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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Theresa May tells MPs Brexit deal 'good news' for both remain and leave supporters – as it happened

Theresa May's Commons statement on Brexit - Summary

As I said earlier, the key fact from Theresa May’s statement was a negative: the absence of any fresh Tory row about Brexit. (See 5.54pm.)

But there was some news in what May and Jeremy Corbyn had to say. Here are the key points.

  • May confirmed that the UK’s financial offer to the EU was conditional on the government getting a Brexit deal. She told MPs:

It is clear in the joint progress report, I have repeated it in my statement just now, that this offer is on the table in the context of us agreeing the partnership for the future, agreeing the next stage and agreeing the partnership for the future. If we don’t agree that partnership, then this offer is off the table.

But the Brexit deal she was talking about was the withdrawal agreement. This will refer in general terms to a future trade deal, but it won’t actually be the trade deal. May also also said the UK’s final “Brexit bill” payment would be worth between £35bn and £39bn.

  • May claimed the government still hoped to agree a trade deal by next autumn. Asked by the Tory MP Anna Soubry if the agreement on trade next autumn would be details of a new trade relationship, or just “heads of agreement”, May replied:

We have always said that we will be working to negotiate our full agreement in terms of the future relationship that we have with the European Union. Of course, legally it won’t be possible for them to sign up to that agreement until after we have left the European Union and we’ve become a third county. While we are in the EU, it’s not possible to [be] a signatory of that agreement. But the pieces of work that will now go forward will be the details of the implementation period, the details of the withdrawal agreement, which will have to go through certain parliamentary processes in European member states ... and also the future relationship that we will have in trade terms and security terms with the European Union.

But the EU does not expect to agree a proper trade deal by the end of next year. It just envisages a “political declaration” covering trade. (See 11.08am.)

  • May said the transition deal arrangements may not be agreed until March. In response to a question from the Tory Jeremy Lefroy about how long it would take, she said she expected work on the transition to start straight after the EU summit this week. She went on:

There are some details to be sorted out. I think the general expectation is that it will be agreed, we’ve said as early as possible in the new year, and Michel Barnier [the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator] has indicated that could be during the first quarter.

  • She indicated that the government was not dropping the amendment to the EU withdrawal bill fixing 29 March 2019 as Brexit day. Some Tories have criticised this on the grounds that it might stop the government seeking an extension if the negotiations over-run, and at one point it looked as if the goverment might drop the amendment, which will be put to a vote next week. But today May said:

We put that amendment down because we believe it’s important that we actually confirm and people have the confidence of knowing the date on which we will be leaving the European Union, which is March 29 2019.

  • She said last week’s deal was “good news” for people who voted leave and for people who voted remain. She said:

This is good news for people who voted Leave, who were worried we were so bogged down in tortuous negotiations it was never going to happen.

And it is good news for people who voted Remain, who were worried we were going to crash out without a deal.

  • She flatly denied a claim from Labour’s Chuka Umunna that civil servants have been told not to write memos about the impact of Brexit on sections of the economy. Umunna said:

Senior civil servants across Whitehall have reportedly been instructed from here on not to commit into writing any evaluation they make of the impact of Brexit on their industry sectors. Is this true and if so why the cover-up?

May simply replied: “No.”

  • Jeremy Corbyn suggested he would be happy to see the Brexit deadline slip if that proved necessary for the sake of the UK getting a better deal. (See 3.57pm.)

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is currently making a Commons statement. My colleague Patrick Wintour says he is striking a new tone on Yemen.

Theresa May's Commons statement on Brexit - Verdict

The Conservative party has decided collectively to postpone its next Brexit row until after Christmas. That is probably the most important takeaway from Theresa May’s marathon 105 minutes at the despatch box. With arch pro-Europeans and supposed mutineers like Ken Clarke and Anna Soubry (“supposed” because they don’t seem to have done much mutineering recently) praising May’s Brexit deal, alongside diehard Brexiters like Iain Duncan Smith and Sir Edward Leigh, it all felt very choreographed by the whips. But so what? That’s politics. For an afternoon at least, May has managed to unite her party. It was probably her happiest moment in the Commons since her first PMQs as party leader.

About the only Conservative who did express reservations was Philip Davies. (See 4.41pm.) But, in relative terms, even his question was supportive. According to Tim Shipman and Caroline Wheeler in the Sunday Times yesterday (paywall), last week Davies told colleagues at a dinner May should be replaced. “Philip Davies gave a speech about how crap Theresa May is,” they quoted one MP as saying. It wasn’t a speech he repeated this afternoon.

That doesn’t mean the underlying splits and tensions have disappeared. “This is a moment when sceptical MPs – frightened of seeming disloyal – are pretending to be happy,” the Thatcher biographer and Conservative party guru Charles Moore wrote in the Telegraph (paywall) on Saturday. “I know they are not – and the same applies to millions of people across the country.” But even the Tory party has a finite appetite for feuding and plotting. It feels as if any further rebelling has been postponed until the new year - which may help to explain, incidentally, why Number 10 now seems confident of winning the vote on the amendment putting Brexit day on the face of the EU withdrawal bill. (See 2.53pm and 5.17pm.)

