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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

No 10 condemns Trump's tweets but won't cancel state visit - as it happened

President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

Afternoon summary

  • The UK should make life hard for the Republic of Ireland over a post-Brexit fisheries deal as a response to its “disgraceful” behaviour in the current negotiations, the DUP MP Ian Paisley has suggested. (See 11.52am.)
  • The imposition of trading tariffs on dairy produce after Brexit could push up prices for consumers or have dire consequences for farmers, industry leaders have said. As the Press Association reports, dairy industry bosses told MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs committee that tariffs with Europe or falling back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in the absence of a deal with the EU could block exports or see consumer prices rising. Paul Vernon, chairman of industry body Dairy UK, said:

Exports are critical for our business and for the industry. Tariffs could block exports and equally they could block tariffs, or if tariffs were to be accepted on imports, we could see inflation at a consumer level increasing quite rapidly. Tariffs are not something we would want either way.

WTO tariffs on dairy do what they are designed to do, they will stop trade.

  • Taxpayers face a £200m annual bill for thousands extra staff recruited by HM Revenue and Customs to deal with Brexit, its top civil servant has said. As the Press Association reports, Jon Thompson also revealed around 40-60% of his time is now spent dealing with the consequences of the vote to leave the European Union.

I firmly believe that we need to go into transitional arrangements on the same basic terms as now, and therefore the final deal will not be known until we are at the end of the transitional arrangement, which may be two years, about the end of 2021.

The problem with the proposition of having a second referendum in 2021 is that we will two years previously have exited the EU and therefore ‘In’ doesn’t seem to me to be a question you can put on the ballot paper.

That drives the argument to being that we will have to have a referendum before March 2019. That seems to me pretty unlikely and I am not sure what the question would be, because no final deal would have come into being by that stage.

I’m not sure a referendum on ‘staying in or transitional arrangements on the same basic terms’ would be one that takes us very far.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi meets with Theresa May in Baghdad, Iraq.
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi meets with Theresa May in Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: HANDOUT/Reuters

Updated

Here are some pictures from Theresa May’s trip to Iraq.

Theresa May meets British troops training Iraqi security forces at Camp Taji near Baghdad, Iraq.
Theresa May meets British troops training Iraqi security forces at Camp Taji near Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
May at Camp Taji near Baghdad.
May at Camp Taji near Baghdad. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi meets with Theresa May in Baghdad.
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi meets with Theresa May in Baghdad. Photograph: HANDOUT/Reuters
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi delivering a press statement Theresa May
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi delivering a press statement Theresa May Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

No 10 says British people 'reject prejudiced rhetoric of far right'

This is what the Press Association has filed from the Number 10 lobby briefing.

Downing Street has said Donald Trump was “wrong” to share anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First.

The US president retweeted to his 43.6m followers three posts by Jayda Fransen on Wednesday, including unverified footage purporting to show Muslims committing crimes.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said Britain First sought to divide communities through its use of “hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions”.

“It is wrong for the president to have done this,” the spokesman said.

The posts shared by the president included unverified videos titled “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!” and “Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!”

Fransen, 31, who was convicted last November of religiously aggravated harassment for hurling abuse at a Muslim woman in a hijab, appeared to celebrate the president’s actions, tweeting moments later “GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP”.

The PM’s spokesman said that Britain First “cause anxiety to law-abiding people”, adding that: “British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents - decency tolerance and respect.”

No 10 says it won't cancel Trump's state visit

Here are more tweets from the lobby briefing.

Updated

No 10 says Trump's tweets were wrong

Downing Street has said that President Trump’s Britain First retweets were “wrong”.

European parliament says Brexit talks have not made enough progress to justify advancing to trade

The European parliament says not enough progress has been made in the Brexit talks to justify open trade talks after the EU summit in December. The parliament’s Brexit steering group, which is chaired by Guy Verhofstadt and which represents the main political groups in the institution, has issued a statement in a press release headed: “Brexit: progress but not enough.” It takes the form of a letter to Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.

The Brexit talks until now have focused on three issues, citizens’ rights, finance and Ireland, and the negotiations will not move on to phase two, the future trade relationship, until “sufficient progress” has been made on these three topics.

Mostly the MEPs’ statement focuses on citizens’ rights, and in particular on the EU demand for the European court of justice to have a role after Brexit safeguarding the rights of EU nationals in the UK. They say:

Finally, we can only again reiterate our position that in order to guarantee the coherence and integrity of the EU legal order, the CJEU [court of justice of the European Union] must remain the sole and competent authority for interpreting and enforcing European Union law and not least the citizens’ rights provisions of the withdrawal agreement.

It is with great concern that we note that negotiations in this respect are stalled, and even some progress reversed.

