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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Gove defends Boris Johnson over WW2 jibe, saying it's 'witty metaphor' – as it happened

Boris Johnson uses WW2 comparison to criticise French president

Afternoon summary

  • Downing Street has said that Theresa May has “full confidence” in Boris Johnson despite growing criticism of his decision to compare the French president to a world war two prison camp guard. Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, said Johnson was “not fit to be foreign secretary” (see 4.29pm) and Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, has urged May to condemn what he said. (See 3.09pm.) But Michael Gove, who wrecked Johnson’s bid for the Conservative party leadership last summer when he resigned as Johnson’s campaign manager saying Johnson was not suited to be prime minister, has defended his erstwhile ally.

“Snowflake” is social media term, particularly favoured on the right, for people who are easily offended. (Gove may be missing the point. People like Ed Miliband aren’t necessarily “offended” by what Johnson said; they just think it was crass.)

  • Tristram Hunt, who is standing down as Labour MP for Stoke central to become director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, has used his final speech in the Commons to say Brexit highlighted divisions between the Labour party and its voters. He told MPs:

I remember some days not meeting anyone in the Potteries who wished to stay inside the EU. But I, like many members in this House, accept the result.

This division of opinion between the official Labour party position and many of our heartland voters has served to only highlight the deep-seated challenges which centre-left parties are facing.

From Greece to the Netherlands to Sweden to France, the combination of austerity, globalisation and EU policy has hammered social democratic politics.

The challenge which [Jeremy Corbyn] faces is not unique to him.

All parties are coalitions but what Brexit has done is exacerbate the divergence of priorities between what, say, the Labour voters of Cambridge want and those in Redcar, Grimsby or Stoke-on-Trent.

Keeping a metropolitan and post-industrial coalition together is no easy task.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

There were slightly curious scenes at the afternoon lobby briefing, where May’s spokeswoman again insisted that Johnson’s “punishment beating” comments contained no allusion to Nazis, or seemingly other Axis powers from World War II.

Asked if the prime minister agreed with Sajid Javid’s warning against “glib comparisons” with the Nazis, May’s spokeswoman said: “Yes”. She continued:

I don’t know what link you’re making between the two, given that the foreign secretary made no reference to Nazis in his remarks.

Pressed on this, she said:

He was talking about conjuring up the kind of idea of punitive behaviour from World War II, but he didn’t make a specific remark. If you can find for me where the foreign secretary said the word ‘Nazis’, we’ll have to take questions on it.

Johnson was, she said, “making a theatrical comparison to movies”. Asked what film it could be, or if the imagined scene could involve a Briton doling out the hypothetical punishment beating, there was no answer.

We also got no response to Guy Verhofstadt’s characterisation of the comments as “abhorrent”.

May’s spokeswoman said: “Lots is going to be said during this negotiation, and lots of remarks are going to be made.”

In case you were wondering, May does still have “full confidence” in Johnson.

Here is the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast, featuring Sir Keir Starmer, Seema Malhotra, John Whittingdale, Jonathan Isaby, Hugo Dixon, Heather Stewart and Anushka Asthana talking about Brexit and Theresa May’s speech.

Boris Johnson has been tweeting about his visit to India. He posted this earlier today.

And this one a few minutes ago.

On Twitter, at least, he is following Gisela Stuart’s advice (see 4.10pm) not to mention the war.

Ed Miliband says Boris Johnson 'not fit to be foreign secretary'

Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, says Boris Johnson’s world war two comment shows he’s not fit to be foreign secretary.

Miliband’s brother David was, of course, foreign secretary himself.

Tusk says UK will not be allowed to adopt pick and mix approach to Brexit

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, has been speaking about Theresa May’s speech in the European parliament. He said:

Yesterday’s speech by Prime Minister May proves that the unified position of 27 member states on the indivisibility of the single market was finally understood and accepted by London.

It would be good if our partners also understood that there will be no place for pick and choose tactics in our future negotiations.

At the same time I want to underline that we took note of the warm and balanced words of Prime Minister May on European integration which were much closer to the narrative of Winston Churchill than of the American President Donald Trump.

  • Tusk tells May she will not be allowed to adopt a pick and mix approach to the Brexit negotiations. By that he appears to mean that Britain will not be allowed to keep the advantages of single market membership while rejecting free movement. (Tusk used the phrase “pick and choose” but clearly meant “pick and mix”.) But the journalist Georg von Harrach thinks this is a hint that the EU will not accept the compromise on customs union membership.
  • He praises May for adopting a supportive approach to European integration, saying in this she is more like Churchill than Trump.

UPDATE: In the comments fermatslasthobnob argues - correctly, I’m afraid - that I’m wrong to question Tusk’s use of the phrase “pick and choose” and that I’m thinking too much about Woolworths.

