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, visit a hospital in Liverpool. Hunt is also speaking at the Royal College of GP’s annual conference in the city, and will be promoting plans to offer new GPs £20,000 if they go to work in areas having difficulty attracting doctors.

3.45pm: Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, and Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, hold a press conference with their Polish counterparts, Witold Waszczykowksi and Antoni Macierewicz, after talks in the Foreign Office.

Today the government is also publishing its draft legislation for an energy price cap. It has already published a statement about its plans here (pdf). Here is the Guardian’s story.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard’s Playbook. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’ 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 normally I find it 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 direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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