I will post key points in a moment.

May’s statement is over. John Bercow says she was on her feet for one hour and 45 minutes. That was quite a substantial commitment, he says, although Geoffrey Boycott (see 4.30pm) would not have thought that very long, he jokes.

The SNP Carol Monaghan asks where hospitals will get the radioactive material they need to diagnose cancer after the UK leaves Euratom.

May says the government recognises the importance of this issue. Arrangements will be put in place to ensure supplies continue, she says.

May says government still committed to amendment to EU bill specifying 29 March 2019 as Brexit date

Labour’s Kevin Brennan says May did not answer Peter Bone’s question (see 4.50pm) about putting Brexit date on the face of the EU withdrawal bill.

May says the government put that amendment down so that people would have confidence that the UK will leave on 29 March 2019.

  • May says government still committed to amendment to EU withdrawal bill specifying 29 March 2019 as Brexit date.

May says if Ken Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith can unite in backing the deal, it must be a good one.

May suggests transition agreement might not be agreed until end of March

The Conservative Jeremy Lefroy asks when we will get a clear picture of what the transition will look like.

May says, if the European council agrees to move talks on to phase two, the transition arrangements could be agreed before the end of March.

  • May suggests transition agreement might not be agreed until the end of March.

Here is the full text of May’s opening statement.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-on-eu-negotiations-11-december-2017

Sky’s Jon Craig points out that Damian Green, the first secretary of state, is not in the chamber for May’s statement.

Green has tweeted a response - presumably to make the point he has not been sacked!

Alberto Costa, a Conservative, says he wanted an assurance that his parents, who are Italian, would not lose their rights. He thanks May for honouring her promises on this.

Huw Merriman, a Conservative, asks when the eight-year period during which the European court of justice continues to adjudicate on certain cases relating to citizens’ rights starts. On the withdrawal date, or from the end of the transition?

May says it is from the Brexit date.

Labour’s Heidi Alexander quotes a freight handler on the news last week saying you are either in the customs union or you are not. It is like being pregnant; you either are or you are not, he said. You either require customs checks or you do not, she says.

May says she does not accept the analogy.

May says any regulatory “alignment” referred to in paragraph 49 (see 3.49pm) will not involve Northern Ireland being in the single market or the customs union.

Labour’s Stephen Kinnock says paragraph 96 of the deal makes it clear the financial settlement is conditional on the withdrawal agreement, not a future trade deal.

May says that is not her understanding. She says it is clear at the start of last week’s report that the payments are conditional on trade too. Paragraph 96 refers to the future relationship, she says. (See 11.08am for a bit more on this issue.)

May says the UK will not pay for “access” to the EU in the future. But it may continue to pay to participate in certain EU programmes.

Antoinette Sandbach, a Conservative, congratulates May for acting in the national interest.

The DUP’s Ian Paisley quotes the European parliament Guy Verhofstadt as complaining about protestants in the DUP (although be pronounces his name so oddly that it is not immediately clear who he was talking about). He says the DUP were speaking up for the whole of Northern Ireland.

Shailesh Vara, a Conservative, says May should publish details of how much money the UK is saving as a result of not being in the EU.

Labour’s Stephen Timms asks for confirmation that the jurisdiction of the European court of justice will apply during the transition.

May says the UK will continue to have a relationship with the EU during the transition.

Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative, says the fact that the UK will not pay the divorce bill if there is no deal will focus minds in the EU.

May says she is optimistic for a good deal.

Peter Bone, a Conservative, asks May to confirm that the UK will be leaving the EU on 29 March 2019 and that that will be in the withdrawal bill.

May says the UK will be leaving then. She says Labour is not committed to that date.

(She does not confirm that the date will be in the bill, although her press spokesman did earlier. See 2.53pm.)

Labour’s Wes Streeting asks about paragraph 49. (See 3.49pm.) Does this mean May has closed the door on a “disastrous no deal scenario”.

May says she remains of the view that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Labour’s Seema Malhotra asks about the chemicals industry. She quotes this story.

May says these are matters for negotiation in phase two.

Labour’s Mike Gapes asks when the legislation for the withdrawal agreement will come to the UK.

May says the bill will come to the Commons when it is ready. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said he wants that agreed by October, she says.

Philip Davies, a Conservative, asks why May is paying billions to the EU not legally owed.

May says the offer is in the context of a future deal. But we are a country that honours our debts, she says.

Updated

Labour’s Stephen Doughty asks how May knows that significant savings will be made after Brexit. What are they, and will she publish details?

May says the UK will save by not paying into the EU budget.

John Bercow, the speaker, says 27 backbenchers have asked questions. Another 57 want to get in, he says. He urges people to ask short questions.

Labour’s Stella Creasy asks why her constituents are not getting freedom of movement after Brexit while people in Northern Ireland are getting this.

May says the common travel area has existed for Ireland since 1923.