User avatar for fermatslasthobnob

Tusk used the phrase “pick and choose” but clearly meant “pick and mix”

Seems Mr Tusk's command of the English language is better than Andrew Sparrow's. Pick and choose was used fro decades, if not centuries, before "pick and mix" as a description of taking only the best parts from a selection. Maybe Andrew hasn't got over the demise of Woolworths.

Donald Tusk.
Donald Tusk. Photograph: BBC

Updated

Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP who was a colleague of Boris Johnson’s on the Vote Leave campaign, has defended him over his world war two jibe about the French president. This is from the BBC’s Carole Walker.

Sajid Javid condemns those who make 'glib comparisons' about Nazis - only hours after Johnson makes WW2 jibe

In one of those “you couldn’t make it up” specials that come along from time to time to remind us that real life is often more extraordinary than fiction, the Holocaust Educational Trust has put out a press notice clearly prepared some time ago condemning people who make “glib comparisons” with the Nazis.

Just to make it even more awkward the key quote comes from Sajid Javid, the communities secretary. He is quoted in the press release as saying:

We have to call out bigotry and racism when we see it. We have to object when a line is crossed from legitimate debate to smears and abuse. We have to push back when people lazily reach for glib comparisons that belittle what happened … calling those we disagree with “Nazis” or claiming someone’s actions are “just like the Holocaust”.

The press release was prepared well before Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, spoke at an event in India this morning making what might be described as a “glib comparison” to a Nazi prison camp guard. (See 11am.) It refers to comments Javid is due to be making at a Holocaust Educational Trust reception this afternoon. But it was sent out in advance, with a 3.30pm embargo, quoting Javid in the past tense (a routine practice with press releases.)

Johnson did not use the word “Nazi”. He accused the French president, Francois Hollande, of administering “punishment” beatings “in the manner of some world war two movie”. But Johnson was not talking about British or American soldiers punishing a prison camp escapees. Whatever Number 10 says (see 1.55pm) it is obvious he was talking about the Nazis.

Sajid Javid.
Sajid Javid. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

Updated

Hundreds of thousands of elderly Britons living in Europe may be forced to return to the UK unless the government guarantees that their healthcare continues to be reimbursed by the NHS, campaigners for British people settled in Spain and France have warned.

The House of Commons Brexit select committee was told on Wednesday that an unintended consequence of Brexit could be a surge in immigration of British migrants both working and retired.

Groups campaigning for the rights of Britons settled in Europe told the committee that many pensioners in countries such as Spain and France would not be able to afford private health insurance if the current NHS overseas was jettisoned post-Brexit.

“They may have no alternative but to come back,” said Sue Wilson, one of the founders of the Remain in Spain group.

The committee was also told there could be exodus of professionals whose right to practice, law, medicine or other disciplines would no longer be recognised if a deal was not done.

Updated

European parliament's Brexit negotiator labels Johnson's WW2 jibe 'abhorrent'

Guy Verhofstadt, the head of the liberal ALDE group in the European parliament and the parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, has described Boris Johnson’s world war two jibe about the French president as “abhorrent and deeply unhelpful” and urged Theresa May to condemn it.

Lunchtime summary

This is an utterly crass and clueless remark from the man who is supposed to be our chief diplomat.

I assume Boris Johnson says these things to deflect from the utter shambles this Brexit government is in over its plans to take Britain out of the Single Market.

But this kind of distasteful comment only serves to unite Europe further against Britain at a time we need friends more than ever.

And the Labour MP Wes Streeting has also criticised the foreign secretary. In a statement issued by Open Britain, which is campaigning for a “soft” Brexit, Streeting said:

It seems the foreign secretary has been leafing through his well-thumbed copy of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

Nobody who wants to see a good Brexit deal for Britain should welcome these crass comments. To get a deal that protects our economy and keeps Britain an open, tolerant country, we need to negotiate in good faith and with courtesy with our European partners.

  • The supreme court has announced that it will give its ruling on the article 50 case on Tuesday. It is expected to reject the government’s appeal, meaning that the government will have to put a bill through parliament before it can trigger article 50, the process starting the two-year Brexit process.
  • Ukip has dismissed an ITV report saying Paul Nuttall will be the party’s candidate in the Stoke central byelection. No decision has been taken about who the candidate will be, sources say.

Updated

Supreme court to give article 50 judgment on Tuesday next week

The supreme court has announced it will give its judgement in the article 50 case on Tuesday next week, at 9.30am.

It has issued this statement about access arrangements. Here is an extract.

Members of the public wishing to visit the building on the morning of Tuesday 24 January are advised that we are expecting a large number of visitors that morning, and those not specifically coming to observe the judgment in R (on the application of Miller & Dos Santos) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union are encouraged to choose other days to visit the building ...

