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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Macron tells May City will get less access to Europe than now if UK leaves single market - Politics live

French president Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May holding a press conference at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
French president Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May holding a press conference at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

  • Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has said that if the UK leaves the single market, British firms, including from the City, will get less access to Europe than they have now. (See 7.21pm.) At a press conference at the end of what otherwise seemed a cordial summit at Sandhurst with Theresa May, he said the UK would have to choose between having a Norway-style relationship with the EU after Brexit or Canadian-style one. In response, May said she accepted that “as we leave the EU we will no longer be full members of the single market”. But she said it was in the interests of both sides to get a deal covering goods and services. She went on:

I think the City of London will continue to be a major global financial centre. That is an advantage not just for the UK, it’s actually good for Europe and good for the global financial system.

  • May and Macron, accompanied by a cohort of senior British and French ministers, struck a series of agreements relating to Anglo-French cooperation after the summit. They released 13 papers and agreements in total, covering areas like security and defence, cyber and digital, foreign policy and even sports events. Afterwards, in a reference to his announcement about letting the Bayeux Tapestry visit the UK in 2022, Macron said the two countries were “making a new tapestry together”.
  • Macron said that as a result of what he described as the Sandhurst treaty affecting border controls at Calais the processing of migrants coming to the UK would be speeded up. (See 6.33pm.) May, who has been criticised by the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage for the deal, was less keen to talk about this aspect of the summit and did not use the phrase “Sandhurst treaty”.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments

Updated

Here is some comment from journalists on the press conference.

From Politico Europe’s Charlie Cooper

From Sky’s Faisal Islam

From Politico Europe’s Tom McTague

From Newsnight’s Mark Urban

From the Times’ Sam Coates

From Reaction’s Iain Martin

Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, has described Theresa May’s Calais deal as “capitulation”.

What Macron says about UK having reduced trade access to EU if it leaves single market

This is what Emmanuel Macron said when asked why he was opposed to including financial services in a future trade deal.

Please allow me to be very clear. I’m here neither to punish nor to reward. I want to make sure that the single market is preserved because that is very much at the heart of the European Union.

So the choice is on the British side, not on my side. They can have no differentiated access to financial services. If you want access to the single market, including the financial services, be my guest. But it means that you need to contribute to the budget and acknowledge European jurisdiction. Such are the rules and we know this is the system already in place for Norway.

If you want a trade access, it will cover everything, but then it is not full access to the single market and to financial services. Otherwise it’s closer to the situation of Canada. We have some trade agreements which allow access to all services, be they financial or others, access as well to any industry sector, but not the same level of relationship as if you were a member of the single market. And there shall be no hypocrisy in this respect, otherwise it will not work. Or we would destroy the single market and its coherence.

So, its’s simple. I would not want to exclude any sector in the trade agreement to come. The negotiations will be led by Michel Barnier. But it does not mean that the access it will allow will be equivalent to [being] a member of the single market. Otherwise you can choose between Norway, or being the equivalent of a current member of the European Union.

There is nothing new or surprising about his comments. Ever since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 EU leaders, more or less unanimously, have been saying that the UK will not be able to maintain all the benefits of single market membership when it leaves without accepting the concomitant obligations. In Brussels that prospect is usually described as “cherry picking”, while in the UK it is (Boris Johnson-style) having one’s cake and eating it. Whatever, Macon is saying it won’t be allowed.

But even though EU leaders have repeatedly made comments like this, Theresa May and her colleagues continue to insist (as May did this evening - see 6.54pm) that some form of cherry picking or cake having-and-eating will be permitted. That’s why the Macron words are news; it is the reality drum beat (or the bluff drum beat, if you think the EU are bluffing) getting louder and louder as the Brexit deadline looms.

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron at their press conference.
Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron at their press conference. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

May says the summit today has been about developing the partnership between the two countries.

It was also about developing interests for their economic future.

That is good for the people of France and the people of the UK, she says.

And that’s it.

I’ll post a summary shortly.

The press conference is still going on. There is a live feed here. But it does not include translation, Macron is speaking, and my French is not up to it.

Macron says City will not get same access to Europe it has now if UK leaves single market

Q: Why do you not want to include financial services in a future trade deal? Do you want to punish Britain? Or do you want to take the jobs? Or do you think the UK is trying to have its cake and eat it?

Marcon says he is not here to punish or reward. He wants to ensure teh single market is preserved. The choice is on the UK side. If they want access to the single market, “be my guest”. But you will need to contribute and obey the rules.

If you want trade access, that is not full access to the single market. It is closer to what Canada has. It won’t have the same level of access.

There can be no “hypocrisy” in this, he says.

He says Michel Barnier will led the talks. But if the UK is outside the single market, it won’t get the same access to financial markets.

  • Macron says City will not get same access to EU markets it has not if UK leaves single market.

Q: Michel Barnier says financial services will not be included in a deal. What will you do to change the EU’s mind?

May says she wants the UK to have a special trade relationship with the EU, covering goods and services.

She will be looking for a deep and special partnership. She also wants a good relationship on security, she says.

Q: How many unaccompanied minors will the UK accept? Why did you agree to do this deal?

May says no one wants more migrants at Calais. They want to reduce the numbers.

She say the UK has consistently accepted unaccompanied minors. What they have agreed today is a way of making that process as smooth as possible.

Q: You said you would stop migrants at Calais. Why did you change your mind?

Macron says the Le Touquet agreement does not have anything to do with Brexit.