But what the MEPs say about Ireland is probably more significant, because they set conditions the UK government would find it hard to accept. They say:

Concerning Ireland, the BSG [Brexit steering group] believes that the UK must make a clear commitment, to be enshrined in a form which would guarantee its full implementation in the withdrawal agreement, that it would protect the operation of the Good Friday agreement in all its parts, ensure, by means of continued regulatory alignment between the north and the south, there is no hardening of the border on the island of Ireland and that there is no diminishing of the rights of people in Northern Ireland.

Significantly, the statement does not cover finance - a clear hint that, despite what the UK government and Barnier have been saying today, this issue is now resolved.

It is the European council (EU leaders) that will have the final say over whether or not the talks move on to trade after December, as the UK wants. The European parliament is not the key decider. But MEPs will have to agree any final Brexit deal, and so they do have some influence.

Updated

Here are some more tweets from MPs and peers condemning President Trump’s tweets.

From Sayeeda Warsi, the former Conservative party chair

From Yvette Cooper, chair of the Commons home affairs committee

From Labour MP David Lammy

From Labour MP Stella Creasy

From Labour MP Chuka Umunna

From the Green MP and co party leader Caroline Lucas

Terry Burns, the former head of the Treasury, has been named by the government as its preferred candidate to chair Ofcom, the communications regulator, the culture department has said. He will have a pre-appointment hearing with the Commons culture committee before the government takes the final decision.

Here is Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem deputy leader, on President Trump’s tweets.

The mask has yet again slipped, revealing the atrocious views of President Trump. It is incredibly dangerous for someone in his position of responsibility to sow such division and hatred at every turn.

Trump needs to do the world a favour and delete his account.

The prospect of Germany not having a strong government in place until early next year is being seen by MEPs as a monumental drawback for Brexit talks.

While compromise solutions over EU citizens’ rights and the divorce bill Britain will eventually pay are seen as being almost assured, MEPs say the lack of a fully operational government in Berlin remains a major risk when it comes to the issue of Ireland.

“Without having a strong government in Germany it is very difficult to handle the broader situation,” said the Greek MEP, George Kyrtsos, who sits on the economic and monetary affairs committee. He said:

If we reach a point where we have to make a political compromise regarding Ireland it will be that much harder without a fully functioning government in Berlin and that is not likely to happen before February or March at the earliest.

A member of the centre right European People’s party, who follows Brexit negotiations closely, Kyrtsos, described the political uncertainty in the EU’s powerhouse member as the biggest problem when it came to EU decision-making. He said:

The main issue is not the Brexit bill because slowly but surely we all believe here that the British will pay what the Europeans have asked for. Nor is it EU citizens’ rights because everyone also believes a compromise solution will be found to that too. It is the question of Ireland and ensuring the Good Friday agreement doesn’t collapse.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, says President Trump’s tweets show why he should not come to the UK.

Updated

According to Politico Europe’s Tom McTague, Michel Barnier, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, has infuriated UK government officials with the passage in his speech (see 10.02am) condemning the Brexit vote as selfish.

Brexit 'divorce bill' row - Summary of the UQ and today's developments

Even though the government is not confirming that a deal has been reached on the “Brexit bill” that the UK will pay the UK when it leaves (not a lump sum, but an agreement on what outstanding financial commitments it will honour), today’s reports about ministers accepting it will be in the £50bn territory mark an important landmark in the Brexit saga. It has been dominating the news all morning, and we had an urgent question on the subject in the Commons. Here are the key developments.

  • Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has told MPs that any payment the UK does make will be contingent on the UK getting a good deal on trade. She told MPs:

What we have seen today is simply media speculation and we will update the House when there is more detail to give ...

As we have said, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Any settlement that we make is contingent on us securing a suitable outcome.

This is a potential flashpoint with the EU because the EU has said it does not accept that there should be a link between a deal on the UK’s financial settlement and a future UK-EU trade deal.

  • Prominent Brexiter Tories have generally refused to criticise the government for being willing to pay the EU a sum in the region of £50bn - but only on the understanding that any payment would be conditional on the UK getting a free trade deal. Iain Duncan Smith, the prominent Vote Leave campaigner, set out this view in a BBC interview. (See 11.26am.) Other hardline leavers expressing broadly similar views have included Jacob Rees-Mogg, Crispin Blunt, Nadhim Zahawi, Sir Desmond Swayne, Daniel Hannan, John Redwood and John Baron.
  • Some Brexiter Tories have condemned the potential payments. In the Commons Peter Bone and Philip Davies both said that, if the government had £60bn spare, it should spend it on public services instead. But it is not clear how many Tories (if any) would vote against a “Brexit bill” on this scale (although Andrew Bridgen said last week he could vote against such a payment).
  • The Labour MP Chris Leslie has mocked the government for being willing to pay the EU for a worse deal than the UK currently enjoyed. He tabled the urgent question on this and told MPs:

What wondrous new advantages will we gain by shelling out these astronomical sums?

Won’t the chief secretary be straight with the House that we are paying for the privilege of putting the world’s most efficient free trade, tariff-free, frictionless agreement into the bin, and we’re being told to pay for the privilege of downgrading to an inferior deal with our European neighbours?

