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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Nicola Slawson (now), Andrew Sparrow (earlier)

Election 2017: Michael Gove appointed environment secretary in cabinet reshuffle – as it happened

Michael Gove leaves Downing Street
Michael Gove leaves Downing Street after he was appointed environment secretary. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Evening summary

  • Theresa May has completed her cabinet reshuffle. The only real surprise was the return of Michael Gove who is now environment minister. Many ministers kept their jobs, although Liz Truss was demoted. Here’s a visual guide to the reshuffle from the interactive team.
  • Jeremy Corbyn is expected to delay any reshuffle of Labour’s shadow cabinet to focus pressure on the Conservatives.
  • James Brokenshire, reappointed as Northern Ireland secretary, will co-chair all-party talks in Belfast on Monday aimed at restoring power-sharing government to the region. His ability to stay neutral given his party’s new relationship with the DUP has been called into question.
  • Michael Gove’s appointment as environment minister has been criticised due to his record on climate change.
  • French president Emmanuel Macron, whose new centrist party is within reach of an overwhelming majority in the French parliament, will meet May on Tuesday. It will be her first meeting with a European leader since the embarrassing election.
  • May, who will face the 1922 committee on Monday, was interviewed on television but managed to avoid answering some of the more awkward questions by repeating the phrase “getting on with the job” which seems to be her new catchphrase after ditching “strong and stable”.
  • The DUP’s leader, Arlene Foster, is due for talks in Downing Street on Tuesday with a view to finalising the arrangements.

I am signing off now but thanks so much for joining me this evening and for all your comments below the line.

Here are some of tomorrow’s front pages, as tweeted by the BBC’s Neil Henderson. The knives don’t seem to be out quite as much as the last couple of days with many focusing on Boris Johnson backing May and the cabinet reshuffle.

David Mundell is to remain as Scottish secretary

David Mundell has been confirmed as Scottish secretary, completing the cabinet-level appointments. He has held the position since 2015.

May still has a number of more junior posts to fill to replace ministers who lost their seats in the election.

Updated

In case there was any doubt, the prime minister has yet to secure an agreement with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists on a deal to prop up her minority government.

The DUP’s leader, Arlene Foster, is due for talks in Downing Street on Tuesday with a view to finalising the arrangements, but George Osborne warned that Theresa May would have to soften her stance on Brexit if she wanted the backing of the DUP’s 10 MPs in the Commons.

While the party campaigned for leave in last year’s referendum, he said they could not accept her position that “no deal is better than a bad deal” as they needed an agreement to ensure there was no return to a “hard border” with the Republic.

“Theresa May’s central claim, which is no deal is better than a bad deal, now becomes undeliverable because the DUP will never allow no deal,” he told the Andrew Marr Show.

Updated

Here’s some reaction to May’s interview.

From The Mirror’s Mikey Smith:

From Jane Merrick:

From our own Simon Ricketts:

Tuesday’s meeting between Theresa May and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, could end up being quite awkward if the subject of parliamentary majorities comes up.

Reuters has this on the French parliamentary election:

Macron’s fledgling party is set to trounce France’s traditional main parties in a parliamentary election, according to projections after the first round on Sunday, and secure a huge majority to push through his pro-business reforms.

The results, if confirmed, deliver a further crushing blow to the Socialist and conservative parties that had alternated in power for decades until Macron’s election in May blew apart the left-right divide that had shaped French politics.

Pollsters said well over 30% of voters had picked Macron’s party in the first round, a result that they said could deliver him as many as three-quarters of the seats in the lower house after next week’s second round.

Updated

Here’s a bit more from that Sky News interview with Michael Gove:

I was quite surprised, I have to say ... I genuinely didn’t expect this role.

I am delighted to be part of the government, I am delighted to be able to support Theresa to ensure that we have a government capable of delivering on the people’s wishes.

May said in a pooled television interview that she had appointed ministers from across the Conservative party to join her top team and was ready to get down to work, including a trip to France to meet the president, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday.

Here’s more from what she said:

I am pleased that people from across the party have agreed to serve in my cabinet and we are going to be getting on with the job.

I said during the election campaign if re-elected I would serve a full term ... What I am doing now is actually getting on with the immediate job. I think that’s what’s important. I think that’s what the public would expect, they want to see government providing that certainty and stability.

Updated

Michael Gove says he was 'quite surprised' to return to cabinet

Meanwhile Michael Gove was on Sky News almost immediately after.

When asked if he had been expecting the call, which he received while at home in Surrey, he replied:

I was quite surprised I have to say ... I am genuinely delighted.

Updated

Theresa May says she is 'getting on with the job'

Theresa May is being interviewed right now on BBC News.

There is a job to be done and I think what the public wants is a government who can get on with that job.

Updated

One person excited about Gove’s return is his old frenemy, Boris Johnson, who celebrated the news by tweeting this awful pun.

Michael Gove’s appointment as environment minister is being criticised on Twitter due to his record on climate change.

In 2013 when he was education secretary, Gove was forced to abandon plans to drop climate change from the geography national curriculum.

The decision represented a victory for Ed Davey, who at the time was the energy and climate change secretary. He had waged a sustained battle in Whitehall to ensure the topic’s retention.

Here’s that story from the archives:

Updated

James Brokenshire has been reappointed as Northern Ireland secretary and will co-chair all-party talks in Belfast tomorrow aimed at restoring power-sharing government to the region.

Ahead of those discussions, which will involve Sinn Féin and new Westminster kingmakers the Democratic Unionist party, Brokenshire has emphasised that the British government will remain loyal to the principles of the 1998 Good Friday agreement in promoting dialogue between all sides of the political divide.

In a statement tonight, Brokenshire called on the parties to reach an agreement ahead of the 29 June deadline before power is transferred back to London.

He said:

The UK government will do everything in its power, working alongside the Irish government in relation to those areas where they have responsibility, to contribute to and support the process, steadfastly upholding the principles of the Belfast agreement and its successors.

“Like the overwhelming majority across the community in Northern Ireland, I believe a devolved government in Belfast is the best way to address the key decisions which affect people’s day-to-day lives – whether these relate to the economy, security, public services or issues of policing and justice, as well as addressing the legacy of the past.

“A Northern Ireland executive also has a vital part to play in ensuring that Northern Ireland’s interests are represented as the UK prepares to leave the EU.