The judgment hand down will last around five minutes and will take place in the largest courtroom, where a justice will deliver a summary of the court’s decision. The court has made arrangements for two ‘overflow’ courtrooms where a live video feed of the summary will be shown.

Updated

Here is a Guardian video with PMQ highlights.

Jeremy Corbyn labels Theresa May ‘the Irony Lady’ at PMQs

Updated

No 10 says Boris Johnson was using a 'theatrical comparison', but 'not suggesting anyone was a Nazi'

At the lobby briefing after PMQs Theresa May’s spokeswoman gave a spirited defence of the foreign secretary’s remarks in India (see 11am), comparing President Hollande’s stance on Brexit to a threat to administer, “punishment beatings”.

The spokeswoman insisted Johnson “was not suggesting anyone was a Nazi”.

“He was making a theatrical comparison to some of those evocative WWII movies people will have seen,” she said, adding that she rejected media interpretations of the comments and comparing it to the “hyped up media reports” condemned by the prime minister in her Brexit speech.

PMQs - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat

And here is what journalists and political commentators are saying about PMQs on Twitter. Mostly people think May did best.

From the Daily Mirror’s Jason Beattie

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton

From the Guardian’s Heather Stewart

From the i’s Nigel Morris

From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the former Guardian political editor Michael White

From the Times’ Matt Chorley

My colleague Anushka Asthana has been discussing PMQs on the Guardian’s Facebook live.

Updated

Juncker says Brexit talks will be 'very, very, very difficult'

The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, welcomed Theresa May’s “clarity” that Britain will leave the single market, but warned that Brexit talks will be “very, very, very difficult”.

Speaking to journalists in Strasbourg, he played down suggestions that the prime minister’s speech was a threat to Europe, and emphasised that the deal had to be fair for both sides.

The Luxemburger said he had spoken to May last night and told her the commission was not in a hostile mood. “We want a fair deal with Britain, and a fair deal for Britain – but a fair deal means a fair deal for the European Union.”

He added it would be “a very, very, very difficult negotiation” because Britain would be considered as a foreign country to the rest of the EU.

Sitting alongside him, Joseph Muscat, prime minister of Malta, which has the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, said he had not seen May’s words as “a declaration of war”.

He declined to say whether the UK could work out a trade deal with the EU at the same time as it negotiated its EU exit under article 50. EU leaders will take that decision at a special summit, around a month after May starts the official withdrawal process. “I will not pre-empt my colleagues in deciding themselves during an extraordinary council, the sort of attitude that will be putting forward for the commission to negotiate.”

Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, has been clearer. Shortly after May’s speech he tweeted that his priority was “an agreement on orderly exit”, without mentioning trade talks.

Updated

Germany denies EU is split over pre-article 50 deal on citizens' rights

The Guardian’s Berlin correspondent, Philip Oltermann, has the latest on reports in the UK press that EU states were split on whether to do a deal on citizens’ residency rights before article 50 is triggered.

A spokesperson for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, rejected the reports, stating there was “complete unanimity” that such negotiations could not take place until article 50 was triggered.

The 27 heads of states have already made clear in their joint statement on 29 June 201, so immediately after the referendum, that participation in the single market goes hand in hand with all four freedoms of the single market, and on this question all member states are unanimous. There is also complete unanimity that there can be no pre-negotiations with Great Britain before notification.

Paolo Gentiloni and Angela Merkel give a press conference in Berlin.
Paolo Gentiloni and Angela Merkel give a press conference in Berlin. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, Merkel said that May’s speech had “clarified” how the UK would conduct its negotiations.

We agreed we will coordinate our positions. In relation to our economies, Im not afraid. I think we’ll stick together. Europe must not be divided and we will make sure this doesn’t happen by keeping very close contacts with each other.

Updated

PMQs - Verdict

PMQs - Verdict: Brexit has never been a happy subject of Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs. He tended to avoid the subject before the EU referendum, he has been wary of raising it since, and today’s exchanges help to illustrate why. Theresa May’s performance was not exactly a triumph but she got the better of Corbyn and appeared more confident at the end of their exchanges than at any time in recent weeks.

There are at least three reasons why the EU is a tricky subject for Corbyn: his views on the EU are different from mainstream Labour’s; mainstream Labour’s are at odds with the consensus in the country as a whole; and the party has not resolved where it stands on the issue of immigration. This was apparent yesterday when Sir Keir Starmer’s response to May’s speech was very hard to square with Corbyn’s. (Corbyn seemed more interested in clobbering the government, while Starmer seemed more interested in positioning Labour in tune with public opinion.)