David Jones, a Tory Brexiter, congratulates the PM. He asks May if she will ensure money is spent upgrading customs infrastructure.

May says £3bn was set aside in the budget for Brexit planning. HMRC is putting plans in place for customs after Brexit.

The Labour MP Chris Leslie has tweeted about May’s response to his question.

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, asks how what May said to Leigh about regulatory autonomy is consistent with what the deal says about regulatory alignment in Ireland.

May says the point is that the UK parliament will get to decide what it wants to do.

Labour’s Chuka Umunna says senior civil servants have been told not to commit in writing any estimate of the impact of Brexit on their sectors. Is that true, and if so why?

No, says May. It is not true.

  • May rejects claims civil servants have been ordered not to write memos about the impact of Brexit on sectors of the economy.

Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative, says May with her “calm, true grit” has shown that Brexit can be done.

Will May confirm that after Brexit the UK will have “full regulatory autonomy”?

May says that is the whole point.

Nick Boles, a Conservative, says May’s performance was “worthy of Geoffrey Boycott”. He asks May to confirm that the payments will be made over 20 or 30 years. He asks for an assurance that she will not be handing over some humungous cheque.

May says the report says the payments will be made as they fall due, unless otherwise determined.

Labour’s Chris Leslie asks what “full alignment” means. The Sunday papers said No 10 was selling it to Boris Johnson as meaningless.

May says it is about achieving the same objectives by different means. It covers six areas referred to in the Belfast agreement.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, says DUP MPs agree the Friday document was significantly better than the Monday one. Will May confirm that Northern Ireland will not be separated from the rest of the UK?

May says she is grateful for the contributions made by the DUP.

(One suspects she did not feel that way on Monday afternoon.)

Nicky Morgan, a Tory pro-European, thanks May for the deal, and for what it promises on citizens’ rights.

Labour’s Pat McFadden says David Davis committed the government to getting the “exact same benefits” from Brexit as it gets from single market membership. Does May agree with Michael Gove that, if the public don’t like the final deal, they can change their minds?

May says she does not agree with the interpretation of what Gove said. She says the government will not allow a second referendum.

Labour’s Alison McGovern asks when the cabinet last discussed their objectives for a final trade deal.

May says the cabinet has had a number of discussions covering Brexit.

Sir Bill Cash, a Conservative, says there is an outbreak of unity on the Tory benches. But there are still serious matters to be resolved. She says Labour has demonstrated a “complete inconsistency on every point of principle and detail”. They are a national disgrace, he says.

This is from the Spectator’s James Forsyth.

Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, says May should invite Labour to join her government because Labour and the Tories basically agree on Brexit.

May says she does not agree.

Anna Soubry, the Tory pro-European, says there is “complete unanimity” on her side in congratulating the PM. Does May expect to have details of the future trade deal by the autumn? Or will it just be heads of agreement?

May says she expects to see details, although she says the UK will not be able to sign an actual trade deal until it is a third country, after Brexit.

Labour’s Mary Creagh asks how May will get a good deal if she cannot even get David Davis to agree with her.

May says the whole cabinet is behind the deal. Her party if “of one accord”, she says. Labour is not.

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry says part of the agreement reflects an amendment that she tabled that the government voted against.

Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Brexit committee, says paragraph 49 (see 3.49pm) is the most important part of the deal. Can May confirm that this commitment will apply even if there is no trade deal with the EU?

May explains what paragraph 49 says. The “alignment” clause is a last resort, she says.

The Tory Brexiter Iain Duncan Smith congratulates May on the deal. He says the two-year period after Brexit will be an “implementation” period. Can May assure him that is what it will be? It won’t just be a case of carrying on with no change?

May says Duncan Smith is right.

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, asks for a firm commitment from May that there will be no return to a hard border.

She says the government had to rewrite the agreement to suit the DUP.

We really have to wonder who is running the UK? Is it Arlene Foster or [May]?

He says any special arrangements for Northern Ireland must be available for the rest of the UK.

May says she has already confirmed in the Commons that there will be no hard border. She describes that as a “guarantee”.

She says Northern Ireland is in a different position to Scotland. It has a hard border with the EU.

Ken Clarke, the Tory pro-European, congratulates May on her triumph last week. This provokes cheering. (MPs are surprised.) Then comes the catch; Clarke says he has never known a deal like this followed by aides briefing that it is not binding.

May thanks Clarke for his “positive comments”.

May says UK’s 'Brexit bill' payment is conditional on EU agreeing a 'future partnership'

May is responding to Corbyn.

She says she set out clearly in her Lancaster House speech what her objectives were.

Meanwhile, Labour has had 12 different Brexit plans. Corbyn cannot even reach alignment with himself, she says.

She says the UK is leaving the EU on 29 March 2019.

She says a financial settlement has been agreed. The calculations put that at worth £35bn to £39bn, she says.

  • May confirms Brexit deal will cost UK £35bn to £39bn.

She says this offer is “off the table” if the UK and the EU do not agree a future partnership.