“Northern Ireland’s political leaders now have this chance to take control and restore effective power-sharing government under the current assembly mandate. If they do not, the power to make decisions passes to others. Their choice in the next three weeks will shape Northern Ireland’s future.”

Updated

For those just catching up with the reshuffle, my colleague Heather Stewart has the full story on tonight’s events below.

Michael Gove has made a shock return to government as Theresa May carried out a post-election reshuffle of her cabinet.

Downing Street said he had been appointed environment secretary, replacing Andrea Leadsom, who became the new leader of the Commons.

Here’s a little refresher from the Press Association on why Gove returning to the cabinet is such a surprise:

His appointment is a remarkable comeback for a man who fought, and lost, to Theresa May in last year’s Tory leadership battle. The former justice secretary dramatically ditched Boris Johnson to run himself and had found himself frozen out in Mrs May’s first cabinet last July. The 49-year-old’s wife, journalist Sarah Vine, was forced to deny being power-hungry after an email blunder revealed she told him not to “concede any ground” to Johnson.

The appointment of Gove – who she clashed bitterly with over tackling extremism when they were in government together under David Cameron – will be seen as further evidence of May’s need to shore up her position after seeing her Commons majority wiped out.

Updated

Here is Theresa May’s new cabinet:

Chancellor of the exchequer – Philip Hammond

Home secretary – Amber Rudd

Foreign secretary – Boris Johnson

Brexit secretary – David Davis

International trade secretary – Liam Fox

First secretary of state and minister for the cabinet office – Damian Green

Works and pensions secretary – David Gauke

Justice secretary – David Lidington

Environment secretary – Michael Gove

Defence secretary – Michael Fallon

Health secretary – Jeremy Hunt

Communities secretary – Sajid Javid

International development secretary – Priti Patel

Transport secretary – Chris Grayling

Business secretary – Greg Clark

Education secretary – Justine Greening

Culture secretary – Karen Bradley

Leader of the Commons – Andrea Leadsom

Home Office minister (attending cabinet) – Brandon Lewis

Leader of the House of Lords – Lady Evans

Conservative party chair – Sir Patrick McLoughlin

Updated

Jeremy Wright stays as attorney general

Jeremy Wright has been announced as attorney general and Lady Evans confirmed as lord privy seal and leader of the House of Lords, No 10 says.

Updated

Brandon Lewis remains as minister of state in the Home Office

Brandon Lewis has been confirmed as minister of state in the Home Office and will attend cabinet meetings, No 10 has said.

Updated

My colleague Angelique Chrisafis, who is our Paris bureau chief, says the French president, Emmanuel Macron, will have a “working dinner” with Theresa May on Tuesday. It will be May’s first meeting with a European leader since the election.

Updated

Here’s some reaction on that dramatic news of Gove’s return, which is probably the most exciting part of this reshuffle.

BBC’s Andrea Catherwood says:

From Beth Rigby of Sky News:

The Mirror’s Jack Blanchard is amused:

Updated

Michael Gove is the new environment secretary

So it’s official. Gove is back and he will be the new environment secretary, No 10 has announced.

Updated

Gove is now at No 10, it has been reported. We should hear soon what May wants him to do.

Updated

Karen Bradley remains at the DCMS

Meanwhile Karen Bradley is the latest not to move. She has been confirmed as secretary of state for culture, media and sport again.

Updated

Andrea Leadsom made leader of the house

Andrea Leadsom has been appointed as leader of the House of Commons, No 10 says. She moves from her role as secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

Updated

Michael Gove is said to be on his way to Downing Street. He was sacked as justice secretary last summer and has been on the backbenches ever since.

This video of him falling over is doing the rounds again, thanks to my colleague Simon Ricketts.

Updated

James Brokenshire continues as Northern Ireland secretary

Nicola Slawson here taking over from Andrew Sparrow.

The latest is that James Brokenshire will continue as Northern Ireland secretary, No 10 has announced.

Siobhan Fenton, a freelance journalist who specialises in Northern Irish politics, has tweeted:

Updated

This is from my colleague Peter Walker.

I’m handing over now to my colleague Nicola Slawson.

Here is some Twitter comment on the reshuffle.

From Sky’s Beth Rigby

From the Times’s Sam Coates

From the BBC’s Ross Hawkins

Updated

Cabinet reshuffle in full

Here are all the cabinet moves, and non-moves, we’ve had so far.

Promoted

Damian Green

Was: work and pensions secretary

Now: first secretary of state and a cabinet office minister

David Gauke

Was: chief secretary to the Treasury

Now: work and pensions secretary

David Lidington

Was: leader of the Commons

Now: justice secretary

(As leader of the Commons Lidington did stand in for Theresa May at PMQs, and had a high profile in the Commons, and so in some respects he may regret this move. But as justice secretary he will get to run his own department, which is enough for it to count as a promotion.)

Demoted

Liz Truss

Was: justice secretary

Now: chief secretary to the Treasury

No change

Philip Hammond – chancellor

Amber Rudd – home secretary

Boris Johnson – foreign secretary

David Davis – Brexit secretary

Sir Michael Fallon – defence secretary

Greg Clark – business secretary

Liam Fox – international trade secretary

Justine Greening – education secretary

Sajid Javid – communities secretary

Alun Cairns – Welsh secretary

Jeremy Hunt – health secretary

Gavin Williamson – chief whip

Chris Grayling – transport secretary

Priti Patel – international development secretary

Updated

Priti Patel remains as international development secretary

And Priti Patel is not going anywhere either, No 10 has announced.

Priti Patel has been confirmed as secretary of state for international development.

Chris Grayling remains as transport secretary

And Chris Grayling is not moving either, says No 10.

Chris Grayling has been confirmed as secretary of state for transport.

Gavin Williamson remains as chief whip

Gavin Williamson remains as chief whip, No 10 says.

Gavin Williamson has been confirmed as parliamentary secretary to the Treasury (chief whip).

Jeremy Hunt remains health secretary

Jeremy Hunt is keeping his job, No 10 says.

Jeremy Hunt has been confirmed as secretary of state for health.

Hunt has now being doing this job for nearly five years. No one else in the cabinet has been in the same post for so long.