That said, May is still very vulnerable on this topic. Corbyn could have pressed her more persistently on her threat to turn the UK into a offshore, deregulated tax haven, perhaps by inquiring quite what Philip Hammond meant when he suggested the UK’s “social model” (or welfare state, as we normally call it) could be under threat. He could have asked if it is really conducive to good relations with the EU to have Boris Johnson comparing the French president to a Nazi prison guard. Or he could have asked May to confirm that her transitional deal announcement could mean free movement still applying and the ECJ still having jurisdiction at the time of the next general election (something that is usually anathema to Tory Eurosceptics).

But he didn’t. It was a lost opportunity.

The Juncker/Muscat/Tajani press conference in Brussels is over.

Updated

As usual, I missed the questions from Angus Robertson, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, because I was writing up the snap verdict. So here they are.

Robertson asked about Scotland’s desire to stay in the EU single market.

The prime minister has said that Scotland is an equal partner in the UK. Does she still believe this is true, or is she just stringing the people of Scotland along?

May said that in her speech she reiterated her commitment to work with the devolved adminstrations.

Then Robertson cited figures about the potential cost to Scotland of leaving the the single market. As Tory MPs jeered, he went on:

Tories jeering and cheering when the forecast for people’s income is that it is likely to drop by £2,000, and that 80,000 people may lose their jobs in Scotland as a result of the hard Tory Brexit plan of the prime minister. Does the prime minister believe this is a price worth paying for her Little Britain Brexit?

May replied:

The right honourable gentleman once again talks about the possibility of a negative impact on Scotland if Scotland were not part of the single market - his party is dedicated to taking Scotland out of the single market by taking it out of the United Kingdom.

I’ve taken the quotes from PoliticsHome.

Juncker reiterates that the EU would be seeking as a fair a Brexit deal as Britain would and describes the imminent negotiations as “very, very, very, difficult”. That’s a lot of verys.

He welcomed The “clarifications” made by Theresa May in her speech yesterday, but says that in the trade negotiations, Britain will have to be considered a “third country”, which will be a very different situation.

Updated

Nuttall will stand as Ukip's candidate in Stoke central byelection, ITV says

Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, will be a candidate in the Stoke central byelection, ITV is reporting.

Plaid Cymru’s Hywel Williams asks how leaving the EU can cause anything other than calamitous self harm.

May says she want a good deal with the EU, including an arrangement with as frictionless borders as possible.

Simon Hoare, a Conservative, says community hospitals play a vital role.

May says it is up to local clinicians and managers to decide what services are needed at a local level. But she agrees that the NHS is made up of many parts.

Meg Hillier, the Labour MP, asks what assurance May can give to EU nationals working in the UK, especially if they change employer or are freelance.

May says she wants to be able to guarantee their rights. She wants EU leaders to reach deal on this quickly.

Matt Warman, a Conservative, asks May to praise the emergency services for their response to the flood warnings last week.

May says she is happy to do that. She says it is crucial that people take these warnings seriously.

Juncker says he wishes Martin Schulz would have stayed on as the EU parliament president, but welcomes the appointment of Antonio Tajani to the position.

(You can read our report on the appointment of Tajani, a key ally of Silvio Berlusconi, here.)

Labour’s Gordon Marsden says the number of people waiting at his local A&E has doubled. Will the government stop putting money into corporation tax cuts and invest in adult social care instead.

May says there are more doctors and nurses in Marsden’s local Blackpool NHS trust. But this is not just about more money. It is about ensuring best practice is spread throughout the country. And it is about finding a long-term solution, something Labour never did.

Jeremy Lefroy, a Conservative, says acute hospitals in his area are under great pressure. Does May agree that closing A&E is no way to deal with increased need.

May says what matters is the quality of service.

Ken Clarke, the Conservative former chancellor and justice secretary, asks if MPs will get a chance to vote on May’s Brexit principles before the negotiation is concluded.

May says David Davis spent two hours answering questions yesterday in the Commons. There have been a number of Brexit debates, and there is another today. The government will respond to the article 50 judgement. But MPs cannot vote on the deal until we know what it is.

Labour’s Louise Haigh asks May to accept that payments by results should have no place in the welfare system.

May says many people received a poor service from Concentrix. She says HMRC are seeing what lessons can be learnt from their contract.

Alistair Burt, a Conservative, praises May for the “constructive” tone of her speech yesterday. Will her approach remain “constructive”? And will she ensure that no deal does not become the government’s default option.

May agrees. She says she made this point when she spoke to EU leaders yesterday.

Labour’s Louise Ellman says patients cannot be discharged because of cuts to social care. Why is the government blaming MPs?

May says there is pressure on social care. She quotes the extra money going to Liverpool, where Ellman is an MP.

Juncker opens press conference in Brussels

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, has started his press conference in Brussels.

Jean-Claude Juncker.
Jean-Claude Juncker.

He is joined by the new European parliament president, Antonio Tajani, and the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, who said earlier that Brexit negotiations would be an “arduous task” and “not a happy event” for the former British colony.