He never said it should be torn apart.

There is a joint border. That has to be managed, he says.

Without that, there would be a humanitarian border.

He says in the spring of 2016 he said the situation could not last and that there would have to be change at Calais.

Now the “jungle” has gone, he says.

But he says this topic is not over. He has taken some decisions domestically.

There were no shelters for people at Calais. They have been set up. They are places where people can be assessed.

That said, the situation is still “problematic” at Calais, he says.

He says people are being moved to places where they can apply for asylum.

He repeats the point about how the time taken to process applications will be speeded up. (See 6.33pm.)

May and Macron's Q&A

Q: The Calais deal looks as if it involves taking more migrants from France. Is that right?

May says the Calais deal is about securing the UK border. It is in the UK’s national interest.

There is an issue about unaccompanied minors, she says. She wants to make the process as smooth as possible for minors with family in the UK.

But she also wants to reduce the number of migrants trying to come through Calais.

it is also in the interests of France, she says.

  • May says Calais deal will help to make Britain more secure.

Q: After Brexit, are UK prime ministers less powerful?

Macron says it is not for him to assess the influence of one PM or another. The UK is a member of the UN security council. That will not be affected by Brexit.

He says Britain and France will always work together on issues like the Sahel.

Q: Are you offering the tapestry to try to win us back?

Macron says fighting did not stop with William the Conqueror. There were wars for centuries after that. He hopes that young people today can look forward to peace.

Somehow, we are making a new tapestry together, he says.

Macron says this is the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. So many people died, including in his own family.

He says the French are very proud of the Bayeux Tapestry. It is a unique piece of art, he says.

He says he wants a Europe of culture.

The tapestry is “an invitation to be humble”, because of the art it represents.

It is very fragile, and has not travelled abroad. But he very much wants it to come to the UK, he says. He favours more exchanges of art.

Macron turns to Brexit.

He says it was not the main focus of the talks. He respects the decision taken by the UK, although he regrets it.

He says the EU has a negotiator dealing with the talks.

But he hopes the Brexit talks do not affect the wider relationship, he says.

He says the relationship is not just about geography; it is rooted “in some very strong human bonds”.

He and May will witness this at an event later today at the V&A Museum, he says.

Macron says he will not cover all the areas of cooperation discussed today. They include nuclear power, space, and the economy.

And they discussed sports events too, he says.

Macron says they want to comm

Turning to Calais, he says he visited recently. The “jungle” has been dismantled.

What is happening in Calais is “not satisfactory”, he says.

He says today the interior ministers signed a joint treaty affecting the border at Calais. It will all border control to be improved. And it will lead to a smarter and more efficient management of the border.

The new treaty covers unaccompanied children, he says. It will allow for the time taken dealing with cases to be reduced from six months to one month for adults, and six months to 25 days for children.

Vulnerable children, not covered by the Dublin convention, will also be affected. The new treaty will ensure a “more human” approach to border control, he says.

He says there is a lot of cross-border trade. For trade to flourish, the border needs to be safe, he says.

Macron says May announced support for an operation in the Sahel. The offer of the three Chinook helicopters is a strong token of the UK’s commitment, he says.

He says they also talked about defence in Europe.

It is fundamental that the strong relationship between the two countries will continue, he says. The UK-French relationship will contribute to the European defence initiative, he says.

Macron says they discussed the Sahel and Africa. The British announced their contribution to a French initiative.

He says they have development projects with joint goals, particularly the education of girls.

He says there is also a need for a joint approach to strategic defence. Their agreements on this are not affected by Brexit. The defence relationship between the two countries is unique, as can be seen in various theatres of action. They can work together quickly.

He says the communique being issued today will set out areas where the two countries are working together.

Emmanuel Macron is speaking now.

He starts in English, thanking May for his welcome.

Then he switches to French. He says there are two things that cannot be changed by Brexit - our history and our geography.

That means we face common challenges, and have a shared destiny, he says.

He says many people now are used to living on both sides of the Channel.

He says the two countries want to have the same approach to foreign policy. They want to work closely together. And they want the whole of Europe to work together, for example on Iran.

May says both countries are committed to innovation. They want to deepen cooperation on research.

She says she and Macron think everyone in society deserves the same opportunities. She and Macron will work to make this happen.

They will promote exchanges between schools, and allow students to cross the Channel.

She says the Bayeux Tapestry will come to the UK in 2022. It will be the first time it has been on British soil for more than 900 years. She is honoured to have it in the UK, she says.

May says both countries have seen appalling terrorists attacks since the last Anglo-French summit.

For the first time in history, all of the heads of British and French intelligence agencies came together for a meeting. They briefed May and Macron on their work.

She says Macron and she remain committed to the Le Touquet agreement. And they have confirmed additional measures.

The security infrastructure at Calais will be reinforced. The new investment will make the borders even more secure.

She says they want to close down networks of people smugglers.

May says France and the UK must work together to meet the challenges of our time. She can confirm today that a joint force of up to 10,000 will be available to deploy together.

The two countries worked together to combat Ebola. And they will step up their efforts in the Sahel, she says.

She says the two countries have also agreed to work together on EU-Africa peace funding.

And they will stand together against Russia.

Theresa May's press conference with Emmanuel Macron

Theresa May opens with a couple of sentences in French (a bit hesitant).

Now she is back to English, and talking about the Anglo-French relationship.

The two countries are committed to protecting democracy.

But the relationship goes beyond defence and security, she says.