Alun Cairns remains Welsh secretary

Alun Cairns remains as Welsh secretary, No 10 says.

Alun Cairns has been confirmed as secretary of state for Wales.

Updated

Here is some Twitter comment on the reshuffle.

From the BBC’s Ben Wright

From the Daily Mirror’s Jack Blanchard

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

Priti Patel, the international development secretary, has arrived in No 10.

Updated

David Lidington appointed justice secretary

David Lidington has been made justice secretary and lord chancellor. He was leader of the Commons. No 10 says:

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of David Lidington as lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice.

Lidington is not a lawyer, but not of his immediate predecessors as justice secretary were lawyers either. And, according to Wikipedia, his history PhD thesis was on “the enforcement of the penal statutes at the court of the Exchequer c.1558-c.1576”.

Updated

Sajid Javid remains as communities secretary

Sajid Javid is staying as communities secretary, No 10 says.

Sajid Javid has been confirmed as secretary of state for communities and local government.

Updated

Justine Greening has got another job too. She is keeping her role as minister for women and equalities, No 10 says.

Justine Greening has also been confirmed as minister for women and equalities.

Updated

Justine Greening remains as education secretary

Justine Greening is staying as education secretary. This is from No 10:

Justine Greening has been confirmed as secretary of state for education.

Updated

For those of us who feel we have enough politics to cover at the moment, my colleague Jessica Elgot has some good news.

Will Straw, who ran the Stronger In remain campaign, has welcomed Damian Green’s appointment as first secretary of state. (See 3.52pm.)

Liam Fox remains international trade secretary

Liam Fox remains as international trade secretary, No 10 has announced.

Dr Liam Fox has been confirmed as secretary of state for international trade.

Updated

Boris Johnson’s journalism was never noted for its factual accuracy. According to Philip Cowley, the politics academic, his WhatsApp messages (see 3.20pm) are no better.

Liz Truss appointed chief secretary of Treasury

Liz Truss has been made chief secretary to the Treasury. That’s a demotion, because she was in charge of her own department as justice secretary and a full member of the cabinet.

This is from No 10:

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Liz Truss as chief secretary to the Treasury, attending cabinet.

Updated

Here is some Twitter comment on Damian Green’s appointment.

From the Guardian’s Paul Johnson:

From ConservativeHome’s Paul Goodman:

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton:

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dun:n

From the Times’ Henry Zeffman:

Updated

David Gauke appointed work and pensions secretary

David Gauke has been appointed work and pensions secretary. He was chief secretary to the Treasury. This is from No 10:

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of David Gauke as secretary of state for work and pensions.

Updated

Justine Greening, the education secretary, has arrived at Number 10.

Greg Clark stays as business secretary

Greg Clark is staying as business secretary. This is from Number 10.

Greg Clark has been confirmed as secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

Updated

Damian Green made first secretary of state and minister for Cabinet Office

Here is the first appointment. This is from No 10.

The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Damian Green as first secretary of state and minister for the Cabinet Office.

A move to the Cabinet Office is never normally a promotion, but this is one for Damian Green. As work and pensions secretary he was in charge of roughly a quarter of government spending. But first secretary of state is the “deputy prime minister in all but name” title. Michael Heseltine and John Prescott both took it when they were deputy PM, and other holders have included Peter Mandelson, William Hague and George Osborne.

This means Green is likely to stand in for May at PMQs if she is not there (assuming that she survives that long). Green and May were at Oxford together and are friends. Green’s wife Alicia was May’s tutorial partner and remembers her saying at the time that she wanted to be, or would be, prime minister.

Updated

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, is going into No 10. He is looking a bit nervous.

Liam Fox arriving at Number 10.
Liam Fox arriving at Number 10. Photograph: BBC

Updated

David Gauke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, is arriving at Downing Street for the reshuffle.

Updated

Damian Green, the work and pensions secretary, has arrived at Downing Street for the reshuffle.

Liz Truss, the justice secretary, has arrived at No 10 for the reshuffle.

Updated

ITV has got hold of WhatsApp messages that Boris Johnson sent to Tory MPs recently. These are from ITV’s Daniel Hewitt.

As my colleague Heather Stewart points out, some of this does read as if it were written with the intention of it being leaked.

One of the (many) things Tory MPs hold against Theresa May at the moment is that, when she gave a speech in Downing Street on Friday after returning from Buckingham Palace, she did not acknowledge that she had lost seats and that, as a result, some of her colleagues were out of a job.

Now she seems to be making amends. This is from Ben Howlett, the former Tory MP who was beaten by the Lib Dems in Bath:

Updated

Theresa May’s meeting with the Conservative backbench 1922 committee has been brought forward to Monday afternoon, my colleague Heather Stewart reports.

Updated

Gay rights campaigners, human rights activists and trade unionists will take to the streets of Belfast at Monday lunchtime to demand marriage equality in Northern Ireland.

The region is the only part of the UK where gay marriage is not recognised in law due in large part to the Democratic Unionist party vetoing legislation aimed at legalising LGBT marriages.

With the DUP courting Theresa May and the prospect of a national deal with the Tories, the Love Equality campaign will hold a protest at Belfast City Hall.

Love Equality said it was holding its demonstration in the “backdrop of negotiations to form a new UK government, with the issue of the continuing bar on equal marriage in Northern Ireland under intense scrutiny”.

The campaign group added:

With a Stormont talks deadline of 29 June to decide on devolution or direct rule for Northern Ireland, campaigners will call for whichever government is in charge to deliver equal marriage legislation for Northern Ireland, in line with overwhelming public opinion in the region.

An Ipsos Mori poll in June 2016 showed 70% of the Northern Ireland public support marriage equality legislation. A significant majority of MLAs in the recently elected assembly have also expressed their support for a change in the law. The DUP has previously used the ‘petition of concern’ in the Northern Ireland assembly to block progress on equal marriage despite majority support.

Updated

Sky’s Faisal Islam points out that the Irish government’s read-out of the May/Kenny calls (see 2.47pm) seems to confirm that James Brokenshire is staying as Northern Ireland secretary.

Jeremy Corbyn has welcomed President Trump’s decision to postpone his state visit. (See 1.43pm.)

As Sky’s Faisal Islam reports, the Irish government’s account of the phone call between Theresa May and Enda Kenny is rather more candid that No 10’s. (See 2.40pm.)