Why does [Truss] think that the only people who can’t be told are the British public and the British parliament?

This is not what the British public voted for in the referendum.

It is not taking back control. It is losing control.

Updated

Corbyn condemns Trump tweets as 'abhorrent, dangerous and threat to society'

Jeremy Corbyn has condemned President Trump’s latest tweets as “abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society”.

May defends government's Brexit planning

Theresa May has dismissed criticism that the government’s approach to Brexit has been badly prepared, and insisted all sides connected to the Irish border were “of one view” about avoiding any barriers after departure.

Speaking to reporters during a trip to the Middle East, which saw her arrive in Jordan on Tuesday evening with a stopover in Saudi Arabia also planned, the prime minster was asked about comments from the former international development, Priti Patel.

At a speech earlier this week Patel said the government had been “ill-equipped” in its preparations for Brexit, and said May should tell the EU top “sod off” over the divorce settlement payment.

Responding, May did not mention Patel by name, but dismissed her arguments. “We’ve done a lot of preparatory work in Brexit talks, and of course that work continues as the negotiations take place,” she said. She went on:

In terms of the resources the government is putting into this, you’ll know that we’ve already over the last couple of years put just over £700m into the preparations, And in the budget last week the chancellor announced £3bn being put aside over the next couple of years as preparation for all eventualities from these talks.

Asked about how she could hope to reconcile the various sides over the issue of the Irish border, May was equally adamant, saying it was “very clear” that no sides wanted a hard border.

I think there are a number of ways in which that could be achieved, and we’re talking with the Irish government and continue to do so,” she said. She went on:

We all have, all parties involved in this, don’t want to see a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I think there’s a number of ways in which we can ensure that for the future and I look forward to having more detailed discussions on that when we move into phase two of the negotiations

We’re all of one view on what we don’t want to see, and that’s the parties in Northern Ireland, the Irish government and the UK government. We don’t want to see a hard border. We’ve even very clear on our commitment on that.

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, told the Irish parliament today that he did not think Ireland would need to use its veto at the crucial Brexit summit in December because it had the backing of other EU states for its position. He said:

The solidarity that exists for Ireland and behind our specific issues in relation to avoiding a hard border remains very strong.

Labour calls for vote on allowing NAO and OBR to scrutinise 'Brexit bill'

This is what Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow Treasury minister, said during the UQ about Labour demanding a Commons vote on the “Brexit bill”. He said:

The government must be transparent about the process, especially once an understanding has been reached with our EU partners. This is why we’ve tabled an amendment to the withdrawal bill which calls for any financial settlement to be assessed by the Office for Budget Responsibility, by the National Audit Office and for parliament to have the chance to scrutinise it.

Jonathan Reynolds
Jonathan Reynolds Photograph: BBC

Philip Hollobone, a Conservative, asks if the UK will get its fair share of EU assets.

Truss says those are being taken into account.

And that’s it. The UQ is over.

I’ll post a summary of the key UQ and “Brexit bill” developments shortly.

Labour’s Gavin Shuker asks if there is any issue in the talks where the UK has gone head to head with the EU can come out on top?

Truss says the government is making progress in the talks. It would be wrong to disclose the details, she says.

Richard Graham, a Conservative, says the EU is assuming that the Commons will never vote for no deal. Shouldn’t MPs clarify that they could vote for a no deal Brexit?

Truss says he hopes Graham’s question will focus opposition minds.

Peter Bone, a Conservative, says he agrees with Dennis Skinner. His constituents would want to see £60bn spend on services, not the NHS.

Truss says the figures quotes in the press are speculation.

This is from the BBC’s Iain Watson.

Labour’s Ian Austin asks for an assurance that any savings will fund programmes currently funded by the EU.

Truss says there will be savings. They should be spend in the best interests of the UK, she says.

Shailesh Vara, the Conservative, says the public has given its verdict and expects the government to deliver. He says the doom-mongers should start talking up Britain.

Truss says she agrees. The opposition refuses to recognise the positive things happening. Let’s see more optimism, she says.

Truss says nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Any payments that are made will be “value for money”, she says.

Labour’s Helen Goodman says the overnight news shows there is a £30bn hole in the public finances.

Truss says Goodman is wrong. The OBR did assume future payments to the EU, she says.

Philip Davies, a Conservative, says when MPs vote on this, the government should itemise where all the money is going, and explain what the legal basis for those payments is. He says Dennis Skinner is right; any spare money should go on public services.

Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards say accounting rules say these sums should be included in the government accounts. Will the figure be in the supplementary estimates? And will there be a vote?

Truss says Edwards is wrong. Nothing has been firmly agreed, so there is nothing to disclose yet, she says.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative, says the UK seems to be “dancing to the tune” of the EU. He asks for an assurance that after Brexit the UK will not make any payments to the EU unless there is a full agreement on trade.

Truss says the government is still in the negotiation.

