Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Brexit statement: David Davis rejects calls for MPs to vote on negotiating terms - Politics live

David Davis giving a statement on Brexit to MPs.
David Davis giving a statement on Brexit to MPs. Photograph: BBC/BBC Parliament

David Davis's Commons Brexit statement - Summary

Here are the main points from David Davis’s Commons statement on Brexit.

  • Davis dismissed calls for MPs to have a vote on the government’s Brexit negotiating terms. The former Labour leader Ed Miliband and the former Lib Dem leader and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg were among those arguing that parliament should be consulted. Miliband said:

There is clearly a mandate for Brexit from this referendum but there is no mandate for the particular form of Brexit.

And Clegg said:

On the basis of what constitutional principle do you believe that the prime minister can now arrogate to herself the exclusive right to interpret what Brexit means, impose it upon the country, rather than protect the rightful role of scrutiny and approval of this House?

Some Tory MPs made the same point. But Davis argued that those arguing for the Commons to decide negotiating terms “cannot tell the difference between accountability and micro-management”. He said that MPs would get plenty of chances to debate the issue. But, dismissing calls for MPs to be given a binding vote on the Brexit negotiations, he said that it was important for the government to be able to negotiate what it thought was in the national interest without being constrained by having to declare full details of its negotiating position to MPs. Speaking for Labour, the shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said MPs should get a vote “on the basic terms” of the renegotiation.

  • Davis refused to commit the government to publishing a white paper on the Brexit negotiations. He proposed one in an article he wrote as a backbencher in July, shortly before he was appointed to the cabinet, but, despite being asked repeatedly, refused to commit the government to publishing such document.
  • He claimed that the terms “hard” and “soft” Brexit were “designed to deceive” and “not meaningful in any way”.
  • He hinted that the government might accept a transitional trade deal with the EU if it could not agree a final one within two years. Labour’s Hilary Benn said a transitional deal might be necessary to stop the UK having to trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms if, after two years, a permanent trade deal has not been finalised. Benn asked if Davis agreed. Davis said he did not expect this to happen. But he went on:

I’m not going to offer a view. I will just simply say this; we are going to do everything possible to protect, enhance and maximise the opportunities for British business. And he can draw his conclusion.

  • He said that the government could not stop the pound going up and down during the Brexit process. In response to a question from Labour’s Emma Reynolds about why the pound dropped to a 30-year low after the Conservative conference, he replied:

I recommend you read a book called Flash Boys because part of that fall, the major part of that fall was the flash crash as a result of that. Otherwise, there are lots and lots of speculative comments that will drive the pound down and up and down and up in the next two-and-a-half years and there’s little we can do about that.

  • He said there would be no downside to Brexit and only “considerable upsides” if the government got what it wanted. The government had four goals, he said.

One is to regain control of our borders. Another is to get back control of our laws. The one I did not list was our aim to keep our justice and security arrangements at least as strong as they are. Finally, and most importantly in this context, the United Kingdom must aim to maintain the best possible open access to European markets and vice versa. If we can achieve all that, there will be no downside to Brexit at all, and considerable upsides.

  • He said he expected EU leaders to compromise during the Brexit talks. What they were saying now was not what they would be saying in the future, he said. See 5.22pm.
  • He tried to reassure EU nationals living in the UK that they would be allowed to stay, saying most of them would have the legal right to remain anyway.

In terms of the individuals who are European migrants here and British citizens abroad, my intention and the intention of the government, is to do everything possible to underwrite their position, to guarantee their position, at the same time as we underwrite the similar position of British migrants abroad ...

I don’t think people should worry people unnecessarily, get people concerned. Bear in mind five out of six migrants either have or will have ILR, indefinite leave to remain, by the time we depart the union.

  • He refused to commit the government to retaining single market membership. Asked about this, he said:

The single market, of course, is one description of the way the European Union operates but there are plenty of people who have access to the single market, some of them tariff-free, who make a great success of that access and it’s the success we are aiming for.

That’s all from me for tonight.

Thanks for the comments.

UPDATE: I have updated one of the paragraphs above to include the full quote where David Davis was talking about no downside to Brexit to make it clear that he was saying this on the assumption the government got what it wanted.

Updated

Speaker turns down application for emergency debate on Brexit negotiating terms

John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, rejects the application for an emergency vote.

He says he has taken the decision in accordance with rules that oblige him to consider whether the topic will be raised in the Commons by other means. There will be a debate on Brexit on Wednesday, he says.

  • Speaker turns down application for emergency debate on Brexit negotiating terms.

Stephen Phillips calls for urgent debate on Brexit negotiating terms

The Davis statement is now over.

But now the Conservative MP Stephen Phillips is making a short speech asking for an emergency debate on the Brexit negotiating terms under standing order 24. (See 12.15pm.)

Phillips says he voted leave. But he had nothing to do with the leave campaign. It was characterised by falsehood and propaganda, he says.

He says 48% of voters voted to remain. He voted leave on the grounds of sovereignty. But he did not vote to replace one tyranny with another. The government must consult the Commons, through debate, about the broad negotiating position it will adopt.