Updated

Downing Street has released a read-out of Theresa May’s phone call with Enda Kenny earlier. It is not as revealing as Kenny’s tweet about the call (see 1.10pm), but it does show that May told Kenny her approach to re-establishing the Northern Ireland executive “remained unchanged”.

Here is is in full. It’s from a Downing Street spokesperson:

Prime minister Theresa May spoke on the phone to Taoiseach Enda Kenny today. The prime minister explained that she is working towards a confidence and supply deal with the DUP which would provide stability and certainty for the UK going forward.

They confirmed their joint commitment to restoring a Northern Ireland executive as soon as possible and agreed that both countries would continue to engage closely to bring about political stability in Northern Ireland. The prime minister reiterated that the government’s approach and objectives in the forthcoming talks to re-establish the Northern Ireland executive remained unchanged.

The two leaders spoke about their willingness to continue close cooperation as the UK embarks on leaving the European Union, with no return to a hard border.

The prime minister thanked Mr Kenny for helping to make UK-Ireland relations stronger than ever, wished him well for the future and said she looked forward to continuing a close relationship with his successor.

Updated

Lunchtime summary

  • Theresa May has started work on a reshuffle, with appointments due this afternoon.

We’re going to put down a substantial amendment to the Queen’s speech which will contain within it the main points of our manifesto, and so we’ll invite the House to consider all the issues we put forward which I’ve mentioned – jobs-first Brexit, mention the issues of young people and austerity, there’s many other things.

May’s failure to win a majority will almost certainly have a significant impact on Brexit. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, has said the government should “look again” at what it is planning and she has called for an “open Brexit”. In his Marr interview, Corbyn also signalled that Labour would not support the proposed “great repeal bill” (intended to transpose EU law into UK law) in its current form. But John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, ruled out Labour keeping the UK in the single market. Staying in the single market would not be consistent with respecting the result of the EU referendum, he said.

  • George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, has said Theresa May is a “dead woman walking”. Osborne is no longer an MP, but the Tory backbencher Anna Soubry said this morning that May’s position was “untenable” and that she was “set to go in due course”. On another programme, Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, said “it’s fairly clear that Theresa May cannot lead us into another general election” and Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, said she would never lead the party into a general election. (See 10.50am.) ConservativeHome, the influential website for Conservative party members, is saying the same thing. Even Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, in an otherwise supportive interview, refused to say she wanted May to lead the party into the next election.
  • May could be asked to address Tory MPs as early as tomorrow to defend her record. In an interview this morning, Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, said:

One of the things I’ve said to the prime minister is it’s very important that she speaks to colleagues as soon as possible. We were going to have a meeting of the 1922 committee on Tuesday, I’m hoping to bring that forward to tomorrow now so that she can talk to colleagues about that deal [with the DUP].

  • Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has claimed that May has already been forced to agree to adopt a more inclusive style of governing. In an interview this morning, he said:

Clearly a minority government requires a different approach. You have already seen some changes of personnel in Downing Street. I welcome that of course.

We are going to see, I hope, more collective decision-making in the cabinet. I and other senior colleagues have made that clear to her. I think you will also see that she will want to work much more closely with the parliamentary party both in the conduct of business and the development of policy.

Brady also said that May needed to be more inclusive. He said:

There’s no doubt that we need to see a much more open and inclusive approach within government and within parliament as well. That’s not just a desirable outcome, it’s an absolute necessity in these circumstances.

Trying to make a hung parliament and a minority government works requires a much more inclusive approach and bringing people into the decision-making process.

Brady also said May should learn from Corbyn’s “avuncular” campaigning style.

  • The DUP has said that Arlene Foster, its leader, intends to meet May in No 10 on Tuesday for talks on a Conservative/DUP “confidence and supply” deal. Talks on a deal have already made “good progress”, the party said.
  • Enda Kenny, the outgoing Irish prime minister, has raised concerns about the proposed Conservative/DUP deal. (See 1.10pm.) Shaun Woodward, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, has said a deal would be “morally reprehensible” because it would put the peace process at risk. The SNP has said that full details of any deal must be made public.
  • Corbyn has said there is likely to be another election this year because the current situation is unsustainable. He said:

I think it’s quite possible there’ll be an election later this year or early next year, and that might be a good thing because we cannot go on with a period of great instability. We have a programme, we have support and we’re ready to fight another election campaign as soon as may be, because we want to be able to serve the people of this country on the agenda we put forward, which is transformative and has gained amazing levels of support.

  • Corbyn has insisted that he intends to remain as Labour leader for some time. Asked if he was in it for the long term, the 68-year-old Labour leader said:

Look at me, I’ve got youth on my side.

  • Corbyn has said he intends to reach out to his critics in the Labour party. But McDonnell has also described the shadow cabinet as “a winning team” that should “hold together”, playing down the prospect of a non-Corbynites being appointed to major jobs in a reshuffle.

Updated

Donald Trump has told Theresa May in a phone call he does not want to go ahead with a state visit to Britain until the British public supports him coming. Patrick Wintour reports.

Here is Patrick’s story.

And here is an extract:

The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time. The call was made in recent weeks, according to a Downing Street adviser who was in the room. The statement surprised May, according to those present.

The conversation in part explains why there has been little public discussion about a visit.

Updated

According to the Sun’s Steve Hawkes, Theresa May will start her reshuffle at about 2pm.

Updated

Outgoing Irish PM Enda Kenny raises concerns with May about Tory/DUP deal

Enda Kenny, the outgoing Irish prime minister, has revealed he has had a conversation with Theresa May and that he used it to raise concerns about a Tory/DUP deal.

Updated

SNP hints plan for second independence referendum may be shelved

Mike Russell, the Scottish government’s chief Brexit negotiator, has hinted Nicola Sturgeon is likely to take a second independence referendum off the table to prioritise agreeing a comprehensive position on Brexit. Interviewed on the Scottish edition of BBC Sunday Politics, Russell said:

First of all we need some stability; people everywhere are crying out for some stability. We’ve had from the Tories over the last 12 months nothing but chaos and instability.

Pressed on whether the Scottish National party, which lost 21 seats and nearly half a million votes in last week’s general election, should heed the 62% of voters who backed anti-independence parties on Thursday, Russell indicated that Sturgeon would do so.