Labour’s Pat McFadden says this is the opposite of what was promised during the referendum. Other countries pay significant sums to get into the single market. But we are paying to leave, he says. We are paying for a poor deal.

Julian Lewis, a Conservative, says offering concessions implies weakness. To get the best deal you often have to walk away, he says.

Truss says the EU should know the UK has alternatives because it is preparing for a no deal scenario. Labour want to give that option away, she says.

Labour’s Dennis Skinner says 70% of people in Bolsover voted to leave the EU. If there is £60bn to spare, it should go to the NHS and social care.

Truss says last week’s budget did put extra money into the NHS.

Labour’s Louise Ellman asks how MPs can know the deal will be in the national interest if the details are not revealed.

Truss says the negotiations are still going on. When there is a number, the government will come to the House to tell MPs about it.

Sir Desmond Swayne, a Conservative, says whatever the UK pays, it will be bargain compared to staying in.

Labour’s Chris Bryant says the government is keeping its cards so close to its chest it has not even looked at them. Truss is implying the UK will pay the EU. But Boris Johnson said “go whistle”. What did he want them to whistle? Your money or your life?

John Baron, a Conservative, says this a “storm in a teacup” because nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

The Lib Dem MP Tom Brake says £45bn, less investment and less influence is the price the government will pay for Brexit. Is any price too high?

Truss says the misery outlook has spread to the Lib Dem benches.

Owen Paterson, the Conservative former environment secretary, says Economists for Free Trade predict growth at 3% by 2025 after Brexit.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper says people saw the slogan on the side of the Vote Leave bus. If the government says nothing, and just produces a figure at the end, it will be incomprehensible to people. Can Truss say what kind of things the UK will fund?

Truss says May covered this in her Florence speech. She repeats the point about any payments being contingent on a good future relationship.

Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Brexit committee, asks if the government has budgeted for having to set up new agencies to replace the EU ones the UK is leaving because it will not accept ECJ jurisdiction.

Truss says the government is preparing for all eventualities, including those ones.

John Redwood, a Conservative, says no deal would have the benefit of there being no payments to the EU. So any deal we do get has to be better, he says.

Truss agrees. She criticises Labour for ruling out a no deal Brexit.

The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman says there would be no media rumours if the government told people what it was doing. People did not vote to be worse off. She says the budget did not make provision for this money. She calls for an emergency budget to explain where the money will come from.

Truss says Blackman should be thanking the government for the extra £2bn Scotland got in the budget. She says she cannot cut across the EU negotiations.

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative former work and pensions secretary, says he is not in favour of anything that is not legal. So he supports the government, he says. And even if the UK has agreed to pay something like £40bn over 40 years, that is still a big saving.

Truss says she agrees.

Truss says any financial offer to EU is conditional on UK getting a 'suitable outcome'

Ken Clarke, the Tory pro-European, says no EU country will give the UK a good deal if the UK does not pay what it owes. So those saying the UK should not pay anything are advocating a no deal Brexit, he says.

Truss says Clarke is right. Any settlement has to be contingent on getting a suitable outome, she says.

  • Truss says any financial offer to the EU is conditional on the UK getting a “suitable outcome”.

Truss is responding to Leslie.

She says the country voted to leave the EU.

She says Labour’s position, including Diane Abbott’s suggestion she would back a second referendum, is not helpful.

She says, instead of trying to refight the referendum, Leslie should “get with the programme” and support Brexit.

Labour’s Chris Leslie says the leave campaign “daubed their hubris” across a red bus. Saying the UK would gain £350m a week was not just a lie; it was the direct opposite of the truth.

He says today’s reports suggest people will be paying the equivalent of £1,000 per head for Brexit.

He says, taking into account the economic costs of Brexit, the costs will be even higher.

He says the UK is paying for the privilege of downgrading the most efficient free trade deal available.

The government has gone from “go whistle” to “where do I sign?” in a week.

He asks for an assurance that people will be told what the UK is paying.

This is not taking back control, he says. This is losing control.

Urgent question on 'Brexit bill'

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, is responding to the UQ.

She says it would be wrong of her to comment on “speculation” about the Brexit talks. She says the talks are continuing. Theresa May made it clear the UK would honour its commitments. But any settlement will be conditional on the UK getting a good deal, she says.

What we have seen today is just “media speculation”, she says. She says the government will update the House in due course.

Stephen Doughty, the Labour MP, raises a point of order to say President Trump has been retweeting tweets from the far-right group Britain First. Will there be a statement?

John Bercow, the Speaker, says he does not follow Twitter.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour MP, says the home secretary should condemn what the president did.

Bercow says he would not expect a minister to respond immediately.

But he says Doughty and Cooper are “disinclined to let go” when they raise an issue. He suggests he expects the issue to come up in the Commons again.

Nigel Dodds, the DUP leader at Westminster, says it is dereliction of responsibility for Sinn Fein to say they will not engage further in talks on power-sharing.

Green says the government is working as hard as possible to restore the Northern Ireland executive.