After the UK leaves the EU, it will remain a “steadfast partner” to its EU allies.

Cabinet ministers are taking their seats in the press conference room.

The press conference will start in 10 minutes, Sky says.

And wildlife crime was on the summit agenda too, Boris Johnson says.

Boris Johnson with his French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley.
Boris Johnson with his French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley. Photograph: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL/EPA

This is from Gerard Collomb, the French interior minister.

The French embassy has provided a translation.

The press conference is now due to start at 6pm, journalists have been told.

This is from the Stefan Rousseau, the Press Association’s chief political photographer.

The hacks at Sandhurst are not happy. These are from the Times’ Matt Chorley.

Here is the “family photo” from the summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his delegation and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and her delegation: (front row L-R) Britain’s defence secretary Gavin Williamson, French defence minister, Florence Parly, Britain’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson, French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian, Britain’s prime minister Theresa May, French president Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s home secretary Amber Rudd, French interior minister Gerard Collomb and Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his delegation and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and her delegation: (front row L-R) Britain’s defence secretary Gavin Williamson, French defence minister, Florence Parly, Britain’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson, French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian, Britain’s prime minister Theresa May, French president Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s home secretary Amber Rudd, French interior minister Gerard Collomb and Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron to hold press conference

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron are about to hold a press conference.

This is what the Press Association filed about the summit earlier.

Theresa May has welcomed President Emmanuel Macron for summit talks which will see Britain commit tens of millions of pounds to strengthen UK border controls in France.

The French president, making his first visit to Britain since entering the Elysee Palace, was greeted at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, with a guard of honour from the Coldstream Guards.

Before the ceremonial welcome, the two leaders enjoyed a working lunch at the Royal Oak pub in Paley Street, in May’s Maidenhead constituency.

Officials said the £44.5m cash injection would go towards fencing, CCTV and detection technology in Calais and other ports along the Channel.

Part of the money will also go towards helping relocate people away from Channel ports to prevent another migrant camp from forming as it did in Calais in 2015.

Britain could also commit to taking in a higher proportion of child refugees from France as part of its commitment to resettle 480 unaccompanied children under the Dubs scheme, it is understood.

Figures show more than 750 children have been transferred to Britain through various routes since the “Jungle” camp was shut down in 2016.

May’s official spokesman said on Wednesday: “We have given a clear commitment in relation to child refugees following the Dubs amendment.

“The work to identify unaccompanied minors in and around the Calais area continues and where it’s appropriate to find them homes in the UK we’re determined to do so.”

The French president has been pressing for Britain to increase its financial contribution as well as a commitment to take more refugees ahead of his first visit to the UK as president.

A government spokeswoman said: “This is about investing in and enhancing the security of the UK border.

“Just as we invest in our borders around the rest of the UK, it is only right that we constantly monitor whether there is more we can be doing at the UK border controls in France and Belgium to ensure they are as secure as possible.”

The summit is also an opportunity for the two leaders to underline their countries’ enduring ties, despite Britain’s impending withdrawal from the EU.

Increasing co-operation on defence and counter-terrorism will be high on the agenda at an event which will see the first meeting together of the heads of the two countries’ main intelligence agencies.

The heads of MI5, MI6, GCHQ and France’s DGSE and DGSI will discuss how they can work together to counter threats such as the targeting of concert venues like Manchester Arena and the Bataclan in Paris, and terrorists using the internet as a “safe space”.

Britain will also commit to participating in Mr Macron’s “European intervention initiative”, which officials do not regard as a European army but a plan to enhance co-ordination of existing armed forces.

Updated

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron watch a fly-past from a French Dassault Rafale and an RAF Typhoon aircraft ahead of the UK-France summit.
Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron watch a fly-past from a French Dassault Rafale and an RAF Typhoon aircraft ahead of the UK-France summit. Photograph: Cpl Timothy Jones/PA

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the creation of a UK-France defence ministerial council, the Ministry of Defence says.

Boris Johnson hints he wants to revive Channel Tunnel for cars plan

In his excellent book about the general election and Theresa May’s first year in office, Fall Out, Tim Shipman reveals that Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, privately backs building a new Channel Tunnel for cars. Shipman quotes Johnson as saying:

If you wanted to show your commitment to Europe, is it not time for us to have further and better economic integration with a road tunnel? That’s what we need ...

You could come out of the EU but join Europe in the most fundamental way ...

You undo the damage done at the end of the ice age. The Channel is really a river whose tributaries used to be the Seine and the Thames. It became bigger and bigger and bigger as the ice melted until it separated Britain from France.

According to Shipman, Johnson was keen to float the plan at the Conservative conference in 2016 but was talked out of his by his advisers.

However, it now seems Johnson is keen to revive the idea. He has just tweeted this from the Anglo-French summit.

Boris Johnson at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,
Boris Johnson at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

There has been some speculation among the political classes in the Irish Republic that Leo Varadkar might go for broke this Spring and call a general election. The theory is that the Taoiseach who leads a minority coalition might gain encouragement from the next major opinion poll on the state of Irish parties at the end of January and consider going to the country in April.

At present Varadkar relies on his very own ‘confidence and supply arrangement’ of the type the DUP has to keep Theresa May in 10 Downing Street. The Taoiseach and his Fine Gael party not only need the support of an alliance of Independent Dail deputies but also the qualified backing of the main opposition party Fianna Fail. A series of polls that put Varadkar and his party further ahead of Fianna Fail may tempt him to dissolve the Dail after his trip to the White House on St Patrick’s Day. There is even speculation that Fine Gael may even to a deal with Sinn Fein, which will be led by Dublin TD Mary Lou McDonald to set up a stable coalition.