We won this election but of course we will reflect on it. I’m not going to say any more this morning but of course we will reflect on it. The first minister said so absolutely immediately. To some extent everything is off the table in the sense that Brexit has to be sorted now and it has to be sorted or start to be sorted this week. So that’s the urgent priority to do.

Calling on Theresa May to stand down as prime minister, Russell said the urgency was compounded by the fact that Brexit talks with the EU were due to open in eight days. That meant the UK government had only days to agree a common position with the devolved administrations on what the UK position should be.

Russell welcomed a change of tack from Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, in favour of a softer Brexit that prioritised open trade and the single market. The UK government should now consider joining the European Free Trade Association or European economic area, which includes single market membership.

Hinting again at compromise with Labour and the Lib Dems over the constitutional debate, he said:

I think there’s potential for a progressive alliance in the House of Commons still, and I’m sure the SNP would like to see that. But we need to sit down this week, I will go tomorrow if I’m asked, and look at the Brexit situation.

Updated

In Northern Ireland, local focus is on the urgent need to restore power-sharing at Stormont. Talks resume on Monday, but local politicians are saying James Brokenshire, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, or his nominee can no longer be seen as an “impartial” chairman.

Nichola Mallon, the SDLP member of the Northern Ireland assembly, said the pact between the DUP and the Conservative party was “very serious” and said the “first task” in talks tomorrow was to agree “an impartial chair”.

This is not the first time the issue has arisen but she said it was now critical to have an independent person running the talks to ensure they don’t run into the sand. She told the BBC’s Sunday Politics Northern Ireland:

How can you have a secretary of state sitting at the table as an honest broker when they are actually in an understanding, or an arrangement … with one of the parties round the table while also having the duty and responsibility of being the co-guarantor of the Good Friday agreement.

She was responding to a recent assertion by the Irish minister for foreign affairs, Charlie Flanagan, that objectivity of both the British and Irish governments, guarantors of the GFA, was key. He told ITVs Peston on Sunday that Theresa May’s desire to team up with the DUP did “not necessarily” undermine the Northern Ireland peace process. (See 11.53am.)

However, local politicians say the chairing of talks by Brokenshire could jeopardise the deadline for an agreement within three weeks.
Stephen Farry, an Alliance member of the assembly, told the BBC that Brokenshire cannot be seen as impartial and said this was “a massive problem” for resuming power sharing, which collapsed in January. He said:

The Conservative secretary of state and the UK government will have one hand tied behind the back. If they push the DUP on anything, or say something that will annoy the DUP, the DUP will pull the plug [on power sharing]. He [Brokenshire] cannot be objective in this particular context any longer.

Farry added that the Conservatives did not need “a cosy deal with the DUP” to run a minority government and could seek deals “across the spectrum on different issues as they come along”.

The DUP did not put forward a spokesman for the show.

Updated

Former Northern Ireland secretary says May's Tory/DUP pact would be 'morally reprehensible'

Shaun Woodward, the former Labour Northern Ireland secretary, has just told BBC News that nationalists in Northern Ireland will never see the Westminster government as neutral if the Conservative government strikes a deal with the DUP. If Theresa May did broker this deal, she would be putting at risk the prospect of restoring power-sharing at Stormont, he said. He said this would put the peace process at risk and that what May was doing was “morally reprehensible”.

Updated

Theresa May needs to complete her post-election reshuffle soon. Michael Gove, who was sacked as justice secretary by May last summer, may be hoping for a call from the No 10 switchboard. He has just posted this on Twitter:

Updated

Thornberry accuses May of 'squatting' in Downing Street

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, told Ridge on Sunday earlier that Labour was ready for a move into power. Theresa May was “squatting” in Downing Street, she said.

We’ve got Theresa May squatting in Downing Street, we’ve got a full rebellion going on in the Conservative party, we’ve got no idea as to what’s going to be in this Queen’s speech. They have a manifesto that’s been completely been repudiated by the public and indeed by Tory MPs themselves, and no idea what the DUP will agree to or not.

“Squatting” in Downing Street was the allegation levied against Gordon Brown immediately after the 2010 general election, when he refused to resign the day after the general election, despite losing. But May’s situation is different. She won the most seats; Brown didn’t, and within days he did quit, to make way for the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition.

Theresa May squatting in No 10, says Emily Thornberry

Updated

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat raises reservations about Conservative/DUP deal

The Tory MP Tom Tugendhat has posted a message on Twitter this morning expressing reservations about a Conservative/DUP deal.

Updated

Charlie Flanagan, the Irish foreign minister, told Peston on Sunday earlier that a Conservative/DUP deal would “not necessarily” undermine the Northern Ireland peace process.

People including Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff, and Peter Hain, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, have said a Tory/DUP deal would be a problem because, under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, the UK government is supposed to be a neutral arbiter between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland.

Flanagan conceded that this was a concern, but he said this was not necessarily an insurmountable problem. Asked if a deal would undermine Westminster’s impartiality, he replied:

Well, not necessarily the case. Of course, it remains to be seen what the nature of that deal is. But this is an issue I did address the evening before last with secretary of state James Brokenshire.

I look forward to meeting with him again tomorrow if his appointment is reaffirmed, but yes I think it’s an important issue that you raise – the objectivity of both governments, and both governments working strictly in accordance with our legal responsibilities under the Belfast agreement, the Irish government as co-guarantor, indeed the British government as co-guarantor.

Updated

Owen Paterson, the Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary, is being inteviewed on Pienaar’s Politics now. He says he spoke to a DUP MP yesterday and the DUP’s priority is to deliver Brexit.

The ConservativeHome website has declared that Theresa May needs to be replaced before the next general election. Paul Goodman, the ConHome editor, says so in a lengthy post that gives a good insight into the turmoil in the Conservative party.

Here’s an extract.

May won the biggest Tory share of the vote since Margaret Thatcher, but the landslide she anticipated did not take place. Voters seem to have mulled her refusal to level with them over social care, her reluctance to debate, her lack of ease with campaigning and engagement – and, having weighed her in the balance, found her wanting. It is not certain that she has the flexibility and adaptability to share power with her cabinet and party and parliament, as she must now do to survive.