Richard Bacon, a Conservative, asks if Britain is working hard to persuade the US to uphold the Iran nuclear deal.

Green agrees. The government thinks this is important, he says.

Labour’s Marsha de Corva asks if the government will carry out an impact assessment of changes to disability benefits.

Green says the government is getting more disabled people into work. The government has a plan to get an extra 1m in work over the next 10 years.

The SNP’s Mhairi Black asks about the Waspi women.

Green says the government has to increase the pension age. He says the Scottish government does have the power to alter welfare payments. If the SNP care about this, they should use the Scottish government’s powers.

UPDATE: I’ve corrected this post. Originally it quoted Green as saying the Scottish government could alter pension ages. That is not what he said. He said the Scottish government could alter welfare payments.

Updated

Alex Chalk, a Conservative, asks if the government will build an offensive cyber security capability so it can strike back at countries like Russia.

Green says Chalk’s constituency includes GCHQ. He says the government is developing this capability.

Labour’s Wes Streeting says 100,000 children are living in temporary accommodation. What will the government do about that?

Green says he agrees this is a serious problem. That is why housing was at the centre of the budget, he says.

Damian Collins, the Conservative chair of the culture committee, asks what the government is doing to stop countries like Russia spreading fake news, including on issues like vaccines.

Greens the national cyber security centre is looking at this issue.

The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard asks if Green backs the Lords committee report saying the size of the Lords should be reduced to 600, and that 15-year terms should be introduced.

Green says the government is looking very carefully at the report and will respond in due course.

John Stevenson, a Conservative, asks about an investment in his Carlisle constituency.

Green says the borderlands growth initiative will help Stevenson’s part of England, and the southern part of Scotland, enjoy mutual prosperity.

Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative, says Labour’s spending plans will increase interest payments by £7.5bn a year.

John Bercow, the speaker, says this has nothing to do with government policy. He says Green does not have to answer.

Labour’s Sarah Jones says shocking figures are out today about child knife deaths. She says funding youth workers can help.

Green says this government is taking a tougher stance on knife crime than its predecessors. If you are caught carrying a knife, you are likely to go to jail, he says.

Green says it is disappointing that the EU has decided UK cities cannot be European capitals of culture after Brexit. He says he hopes the European commission will reconsider. He says the government will help those cities that have applied carry on their cultural development.

PMQs - Snap verdict

PMQs - Snap verdict: Buy shares in Thornberry for next Labour leader. In fact, stock up on as many Thornberrys as you can get. That probably wasn’t as impressive as her last stand-in at PMQs, but it was still a very polished performance, and she delivered a proper drubbing. Green had a good comeback when asked about the hospital in his constituency, and his final anti-Labour soundbite, about the party preparing for a run on the pound but not Brexit, was effective, but otherwise he was floundering badly. Corbyn has developed a good routine at PMQs involving straight, difficult questions, preferably on issues where he can quote Tories MPs against the PM. But Thornberry showed how much more dangerous by deploying a bit of guile. She started with a teaser question about conduct that clearly unsettled Green because he thought she might devote all six questions to a topic that would take us on to the subject of touching knees and watching porn on office computers. Having unsettled Green, Thornberry then moved on and confounded Green a form of trick question - one that leaves the opponent waiting until the very end before he knows what the question actually is. (See 12.09pm.) Thornberry then pursued nursing morale for a bit before pulling another surprise, quoting minutes from an NHS trust in Green’s own constituency. That one did not turn out to be so deadly, but overall Thornberry was very accomplished. Labour MPs will be cheered hugely.

Thornberry says a hospital in Green’s constituency is cancelling clinics because of staff shortages. And there is a meeting about closing an A&E unit. She quotes from the minutes of a trust meeting. These things are happening on his doorstep.

Green says the meeting is about the strategic transformation plan. He backs it, because it will increase services. He says Thornberry should not pretend to know more about what is happening in his constituency than him.

Thornberry says the budget could only find £350m to help the NHS with the winter crisis. Yet it found 11 times that amount to spend on a no deal Brexit. Isn’t that a case of the government fiddling away while the rest of the country burns.

Green says Thornberry is determined to talk the NHS down. The government is promising more funds for the NHs. More operations are being carried out by more doctors and more nurses. He says Labour does not think it’s worth preparing for Brexit. But it does think it is worth preparing for a run on the pound.

Thornberry says 40% of nurses are leaving in their first year. Why?

Green says the NHS is expanding. Nurses can be reassured this government will continue to support them, he says. If Thornberry wants to see a health service where things are getting worse, she can look at the NHS in Labour-run Wales. Public satisfaction with the NHS in Wales is lower.

Thornberry says she asked why so many nurses are leaving. The RCN says it is excess workload, low pay and worries about patient care. She returns to the question Green asked Prescott 17 years ago. What are nurses saying today?

Green says since 17 years ago there have been significantly more nurses in post. He says Thornberry should welcome the increase in tax allowances in the budget, which would help nurses.