  • May says UK’s “Brexit bill” payment is conditional on EU agreeing a “future partnership”.

She says alignment means having the same objectives.

She says she and the Irish PM want to ensure the overall trade deal results in there being no hard border.

She says Labour’s approach to Brexit would mean continued payments to the EU forever, no control over laws applying to the UK and no control over borders.

Corbyn suggests he would be happy to see Brexit deadline slip

Jeremy Corbyn is responding to May now.

He says the UK has only just scraped through phase one.

He says Labour respects the results of the referendum.

He asks for clarification regarding the “Brexit bill” and the role of the European court of justice.

And he asks for clarification about regulatory “alignment”, as spelt out in the agreement. (See 3.49pm.)

He asks about the Brexit deadline. Will May drop the Brexit deadline from the EU withdrawal bill. It is more important to get the negotiation right than to hit a deadline, he says.

  • Corbyn suggests he would be happy to see Brexit deadline slip.

He asks if the government is still committed to maintaining the “exact same benefits” as the UK gets from single market membership.

And he says he has left the hardest question to last; can May explain exactly what David Davis meant when he said Britain wanted a deal amounting to “Canada plus, plus, plus.”

Updated

May claims Brexit deal is “good news” for both remain supporters and leave supporters

May is now winding up.

I have always been clear that this was never going to be an easy process. It has required give and take for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done.

Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

But there is, I believe, a new sense of optimism now in the talks and I fully hope and expect that we will confirm the arrangements I have set out today in the European Council later this week.

She says it is good news for those who voted leave, who were worried that the process was getting bogged down and that Brexit would not happen.

And says she it is good news for those who voted remain, because it shows that the UK will not crash out without a deal.

  • May claims Brexit deal is “good news” for both remain supporters and leave supporters.

May says if a new partnership with the EU is not possible, the government will take special steps to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland.

She refers to paragraph 49 in the document (pdf).

The United Kingdom remains committed to protecting North-South cooperation and to its guarantee of avoiding a hard border. Any future arrangements must be compatible with these overarching requirements. The United Kingdom’s intention is to achieve these objectives through the overall EU-UK relationship. Should this not be possible, the United Kingdom will propose specific solutions to address the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland. In the absence of agreed solutions, the United Kingdom will maintain full alignment with those rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union which, now or in the future, support North-South cooperation, the allisland economy and the protection of the 1998 Agreement.

May says the government will uphold the Belfast agreement in full.

The report reaffirms the guarantee that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

She says it was right to take time to listen to the concerns of the DUP.

And on Friday she made six commitments to Northern Ireland, she says.

On finance, May says after tough negotiations there has been a deal.

She says the agreement to carry on paying will be conditional on various factors.

And this part of the report is subject to the principle nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

She says these are the actions of a responsible nation, honouring its obligations.

She says the taxpayer will soon see “significant savings” compared to being in the EU. There will be extra money for education, housing and the NHS.

Theresa May says she wants to update MPs on the Brexit talks. On the basis of a report published last week, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, has said he will recommend moving the talks on to phase two.

She praises David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and the whole negotiating team for the “calm and professional” approach they adopted.

She summarises the agreement.

Starting with the rights of citizens, she says this has been a priority. But for these rights to be reciprocal, they have to be interpreted consistently.

Originally the EU wanted the rights to be guaranteed by the European court of justice, she says. That was unacceptable. She says instead the rights will be guaranteed by the withdrawal agreement (UK law) and protected by UK courts, paying due regard to EU case law. This generates some jeering, but May says this principle applies in other areas of law too.

She says courts will be able to refer cases voluntarily to the ECJ to adjudication on points of law. But this right will only last for eight years.

Theresa May's Commons statement on Brexit deal

Theresa May is about to start her Commons statement on the Brexit deal.

Anti-Brexit campaigner have been protesting in London and Brussels today.

Here are some pictures from London.

Anti-Brexit protestors stand outside the Houses of Parliament in London.
Anti-Brexit protestors stand outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

And Natalie Bennett, the former Green party leader, was speaking at the Brussels event. According to extracts released in advance, she called for a second referendum. She said:

The Leave side in the 2016 EU referendum failed to present a clear vision of what Brexit would mean, and the complex range of possibilities make it clear that the only democratic way to proceed is a ratification referendum once the terms of the proposed Brexit have been agreed.

That’s what the Green party has been calling for since soon after the initial vote, and it is a call that is winning increasing backing from a wide range of political actors.

That ratification referendum must include the possibility of the United Kingdom remaining as part of the EU. Recent weeks have revealed just how inadequate the debate during the 2017 vote was in informing the public about the issues, such as the Ireland/Northern Ireland border, which many have said they’ve only just become aware of.

May tells EU nationals UK would be poorer without them and she would like them to stay

Theresa May has written an open letter to EU nationals living in the UK urging them to stay after Brexit. Posted on her Facebook page in the wake of the UK-EU Brexit deal agreed last week, it starts:

As prime minister of the United Kingdom, I am proud that more than three million EU citizens have chosen to make your homes and livelihoods here in our country. I greatly value the depth of the contributions you make - enriching every part of our economy, our society, our culture and our national life.