It is all very well to take refuge behind fixed terms plus hope in the DUP. David Cameron had a majority, and his government was crippled by rebellions. May was at mercy of the Commons even before the election: remember the budget and national insurance? Conservative MPs may not yet have grasped that we face the possibility of five years of a Do Nothing Government – with all that this implies for the proper management of the country’s finances. On paper, such an administration may be able to stagger on – at the mercy of tide and chance, with a party leader vulnerable at any moment to a leadership challenge via letters to Graham Brady. But in practice?

Finally, and perhaps most balefully, a handful of Tory dissidents may seek to sink the deal with the DUP: Ruth Davidson is unhappy about it, and she counts for quite a bit. We have no easy answers. Nor does anyone else. We must perhaps wait until the new parliament meets before the next act in this drama unfolds. But whatever it may bring, Tory MPs cannot pretend that May can lead them into the next election. They don’t believe it. Nor do our readers. Nor now, reluctantly, do we.

Updated

Cooper says she thinks Theresa May’s position is untenable. She says she does not think May has the personal skills to cope with a minority government.

Q: So why should Corbyn stay, if he did worse?

Cooper says Corbyn did better than expected. She says May said the election was a choice between a coalition of chaos and strong and stable leadership. But it’s Labour that has ended up with strong and stable leadership, and the Tories that are offering a coalition of chaos, she says.

Q: Have the critics of Jeremy Corbyn lost the argument now?

Cooper says there is “broad consensus” behind the manifesto. People have accepted Corbyn’s views on policy, she suggests. But she says the leader has also had to accept Labour’s support for Trident.

Updated

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP who was defeated for the Labour leadership by Jeremy Corbyn in 2015, is on Ridge on Sunday.

Q: Would you take a job in the shadow cabinet if offered one?

Cooper says it is up to Corbyn to decide who is in his shadow cabinet. She says he asked her to chair the refugee taskforce last year. She did that, and they got the Dubbs amendment accepted.

Q: But would you take a job?

Cooper says it would be presumptuous to assume she will be offered one.

Updated

McCluskey says without Labour MPs opposing him Corbyn would have become prime minister

Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary and one of Jeremy Corbyn’s most powerful allies in the Labour party, is on Pienaar’s Politics now.

Q: You never thought Corbyn would do this well, did you?

McCluskey says Corbyn was treated appallingly by the media, including by the BBC. He says he was worried what impact this would have. But he hoped people would listen to Corbyn’s ideas. He says that one of the key qualities in a leader is the ability to inspire. And Corbyn has done that, he says.

He says Corbyn is “a prime minister in waiting”.

  • McCluskey says Corbyn is “a prime minister in waiting”.

He says a “cabal of rightwing Labour MPs and grandees” deliberately tried to subvert the will of the Labour party. If only the unity that applies now had been there all along, Corbyn would be in Downing Street, he says.

  • McCluskey says Corbyn would have become prime minister if it were not for the Labour MPs attacking him.

On the same programme, Tim Montgomerie, the pro-Tory journalist and ConservativeHome founder, says he covered Donald Trump’s election. He says the fact that Trump did not have the support of the Republican establishment helped him, and he suggests Corbyn also benefited from not having the backing of the Labour establishment.

Updated

SNP says full details of Tory/DUP deal must be published

The SNP is demanding the publication of full details of the “confidence and supply” agreement the Tories are negotiating with the DUP. Referring to the confusion last night over whether or not there was an agreement (see 9.08am), Deidre Brock, the SNP’s Northern Ireland spokesman, said:

It is an absolute shambles that the Tories claimed to have struck a formal deal with the DUP, only to now admit that no such deal was in place. Theresa May’s government is in absolute chaos.

If the Tories do agree a confidence and supply arrangement, the public will have little confidence in it. We must have absolute transparency over what agreements will be reached for the supply of DUP votes.

It would be nothing short of scandalous if the Tory party jeopardised the return of government in Northern Ireland and the Good Friday process in order to cling on to power at Westminster.

At the same time there are very real questions to be asked over any suggestion that equal rights for LGBTI people or women’s rights could be diminished in any part of the UK by this deal. The PM’s private reassurances are worthless given her track record of U-turns and her clear desperation to cling to power.

SNP MPs will always work with other parties in support of progressive policies across the UK and we will demand full scrutiny and transparency over any confidence and supply arrangement.

Updated

Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, is being interviewed on Peston on Sunday.

Q: You cannot say no deal is better than a bad deal now, because that would lead to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, which the DUP would not accept.

Grayling says the UK and Ireland have had a common travel area, going back long before the UK joined the EU.

Q: But the border issue goes beyond that.

Grayling says all sides want a sensible deal on Ireland.

Lord Heseltine, the Conservative former deputy prime minister, told Pienaar’s Politics that Theresa May will never fight another election as Tory leader. Asked how long she would stay as leader, he replied:

No one knows. She will never fight another election as leader of the Conservative party, that is for sure. The important thing is how we determine that the leader who takes her place and above all the policy that is going to stop Corbyn gaining power in No 10 Downing Street.

He also said he thought Brexit could be stopped. Asked if he accepted it had to happen, he replied:

No I don’t accept it. I think one of the instabilities of the present situation is the parliamentary nightmare of trying to get the legislation through in a situation where self-evidently the House of Lords and the House of Commons are going to be a problem.

Updated

Q: How is May coping? She looks like a broken woman.

Bradley says she will find this very hard. She will find it “very deeply affecting” that colleagues have lost their seats. But she says she is a strong woman, and very resilient.

Updated

Bradley refuses to say she wants May to lead Tories into next election

Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, is on Ridge on Sunday now. Sophy Ridge asks how she feels doing a deal with a party that does not approve of abortion or gay rights. Bradley says she does not agree with the DUP on these things. But they are free vote issues, she says.

Q: You promised us strong and stable government. But we have got the opposite.

Bradley says everyone knew this was a gamble. It is not the result people wanted.

Q: Do you think Theresa May can fight the next election?

Bradley says she supports May. But she says that will be a matter for five years’ time.

  • Bradley refuses to say she wants May to lead the Tories into the next election.

Updated

The Tory MP Dominic Raab has been speaking to Andrew Neil. As PoliticsHome’s Kevin Schofield says, he has criticised George Osborne for acting like a journalist.

Corbyn's interview - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about Jeremy Corbyn’s interview on the Marr Show.