Updated

Emily Thornberry also congratulates Harry and Meghan. “That is one Anglo-American couple we on this side will be delighted to see holding hands,” she jokes.

She also jokes about waving her England flag at a forthcoming match.

She asks if Green is happy to be held to the same standards in goverment as he required in opposition.

Yes, says Green. He supports the ministerial code.

Thornberry says Green looks perturbed at her line of questioning. But she has not got there. She wonders if Green can answer the question he asked John Prescott when Prescott was standing in at PMQs. It was - what proportion of nurses recently recruited are leaving.

Green says he does not know, but talks about NHS investment.

Updated

Simon Clarke, a Conservative, asks about in investment in Teesside, which he welcomes.

Green says Clarke has got the hang of what to say at PMQs. He repeats the point about Teesside getting £120m extra funding in the budget.

Updated

Labour’s Melanie Orr asks about a project in Grimsby. Green says he thinks she is welcoming the industrial strategy, and there will be money attached he says.

Damian Green says he is standing in for Theresa May, who is in the Middle East to further Britain’s interests in a region essential to our security.

He offers his congratulations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their engagement.

Updated

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

Damian Green, the first secretary of state, is standing in for Theresa May, who is in the Middle East. And Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, will lead for the opposition instead of Jeremy Corbyn.

DUP MP Ian Paisley says Ireland should be 'punished' if it tries to use Brexit to split UK

Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party MP, has launched a scathing attack on the Irish government branding its call for Northern Ireland to remain in the customs union and single market as “disgraceful”.

He said they were happy to take £7bn bailout during the financial crisis in 2010 from Britain and need to act “as good neighbours and as friends” instead of “undermining” relations.

Speaking at the Northern Ireland affairs select committee in Westminster on Wednesday, he said if Ireland continued to propose divergence between the region and the rest of the United Kingdom, they should be “punished” with a “long, tenuous and hard” negotiation on a fisheries deal post Brexit. He said:

Frankly I think the pussy footing needs to stop

I think our neighbour has acted disgracefully. They are supposed to be our partner. As a nation our majesty’s government since 2016 has given them billions of money interest free to bail them out of economic ruin and bankruptcy.

Of course that money has been paid back but paid back at a very generous rate

The Republic of Ireland relies for a major part of its trade with UK

Its fisheries water becomes our fisheries water in 2019 and as early as September 2019 they will need to make a fisheries deal, not with the EU, but with us and frankly if they continue to exacerbate our will as citizens of the UK, I think we should make that fisheries deal, long tenuous and hard for them.

The DUP is implacably opposed to anything that will separate them from the rest of the UK.

Last week the party, which holds the balance of power at Westminster, said it will use its parliamentary muscle to prevent any special post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland that could “decouple” the region from the rest of the UK.

Paisley told the committee people were “exasperated” with the Dublin government. Addressing the ministers giving evidence to the committee, he said:

I think that message needs to be spelt out that they need to start acting in a mature way and dealing with us as good neighbours and as friends instead of trying to frustrate the will of the people of the UK by saying they want a united Ireland, by saying they want this part of the sovereign territory, that this part of her majesty’s kingdom, to be out with the rest of the agreement.

If her majesty’s government isn’t for diplomatic reasons prepared to say it publicly, I hope you are starting to shake their cage internally and privately in these negotiations. A lot of people are really exasperated with the amateurishness of the Irish government.

Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, will respond to the UQ on the “Brexit bill”, according to Labour whips.

And here is a quote from Boris Johnson that Sky have just broadcast.

We’re working, as you can imagine, to build on the momentum we’ve got going forward to the December European council. We’re hoping very much that the offer that the prime minister is able to make at that council will be one that guarantees sufficient progress. I think that’s what everybody around the table, all the 27 plus us, really want to achieve. Now is the time get this show on the road. Let’s get the serious talks underway.

Asked if this would be a breakthrough moment, he replied:

I hope so.

Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson. Photograph: Sky News

Boris Johnson defends extra payments to EU, saying 'now is the time to get the ship off the rocks'

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has defended the government’s decision to offer more to the EU, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg reports. He argued it would lead to progress in the Brexit talks.

That might be the first time a minister has admitted the talks were “on the rocks”. The usual line is that the talks have been going fine ...

Duncan Smith says payments to EU must be linked to UK getting a free trade deal

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative former work and pensions and a leading Vote Leave campaigner, has just been interviewed on BBC News. He did not sound hugely keen on the increased “Brexit bill” payment to the EU, but he did not criticise the government for making the offer.

However, he did say it would only be acceptable for the UK to pay this sort of money if it led to a free trade deal.

Here are the key points he made.

  • Duncan Smith said the UK should only pay the sort of sums being proposed to the EU in return for a free trade deal.

It is also absolutely hinged on a free trade arrangement. If there is no trade deal, then my view - and I would think the whole of the party’s view - would be we don’t owe them any money at all. Because if we don’t have that arrangement, than that whole figure that is being bandied around becomes null and void.