Further shadow ministerial appointments

Turning away from the Brexit statement for a moment, Labour has released another list of new shadow ministerial appointments. They include eight MPs returning to the front bench, Jeremy Corbyn says.

And the reshuffle is not over. More appointments are to follow.

Here is the list from Labour.

Shadow Minister for Justice – Christina Rees MP

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (also in Defence team) – Fabian Hamilton MP

Shadow Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office –Liz McInnes MP

Shadow Minister for Schools – Mike Kane MP

Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities – Sue Hayman MP

Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change – Alan Whitehead MP

Shadow Minister for Farming and Rural Communities – Mary Glindon MP

Shadow Minister for Wales – Gerald Jones MP

Shadow Minister for Housing – Ruth Cadbury MP

PPS to Rachael Maskell MP – Chris Matheson MP

The SNP’s Joanna Cherry says Ken Clarke told the Andrew Marr Show yesterday that the pound kept falling because people did not know what would happen after Brexit.

Davis says currencies can be undervalued and overvalued. And he does not agree with Clarke, he says. There will be big markets for the UK. What happened to the pound last week was partly prompted by President Hollande’s comments, massively exaggerated by programme trading, he says.

Back in the Commons Labour’s Lilian Greenwood asks when EU academics working in British universities will get an assurance that they can stay.

Davis says the government wants to give them the best assurances it can, but that this matter is not in hands.

And the Conservative MP John Baron, who campaigned to leave the EU, has put out his own statement about Davis’s comments. Baron accuses “remoaners” of trying reverse the EU referendum result.

The EU referendum authorised the government to negotiate our withdrawal from the EU. There will be plenty of opportunity for debates and questioning as the various processes unfold. But it is clear that the ‘Remoaners’ are trying to use the ruse of extensive parliamentary scrutiny to stymie the electorate’s decision. This will not wash with the government or the public.

Open Britain, the group campaigning to keep the UK in the single market, has put out this statement from Labour’s Pat McFadden about Davis’s statement.

If the government is serious about empowering parliament, then they should commit to putting before parliament the pre-negotiation white paper David Davis has supported. And to giving our sovereign parliament a vote on the eventual deal once the negotiations have finished.

The government cannot dismiss all calls for garliamentary involvement as attempting to deny the referendum result. The result was a vote to leave the European Union. It did not give the government a blank cheque on everything from leaving the Single Market to the potential for damaging tariffs and other trade barriers.

Those calling for parliamentary involvement are not trying to deny the referendum result but to have a proper say on the terms on which we leave.

Brexit is the biggest challenge facing our country in a generation. As we debate the detail of it, Parliament must be given a voice and a role. To deny it would be anti-democratic and ironic, given the claims of support for parliamentary sovereignty by leading Brexiteers.

Labour’s Adrian Bailey says the home secretary’s speech to the Conservative conference was very hostile to foreign students. But these students contribute a great deal to the economy.

Davis says the government has told the Student Loan Company to extend loan opportunities for foreign students.

Asked what he was thinking when he published his ConservativeHome article in July proposing a pre-negotiation white paper, Davis says he was a backbencher at the time.

Labour’s Madeleine Moon says Davis to give an assurance that EU citizens who have been in the UK for more than give years will have an absolute right to remain.

Davis says he can give that assurance because that’s the law. After five years in the UK EU citizens have a right to remain. After six years they have a right to citizenship.

Davis says the terms “hard” and “soft” Brexit are “designed to deceive”

Davis says he thinks the terms “hard” and “soft” Brexit are terms that are “designed to deceive”. They are “not meaningful in any way”, he says. The government will try to get the best possible trade access.

  • Davis says the terms “hard” and “soft” Brexit are “designed to deceive”.

Here is Mark Elliott, a law professor at Cambridge University and legal adviser to the House of Lords’ constitution committee, on Davis’s statement.

David Nuttall, a Conservative, asks if the government will use the Parliament Act to overrule the Lords if it blocks the legislation to repeal EU law.

Davis says he does not expect the House of Lords to do that.

Labour’s Rachel Reeves says some holidaymakers are now getting less than one euro for a pound. He says Davis has refused to explain why sterling has fallen in value.

Davis says Labour have talked the pound down “time and time again”.

Labour’s Owen Smith says in the past Davis proposed two referendums on Brexit.

Davis says that is something he said a decade ago (during the Conservative leadership contest in 2005). At the time he was proposing a referendum on general terms for a negotiation, and then a final referendum on the outcome. But that is not what the government did this year, he says.

Emma Reynolds, the former shadow Europe minister, asks why the pound has sunk to a 30-year low after the Conservative conference.

Davis says Reynolds should recommend a Michael Lewis’s book called Flash Boys. Much of the decline was caused by automated electronic trading, he says.

NOTE: That’s not actually true. The pound hit a record low before the plunge that was attributed to automated trading.

Davis says the government wants to start by bringing all EU law into UK law. And it will certainly not be cutting employment rights, he says.