Varadkar’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Simon Coveney was asked today if this potential scenario would convince Sinn Fein it would be useful to be in government both in Belfast and Dublin thus giving new hope of a deal to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland.

Coveney’s reply was unequivocal: “I don’t see any prospect of a general election in the Republic of Ireland any time soon.”

Here are some more pictures from the May/Macron summit.

Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May look up at a military fly-past at Sandhurst Military Academy in Camberley.
Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May look up at a military fly-past at Sandhurst Military Academy in Camberley. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Macron reviews a guard of honour
Macron reviews a guard of honour Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
May and Macron join English and French service personnel at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
May and Macron join English and French service personnel at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
May and Macron pose at a plenary session at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
May and Macron pose at a plenary session at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AP

Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative party deputy chairman who now specialises in researching public opinion, has published a new poll today. The findings are worth reading in full, but here are three that stand out.

1 - Voters will clearly back a second referendum - but only if it’s a choice between Brexit with a deal, and Brexit with no deal. Ashcroft asked four different questions about a possible second referendum, and if staying in the EU is an option, voters are against. He explains.

There was no significant variation in support for a new referendum in any of the scenarios: between 38 and 40 per cent depending on the question. Opposition to a new referendum outweighed support (indeed with between a quarter and a fifth of remainers answering in the negative) in all scenarios but one: a choice between accepting the terms negotiated for Brexit, or leaving without a deal – that is, a referendum which would result in Britain leaving the EU in any event. This was both the least unpalatable option to leavers, a quarter of whom supported the idea, and the least attractive to remainers, only 57 per cent of whom were in favour.

Second referendum questions
Second referendum questions Photograph: Ashcroft Polls

2 - “Don’t know” has now overtaken both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in the ‘Who would make best PM?’ chart.

Best PM poll
Best PM poll Photograph: Ashcroft Polls

3 - Labour is ahead of the Conservatives on most key ‘party character’ traits - although both parties have seen their ratings fall on these measures since last summer.

Perceptions of Labour and the Tories
Perceptions of Labour and the Tories Photograph: Ashcroft Polls

Gary Gibbon’s Channel 4 News blog about the May/Macron summit is worth reading. Here’s an excerpt.

One cabinet minister said the French are indisputably the most formidable challenge to Britain in the Brexit negotiations. The minister said there were strong suspicions that Paris was keen to stretch out the negotiations over a transition phase to prolong uncertainty for UK businesses pondering a move to Paris.

One other theme you repeatedly hear on the transition is how many EU capitals are convinced that the UK is going to need a status quo transition that lasts long after the end of 2020 (the current working notion of an end date). But EU officials say extending the transition is too controversial a topic to introduce into Britain’s fragile political state, and not something the EU27 particularly want to complicate their lives with at the moment either. If it is needed later it can be negotiated then, the rationale runs, and the EU27 will have more leverage in that conversation because the UK needs would be that much more pressing.

This is from Romain Raoux, who works for the French embassy in London.

(Clearly a man who deserves a pay rise.)

The Telegraph’s Jack Maidment has more on Theresa May’s lunch with Emmanuel Macron.

Sajid Javid, the housing secretary, has announced changes to planning rules intended to help music venues and other places that generate noise that could affect residential properties. As he explains in a news release, under the new system “housing developers building new homes near music venues should be responsible for addressing noise issues.” Currently it is up to music venues to find a solution to noise problems, even when developers build homes next door knowing there is a potential difficulty.

UPDATE: The news release acknowledges that this change is being adopted partly as a result of pressure from the Labour MP John Spellar, who put forward a 10-minute rule bill on this topic.

Updated

Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May arrive at Sandhurst Military Academy in Sandhurst.
Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May arrive at Sandhurst Military Academy in Sandhurst. Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Bradley confirms Northern Ireland will get £1bn promised under DUP deal even without power-sharing restored

More from a very busy schedule for Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley today.

The secretary of state had to issue an urgent clarification on the status of the £1bn deal the Democratic Unionists extracted from the Tories to keep Theresa May in power.

Initially in a press briefing inside Stormont House Bradley said that the largesse from central government to the DUP and Northern Ireland was dependent on devolved ministers being in place in Belfast. In other words the extra £1bn could only be spend once devolved power sharing was back up and running.

But the DUP and indeed her predecessor James Brokenshire always insisted the £1bn aid package was not contingent on the Northern Ireland Executive being restored after over a year of political stasis. This was actually raised at the briefing by another reporter.

In later statement this afternoon, Bradley said the government’s preference is to have “elected ministers spend the money” in the region but added that the £1bn the DUP secured would still be spent in the absence of devolution.

The new Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley has been described by Democratic Unionist Party MP Ian Paisley as a solid unionist in outlook.

But on one issue she is poles apart from the DUP - gay marriage equality.

Bradley voted in favour of gay marriage equality law which does not apply to Northern Ireland where it is a devolved issued.

The DUP has used a special parliamentary veto in the now deadlocked Stormont Assembly to block legislation that would make LGBT marriages legal in Northern Ireland.

While Bradleywas focussed mainly today on announcing talks aimed at restoring power-sharing government in Northern Ireland (see 2.22pm), the secretary of state was asked about what she was going to do about the region being the only part of the UK were gay marriage is not recognised in law.