I know our country would be poorer if you left and I want you to stay.

Theresa May welcoming the Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov to 10 Downing Street today.
Theresa May welcoming the Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov to 10 Downing Street today. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

No 10 lobby briefing - Summary

Here are the main points from the Number 10 lobby briefing.

  • Downing Street said the government would accept amendments tabled to the EU withdrawal bill giving the Commons new rights to demand votes when ministers use Henry VIII powers to rewrite law. (See 2.05pm.)
  • The prime minister’s spokesman would not say if the government would oppose another amendment to the EU withdrawal bill promising MPs a “truly meaningful vote” on Britain’s final EU deal. The amendment has been tabled by Dominic Grieve, the Conservative former attorney general, and is due to be put to a vote on Wednesday. The spokesman’s comments suggest the government may be planning some form of concession in the face of possible defeat.
  • The spokesman said the government was still committed to the amendment to the bill putting 29 March 2019 on the face of the bill as the date of Brexit. Some Tory MPs are opposed to this, and there were hints a few weeks ago that the government could drop the amendment rather than risk defeat. Now Number 10 still seems confident it will win when the issue is put to a vote next Wednesday.
  • Theresa May told cabinet ministers this morning that members of the public think the Brexit deal agreed last week means “we’re on our way” in relation to Brexit. Discussing today’s cabinet meeting, the spokesman said:

Cabinet ministers said that in the wake of Friday’s announcement they had received a positive response from people who had voted both leave and remain. The prime minister said she believed the view of the public from her own constituency engagements over the weekend was “we’re on our way”.

By amazing coincidence, this is exactly the same form of words used by the Daily Mail (May’s favourite newspaper, and her press secretary’s former employer) in its splash headline on Saturday. When asked if May was reflecting the views not of her constituents but of the Mail, the spokesman insisted “the PM was reflecting the views of constituents she met”.

  • The spokesman played down claims that the government did not see the UK-EU Brexit deal as legally binding. The spokesman confirmed that last Friday’s document represented a political agreement and would not have legal status until the signing of the final withdrawal agreement. But he said it reflected a political commitment, and he implied that this meant it was not open to doubt. He said:

We are clear that the agreement that was reached will be taken forward .... As [David Davis on LBC] was expressing, nobody should be in any doubt about our sincerity.

  • The spokesman said that the Cabinet Office report into Damian Green will not be published today.
An armed police officer walks past Number 10 Downing Street
An armed police officer walks past Number 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

No 10 accepts EU withdrawal bill amendment giving Commons new right to demand votes on Henry VIII powers

I’m just back from lobby. And - unusually - Number 10 had a story to announce: the government is accepting the amendment to the EU withdrawal bill tabled by the procedure committee last week giving the Commons the power to demand votes when ministers want to amend the law using secondary legislation.

As I explained on the blog last week, at the moment most secondary legislation gets passed at the stroke of a pen, without MPs getting a vote. This has become a big issue in relation to the EU withdrawal bill because it will give ministers extensive new powers (the so-called Henry VIII powers) to incorporate EU law into UK law this way.

Amendments tabled by the Conservative MP Charles Walker, chair of the Commons procedure committee, would create a “sifting committee” which would have the job of going through all the statutory instruments passed under the EU withdrawal bill (up to 1,000, ministers expect) and identifying important ones which would have to be debated by MPs.

This is not a big surprise. Many Tory MPs, as well as the opposition, have been calling for a mechanism of this kind and if the government had not accepted amendments of this kind, it would probably have been defeated on Wednesday night, when the Walker amendments will be put to a vote.

As the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn reports, the European commission has admitted that the UK-EU Brexit deal agreed next week is not legally binding.

That is because it is intended as the precursor to a withdrawal agreement that would be legally binding.

I’m off to the Number 10 lobby briefing now. I’ll post again after 1.45pm.

UPDATE: Here’s a fuller quote.

Updated

Tom Watson says automation could enhance jobs, not destroy them

Tom Watson, the deputy Labour leader and shadow culture secretary, gave a speech this morning at the publication of a report from the Future of Work commission he set up. My colleague Anushka Asthana covered its main conclusions in a story overnight. Here are some of the key lines from Watson’s speech.

  • Watson said automation could enhance jobs, not destroy them.

The commission has looked hard at the evidence about what is likely to happen to the world of work in the future – both with the right interventions and without them.

It has found that many more tasks are likely to be automated in future – but that this can enhance our jobs, not destroy them.

The tasks that are less vulnerable to automation involve our most human qualities: creativity, care, teamwork, critical thinking and imagination ...

Our report found that the most apocalyptic predictions about the impact automation will have on jobs are far too pessimistic.

We believe automation and artificial intelligence can, with the right policy framework around it, create as many jobs as it destroys.

  • He said automation could help productivity.

The problem the UK has at the moment is not that we have too many robots, but too few.