Labour’s Paul Flynn says the chancellor has forecast bumps in the road. But, if the economy goes into recession, it won’t be a bump, but a sinkhole. Shouldn’t people get a second vote? Second thoughts are better than first thoughts, he says.

Davis says Flynn has revealed his agenda; he wants to overturn the result of the referendum.

Labour’s Chris Bryant says the government should publish at least a white paper on Brexit talks, and a draft great repeal bill too.

Davis says the government has a huge mandate for what it is doing.

Davis says these are the opening days of the negotiation. The first days are tougher than the final days. So what EU partners are saying today they will not necessarily say tomorrow, he claims.

  • Davis suggests he expects EU leaders to compromise during Brexit talks.

Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative, says the negotiating position will leak. Won’t it be unacceptable for people to find out what the government thinks from abroad?

Davis says, in his evidence to the Lords committee last month, he said anything disclosed to EU partners or to the European parliament in confidence would be disclosed to parliamentary committees too.

Labour’s Ben Bradshaw asks how a 52/48 vote for Brexit became an “overwhelming” mandate, as Davis described it.

Davis says the majority was larger than one million. And leave got more votes than any government has received.

Davis says there will be large numbers of debates in the Commons. Even if the government does not call them, the opposition will. So MPs will debate this.

And there will be a Brexit select committee, he says. He says he will tell it things as far as he can. But he will not compromise the national interest.

Pat McFadden, the former shadow Europe minister, says Davis promised a pre-negotiation white paper in his ConservativeHome article. And he also promised that trade deals would start in September this year.

Davis says McFadden has misrepresented the article. He says he expects trade deals to start when the UK leaves.

Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative MP, says he and other Vote Leave campaigners always made it clear that voting to leave the EU would mean giving up single market membership.

Chris Leslie, the former shadow chancellor, says the new £5 note is smaller than the old one. But the currency has shrunk in value by even more. He says people did not vote to become poorer.

Davis says Leslie is making an extraordinary point, and echoing Harold Wilson.

Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, says the conflicting messages from government are causing uncertainty. If there is no trade deal by the end of the Brexit talks, will the government seek a transitional deal?

Davis says he has told every group he has spoken to that the government needs to collect hard data about the nature of the problem. For example, in terms of passporting rights for City firms, there are nine different types of passport. He says the government is trying to understand the problems.

But when the UK leaves it will start with the same regulatory system as the EU has. And normally it is regulation that causes the greatest problem with trade negotiations.

He says he will not answer Benn directly, but that he will do all he can to protect business, and that Benn can draw his own conclusions from that.

  • Davis hints that the government might go for a transitional trade deal with the EU after Brexit if it cannot negotiate a new one within two years.

A few minutes ago Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative former work and pensions secretary, described Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer as a “second-rate lawyer”.

That is a rather eccentric claim. Starmer was director of public prosecutions, and, by most accounts, a very good one, before becoming an MP.

Labour MPs have taken to Twitter to defend their colleague.

Updated

Crispin Blunt, the Conservative chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, asks what will happen if there is no deal after two years?

Davis says this would put at risk the stability of the EU.

Davis says that if EU countries adopt a “punishment strategy” towards the UK in Brexit talks, they will damage their own interests.

Labour’s Angela Eagle says this is the first time she has heard parliamentary sovereignty described as “micro-management”. She invites Davis to condemn the decision to foreign academics being involved in providing the Foreign Office with consultancy advice about Brexit.

Davis says the story about the Foreign Office rejecting advice from foreigners was not true. He says Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary who is sitting beside him, has said that. And the LSE has said that too, he says.

Updated

Nick Clegg, the former Lib Dem leader, says he used to be an admirer of Davis because of Davis’s belief in parliamentary accountability. So what gives the prime minister the right to decide on her own what mandate the referendum gave her?

Davis says Clegg, like Starmer, is confusing accountability with micro-management.

He says there will be plenty of debates in the Commons, starting with a Labour one on Wednesday.

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, says David Davis wrote an article for ConservativeHome three days before being appointed to the cabinet saying the government should publish a white paper on its negotiating stance. When will that come?

Davis says he knows of no negotiation where a government publishes its stance in advance.

It will keep MPs informed. But it will not lay out its strategy in advance, he says.

Here is the ConservativeHome article that Miliband referred to. And this is what Davis said in it about a pre-negotiation white paper.

We should work out what we do in the improbable event of the EU taking a dog in the manger attitude to Single Market tariff free access, and insist on WTO rules and levies, including 10 per cent levies on car exports. Let us be clear: I do not believe for a moment that that will happen, but let us humour the pre-referendum Treasury fantasy.

In that eventuality, people seem to forget that the British government will be in receipt of over £2 billion of levies on EU cars alone. There is nothing to stop us supporting our indigenous car industry to make it more competitive if we so chose.