“I am not here to impose,”Bradley answered, means the status quo remains. Only when the Stormont Assembly is back up and running, and if (as seems unlikely) the DUP lifts its opposition to gay marriage will the current scenario change.

A number of Ulster Unionist politicians had earlier proposed on Thursday that one way around the problem was for the Westminster government to legislate for a referendum in Northern Ireland allowing the people of the region to vote for or against gay marriage. Bradley, at least for today, appears to have kicked that particular idea out to touch.

Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron have arrived at Sandhurst.

They were greeted with the French national anthem (which is much better than ours, according to the consensus in the office.)

And for those of you who like this sort of thing - a marching band.

More from Sandhurst. This is from ITV’s Carl Dinnen.

Emmanuel Macron has tweeted some video of his working pub lunch with Theresa May.

Jeremy Corbyn has given an interview to my colleagues Heather Stewart and Anushka Asthana. As they report, he said that Labour would call a halt to the “outsourcing racket” exposed by Carillion’s collapse by tearing up procurement rules to make the public sector the default choice for providing government services.

Here is the main story.

And here is the interview feature.

Bradley announces resumption of talks on power-sharing in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley has described the need to restore power sharing government to the region as “urgent” as she announced a fresh round of talks today aimed at bringing back devolution.

A new set of negotiations will begin next week involving the main parties represented in the deadlocked Stormont Assembly, the secretary of state said.

But she warned that these discussions which start on 24 January will be the last chance to reach a deal.

Standing alongside side Bradley outside Stormont House on Thursday, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said he believed the deadline to find a solution would be “weeks rather than months.”

Bradley said she still believed an agreement was possible as “all the parties have expressed a commitment for the restoration of the (Stormont) Executive.”

Bradley continued: “They are willing to engage in a constructive manner to try to reach agreement. A short intense set of political talks to restore the executive will commence next Wednesday.”

She said the gaps between the parties particularly the largest two - the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein - were “narrow but there are still significant differences to overcome.”

In the absence of a deal, she said she would have to consider drawing up a Westminster-imposed budget and addressing the issue of continued pay for Northern Irish politicians if no Assembly was functioning by then.

Asked if she was in favour of cutting local politicians’ wages if they failed to reach an agreement to reboot both the Executive and the Assembly, Bradley said:

Well as a politician myself I work very hard to make sure I justify my pay so I will say no more than that!

Karen Bradley and Simon Coveney speaking to the media at Stormont House, Belfast.
Karen Bradley and Simon Coveney speaking to the media at Stormont House, Belfast. Photograph: Mark Winter/REX/Shutterstock

Theresa May’s lunch with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, seems to have over-run, says Sky’s Faisal Islam. They were supposed to be at Sandhurst by now for the Anglo-French summit but have not appeared yet.

Lord Owen calls for UK to stay in EEA during Brexit transition

In a speech to the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath tonight Lord Owen, the former foreign secretary who quit Labour for the SDP in the 1980s partly because Labour was turning anti-European but who campaigned for leave in the referendum, will call for the UK to remain in the EEA (European Economic Area) during the Brexit transition.

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has previously described a transition deal keeping the UK in the EEA as the “worst of possible worlds”. But Owen will argue that staying in the EEA for that period will be the most practical option.

He will say:

In responding, therefore, to the EU wish for the withdrawal agreement to be “clearly defined and precisely limited in time” the UK government would be wise to state now that they are ready to rely for legislative purposes during the transition chiefly upon the European Economic Area Agreement during the transition to which we are a contracting party.

This does not resolve all issues – transitory status quo arrangements for agriculture and fisheries will still be required – also while the customs union is allowed under the EEA neither Norway, Sweden nor Liechtenstein thought it necessary to take it up. The withdrawal agreement, it is clear from the outset, is for the transition and no longer than the transition period which is currently planned to end no later than 30 December 2020. We can set aside legal arguments as to whether or not a contracting party to the EEA agreement ceases to be one if they leave the EU by making provision for the small amendments that make it clear that the UK will continue to be a contracting party to the EEA within the withdrawal agreement. As such an amended EEA Agreement will respect our sovereignty, as it does for Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein ...

This EEA transition option plainly gives the UK more power and control over subsequent developments than would the European council’s proposal of last December. But it would also be easier for EU members. It follows precedent and in some parts would be bespoke but it means much of the legal provision is contained in a well understood international treaty with its own legal framework. It ought to unite all shades of Leave opinion, and attract some remainers who recognise the need in practical negotiations to start to respect the referendum decision.

Lord Owen speaking at a Vote Leave event in the EU referendum campaign.
Lord Owen speaking at a Vote Leave event in the EU referendum campaign. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to a training facility at East Midlands Ambulance Service HQ this morning.
Jeremy Corbyn during a visit to a training facility at East Midlands Ambulance Service HQ this morning. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Ashworth hints he is open to funding NHS through hypothecated tax

In an interesting interview with the New Statesman Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, has hinted that he is open to the idea of funding the NHS through a hypothecated tax. Here is an extract from George Eaton’s article.

Labour’s 2017 manifesto vowed to increase spending by raising taxes on corporations and the top 5 per cent of earners (those on salaries of more than £80,000). But Ashworth suggested that a more ambitious settlement was needed.

“Under the previous Labour government, Gordon Brown laid out a case for the long-term investment needs of the National Health Service and then increased national insurance and hypothecated the yield from that to the NHS. That was actually a popular tax rise.” (A 2002 ICM poll found that 76 per cent of voters backed the policy.)