In the past Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has ruled out linking a deal over the UK’s payments to the EU to a future trade deal.

  • He said he wanted reassurance that the UK was legally obliged to make these payments. He wanted to know that “we are not just horse trading”, he said.

I don’t want us to pay any money at all that doesn’t have a legal obligation.

  • He was reluctant to describe the payments as a “good deal”, but he said that over the next 40 years the UK would save money.

If you compare the two together over a 40-year period, even on the net terms, that would amount to a £360bn saving to the UK exchequer ... The good deal is leaving the EU because we do make enormous savings which we can spend on the health service etc.

  • He said he hoped that when the UK left the EU there would be an “early downpayment to the health service” in the form of extra funding.
Iain Duncan Smith.
Iain Duncan Smith. Photograph: BBC

Updated

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is on a trip to Africa at the moment. He once famously said the EU could “go whistle” if it thought the UK would pay “extortionate” sums to leave. Sky News have caught up with him, and he seems to be happy with the latest offer on the table.

Speaker grants urgent question on 'Brexit bill'

The speaker has granted an urgent question on the “Brexit bill”. It has been tabled by the Labour MP Chris Leslie, and a Treasury minister will respond.

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, has criticised the government over the reports that it will pay a £40bn-plus “Brexit bill”. In an article for the Telegraph (paywall), he said that paying this amount would be “totally and utterly unacceptable”. He said:

For a sum of this magnitude to be agreed in return for nothing more than a promise of a decent settlement on trade represents a complete and total sellout.

From the very beginning, during the referendum itself, I argued that no deal is better than a bad deal, and make no mistake about it, this is a bad deal.

In fact it is worse than that, it’s not even a deal at all. It’s a large sum of money being paid for the promise of a potential trade treaty in return, but with no guarantees.

He also told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Britain should just walk away from the Brexit talks.

Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff, seems to have had a minor accident.

Here is Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, on reports that the UK will pay a massively increased “Brexit bill”. Brake said:

Around £45bn would appear to be the price Johnson and Gove et al are willing to pay for a deluded vision of an imperial Britain post-Brexit. This vision already sees the UK with higher inflation and debt, falling investment and less influence in the world.

And this acrimonious divorce settlement will merely be the down payment. The hit to the UK economy of pulling out of the single market and customs threatens to dwarf this £45bn, with falling tax revenues and companies leaving the UK. Only the Lib Dems are fighting to save Britain’s free trade with its largest market and to give the people a say on the final deal.

In an interview yesterday Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory Brexiter and former party leader, said that Ireland was taking a hardline over Brexit partly because there was a “presidential election” coming up and that the present government was “feeling very worried about Sinn Fein”. In Ireland is remarks have generated a mixture of incredulity and outrage.

Having avoided a ‘real’ election less than 24 hours ago when only the resignation of deputy prime minister Frances Fitzgerald prevented the collapse of the Fine Gael-led minority government, members of the ruling party were at pains to give IDS a brief lesson on Irish politics.

Fine Gael’s Senator Neale Richmond said it was “highly disappointing” that IDS’s remarks on last night’s Channel 4 News pointed to a lack of understanding of the Irish political system. Richmond, a member of the Irish parliament’s second tier, the Seanad, said:

The Irish government’s position is shared by all parties in Ireland and has no way changed despite the UK government wanting to skip ahead of the agreed timeline. Mr Duncan Smith’s ignorance towards the Irish situation and indeed our political system is quite staggering especially considering he once though of himself as a potential prime minister of Ireland’s closest friend and neighbour. It must be pointed out that a presidential election is not due to take place in Ireland until late 2018 and indeed the position of the president of Ireland is that of a titular head of state with limited legislative engagement, similar in power to the Queen but elected.

The Scottish government has announced plans to legislate for an independent figure to support whistleblowers in the NHS. In its news release it says that having an independent national whistleblowing officer (INWO) will set a precedent for the rest of the UK.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is in Berlin because he was giving a speech at the Berlin security conference. The full text is here. And here are the main points.

  • Barnier suggesed that, if EU leaders agree to move the negotiations on at the December summit, talks on a transition deal will come before talks on a future trade deal. He said:

The work on the three main subjects continues this week in a constructive spirit with the UK. The next European council will take place in 15 days’ time. If real ‘sufficient progress’ is actually made, the European council will be able to open the discussion a possible transitional period. Then the member states will define in 2018 the framework of this new partnership with the UK.

  • He criticised the British decision to vote for Brexit, depicting the move as selfish. Speaking in the context of security, he said:

[Brexit] was a decision that came after a series of attacks on European soil, committed by young people who grew up in Europe, in our countries.

It was a decision that came six months after the French Minister of Defence issued a call for solidarity to all his European counterparts to join forces to fight the terrorism of Daesh.

Never had the need to be together, to protect ourselves together, to act together been so strong, so manifest. Yet rather than stay shoulder to shoulder with the Union, the British chose to be on their own again.