WTO rules would not allow us to explicitly offset the levies charged, but we could do a great deal to support the industry if we wanted to. Research support, investment tax breaks, lower vehicle taxes – there are a whole range of possibilities to protect the industry, and if need be, the consumer. Such a package would naturally be designed to favour British consumers and British industry. Which of course is another reason that the EU will not force this outcome, particularly if we publicise it heavily in a pre-negotiation White Paper.

Davis rejects calls for MPs to be able to vote on Brexit negotiating stance

Davis responds to Starmer.

He starts by quoting something Diane Abbott said about Starmer. She said Labour had to be careful to avoid looking as if it were not listening.

He says the controversy about the government invoking article 50 without going to the Commons will be decided in the courts.

He says Starmer needs to understand the difference between accountability and micro-management.

He says the government has made its position clear. It wants to control its borders, for the UK to control its own laws and the best possible access to the single market.

  • Davis rejects calls for MPs to be able to vote on Brexit negotiating stance.

Updated

Starmer asks Davis to say when he does plan to give MPs a vote.

He says people did not vote to allow the government to take an axe to the economy.

The national interest must comes first, he says.

He points out that Davis did not even mention the single market in his statement.

Will the government seek access to the single market on the best possible terms?

Starmer confirms Labour is demanding a vote on government’s Brexit negotiating position

Sir Keir Starmer, the new shadow Brexit secretary, is responding.

He says the decisions the governments take on this will define us for a generation.

He says Davis’s first Commons statement was criticised for saying nothing.

And this one is no better, Starmer says. He says when he first read it he thought it was the previous one.

The government wants to draw up terms, negotiate and reach a deal without any parliamentary involvement, he says.

That is not making parliament sovereign; it is sidelining parliament, he says.

That is why Labour is demanding a vote on this issue.

  • Starmer confirms Labour is demanding a vote on the government’s Brexit negotiating position.

Davis says the government will invoke article 50 by the end of March at the latest.

The great repeal bill will be introduced in the next parliamentary session, he says.

He says nations that are outward-looking and agile will succeed in the future.

Davis says there is 40 years’ worth of EU law to overturn.

The government wants to ensure that, when it repeals EU law, it does not leave a black hole in the statute book.

He says the great repeal will will ensure the UK now longer has to obey EU law.

The legislation must work for the whole of the UK, he says.

He says he will consult the devolved adminstrations, although they will not have a veto.

He says the great repeal bill will not take the UK out of the EU; it is separate from invoking article 50.

It will ensure that the UK has the laws it needs.

David Davis's statement on Brexit

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, is now making his Commons statement on Brexit.

He says the case for leaving the EU is “clear, overwhelming and unarguable”.

The government will pass a bill to stop EU law having effect in the UK, he says.

He says MPs have a duty to respect the result of the referendum.

The mandate is clear, he says. The government will reject any attempt to reverse the EU referendum result, or to hold up Brexit, he says, or to keep the UK in by the back door.

The government will not provide a running commentary, he says.

But he says he wants to keep parliament informed.

His whole approach is about empowering this place, he says.

Tomorrow the new shadow cabinet is due to meet. In an article for its website Richard Angell, director of Progress, the Labour group dominated by Blairites and centrists, says the shadow cabinet should stop Jeremy Corbyn removing Jon Ashworth (a non-Corbynite) from the party’s national executive committee. Angell says:

In its meeting tomorrow the shadow cabinet has the chance to show the unity preached on our television screens. Who represents them on the NEC is in their gift, not the leader’s. As Ashworth has not resigned from the shadow cabinet, they have a choice. Either unity – by allowing Ashworth to continue – or uniformity – and sending out the message that there is only one view from here on in. If they go for the former the shadow cabinet, as a collective body, have a responsibility to show that diverse opinions are respected in Labour and that they will not simply rubberstamp the leader’s every edict.

McDonnell says MPs should have a say over Brexit negotiations

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has given the opposition’s backing to those arguing MPs need to be given a say over the government’s Brexit negotiating position. He told BBC News:

We need a proper structure for these negotiations. We want absolutely clarity on the issues that will be negotiated and then we want some say over the details of that package.

We need to know what the objectives are at least. I understand that you don’t show your cards initially but you need to say what the objectives are ...

We need certainty. People who want to invest in this country want some certainty. People whose livelihoods depend, for example, on the finance sector need some certainty so we’re saying to the government ‘get your act together’.

In the Commons Amber Rudd, the home secretary, has been responding to an urgent question about refugees at Calais. She told MPs that she had met her French counterpart today and agreed that child refugees in the camps with links to Britain should be brought to this country. These are from my colleague Alan Travis and from the Telegraph’s Steven Swinford.

Here are the full tables (pdf) from today’s Guardian/ICM poll.

And here is some Twitter comment on it.

From Owen Jones, the Guardian columnist

From Trinity Mirror’s David Ottewell

From Polling Digest

From PoliticalBetting’s Mike Smithson

From Glen O’Hara, a history professor

From Piers Corbyn, Jeremy Corbyn’s brother

From ICM’s Martin Boon

Updated

Here is a Guardian video of Ed Miliband explaining why MPs should get a vote on the government’s Brexit strategy.