That is why our report calls for 3.5% of GDP to be spent on R&D by 2030, and within that a much higher element dedicated to technology. We recommend fixing it as a percentage of GDP.

  • He said automation needed to be accompanied by policies enhancing workers’ rights.

This debate looks as if it’s about technology, but like so many other political debates it’s really about power.

And, again like so many other political debates, it is about political choices.

If technology is used – as it can be – to increase employers’ power over workers, to keep wages down and to accumulate more profits in ever fewer hands, then it will not enhance the quality of work or people’s quality of life.

We saw too many examples in our research this year of technology becoming a new tool of worker exploitation.

New forms of workplace surveillance.

Shift management systems that suit employers but make it impossible for workers to be sure of when they can spend time with their families.

App-based businesses who insist that their staff are self-employed, even though to any fair-minded observer they are regular employees.

Which is why we need policies that increase workers’ rights, and their bargaining power, alongside investment in new technology.

This report recommends not just regularising employment rights by moving towards a single category of “worker” in UK law, but developing new rights – a right to flexible working, a right to information and consultation, a right to take leave for learning and developing new skills.

  • He said politicians should focus on the concept of “good work”. He said:

As technology changes the world of work, the job of politicians and policymakers is to ensure that we generate and protect good work.

Work that pays, yes, but also work that provides dignity and security, that respects people’s autonomy and choices, and allows them to exercise their creativity and judgement.

That kind of work should be available to everyone – not just to those on the highest incomes. And where it isn’t, we have to focus on how we make it so.

It’s not enough to pay lip service to the aspiration. We need to understand the components of good work, prioritise it, create it, measure it, and encourage fresh thinking about how to safeguard it through the age of technology. So that it means something for the many, not the few.

That’s why the commission is suggesting a charter for good work, which sets out principles that should be put at the heart of public policymaking to make sure that we look at the quality of jobs, not just the quantity.

Watson stressed that the commission recommendations are not party policy, but the report does give some indication as to where party thinking on this subject is heading.

Tom Watson.
Tom Watson. Photograph: James McCauley/REX/Shutterstock

Since David Davis’s brainpower has become a talking point (see 11.08am), here is the Tory MP Andrew Mitchell (a close friend of his) saying, actually, he is very clever.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been outlining Labour’s policy on the single market and customs union at an event in London, and it’s fair to say there’s still some constructive ambiguity going on.

Asked whether his opposition to the UK remaining in the single market after Brexit was tougher than Keir Starmer’s view, the shadow chancellor said he and the shadow Brexit secretary were in full agreement. He said:

What I said was, remaining in the single market would not respect the referendum result. But we’ve been using the phraseology ‘a single market’, not ‘the single market’ and ‘a customs union’ and not ‘the customs union’. Therefore a reformed single market or a new negotiated relationship with the single market. And Keir was exactly putting our position yesterday. We want to be as close as we possibly can to ensure a tariff-free access.

It isn’t just about semantics, it’s about achieving the objectives that we want overall, which is protecting the economy and protecting jobs.

The event was primarily for McDonnell to introduce an outside report commissioned by Labour (pdf) into how investment in the economy could work better. A key element in the report is to improve the current bias which sees so much money flow into London and the south-east of England.

The report says a new national investment bank under Labour should be based in Birmingham, along with some parts of the Bank of England, and with satellite offices in Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Newcastle and Plymouth.

Asked if this could meant the bank leaving its historic Threadneedle Street headquarters in London McDonnell said this was all up to further reports, but did not reject it.

Asked about the idea of parliament sitting outside London, McDonnell said this was “slightly beyond my remit” but said he would support “cabinet and maybe sessions of parliament” being held elsewhere.

The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street in the City of London.
The Bank of England in Threadneedle Street in the City of London. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

Lucy Fisher, one of the Times’s reporters who wrote the Times splash that David Davis was so rude about (see 10.01am), says that Davis’s claim about being misreported is “disingenuous”.

The Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable was on Radio 4 earlier urging Labour backbenchers to support an amendment to the EU repeal bill which would oblige the UK to remain within the single market and customs union after Brexit.

Cable told Today that while official Labour policy was “pretty ambiguous” their current stance – to leave the two arrangements but try to mimic their benefits outside – seemed very similar to that sought by the government.

Many Labour members and MPs took a different view, he said:

We know that large numbers of Labour backbenchers do support Britain remaining within the single market and the customs union and feel the government made a mistake by ruling that out, and we hope that a lot of those Labour people, and maybe even some Conservatives, will support it.

The Lib Dem amendment, due to be voted on tomorrow, seems unlikely to pass, but it’s a chance for Cable to remind voters of his party’s distinct Brexit stance.

Sir Vince Cable.
Sir Vince Cable. Photograph: Paul Davey / Barcroft Images

Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, has also welcomed David Davis’s clarification.

Varadkar says he's 'delighted' Davis has clarified his remarks on Irish border

Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has welcomed David Davis’s clarification of what he said yesterday (see 10.01am), Sky’s Darren McCaffrey reports.