  • He reaffirmed the EU’s determination that after Brexit the UK would not be able to claim “a better status” than it would have as a member of the EU.
  • He confirmed that Britain would no longer be a member of the European Defence Agency or Europol after Brexit.
Michel Barnier speaking at the Berlin Security Conference.
Michel Barnier speaking at the Berlin Security Conference. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has been giving a speech in Berlin. He has played down the notion that the UK and the EU have finalised a deal on money. These are from the BBC’s Jenny Hill and AFP’s Danny Kemp.

As my colleague Graeme Wearden reports on his business live blog, the pound is rising on the back of the news that the UK and the EU seem to have reached an agreement over money.

Here’s Jessica Elgot’s story from this morning about the “Brexit bill”, and what Chris Grayling has been saying about it.

Updated

Grayling defends paying massively increased Brexit divorce bill, saying UK shouldn't 'just walk away'

In her Lancaster House speech in January, Theresa May said that after Britain left the EU, it would not be paying “huge” or “vast” sums to Brussels every year. She told her audience:

And because we will no longer be members of the single market, we will not be required to contribute huge sums to the EU budget. There may be some specific European programmes in which we might want to participate. If so, and this will be for us to decide, it is reasonable that we should make an appropriate contribution. But the principle is clear: the days of Britain making vast contributions to the European Union every year will end.

May has never defined “huge” or “vast”, but her January pledge is not easy to square with the reports emerging last night - first in the Telegraph, but then confirmed by other news organisations - that the UK has now broadly agreed a financial offer that will see the country eventually paying out something in the region of €50bn. The Telegraph said the final figure, “which is deliberately being left open to interpretation, will be between €45bn and €55bn”. In the Guardian splash my colleagues Daniel Boffey, Jennifer Rankin and Anushka Asthana say the final figure could be even higher. Here’s an extract from their story.

The UK has bowed to EU demands on the Brexit divorce bill in a move that could result in the UK paying £50bn to Brussels, in an attempt to get France and Germany to agree to move negotiations to trade.

Non-stop behind-the-scenes negotiations have led to a broad agreement by the UK to a gross financial settlement of £89bn on leaving the bloc, although the British expect the final net bill to be half as much.

A senior EU official told the Guardian that the UK appeared ready to honour its share of the EU’s unpaid bills, loans, pension and other liabilities accrued over 44 years of membership. “We have heard the UK wants to come along with the money,” the official said. “We have understood it covers the liabilities and what we consider the real commitments. But we have to see the fine print.”

The bill could total £53bn to £58bn (€60bn to €65bn), although EU officials are not discussing numbers and the British government will fight hard to bring the total down. While EU sources have spoken in recent months of £53bn to £58bn, both sides are trying to avoid talking numbers to help the British government deal with the potentially toxic political fallout.

Even if you stick with €45bn, that is still more than double the €20bn that was on the table when May delivered her Florence speech in September. The money will be paid over many years, and a 10-payment repayment schedule (being hypothetical - this is not a proposal, as far was we know) would get the sum down to €4.5bn a year. In UK budget terms that is very manageable, although to many people that would still seem a “huge” sum.

Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, has been doing a round of media interviews this morning about rail. But he has been asked about the “Brexit bill” stories and, while refusing to comment on specific figures, he hasn’t denied the broad thrust of what is being reported in the media and has instead defended the principle of paying what is owed. He told the Today programme:

We’ve been very clear that we will meet our obligations as a member of the European Union as we leave. We don’t want to walk away on bad terms, we don’t want to walk away from obligations that we built up during our membership. Our goal is to be good friends and good neighbours with the European Union and to trade freely with the European Union, to carry on as friends.”

The price is meeting the obligations that we built up, no more, no less than that. I don’t think people in this country would expect us to just walk away from things we’ve already said we’d pay for.

Here is the agenda for the day. Even by normal standards, the committee workload in the Commons today is particularly Brexit heavy.

9.15am: Officials from HMRC, Defra, the agriculture and horticulture development board, and the freight transport association give evidence to the Commons Brexit committee.

9.30am: Robin Walker, a Brexit minister, and Chloe Smith, a Northern Ireland minister, give evidence to the Northern Ireland affairs committee about Brexit.

9.30am: David Bolt, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, and other immigration experts give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about Brexit.

10.15am: Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority, and John McFarlane, Barclays chairman, give evidence to the Lords EU committee about financial regulation after Brexit.

10.15am: Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, and Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, give evidence to the Lords constitution committee on the EU withdrawal bill.

12pm: Damian Green, the first secretary of state, faces Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, at PMQs, because Theresa May is abroad.

1.50pm: Greg Clark, the business secretary, gives a speech to the battery and energy conference.

And May is in the Middle East, where she is visiting Saudia Arabia and Jordan.

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

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

Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news from Jack Blanchard’s Playbook. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’ top 10 must reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time.

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

Updated

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