Ed Miliband: MPs should vote on Brexit terms

Trying to keep a tally of these Labour reshuffle numbers is not easy. Paul Blomfield did resign over the summer, but, a reader points out, he resigned from his post as a parliamentary private secretary, not as a shadow minister. (See 12.44pm.) So he was not on the front bench, although he would have been considered as part of the payroll vote.

So we can say that 17 MPs who resigned have now taken shadow ministerial posts. But only 15 people who resigned as shadow ministers in the summer have rejoined the front bench.

(I apologise for not getting this right earlier, but I’m in good company. Yesterday, when Labour released its list of shadow ministerial appointments, Jeremy Corbyn said he welcomed back the 10 who were returning. Later the party acknowledged that only nine were returnees because Louise Haigh had not actually resigned, despite voting against Corbyn in the no confidence ballot.)

Lunchtime summary

  • A Guardian/ICM poll conducted at the end of the Conservative party conference gives the party a 17-point lead over Labour - four points up on the equivalent poll before the conference season. (See 11.52am.)
  • Downing Street has arranged for David Davis, the Brexit secretary, to give a statement to MPs amid growing pressure for the government to give MPs a vote on its EU withdrawal strategy. Davis will make his statement at about 4pm, after an urgent question on the refugees at Calais. Earlier, Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, told BBC News that MPs should vote on the Brexit strategy, not least to give the government a mandate. The government could publish a white paper on its plans and put it to a vote, he said. He said he was not trying to enable MPs to reverse the referendum result.

I am saying we are going to be leaving the European Union. That’s what the British people voted for. But we’ve got to get those negotiations right. It was Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who said last week the British people did not vote to make themselves poorer. And he’s right about that. And what worried me about some of what we heard at the Conservative conference was - I understand the concerns about immigration - but what I felt was our whole economy was in danger of being thrown off a cliff ...

We need to be knowing now what the government will be negotiating for. And I believe they need to get the consent of MPs. Because there is no other mandate here. The Conservative manifesto said that the Conservative party was determined to stay in the single market. Now, it sounded from what Theresa May and some of her ministers were saying that we were going to leave the single market, contrary to the mandate. So there is no mandate for a hard Brexit. That is why parliament has got to be consulted.

On the World at One Dominic Grieve, the Conservative former attorney general, said MPs should be given the chance to vote on triggering article 50, the move that will start the formal EU withdrawal process. And Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP and chair of the Treasury committee, told the same programme that he thought MPs should debate the government’s negotiating position.

It seems to me British interests will be best served by an early and full and detailed explanation from the government of what its negotiating position is before it embarks on those discussions ...

What has never been discussed in any depth is what we arrive at. I think there’s a majority in parliament for doing that. And I think the public would expect us to do that. In any case, it would greatly strengthen the prime minister’s hand in negotiations.

  • Theresa May has said she Brexit to be “smooth and orderly”. Speaking in Copenhagen after a meeting with the Danish prime minister Lars-Lokke Rasmussen in Copenhagen, she said:

The UK is leaving the EU but we’re not turning our back on Europe and we want to maintain strong, positive relations with our European partners like Denmark, and I am committed to doing just that.

But of course we are leaving the EU so if I turn to Brexit, as I said last week we will formally trigger the process of leaving no later than the end of March next year and I hope it can be a smooth and orderly departure.

Theresa May shakes hands with Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen at the Marienborg estate in Lyngby outside Copenhagen, Denmark.
Theresa May shakes hands with Danish prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen at the Marienborg estate in Lyngby outside Copenhagen, Denmark. Photograph: Keld Navntoft/EPA
  • Downing Street has dismissed suggestions from the CBI that its Brexit policy is undermining Britain’s “open economy”. Responding to the comments from the CBI’s director general, Carolyn Fairbairn, a Downing Street spokesman said:

Britain is an open nation and, as we go through the Brexit process, a large part of that is going to be broadening our approach with the rest of the world, negotiating with other countries, setting up new trade deals and making sure Britain is very much an outward-facing significant player on the world stage.

But John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has said the CBI is right to speak out:

The CBI and Anna Soubry are right to warn of the dangers of a Hard Tory Brexit and the devastating impact it could have.

Losing access to the single market would seriously damage our economy but the Conservative government is prepared to risk people’s jobs and livelihoods and place party political gains ahead of the clear national interest.

  • Ed Miliband has said that Jeremy Corbyn can win a general election and that Labour MPs are now more inclined to support him. Seventeen MPs who resigned from the front bench earlier this year have already agreed to take shadow ministerial jobs and further appointments are due this afternoon. In an interview with BBC News, asked if Corbyn could win an election, Miliband, Corbyn’s predecessor as Labour leader, replied:

Absolutely, absolutely. Look, he got re-elected by our party, we’ve got more members than I think we’ve had in 40 or 50 years, he has mobilised party members and people who weren’t party members in a way that even I didn’t do so. Now the task is for all of us to take this out to the country and convince the country.