From the New Statesman’s editor Jason Cowley

From the Financial Times’ editor Lionel Barber

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton

From the Guardian’s Jessica Elgot

From Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan

From Alex Nunns

Soubry says May’s claim that “no deal is better than a bad deal” was one of the reasons the Tories did not win the election.

She says for the Tories turning their back on the customs union was “the stuff of madness”.

Staying in the customs union would also solve the problem with the Irish border, she says.

She also says the Tories need to recognise people’s concerns about public sector pay.

May should listen more to Philip Hammond, she says.

Tory MP Anna Soubry says May is 'set to go' because her position is 'untenable'

Andrew Neil is now interview Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP, former business minister and prominent remain supporter.

Q: On election night you said Theresa May should consider her position. Do you still think so?

Yes, says Soubry. She says May has considered her position. She is “set to go in due course”.

Soubry says she does not know when, but she says May’s position is “untenable”.

Brady says he had a long conversation with May on Friday afternoon.

Q: Did you tell her to make a second statement, after her first, robotic one outside Number 10 did not express regret.

Brady says by the time he met May she had scheduled the second TV statement anyway.

Brady says May must make government “more open and inclusive”.

Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, is on the Sunday Politics now. Andrew Neil is interviewing him.

Q: Many Tories have said to me Theresa May must never be allowed to lead the party into an election again. Do you agree?

No, says Brady.

Q: How should May change?

Brady says there are many lessons to be learnt.

He says the Tories can learn from Jeremy Corbyn’s style. He presented himself as avuncular, despite his extreme views.

  • Brady says May should learn from Corbyn’s ‘avuncular’ campaigning style.

He says May can be relaxed in person. But that did not come across.

And there has to be a “more open and inclusive approach” in government, he says.

  • Brady says May must make government “more open and inclusive”.

He says he has told May to adopt this approach.

May was due to speak to the 1922 committee on Tuesday. He is hoping that can be brought forward to Monday.

Updated

McDonnell rules out Labour trying to keep UK in single market

McDonnell says he does not expect big changes to the shadow cabinet. It is a “winning team”, he says.

Q: Could Labour support staying in the single market?

McDonnell says he cannot see that being on the table. Labour supports a “jobs-first Brexit”, he says.

Q: So you would back Theresa May in taking us out of the single market?

McDonnell says Labour wants to respect the results of the referendum. Staying in the single market would not honour that, he says.

  • McDonnell rules out Labour trying to keep UK in single market.

Updated

Q: Is Diane Abbott better? Or is she still standing aside from her job?

McDonnell says she is not back yet.

John McDonnell's interview on Peston on Sunday

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is being interviewed on Peston on Sunday.

He says he cannot see how the “coalition of chaos”, both within the Tory party and between the Conservatives and the DUP, can be stable. He says Labour does not want to do a deal with the SNP. It wants to put forward its proposal and get MPs to vote for it.

He cites several issues where he thinks there is a majority in parliament for Labour’s policies, such as keeping the triple lock and winter fuel payments for pensioners. And he cites the bedroom tax as another example, saying the DUP are opposed to it.

Updated

We’ve now got three major politics programme all on the go at the same time. Plus John Pienaar’s show on BBC Radio 5 Live. I’ll be flipping between them, chasing the best interviews.

Updated

Q: What is your message to Theresa May?

Corbyn says May said she wanted a personal mandate. She said “vote for me”, he says. He says he said vote Labour. She did not get that personal mandate, he says.

Q: Are you in this for the long term?

Corbyn replies:

Look at me. I’ve got youth on my side.

And that’s it.

Updated

Corbyn suggests he will reach out to his Labour critics and invite them into his team

Q: Will you reach out to the Blairites and Brownites and others in the party who opposed you?

Corbyn says he is “the most generous person in the world”. He will reach out. The party came together in the election, he says.

  • Corbyn suggests he will reach out to his Labour critics and invite them into his team.

Corbyn says another election is 'quite possible' this year

Q: Do you think there will be another this year?

Corbyn says it is “quite possible” there will be another one this year, or early next year. We cannot continue like this, he says.

  • Corbyn says another election is “quite possible” this year.

Updated

Q: Will you support the great repeal bill?

Corbyn says he thinks that will become fascinating.

Q: Have you thought of asking Sinn Féin to take their seats?

Corbyn says he does not see any possibility of this happening.

Q: Ruth Davidson says the parties should agree a joint approach to Brexit.

Corbyn says he cannot see how this could happen. He says the Tory view is different to Labour’s. He says May is threatening to turn the UK into a tax haven.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn's interview

Jeremy Corbyn is being interviewed now.

Q: You say you can become prime minister. (See 9.22am.) How?

Corbyn says he does not see what the DUP has in common with the Tories. He suggests a deal cannot work.

Q: But they have the numbers.

Corbyn says he cannot see what they will put in a Queen’s speech. Labour’s agenda is clear, he says.

Q: But you lost the election?

We didn’t win the election, he says. But Labour had an incredibly good result, he adds.

Q: You will put down an alternative Queen’s speech.

Corbyn says Labour will put down a substantial amendment to the Queen’s speech motion, including elements from Labour’s programme, such as a jobs-first Brexit and guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals.

  • Corbyn says Labour will oppose Queen’s speech with amendment calling for jobs-first Brexit.

Updated

Fallon plays down prospect of government softening its Brexit stance

Q: Ruth Davidson says the government should “look again” at Brexit.

(George Osborne earlier said that he agreed, and that he thought Davidson would now be able to push for a softer Brexit.)

Fallon says the government’s view on Brexit has not changed.

Q: Philip Hammond has reportedly demanded a more business-friendly approach.

Fallon says Marr does not know what Hammond has told the PM.

  • Fallon plays down prospect of government softening its Brexit stance following the election result.

Q: David Davis said on election night that the result would show whether people accepted the government’s desire for a Brexit involving leaving the single market and the customs union.

Fallon says the parties opposed to Brexit did very badly in the election.

Q: Osborne says May is a “dead woman walking”.

Fallon says he does not agree.

He says he expects Tory MPs to support her this week.

Andrew Marr ends by thanking Fallon for coming on the programme. Many other ministers refused, he says.

Q: The DUP is supported by people like the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando. Do you regard them as terrorists?

Fallon says the DUP is part of the parliamentary process.