Conservative MPs such as Sarah Wollaston, the chair of the health select committee, former minister Nick Boles and backbencher Johnny Mercer have recently supported a dedicated NHS tax. “It’s an interesting debate and it’s a debate that we should engage in,” Ashworth told me. “The country needs to have a discussion about the future financing of the NHS for the 2020s and the 2030s.”

Updated

Sir John Armitt has been appointed as chair of the national infrastructure commission, replacing the Labour peer Lord Adonis, who resigned at the end of last year, partly in protest over Brexit. Armitt was deputy chair of the commission.

Previously he was chief executive of Network Rail, president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Sir John Armitt.
Sir John Armitt. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Windfall tax would not solve main problems with PFI, Labour Treasury team believes

The Labour Treasury team does not agree with Stella Creasy’s call for a windfall tax on companied with PFI contracts. (See 9.23am.) John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has not responded to what Creasy said on the Today programme this morning, but sources familiar with his thinking say he does not think the Creasy plan would deal properly with the failings of PFI.

One problem is that it would not raise anything from firms involved in PFI that have not made profits (like Carillion, which has gone bust). More seriously, sources argue, a windfall tax would not reduce PFI financing costs and it would still leave these projects in private hands.

McDonnell’s plan is to bring them in-house.

Sturgeon says Scottish Tories 'don't have a backbone between them'

Although today’s FMQs didn’t deal with Brexit-related questions specifically, Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, still managed to work in a barb when answering Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson about “the week that we found out that the Scottish Tories don’t have a backbone between them”.
She was referring to the fact that yesterday Davidson’s Scottish Tory MPs - unsurprisingly - voted with their government to pass the EU withdrawal bill through the Commons although it failed to bring forward amendments to a highly contentious clause that centralises more than 100 European powers in Whitehall after Brexit, even though they involve policy controlled by the devolved parliaments. The amendments to clause 11 must now be dealt with in the Lords, where the SNP have no direct representation because they do not send members to the unelected chamber in principle.

In fairness, many Scottish Tories are privately fuming at the way that Holyrood’s concerns have been handled, and Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, described herself as “frustrated” in a recent interview.

Later today a group of senior MSPs will attend talks in the Lords in order to set out significant cross-party concerns over the lack of progress from the Westminster government on amending the Bill during its Commons passage.

In a unanimous report last week Holyrood’s constitution committee described the bill as it stands as “incompatible with the devolution settlement” and made clear that legislative consent to the EU withdrawal bill would not be forthcoming from Holyrood unless clause 11 was replaced or removed.

Nicola Sturgeon heading for the debating chamber in the Scottish parliament for first minister’s questions (FMQs)
Nicola Sturgeon heading for the debating chamber in the Scottish parliament for first minister’s questions (FMQs) Photograph: Andrew MacColl/REX/Shutterstock

Leadsom criticised for giving MPs chance to postpone parliament restoration decision for another 4 years

Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has finally announced when MPs are going to get round to the long-awaited debate on what to do about restoring the Palace of Westminster. But she has been criticised for giving MPs the chance to delay yet again a project deemed essential to experts.

To recap: the Houses of Parliament, which were rebuilt in the middle of the nineteenth century after the fire in 1834, are in an appalling condition and in need of multi-billion pound repairs. This has been acknowledged for years, and in 2015 a report was published saying a renovation programme was needed that could cost more than £7bn and last up to up to 40 years.

After that a joint committee of MPs and peers was set up to consider the options. It produced a report (pdf) in September 2016 saying that there was a “clear and pressing” need to act “to prevent catastrophic failure in the next decade”. It recommended “a full decant” (parliamentarians moving out of the building for good during the repairs, which would be cheaper than options allowing MPs and peers to remain fully or partly) and said a “delivery authority” should be appointed to start planning the work “as soon as possible”.

But since then the government and parliament have delayed taking a decision. Many MPs and peers are thought to be very unhappy about the idea of moving out of one of the most famous buildings in the world, and they fear that voters will object to so much money being spent on parliament.

Today Leadsom announced that the debate on what do to next, which had been expected in early January, will finally take place on Wednesday 31 January. But it will only be a half-day debate, taking place roughly between 4pm and 7pm after a debate on a Labour motion.

And MPs will get the chance to vote for a motion putting off any long-term decision until 2022. Leadsom has tabled two motions for MPs to choose between (you can find the text of both motions on this document [pdf] on pages 53 and 54) and the first one says only “essential work” will be carried out this parliament, with a review before 2022 deciding what comprehensive work might take place after that election.

If that motion fails, MPs will instead vote on an alternative motion calling for the work to start “as early as possible in the next decade”. This motion would also establish a sponsor board to decide what whether or not to go ahead with the “full decant” option - even though the joint committee took a decision on this.

In the Commons Valerie Vaz, the shadow leader of the Commons, accused Leadsom of not taking the problem seriously. She said the government should allocate more time for the debate and, referring to John Bercow’s love of tennis, she said:

Mr Speaker, I can only think of one phrase that you are very familiar with in tennis circles, the government “cannot be serious”. It is as if the joint committee have never met. The joint committee took the evidence and reported and all the government does in their motion is to note it. Can the government think again and retable the motions.

But Leadsom rejected this claim. She told Vaz.