And I think there has been a change in terms of attitude and will among the parliamentary party since Jeremy’s re-election; I think there’s an acceptance that he won, an acceptance that people have got to work with him and support him.

It doesn’t mean there won’t be disagreements, it doesn’t mean that there will be constant peace, but it does mean there’s a sense that we’ve got to focus on the country not the party.

Updated

Here is Andrew Cooper, the Conservative pollster, on the Guardian/ICM poll.

Number 10 lobby briefing - Summary

My colleague Rowena Mason was at the Number 10 lobby briefing. Here is her summary.

  • The PM’s deputy spokesman said there had been “confusion” over the proposals regarding companies counting up their foreign workers. He said companies may still be asked to provide the proportion of foreign workers they employ but would not be compelled to publish this.
  • He addressed criticism from Tory MPs about the lack of parliamentary scrutiny around the Brexit negotiations by saying it was important that the government does not allow the “blocking the will of the people as expressed in June” but acknowledged the need for some oversight by MPs.
  • The spokesman said he was not aware of any plans to review the UK’s relations with Saudi Arabia after the airstrike on a funeral procession at the weekend.
  • The PM will not be commenting on Donald Trump’s views on women. Her spokesman said: “There is an election taking place in the US. There are two candidates. It is a matter for the US electorate what they do and not the British government.” Pressed on whether Justine Greening was therefore speaking personally when she said it was crass, the spokesman said: “I have said I am not going to comment on Donald Trump. It is a matter for the American electorate.”

Here is a mini Labour reshuffle reading list.

There’s also precious self-awareness on the PLP’s part about all this. Why, as sceptics and proven opponents were they expecting Jez to reach out? True, all cabinets and shadow cabinets regardless of political colouration and level of government tend to reflect a balance of forces. Ability has to come second, unfortunately. But they’ve already suffered a comprehensive defeat in the party, and from the experience of last year Jeremy has learned that doling out portfolios to people who would undermine you isn’t the best approach to managing matters. Some have returned anyway, and newbies have slotted in, including the much-hyped Keir Starmer in the Brexit brief. Therefore given their track record, and now the breaking of the boycott of the front bench, why from Jez’s perspective should he award them a say over who goes in the top team?

The Press Association points out that, in addition to names I mentioned earlier (see 9.09am and 9.51am), there is one more Labour MP who has returned to the front bench having resigned earlier: Paul Blomfield, the new shadow minister for Brexit.

The PA missed him earlier - perhaps because Labour spelt his name wrongly (with two o’s) on its news release last night.

Over the summer 63 Labour MPs resigned from the front bench. Now 17 Labour MPs have returned (although one of them, Jonathan Reynolds), resigned in January, not in the summer. For the record, they are: Jack Dromey, Pat Glass, Emma Lewell-Buck, Sharon Hodgson, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Paul Blomfield, Kevin Brennan, Jenny Chapman, Matthew Pennycook, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Keir Starmer, John Healey, Nia Griffith, Barbara Keeley, Jonathan Reynolds, Andrew Gwynne and Sarah Champion.

UPDATE: Paul Blomfield did resign over the summer, but he resigned from his post as a parliamentary private secretary, not as a shadow minister. So he was not on the front bench, although he would have been considered as part of the payroll vote. So we can say that 17 MPs who resigned have now taken shadow ministerial posts. But only 15 people who resigned as shadow ministers in the summer have rejoined the front bench.

Updated

As my colleagues Rowena Mason and Peter Walker report, the Conservative MP Stephen Phillips, who voted to leave the EU, is demanding an emergency debate on the subject in the Commons. He believes the government has “no authority or mandate to adopt a negotiating position without reference to the wishes of the house and those of the British people, expressed through their elected representatives”.

MPs can demand an emergency debate on a topic under standing order 24. The MP makes a short speech making his or her case, and then John Bercow, the Speaker, rules whether or not the emergency debate is granted. We are likely to get that this afternoon.

Updated

Guardian/ICM poll gives Tories 17-point post-conference lead

Political parties normally expect a modest post-conference bounce in the polls (because, if they are half-competent at PR, they can generally create a large quantity of mostly favourable media coverage) but the Conservatives will be delighted with the latest findings from the regular Guardian/ICM poll. It gives them a 17-point lead.

Here are the new figures, and how they compare to the previous Guardian/ICM polling figures from early September, before the conference season started.

Conservatives: 43% (up 2)

Labour: 26% (down 2)

Ukip: 11% (down 2)

Lib Dems: 8% (down 1)

Greens: 6% (up 2)

The fieldwork was carried out from Friday to Sunday.

The 17-point lead is the joint second highest ever recorded for the Conservatives by ICM in its polling series going back to 1992. They only once got a higher lead (20 points in June 2008, when Gordon Brown was at his most unpopular) although in September and October 2009 they also had a 17-point lead in ICM polls. But Labour did have larger polling leads at various points in the Blair era.

At 26%, the Labour figure is only one point higher than their lowest rating in ICM polling - the 25% they hit in June 2008 and August 2009.