It will be interesting to see whether Juncker will adopt a similarly regretful tone to Muscat, or seek to meet Theresa May’s tough rhetoric yesterday head-on. He’s already been speaking today of course, to the European parliament, where revealed he had told May last night that one speech “will not launch the negotiations”.

The Guardian’s Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin is following the press conference and will file snap reaction.

Updated

The Conservative MP Anna Soubry asks if May will publish her Brexit principles in a white paper so MPs can debate them.

May says she understands this point. It continues to be the government’s intention to provide clarity wherever it can.

Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP, asks if May will attend a meeting to oppose the closure of a Mitcham surgery. Or is she happy to oversee the collapse of the NHS on her watch.

May says she used to sit on Wimbledon council with McDonagh. There are 5,000 more GPs coming into the NHs, she says. But she wants to ensure they provide services at the times when patients want to come.

Paul Scully, a Conservative, asks about the rail strike.

May says she hopes the talks will lead to the strikes being called off.

Updated

The Labour MP Barry Sheerman says there are dark clouds looming, in terms of intolerance and racism across Europe. Are we fit for purpose on this issue?

May says she wants UN to be able to do the job it needs to do. And she says the government will continue to support Nato. The main thrust of her speech yesterday as about how the UK wants a strong partnership with the EU. Now is not a time to cooperate less; it’s a time to cooperate more.

Updated

The Conservative MP Andrew Selous asks about air quality. Will May remove all diesel cars from the government car pool?

May says the government car service is working to remove diesel cars from its fleet.

Snap PMQs verdict

Snap PMQs verdict: Perhaps Corbyn should stick to the NHS. Of course, that wasn’t really an option today, in the light of the huge interest in May’s Brexit speech, but having done well on health and social care in recent PMQs he today came slightly unstuck when he tried to dismantle her speech with six questions all focused on Europe. His point about May snubbing parliament was true, but a process point of little interest to people outside Westminster, and his “irony” lady line was groan-inducing (He should just have nicked the line that Labour MP Stephen Doughty used yesterday about May and how “the lady’s not for turning up”.) His point about corporation tax and May’s threat to turn the UK into a offshore tax haven was a good one, but then he got sidelined into slightly obtuse questions about payments to the EU, where May’s reply (there will be payments for single market access, even if she is not saying how much they will be) was unusually direct by PMQs standards. May seemed more confident than at previous PMQs, and her mockery of Corbyn’s response to her speech yesterday was effective. She will be satisfied that that she saw Corbyn off.

Updated

Corbyn says his question was about paying for access to the single market. May still has not answered. Does May agree with her minister who said employers could still have access to cheap foreign labour.

May says she is talking about payments to secure access to the single market.

Corbyn says he wanted to know how much we would pay. Still no answer, he says. He says there are 55,000 EU citizens working in the NHS. There are 80,000 care workers, and 5,000 teachers from the EU. The real pressure is coming from cuts. Instead of threatening to turn Britain into an off-shore tax haven, let’s fund public services properly.

May says there will still be people coming to the UK from the EU after Brexit. There is a difference between them, she says. When she looks at an issue like Brexit, she considers the issue, sets out a plan and sticks to it. It’s called leadership. He should try it.

Corbyn says reducing corporation tax would cost the country £120bn. How do you fund public services without that. May said in April that leaving the EU would create the risk of the UK not being able to get better trade deals. Does May now disagree with herself?

May says she also said that the sky would not fall in if we left. Corbyn wants no controls on immigration and to borrow an extra £500bn. That would lead to no jobs.

Corbyn says May talked about frictionless access to the single market. Has she ruled out any kind of access fee for the single market.

May says this is exactly what she was talking about in her speech. The point about frictionless access was about borders, she says.

Jeremy Corbyn says May snubbed parliament yesterday, and the Brexit committee’s call for a white paper. But she was supposed to be standing up for parliamentary sovereignty. Why was she snubbing the Commons?

May says she set out a vision for a global Britain. It was a vision that will shape a stronger future and build a better Britain.

Corbyn says May was was talking about restoring parliamentary democracy while sidelining parliament. This is not so much the iron lady as the irony lady. He says a bargain basement Britain would be bad for Britain. May demeans her office by making these threats.

May says she set out a vision for a global Britain. But we learnt more about Corbyn’s thinking too. She quotes Corbyn saying he wanted access to the single market, while also criticising May for wanting access to the single market. She has a plan. He does not have a clue.

Laurence Robertson, a Conservative, says people who miss NHS appointments cost the NHS a lot of money. What can May do about this?

May pays tribute to those who work in the NHS. She says there are a number of way hospitals are trying to stop people missing appointments.

Labour’s Kelvin Hopkins asks about the damage done by drinking during pregnancy. Does Theresa May recognise the seriousness of this problem?

May says she recognises the problems alcohol causes, not just medical, but in relation to domestic violence.