The House needs to decide whether we can afford to justify the undoubted work that needs to take place to restore this Palace, a UNESCO world heritage site that has over 1m visitors a year, at a time when there are great fiscal constraints. It is a genuinely open decision that the House needs to make and, what the government has sought to do is, taking into account the very broad range of views across the House on what should happen, is to put forward first of all the open discussion about whether the House is willing to bear that cost from the taxpayers’ purse, and then secondly, if the House does believe that now is the time, then how can we go about doing that to ensure the very best value for taxpayers’ money.

Although Leadsom described it as “an open decision” for MPs (ie, a free vote matter), the fact that the government is putting the option of postponing the decision for another four years on the table suggests that it would be happy for this to be the outcome.

If you are curious as to why the restoration project is deemed essential, do read the long read on this topic that my colleague Charlotte Higgins wrote at the end of last year.

Charlotte discovered that the state of the building is so bad that there is a real fear that it could effectively collapse into a pile of shit. Here’s an extract from her article.

Down a gloomy corridor and a further series of damp steps, announced by a different kind of odour, are two vast, cast-iron vessels – the palace sewage ejectors, in which the effluent produced by parliamentarians and staff gathers before it is pushed into the city drains. They were installed in 1888. “One of them could easily crack,” said Piper. “We get sewage leaks throughout the palace.” Lord Lisvane told me that one of the palace’s disaster-planning exercises, undertaken when he was clerk of the Commons, had imagined a failure of the sewage system. “In that scenario, we had 36 hours before we had to evacuate the building. Aside from all the rather unpleasant stuff about the rising levels of sewage, the fact is that when it hits the high-tension electricity cables, the electricity is out, you don’t have any fresh water, and you are done for.”

Updated

David Gauke sworn in as lord chancellor

David Gauke, the justice secretary, has been sworn in today as lord chancellor, the role he holds alongside his post as head of the Ministry of Justice. He is the first solicitor to hold the role. (For years the job always used to go to a barrister, but the Labour government effectively downgraded the job and, under David Cameron, Chris Grayling became the first non-lawyer to hold the post.)

At his swearing in Gauke said:

As lord chancellor, I look forward to working with you, lord chief justice, and other senior members of the judiciary, to ensure we continue to attract exceptional and talented people in order for it [the judiciary] to remain strong, free from improper influence and truly independent - indeed, to remain the envy of the world.

During my time as lord chancellor, I will be ambitious for our country’s legal services, I will be steadfast in my commitment to defend the independence of the judiciary and to respect the rule of law, and I will be determined in our work to create a justice system that is open to all, a justice system that everyone in the country can have confidence in and one that lives up to the deep-rooted sense of justice and fairness the UK is known for around the world.

Lord Chancellor David Gauke (left) poses for a photo with Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd (centre) and Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton (right) as he arrives for his swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London.
Lord Chancellor David Gauke (left) poses for a photo with Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd (centre) and Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton (right) as he arrives for his swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The Labour party has announced the appointment of two new whips - Fiona Onasanya and Stephanie Peacock.

Last week A&E doctors working in the NHS in England wrote an open letter to Theresa May saying the risk to patients was “intolerable” because the NHS was so under-funded and short staffed.

Now some hospital consultants in Wales have written a similar letter to Carwyn Jones, the Welsh first minister. As the BBC reports, the letter says:

We have neither sufficient staff nor sufficient beds [in either acute hospitals or the community] to cope with the needs of an ageing population.

Transport questions in the Commons has seen some focus on Carillion and its work on HS2. We’ve probably not learned much except that Labour clearly plans to target Chris Grayling for signing Carillion up to a contract on the project last year.

Grayling began by insisting that Carillion’s collapse would have no effect on HS2, as it was part of a three-company consortium, and the other two firms were taking over its work. “The apprenticeships are being transferred, the staff are being transferred, the project will continue uninterrupted,” he said.

But Andy McDonald, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, challenged Grayling on his expressions of confidence in July last year about Carillion. McDonald said: “Does he now accept that he got it spectacularly wrong and that his judgement and his confidence were disastrously misplaced?”

Grayling, as you’d expect, did not, and also rebuffed McDonald’s suggestion, quoted from a damning anti-Grayling editiorial in the Times this week (paywall), “whether it is time that this transport secretary left the station”.

Transport questions also saw a first outing on the subject for Jo Johnson, newly moved from being universities minister. An early question to Johnson was about a specific promise on rail services between Plymouth and Exeter. As he stood up you the TV coverage clearly picked up a loud whisper from the front bench, “Tell him we’re still working on it!” And that was, oddly enough, what Johnson said.

Chris Grayling.
Chris Grayling. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Images

Scottish voters overwhelmingly support Scottish government's proposed tax increases, poll suggests

The SNP has welcomed a YouGov poll in today’s Times (paywall) suggesting that the tax increases proposed by the Scottish government at the end of last year are popular with voters. The tax increases have not come into force yet, but the approval rates in the poll are striking. Getting public support for tax increases is the holy grail of progressive politics.

Here are the figures.

YouGov poll about Scottish government’s proposed tax increases
YouGov poll about Scottish government’s proposed tax increases Photograph: The Times

Derek Mackay, the SNP’s business convenor in the Scottish parliament, said:

This poll shows strong 2 to 1 support for the SNP’s progressive tax reforms that will allow us to invest in our schools and hospitals.

The SNP is on the side of Scotland’s taxpayers – ensuring that 70% pay less and that Scotland is the fairest taxed part of the UK and, for most, the lowest.

This is a real endorsement of the SNP’s approach to protecting public services, investing in the economy and supporting households and I hope other parties will now back our tax plans.