The Conservative conference was dominated by news about Theresa May hardening up her stance on Brexit and the ICM figures suggest this has gone down well with voters. Although the proposal to force firms to reveal what proportion of their workforce is foreign has now been dropped, following a backlash from business, a YouGov poll at the end of last week suggested voters backed the idea by two to one.

The Tories may also have benefited from the fall in the Ukip share of the vote. At 11% Ukip are on their lowest level in an ICM poll since the 2015 general election, and this may reflect the damage done to the party’s reputation by the fight in the European parliament on Thursday that left Steven Woolfe MEP hospitalised.

ICM Unlimited interviewed a representative online sample of 2,017 adults aged 18+ on 7-9th October 2016, and the data has been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Updated

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

As for the rest of the papers, here is the Politics Home list of top 10 must-reads, and here is the ConservativeHome round-up of today’s politics stories.

And here are two Brexit-related stories worth reading.

Theresa May is to push ahead with a new system to vet foreign investment in Britain, but has heeded warnings from chancellor Philip Hammond that the country cannot afford to adopt “French-style” protectionism.

The UK prime minister wants the government to be able to intervene in an “orderly and structured” way in sensitive foreign investment and is studying regimes used in other countries such as the US and Australia.

But at a ministerial meeting last month Mr Hammond led a chorus of warnings that any new regime must not undermine Britain’s position as Europe’s top destination for foreign direct investment, particularly with Brexit approaching in 2019.

“We can’t go down the Danone route,” Mr Hammond said, referring to action taken by the French government a decade ago that appeared to be intended to prevent a takeover of the yoghurt maker Danone.

The leader of Britain’s biggest business group has warned Theresa May that she risks “closing the door” on an open economy with her immigration clampdown and Brexit policy.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the CBI, issued the stark message in an interview with The Times as the government climbed down on its plan to name businesses thought to be relying too heavily on foreign workers ...

Ms Fairbairn, who took over at the CBI last year, said: “What we have heard over the last few days, if you add up the messages in total, are signs that the door is being closed, to an extent, on the open economy, that has helped fuel investment. It’s very clear from conversations we are having that the world is watching. International investors are watching. Companies here are watching. And they are reading a lot into the signals of this government about how committed they are to creating a strong economy.”

Anna Soubry was followed on the Today programme by Peter Lilley, the Conservative former cabinet minster and strong Brexiteer. He said that MPs like Soubry who were demanding a Commons vote on Brexit were just sore losers who did not accept that parliament would in time vote on this. He told the programme:

They’re all remain voters who are rather reluctant to admit they’ve lost. They pretend they admit they’ve lost but they still want us to remain subject to European law.

On the Today programme this morning Anna Soubry, the Conservative pro-European MP, made the same argument that Ed Miliband has just been making on BBC News just now - that the Commons should have a vote on the terms of Brexit. She told the programme:

We are in grave danger of extrapolating from a very clear referendum on whether or not we’re going to stay in or out, we’re extrapolating from that all sorts of things, including immigration and including further restrictions on students, by way of example. This is the danger we are in, this over-extrapolation. It is not good for our country and it is not the way we go forward.

This is precisely why we do need to take the debate into parliament and not see it as having a vote at this stage or that stage, but just beginning at least to know what are the guiding principles as we now leave the European Union. That’s what we seek to achieve.

It’s Ed Miliband v Ed Balls on 24-hour news at the moment.

Miliband is on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, where he has just said the Commons should vote on Brexit.

He also said that Labour could win an election under Jeremy Corbyn.

Asked if he was invited to join the shadow cabinet, Miliband said he “was not invited formally”. Miliband said he was happy to remain a backbencher, but he did not rule out returning to the front bench in the future.

And Balls, of course, has been talking to Sky about Strictly.

Corbyn's shadow cabinet

For the record, here is the full list of Jeremy Corbyn’s new shadow cabinet, released by Labour late on Friday afternoon.

Leader of the Opposition – Rt. Hon. Jeremy Corbyn MP

Shadow Foreign Secretary – Emily Thornberry MP

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer – John McDonnell MP

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Rebecca Long-Bailey MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union – Sir Keir Starmer MP

Shadow Home Secretary – Diane Abbott MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Business – Clive Lewis MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Education – Angela Rayner MP

Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade – Barry Gardiner MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence – Nia Griffith MP

Shadow Lord President of the Council and National Elections and Campaigns Co-ordinator – Jon Trickett MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – Debbie Abrahams MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Health – Jonathan Ashworth MP

Shadow Secretary of State for International Development – Kate Osamor MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport – Andy McDonald MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government – Teresa Pearce MP (standing in for Grahame Morris MP, who is on leave)

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice – Richard Burgon MP

Shadow Attorney General –Baroness Shami Chakrabarti

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – Tom Watson MP

Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Rachael Maskell MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland – Dave Anderson MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales – Jo Stevens MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Housing – Rt. Hon. John Healey MP

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities – Sarah Champion MP

Shadow Minister for Diverse Communities – Dawn Butler MP

Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs – Cat Smith MP

Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office – Ian Lavery MP

Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care – Barbara Keeley MP

Shadow Minister without Portfolio – Andrew Gwynne MP

Shadow Leader of the House – Valerie Vaz MP

This list includes five MPs who resigned from the front bench in the summer and who have now returned: Nia Griffith, John Healey, Andrew Gwynne, Barbara Keeley and Sir Keir Starmer. In addition, Sarah Champion resigned over the summer, but announced before Corbyn’s re-election that she was coming back. And it has also been confirmed that Jonathan Reynolds is taking up the post of shadow city minister. He also previously resigned from the front bench, but in January, not in the summer.