David Davis's LBC interview - Summary

Here is a summary of all the points from David Davis’s interview on LBC.

  • Davis, the Brexit secretary, retracted the suggestion he made yesterday that the UK could back out of the commitments it had made on the Irish border. He said his comments had been misinterpreted. (See 10.01am.)

I’m afraid the chancellor slightly misspoke ...

It says at the beginning of the thing nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. It’s a classical European Union thing. They put it in every treaty. They put it there, not us. It’s about paragraph 5, I think. [See 10.22am.]

In his LBC interview Davis said the “Brexit bill” payments were conditional on their being a Brexit deal, but he did not specify what deal. This is key because there will be at least two deals: a withdrawal agreement, and a trade agreement. On the Andrew Marr Show yesterday Davis said the payment was conditional on their being a transition deal and a “trade outcome”. But Will Straw, who was executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, used Twitter to argue that the “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” principle only covers the need for a withdrawal agreement.

Although the UK government says it wants to conclude a trade deal before Brexit takes place in March 2019, the EU says the trade deal will take much longer to finalise. In draft negotiating guidelines released by the European council on Friday (pdf), the council just said that it expected trade to be covered by “a political declaration accompanying the withdrawal agreement” (ie, something quite different from a proper trade deal) in the period before Brexit.

  • Davis dismissed suggestions that an open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland could allow illegal immigrants into the UK. Asked about this, he said:

That would be a very hard way to get into Britain. You would have to be a fairly dumb people smuggler to come that way.

  • He claimed that he did not need to be clever to do his job. Being able to stay calm was the key quality, he said. When asked about the qualities needed to do the job, he said:

What’s the requirement of my job? I don’t have to be very clever. I don’t have to know that much. I just do have to be calm.

  • He said he could not drink orange juice. This came out when asked about the breakfast meeting in Brussels on Friday. He said he was told there was champagne at the breakfast. He did not see it, he said; he just saw the orange juice.

You probably don’t know, I can’t drink orange juice. It’s poison to me. It’s my Kryptonite.

David Davis (left) at the meeting in Brussels on Friday morning where the Brexit deal was finalised.
David Davis (left) at the meeting in Brussels on Friday morning where the Brexit deal was finalised. Photograph: ERIC VIDAL / POOL/EPA

Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire has said Friday’s border deal is not legally binding but it was a “solid commitment”by the UK to resolve the conundrum caused by Brexit.

He appeared on Irish radio in a bid to repair damage to Anglo Irish relations caused by Brexit secretary David Davis and other Brexiters who said over the weekend the deal on Ireland was merely a statement of intent with no legal effect.

As Theresa May prepares her update to parliament, he said that the taoiseach and the European Commission had agreed “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” and this was clearly set out in paragraph 5 of the agreement.

But Brokenshire told RTE’s Morning Ireland that the same paragraph also stated that the “joint commitments set out below in this joint report shall be reflected in the withdrawal agreement in full detail” and this was a “firm commitment that we want to pursue”. He went on:

I think this has given us a really solid way in which we can now approach the second phase of negotiations, with confidence. I am sure that is a positive message that the PM will be giving in parliament today as she provides her update.

In his LBC interview David Davis (see 10.01am), the Brexit secretary, said the UK was “quite certain” it could avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, even if it does not get a free trade deal that it believes would obviate the need for such a border. Davis said:

What is most symbolic [of the preservation of the peace process] is the absence of a hard border, the absence of border posts, and that sort of thing. And we are quite certain we can do that by technical and other means, even if we end up without a deal with the European Union.

It is worth pointing out that the European commission does not agree. In its own commentary (pdf) on the UK-EU Brexit deal, it is unusually blunt about this. It says”

Whilst the United Kingdom remains committed to protecting and supporting continued NorthSouth cooperation across the full range of contexts and frameworks, including after withdrawal, the common understanding provides that the United Kingdom aims to achieve this protection and the avoidance of a hard border through the overall EU-United Kingdom relationship. This intention seems hard to reconcile with the United Kingdom’s communicated decision to leave the internal market and the Customs Union.

Davis retracts suggestion UK could back out of Brexit deal on Irish border

Yesterday, in an interview on the Andrew Marr Show, David Davis, the Brexit secretary, alarmed the Irish government by appearing to say that assurances about the Irish border given by the UK government in the UK-EU Brexit deal were not legally binding. The full transcript is here (pdf), and here is the key quote.

One of the things I’ve always said, is we want to protect the peace process and we also want to protect Ireland from the impact of Brexit for them. So we – you know – this was a statement of intent more than anything else. It was much more a statement of intent than it was a legally enforceable thing.

That final sentence - “it was much more a statement of intent than it was a legally enforceable thing” - seemed pretty clear. Crucially, Davis’s interview also coincided with some Sunday newspapers claiming that No 10 officials were privately telling Tory Brexiters that some parts of the agreement had no legal force. For example, Edward Malnick in the Sunday Telegraph (paywall)

A senior Eurosceptic with knowledge of the discussions involving cabinet ministers, including Mr Johnson and Mr Gove, told The Telegraph that No 10 had said a commitment to “full alignment” between the UK and the EU “doesn’t mean anything in EU law”.