The SNP government’s proposed tax increases (which take advantage of new powers the Scottish parliament has to vary income tax) may be popular, but they are not simple. The UK currently has three income tax rates (20%, 40% and 45%), but in Scotland in 2018-19 there will be five. Here is the SNP’s own summary of what the plans are.

A new starter rate of 19% will be introduced for those earning between £11,850 and £13,850

A basic rate of income tax at 20% for those earning over £13,850

A new intermediate rate of 21% for those earning over £24,000 - however as a result of the new starter rate taxpayers earning less than £33,000 will pay no more in tax for given incomes

A higher rate of 41% on incomes over £44,273 to £150,000

A top rate of 46% on incomes over £150,000

Jeremy Corbyn has tweeted about PFI and the NAO report.

Welsh secretary Alan Cairns rebuked for shunning Welsh assembly committee

Alun Cairns, the Welsh secretary, has received a rare rebuke from the Welsh assembly this morning. Simon Thomas, the Plaid Cymru AM (assembly member) who chairs the assembly’s finance committee, has issued a statement criticising Cairns for refusing to appear before it to give evidence. Thomas said:

This committee is frustrated and disappointed at the continuing reticence of the secretary of state for Wales, the right honourable Alun Cairns AM, to appear before us on matters essential to the governance and performance of Wales.

Thorough scrutiny and accountability are critical parts of any minister’s portfolio, regardless of the institution in which they sit.

This committee’s work is considering matters which will affect every person in Wales, including the devolvement of tax-raising powers later this year. The secretary of state is statutorily obliged to report on the implementation of the Wales Act 2014, but will not attend committee to discuss these annual reports.

Thomas said his committee had offered Cairns a number of possible dates for a hearing since he was appointed Welsh secretary in 2016, and even offered to question him via video conference, but had still not got an acceptance.

Alun Cairns.
Alun Cairns. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Images

Labour MP calls for windfall tax on PFI companies

National Audit Office reports are never an easy read and their conclusions are always relatively cautious and qualified (not least because the relevant government departments are consulted before they are published). But, if you know how to decipher them, they can be damning, and today’s is a good example because it casts doubt on the entire value of PFI, the public finance initative, and its successor PF2 - and, by implication, the wisdom of getting the private sector to deliver public services. Coming just days after the collapse of Carillion, it could not be more more topical.

If you want, you can read the report in full here (pdf). Here is my colleague Rajeev Syal’s overnight story summarising it.

This morning Labour said today’s NAO report showed why the party was right to commit itself to ending PFI and bringing existing projects back in house. (John McDonnell announced this at the party conference last autumn, although the policy small print made it clear that the actual plans are not quite as radical as the headlines generated by McDonnell’s speech implied.) In a statement today Peter Dowd, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said:

The National Audit Office confirms that, not only is there little evidence of the benefits of private finance procurement, but also that it “results in additional costs compared with publicly financed procurement”.

According to the NAO’s analysis of a schools building project, costs under the Tories’ new PF2 schemes are 40% higher than through direct government funding.

Worryingly, despite this and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s description of PFI as a “fiscal illusion”, it seems that the Treasury has actively decided against removing budgetary incentives which exist in favour of PFI.

Today’s report only further demonstrates this Tory government’s continued commitment to fleecing tax payers for the benefit of large PFI firms. It also raises more questions over the use of PFI in a week in which the Carillion scandal has left many fearing for their jobs and standard of their public services.

The next Labour government will draw a line under the failed PFI approach to public investment, and will replace it by a transparent and accountable approach, which will reduce the costs and deliver significant savings to the taxpayer.”

Peter Dowd
Peter Dowd Photograph: House of Commons

But on the Today programme a Labour MP, Stella Creasy, offered another proposal. Creasy first made her name as an MP campaigning against payday lenders and she described PFI firms as “the legal loan sharks of the public sector”.

What the NAO reports shows, to devastating effect, is that PFI and PF2, because the government brought in exactly the same scheme under a different name, is both too expensive to continue on with and very expensive to get out of.

Of that £10bn [the annual charge for PFI contracts] what that study also shows is that half of that is interest on charges. These companies, these type of contracts, really are the legal loan sharks of the public sector. It’s like a payday loan or a hire purchase agreement to build a school or a hospital and then run one. It’s a very expensive way to do it. And the question we all have to ask ourselves is what do we do next.

Creasy said, given the difficulties of halting PFI contracts, the government should instead consider imposing a windfall tax on these firms.

This is why I’m calling for a windfall tax on these companies. The one place where we do have leverage with them is on the tax they pay. They’ve also had a massive corporation tax bonus because corporation tax on a lot of these contracts [when they] were signed, and it was part of the deal and the reason why we went with them, was around 30%. Under this government it has now dropped to 17%. So we are estimating that some of them have saved around £190m in corporation tax payments alone. That is money that is owed to our public sector, and is money we could get back with a windfall tax.

Stella Creasy
Stella Creasy Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

I will post more on this as the morning goes on.

Then, this afternoon, the main even will be Theresa May’s summit with Emmanual Macron. Here is our preview story.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.10am: Jeremy Corbyn visits a hospital and ambulance trust in Lincoln.

9.30am: Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

9.30am: NHS England publishes weekly performance statistics.

12.45pm: Theresa May has lunch with the French president Emmanual Macron. Later they will hold a summit at Sandhurst, followed by a press conference at 5pm.

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

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

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