So, by my count, including the nine (see 9.09am plus update) MPs on yesterday’s list, Corbyn has now persuaded 16 Labour MPs to return.

David Davis to make Commons statement on Brexit

There will be a statement in the Commons today on Brexit, the Labour Whips Twitter feed has announced. David Davis, the Brexit secretary, will deliver it, and his new Labour shadow, Sir Keir Starmer, will respond.

Jeremy Corbyn has acquired a reputation for holding reshuffles that run for almost as long as The Mousetrap and the current one, which started on Thursday, is still underway. We are told we will get some new names later today. Having finalised his shadow cabinet at the end of last week, late yesterday afternoon Corbyn announced 21 other frontbench appointments. For the record, here is the full list.

Shadow Minister for Labour – Jack Dromey MP

Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy – Chi Onwurah MP

Shadow Minister for Transport - Pat Glass MP

Shadow Minister for Children and Families - Emma Lewell-Buck MP

Shadow Minister for Public Health - Sharon Hodgson MP

Shadow Minister for Early Years - Tulip Siddiq MP

Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government - Gareth Thomas MP

Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government - Kate Hollern MP

Shadow Minister for Local Government and Housing - Roberta Blackman-Woods MP

Shadow Minister for Local Government and Devolution - Jim McMahon MP

Shadow Minister - Department of Work and Pensions - Margaret Greenwood MP

Shadow Minister for Arts and Heritage and Deputy Secretary of State DCMS - Kevin Brennan MP

Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy - Louise Haigh MP

Shadow Minister for Sport - Rosena Allin-Khan MP

Shadow Minister for Brexit - Jenny Chapman MP

Shadow Minister for Brexit - Matthew Pennycook MP

Shadow Minister for Brexit - Paul Bloomfield MP

Shadow Solicitor General - Nick Thomas- Symonds MP

Shadow Minister for Home Affairs - Carolyn Harris MP

Shadow Minister for Justice - Yasmin Qureshi MP

Shadow Community Health Minister - Julie Cooper MP

During the Labour conference Corbyn said that “lots” of MPs who resigned over the summer because they had lost confidence in his leadership would be returning. At the end of last week, when the new shadow cabinet list was published, it contained only a handful of returnees, but nine of the people on this list are MP who resigned and are coming back. They are: Jack Dromey, Pat Glass, Sharon Hodgson, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Kevin Brennan, Jenny Chapman, Matthew Pennycook, Nick Thomas-Symonds and Emma Lewell-Buck.

I will post more on the reshuffle as it emerges.

Otherwise, Brexit is likely to dominate. Theresa May is visiting Denmark and the Netherlands and, with the Commons returning, it is possible that we may get an urgent question on Brexit.

Here is the agenda for the day.

11am: Number 10 lobby briefing.

Lunchtime: Theresa May arrives in Copenhagen for a meeting with the Danish prime minster, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Afternoon: May arrives at the Hague for a meeting with the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte.

Afternoon: Further details of the Labour reshuffle are due to be announced.

3.30pm: Possible urgent question on Brexit.

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

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.

UPDATE: Louise Haigh was included earlier in the list of 10 Labour MPs returning to the front bench. But, although she spoke out against Corbyn publicly in the summer, she did not actually resign from the front bench, according to a Labour source. So there are nine returning Labour MPs on the list.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Why 90 Day Fiancé's Yara Dufren Was Upset After Meeting Jennifer Aniston
Never meet your heroes.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Arizona server crashes out after three women walk in 20 minutes before closing and ask the most diabolical ‘is this vegetarian’ questions ever
We have all had those days at work where your patience is tested by a complete lack of common sense. But for servers, those tests often come with an insulting $5 tip and a headache. If you’re a vegetarian, you might not want to claim the three main characters of…
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Shia LaBeouf Has Allegedly Been On A Multi-Day Solo Shirtless Mardi Gras Bar Crawl
The French Quarter had an unexpected headliner.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Top 5 Things Frugal People Do That Scare the Normies
Here are the top five frugal hacks that make sense to those who know how to save, but tend to confuse or even frighten other folks who willingly pay full price.
GOBankingRates
GOBankingRates
Taylor Swift lends voice to special Winter Olympics video ahead of major competition for Team USA
Swift calls the figure skaters ‘three American showgirls’ in a nod to her latest album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Is boy kibble the new girl dinner?
Food content creator Patrick Kong likens kibble to “dog food”
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play