This is from the SNP’s Angus MacNeil.

PMQs

PMQs is about to start.

Sadiq Khan says 'hard' Brexit would 'rip Britain apart'

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is giving a speech in Davos today. He will say that a “hard” Brexit would be a “lose-lose situation” that could tear the UK apart.

A ‘hard Brexit’ would cut Europe off from its only truly global financial center. This would be bad news for Europe as well as Britain. So a hard Brexit really would be a lose-lose situation ...

Securing privileged access to the single market must be the top priority for the negotiations. It’s critical for London. Nothing else will do. It can’t be brushed aside – as it was yesterday.

A hard-line approach to Brexit … could rip Britain apart.

And if we continue on this path - towards a ‘hard Brexit’ – we risk having to explain to future generations why we knowingly put their economy, their prosperity and their place on the world stage in such peril.

But he will also say he is “confident” that “despite the prime minister’s rhetoric, there is still a sensible deal to be done.”

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, was also speaking in the European parliament this morning. He said he hoped the Brexit negotiations could lead to a “balanced” solution. He told the MEPs:

For my part, I will do everything so that the negotiations reach a balanced solution, with full respect for our rules.

I welcome the clarifications given by [Theresa] May, but I said to her last night that a speech will not launch the negotiations.

There will be an unprecedented negotiation which must finish within two years and the consequences will be considerable for the United Kingdom, its 27 partners and the whole union.

Juncker is giving a press conference later. It will clash with PMQs, but my colleague Jennifer Rankin will be covering it and we will be featuring it here, in the blog.

Thinking Brexit deal might be better than EU membership indicates 'detachment from reality', MEPs told

This is what Joseph Muscat, the Maltese prime minister, told the European parliament earlier about how Britain’s Brexit deal would have to be “inferior to membership”. (See 10.43am.) He said that to think otherwise would indicate “a detachment from reality”.

He started by saying that, as a former British colony, it was particularly hard for Malta to see the UK leaving the EU. “This is not a happy event for us,” he said. He went on:

We want a fair deal for the United Kingdom. But that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Indeed, thinking it can be otherwise would indicate a detachment from reality.

Yesterday’s statement by my colleague and friend Prime Minister May helps clarify the priorities of the British government during the impending negotiations. Our understanding is that Prime Minister May is prioritising curbs to freedom of movement of people over membership of the single market and the customs union.

She added that she did not want for the UK to replicate something that exists, but the creation of something new.

I would like to confirm to this House today that at this point there is unequivocal unity within [the European] council. This stance does not arise from antagonism but from belief in the core principles of the European project, as stated by the 27 heads of government after the Brexit referendum result which we respect as a sovereign decision.

The freedom of movement of persons, goods, services and capital cannot be decoupled. Put simply, the four freedoms are indivisible.

Joseph Muscat (left), the Maltese prime minister.
Joseph Muscat (left), the Maltese prime minister. Photograph: Domenic Aquilina/EPA

Updated

Boris Johnson uses WW2 comparison to criticise French president's stance on Brexit

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is in India and, speaking in Delhi, he has responded to French criticism of the UK’s plan to leave the European union, implicitly comparing the French president, Francois Hollande, to a Nazi. He said:

If Mr Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who seeks to escape [the EU], in the manner of some world war two movie, I don’t think that is the way forward, and it’s not in the interests of our friends and partners.

It seems absolutely incredible to me that in the 21st century member states of the EU should be seriously contemplating the reintroduction of tariffs or whatever to administer punishment to the UK.

“These things cut both ways,” Johnson said, pointing out that Britain is an enormous market for German cars.

You can put a 10% tariff on 820,000 cars, Mercs. That’s a lot of money for the Exchequer.

We think we can do a great free trade deal for the benefit of both sides. The more trade, the more jobs on both sides.

Hollande has not responded to the speech Theresa May gave yesterday, but he did say this in October last year about Britain leaving the EU.

There must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price, otherwise we will be in negotiations that will not end well and, inevitably, will have economic and human consequences.

Boris Johnson arriving in Downing Street for cabinet yesterday.
Boris Johnson arriving in Downing Street for cabinet yesterday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Updated

Britain's Brexit deal must be inferior to EU membership, MEPs told

Joseph Muscat, the Maltese prime minister, is currently addressing the European parliament. Malta currently holds the presidency of the EU.

He has just told MEPs that the Brexit deal offered to Britain must be inferior to EU membership.

I will post the full quote shortly.


David Davis interviews - Summary

David Davis has given at least four interviews this morning. Here are the main points.