A separate source confirmed that a specific cabinet minister had been told by No 10 aides that the provision was “meaningless” and was simply included to secure Ireland’s approval for the document.

That helps to explain why the Davis interview was seen as evidence that Theresa May signed off the Brexit deal with her fingers crossed behind her back.

On LBC this morning Davis staged a full retreat, camouflaged by an attack on newspapers which he claimed had misreported what he said.

Asked about today’s Times splash, he said:

I’ve never seen a more convoluted piece in a newspaper.

What I actually said yesterday, in terms, was we want to protect the peace process, we want to protect Ireland from the impact of Brexit for them. And I said this was a statement of intent which was much more than just legally enforceable. In other words, of course it is legally enforceable under the withdrawal agreement. But even if that did not happen for some reason, [if] something went wrong, we would still be seeking to provide a frictionless, invisible border with Ireland. They’ve completely twisted my words, I’m afraid.

What we’re saying is, this bit of it, the bit about full alignment argument, on the issues which affect the peace process and the Belfast agreement, we would look to that anyway because one of our absolute underpinning aims is to ensure that Ireland, and particularly the Northern Ireland peace process, is not harmed. And what is most symbolic in that is the absence of a hard border, the absence of border posts, and that sort of thing. And we are quite certain we can do that by technical and other means, even if we end up without a deal with the European Union.

When Nick Ferrari, the presenter, challenged Davis by quoting his actual words from the Marr interview at him, Davis said that he had said “much more than legally enforceable” (although that was not the exact phrase he used on Marr). He said there had been “a slight misquote”, although it was not clear if by that he meant that he had slightly misspoken when he was on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday or if he was accusing Ferrari of misquoting him.

(Reading the Marr transcript, it is fairly clear to me that, if Davis did intend to make the point he is making this morning, then he expressed himself very poorly, because he appeared to say the opposite of what he intended.)

Davis repeated the point again on LBC. He said:

Of course it’s legally enforceable ... It’s more than legally enforceable. In the event that the withdrawal agreement does not happen, then we would still be seeking to maintain an invisible border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. That was the point. I was making the point that it was much more than just in the treaty; it’s what we want to do anyway.

Davis normally adopts a jaunty manner in interviews, but this morning his enforced jollity was very marked. And he was speaking very quickly. It sounded as if he was nervous, knowing that he had messed up a bit yesterday and had a damage-limitation exercise to perform.

Updated

Here are some more lines from the David Davis interview on LBC. The tweets are from LBC’s Theo Usherwood and the BBC’s Chris Mason.

I will post a fuller summary, with the proper quotes, soon.

David Davis seeks to heal rift with Ireland over Brexit deal

As with a modernist poem, or holy scripture, the meaning of the UK-EU Brexit deal agreed at the end of last week is not universally agreed. In fact, it is subject to wildly differing, or even contradictory, interpretations.

As far as the Irish government was concerned, and in the eyes of some commentators, it was legally robust, and it meant the UK was turning away from hard Brexit. But No 10 aides were reportedly claiming that some bits of it were “meaningless” in legal terms, and David Davis, the Brexit secretary, yesterday said it was a “statement of intent” rather than something legally enforceable.

Theresa May will be under pressure to clarify all of this when she gives a statement to MPs about the deal this afternoon. The session is expected to last for a good two hours and EU leaders, who have yet to take the final decision about opening trade talks with the UK (they are due to do so at the EU summit starting on Thursday) will be listening closely.

According to extracts released in advance, May will tell MPs that her plans are “not about a hard or a soft Brexit”. She will say:

This is not about a hard or a soft Brexit.

The arrangements we have agreed to reach the second phase of the talks are entirely consistent with the principles and objectives that I set out in my speeches in Florence and at Lancaster House.

I know that some doubted we would reach this stage.

I have always been clear that this was never going to be an easy process. It has required give and take for the UK and the EU to move forwards together. And that is what we have done.

Of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

Davis is currently giving an interview to LBC seeking to clarify some of what he said on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday. In his opening answer, he tried to patch up the rift with Dublin opened up by what he said yesterday.

I will summarise the interview soon.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10.45am: John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, launches Labour’s interim Financing Investment report. As Sarah Bosely reports, it will float the idea of moving parts of the Bank of England to Birmingham,

11.15am: Theresa May chairs cabinet. (Cabinet normally meets on Tuesdays, but May is on a visit tomorrow.)

1.15pm: Downing Street lobby briefing.

2pm: Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP and co-chair of the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission, gives a speech. As Anushka Asthana reports, she will argue that loneliness should be added to the list of great social evils identified by William Beveridge.

3.30pm: Theresa May is due to give her statement to MPs about the Brexit deal.

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard’s Playbook. Here is the ConservativeHome round-up of today’s political stories. 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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