Q: Are you concerned by the DUP’s links with groups like that?

Fallon says the DUP is committed to the peace process.

Fallon says the deal with the DUP is not a coalition. It is for a confidence and supply agreement.

Q: Last night No 10 said we could report there was an agreement. At midnight the DUP said there wasn’t. It sounds like a coalition of chaos.

Fallon says you cannot agree this in a day. But there is an agreement on principles.

Q: Will the public get to see it?

Yes, says Fallon.

He says the DUP will support the government on big economic and security issues.

Q: Are you repulsed by gay people?

Fallon says just because the Tories have an agreement with the DUP, it does not mean they agree with the DUP on issues like this.

Marr quotes from Ian Paisley Junior, a DUP MP, saying he is repulsed by gay people.

Fallon says he does not agree with Paisley on this.

He says the Tories have a close relationship with the DUP. They have more in common with them than with other parties.

He says the Tories do not have to share the views of the DUP.

Fallon says May has agreed to work more collectively with cabinet ministers.

Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, is on the Andrew Marr Show now.

Relatively view cabinet ministers have been speaking in public since the election.

He defends Theresa May’s decision to call the general election.

Q: Do you believe you won the election?

Fallon says the Tories won the most votes and seats. They have the right to form a government, he says.

Q: Did you feel the prime minister was being a bit robotic during the campaign, and not engaging with people.

Fallon says May took more questions from members of the public than Jeremy Corbyn did.

Q: She did not answer them, though.

Fallon says she tried to.

Q: What will change?

Fallon says there have already been personnel changes in Downing Street. (May’s co-chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, have resigned.) He says May has agreed to adopt a more collective approach with cabinet ministers. He welcomes that, he says.

  • Fallon says May has agreed to work more collectively with cabinet ministers.

Q: How is May? There are reports she was in floods of tears as the results came in.

Fallon says he does not know about that.

She has government business to carry on.

Heseltine's interview on the Marr Show

Lord Heseltine, the Conservative former deputy prime minister, is on the Marr Show now.

He has written an article suggesting the EU may offer the UK a better deal now, allowing it to stay in the EU without having to accept free movement.

(In the paper review earlier George Osborne said he did not think this was realistic.)

Heseltine says that if the Conservative party does not lance the boil of Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn will become prime minister.

A deal with the DUP is inherently unstable, he says. He says he personally has more in common with Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, than with Arlene Foster, the DUP leader.

Updated

On the Marr Show, George Osborne says a “confidence and supply” deal with the Democratic Unionists will be very unstable. He says it will not even commit the DUP to voting for the budget. The DUP will just commit to keeping the government “ticking over”. Beyond that, every measure in the budget will have to be negotiated, he says.

Osborne also says that Theresa May’s central claim, that no deal with the EU is better than a bad deal, is now implausible if she is reliant on the DUP. He says the DUP would never allow the UK to leave the EU with no deal because that would result in a hard border going up between Northern Ireland and the Republic, which is unacceptable to the DUP.

Updated

Corbyn says he can still become prime minister

Jeremy Corbyn has told the Sunday Mirror in an interview that he thinks he can become prime minister. Here is an extract:

[Corbyn] plans to use the Queen’s speech as his first opportunity to topple the floundering PM. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, Corbyn is champing at the bit and buzzing with enthusiasm. And over a cappuccino he says it is time for Mrs May to wake up and smell the coffee.

The Labour leader says: “I can still be prime minister. This is still on. Absolutely. Theresa May has been to the palace. She’s attempting to form a government. “She’s then got to present a programme to parliament.

“We will – obviously – amend the Queen’s speech. There’s a possibility of voting it down and we’re going to push that all the way. We have got a mandate to deal with issues of poverty, justice and inequality in Britain. We want to end austerity and invest in this country and that’s what we’re going to do.

“Nearly 13 million people voted for us to do it. That’s why I’m here” ..

Corbyn believes there is enough opposition in the rest of the House – and on May’s own backbenches – to defeat the government. That could trigger another election as the Tories would face a confidence challenge.

The Labour leader is optimistic his progressive manifesto will attract enough support in parliament to propel him to power.

Updated

Andrew Marr asks George Osborne what Theresa May said to him when she sacked him. Osborne said she told him he needed to get to know the Conservative party better.

Updated

Osborne says May is a 'dead woman walking'

George Osborne, the Conservative former chancellor, is reviewing the papers on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. He has just described Theresa May as a “dead woman walking”.

George Osborne: Theresa May is a ‘dead woman walking’

Q: Do you regret leaving the Commons?

Osborne says he feels well out if it. He says Boris Johnson has been running a permanent leadership campaign for years. He is not sure the Mail on Sunday story counts as news, he says. He says as an editor he is not sure he would have put this on the front page.

Updated

On Saturday, Downing Street said Theresa May had reached an outline agreement with the DUP about a “confidence and supply agreement”, which would involve the DUP promising to vote with the minority Conservative government on budgets and confidence motions, only for it to have to clarify the position, in a statement released after midnight, after the DUP said there was no agreement yet.

Sky’s Faisal Islam has posted the statements illustrating how No 10 had to step back from its early announcement.

This all just shows that the DUP have no intention of being a push-over in these negotiations.

Updated

Good morning. We were told that the vote to leave the EU would take Britain back to to the 1970s. But no one ever expected a hung parliament, intense focus on Northern Ireland and real doubts about whether Britain can be governed effectively to return so soon.

Here is the Observer’s summary of the situation.

And here is its splash story.

There is intense focus on the intentions of Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary. The Mail on Sunday has splashed on a story saying he is set to launch a bid to become prime minister.

Last night, Johnson described the story as “tripe” on Twitter.

So there is plenty for the political programmes to talk about.

Here is the agenda:

9am: Jeremy Corbyn is the main guest on the Andrew Marr Show. Here is the full lineup.

10am: John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is the main guest on Peston on Sunday. Here is the full lineup.

10am: Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, and Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, are the main guests on Ridge on Sunday. Here is the full lineup.

10am: Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, and Anna Soubry, the Conservative former business minister, are two of the main guests on Sunday Politics.

10am: Former Tory cabinet ministers Iain Duncan Smith and Owen Paterson are two of the main guests on Pienaar’s Politics.

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

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. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

Updated

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