  • Davis said that parliament would not get the option of reversing Brexit. (See 8.53am.) He was clarifying what Theresa May meant when she said MPs and peers would get a vote on the final deal. The supreme court is currently preparing its judgement on whether parliament should have a vote on triggering article 50, the process that would commence Brexit, but there is almost no prospect of an article 50 bill being voted down because Labour has said it would not block it in the Commons or the Lords.
  • Davis said transitional arrangements, which could preserve some aspects of EU membership, could still be in place by the time of the 2020 general election. In her speech May confirmed that the government did favour a transitional deal that would apply after Brexit until new post-Brexit trading arrangements and other regulations were ready to come into force. May did not say how long this would last, although she did say different aspects of the deal might last for differing amounts of time. On the Today programme Davis said this “implementation phase” might last “a year or two”. But it would not last as long as five years, he said. On LBC he was asked whether that meant those transitional arrangements could still be in place at the time of the next general election, which is due in 2020. “I could imagine that,” he replied.

A more important person than Mr Verhofstadt is Donald Tusk, the head of the council, and he said this is realistic. That was the world that he used - ‘realistic’.

It’s quite interesting, it was entirely possible, when you open a negotiation you get a sort of reaction back to push you back a bit. We didn’t get that, we got a serious and reflective look at it from Brussels and I think we’re going to see a really good engagement. Guy is one player of several.

  • Davis refused to rule out Brexit resulting in customs checks being imposed on lorries leaving and entering the UK. Asked if the final deal could result in these checks being applied, he replied:

We’ll see, that’s one of the things we want to negotiate. We think it’s possible to have a pretty frictionless arrangement.

  • He implied article 50 would be triggered before 25 March. That’s the date set for a summit where EU leaders will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Speaking about when article 50 will be triggered, he said:

And we will try not to do it on a day which is embarrassing for the Europeans. They have got all sorts of things happening in March. It’s the 60th anniversary [of the Treaty of Rome]. I don’t want to wreck their party.

  • He rejected suggestions that the civil service did not have the resources to negotiate Brexit. He said:

Our civil service can cope with world war two, they can easily cope with this.

  • He revealed that he made £1,000 betting on the outcome of the EU referendum. He told LBC:

I was in this studio on referendum day with Iain Dale, referendum night, and the polls at that point were telling us there’s going to be a 10-point advantage to Remain. So I put some money on, and it’s still paying my office’s drinks bills. I made a grand.

David Davis leaving Number 10 yesterday.
David Davis leaving Number 10 yesterday. Photograph: Hayoung Jeon/EPA

Unemployment falls to lowest level for more than 10 years

Here is the Press Association story on the unemployment figures.

Unemployment has plunged to its lowest total for more than a decade, but the number of people in work has also fallen.

The jobless total was 1.6m in the quarter to November, down by 52,000 on the previous three months to its lowest since early 2006.

The UK now has one of the lowest jobless rates in Europe at 4.8%, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

But the numbers in work fell by 9,000 to 31.8m, the lowest since last autumn, although the employment rate of 74.5% is the joint highest level on record.

The number of people classed as economically inactive has increased by 85,000 to almost 8.9m - the biggest quarterly rise since 2014.

The figure includes students, people looking after family, on long-term sick leave, or who have given up looking for a job.

The economic inactivity rate increased by 0.2% to 21.7%, the highest since last spring.

Average earnings increased by 2.8% in the year to November, up by 0.2% on the previous month.

David Freeman, senior statistician at the ONS, said: “While employment is little changed on the quarter, the rate remains at an historic high.

“The rate at which pay is increasing continues to pick up in cash terms, though it remains moderate.”

What continental papers are saying about May's speech

And the Press Association has filed this on how the speech is being covered on the continent.

European newspapers have responded to Theresa May’s speech setting out her priorities as she negotiates the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) with a series of striking front pages.

The prime minister confirmed on Tuesday that Britain will quit the single market and warned she will walk away from exit talks rather than accept a “punitive” deal.

The front page of German national daily Die Welt features May’s torso with a Union flag in the background, and the words “Little Britain” below.

She is pictured wearing a blue checked blazer and white shirt with matching red lipstick and nail varnish - a nod to her previous “red, white and blue” Brexit reference.

Italian daily La Repubblica leads with the headline “Brexit, London gets its wall, ‘away from the EU and the common market”’ (translated from the original).

The Spanish newspaper El Pais does not top with Brexit, but there is a mention of May’s speech in the top right of the title page.

It references the prime minister’s announcement that Britain will leave the single market, adding that May is hoping for a hard Brexit subject to parliament’s vote.

It calls the announcement her “most important speech” since coming to Downing Street.

A close-up of May’s face set against a Union flag dominates the front of Spanish newspaper ABC.

Its headline translates to: “May threatens the EU with a commercial war.”

It warns that Britain will create a tax haven if the rest of Europe “punishes” it during negotiations.

French regional daily La Depeche du Midi runs the stark headline: “Europe: divorce a l’anglaise”.

Underneath it reads: “The United Kingdom has chosen the path of a hard Brexit by announcing its exit from the single market. What consequences in Europe, France and in our region?”

Meanwhile, French daily Le Monde, like many other European papers, features another leader of a country not its own on the cover.

US President-elect Donald Trump stands can be seen from the back, one hand in the pocket of a navy blue suit, next to the words “Trump contre L’Europe” (Trump against Europe).

It argues that Trump’s backing of Brexit is welcome support for May, as she seeks to strengthen ties with the UK’s “privileged ally”.

Another French national paper, La Croix, put Trump and May side by side against a black backdrop and the headline: “Le Monde Chahute” - the world argues or bickers.

It goes on to say that the British prime minister has announced the details of Brexit, encouraged by Trump, while China’s leader Xi Jinping “poses as a defender of globalisation”.

Updated

What UK papers are saying about May's speech

This is how today’s national papers are reporting Theresa May’s speech. The tweets are from the BBC’s Neil Henderson, one of the figures behind the invaluable #tomorrowspaperstoday Twitter service.

UPDATE: My colleague Roy Greenslade has filed an article on what the papers are saying about May’s speech.

Updated

Transitional arrangements may still be in place during the 2020 general election, says Davis

Davis is still on LBC. He says his personal relationships with Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, and Guy Verhofstad, the European parliament’s Brexit negotiator, are good.

Q: Could the transitional arrangements still be in place during the general election?

Davis says he can imagine that.

  • Transitional arrangements may still be in place during the 2020 general election, says Davis.

He also says he made £1,000 betting on the outcome of the EU referendum. He is still using the money to pay his office drinks bill, he says.

And that’s it.

I will post a summary of the key points from all the David Davis interviews this morning shortly.

Updated

Davis implies article 50 will be triggered before 25 March

Davis says the government will try to avoid triggering article 50 at a time that would embarrass the EU. They have got big celebrations at the end of March, he says.

That is a reference to a summit on 25 March celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.

  • Davis implies article 50 will be triggered before 25 March.

David Davis's LBC interview

Nick Ferrari is interviewing David Davis on LBC now.

Davis starts by saying people on both sides in the referendum said leaving the EU meant leaving the single market. People understood that, he says.

He says leaving the single market is not the same as losing access to it. We can do a deal in everyone’s interests, he says.

On the Today programme Tomas Prouza, the Czech Europe minister, said he did not believe that EU leaders wanted to punish the UK for leaving the EU. It was in the EU’s interests to have as free trade with the UK as possible, he said.

We have never seen any political leaders calling for any sort of punishment. What we want is something that makes sense to both sides.

But he also criticised Theresa May for not guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals living in the UK in her speech yesterday.

We are seeing an increased number of attacks on Europeans in the UK. We all remember, at the Conservative conference, ideas on companies in the UK being required to list foreigners they employ, so there’s a lot of worries I hear from the Czechs in the UK and we expected at least some formal assurances as part of that speech and there was nothing in there.

Baiba Braze, the Latvian ambassador to the UK, was also on the programme, and she also said that she did not think EU countries wanted to punish the UK. She said:

Punishment if we start shooting ourselves in the leg or try to harm each other, that’s the way down, that’s not going to lead anywhere positive. So again, there has to be a way that we still remember that we are friends and allies above anything else, with common friends and common interests in the world.

Parliament will not get option of reversing Brexit, says David Davis

Britain and Europe are still digesting the meaning and significance of Theresa May’s big Brexit speech and there will be a lot of reaction on today’s blog. May herself will be taking PMQs, so for the first time MPs will get a chance to ask her about it too.

This morning David Davis, the Brexit secretary, has been out giving interviews. And he has ruled out the prospect of parliament getting a chance to vote down Brexit.

Yesterday in her speech May announced that MPs and peers would get a vote on the final deal. This was the moment when sterling shot up, perhaps because City traders thought May was raising the prospect of parliament being able to vote for Britain to stay in the EU. In the Q&A afterwards May implied that this was not the case, and Downing Street firmed this up in the lobby briefing later. On the Today programme Davis made this explicit. Asked about the vote on the final Brexit deal, he said:

The second thing to say here is that parliament, remember, gave the decision on leaving to the people by a vast majority. It decided it was the people who make the decision in a referendum. So it is not for parliament to reverse that.

That means MPs and peers may get a choice between Brexit on the government’s terms or Brexit with no deal. But the government does not intend to give them the option of no Brexit at all.

I will post more from Davis’s interviews shortly.

Here is the Guardian’s overnight splash on May’s speech.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Unemployment figures are published.

10.15am: Justine Greening, the education secretary and women and equalities minister, gives evidence to the Commons women and equalities committee.

12pm: Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs.

2.30pm: Greening gives a speech on social mobility.

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.

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

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

Updated

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