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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow, Graham Russell and Kevin Rawlinson

Theresa May survives meeting of 1922 Committee of Tory MPs – as it happened

Theresa May chairing the first meeting of her new cabinet this afternoon.
Theresa May chairing the first meeting of her new cabinet this afternoon. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Prime minister chastened, but survives

A weakened prime minister has been spending the day trying to shore up her position after last week’s election results. Here’s a summary of the day’s events:

  • Theresa May seemed to have secured her immediate future during a meeting with Conservative backbenchers, many of whom had been angry at her performance during the general election.
  • May had faced calls for contrition from MPs and she told them: “I got us into this mess and I’m going to get us out of it” and that she would serve as long as they wanted her to.
  • She received a positive response from some MPs, who said after the meeting that they believed she had taken responsibility and agreed to take a more consensual approach with her party colleagues.
  • The prime minister also met the Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, who said later she thought the government’s approach to Brexit could change.
  • There were conflicting reports on whether or not the state opening of Parliament would have to be delayed amid ongoing discussions between the Conservatives and the DUP on a deal to prop up a Tory government. Labour and the SNP said it betrayed the Conservative party’s inability to run a government.
  • The former Irish leader called on the DUP to use its influence to ensure that no hard border is installed between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

This live blog is now closing but you can read more on the day’s political news here:

Following the news that Robert Halfon had been removed from his government job, further details of junior minister departures have emerged. Those leaving the government are:

  • Defence minister, Mike Penning
  • Justice minister, Sir Oliver Heald
  • Brexit minister, David Jones

Theresa May has also appointed the following MPs as ministers of state:

  • Nick Hurd as a Home Office minister
  • Dominic Raab as justice minister
  • Anne Milton as education minister
  • Robert Goodwill as education minister
  • Baroness Anelay as Brexit minister
  • Claire Perry as business minister
  • Mel Stride has also been appointed financial secretary to the Treasury

Updated

Theresa May has sacked an ally of George Osborne as she continues the post-general election reshuffle of her ministerial team.

The apprenticeships minister, Robert Halfon, was asked to leave by and revealed that May did not give a reason for her decision, adding that the “prime minister has to make these decisions, I wasn’t really given a reason”.

Halfon formerly served as parliamentary private secretary to Osborne, who has been highly critical of the prime minister since the election campaign saw the Tories lose their House of Commons majority.

The former chancellor described the PM as a “dead woman walking” on Sunday, warning that she could be ousted in a matter of days.

But Halfon would not be drawn on suggestions his closeness to Osborne may have accounted for his sacking, telling the Press Association: “I don’t want to get involved in any of that, I mean she appointed me after she became leader last year and it was an honour to do it.”

Political journalists have been gathering reaction to the meeting of the 1922 committee that seems to have secured Theresa May’s short-term future as prime minister:

Updated

The former Irish taoiseach John Bruton says he hopes the DUP will “persuade the government to stay in the customs union” that will guarantee a seamless border between Northern Ireland and the republic, Should the two parties agree a deal to prop up Theresa May.

He warned that the pact between the Tories and the DUP could jeopardise power-sharing talks because the government, which has a position of guaranteeing the Good Friday agreement along with the Irish government would no longer be neutral.

It was “a great worry ... that a government here in London that is dependent on one of the contending political parties in a fraught political situation in Ireland might not be seen to be as impartial as required and impartiality is vital”, he said.

Bruton also said Ireland’s experience of coalition showed that “confidence and supply agreements” such as that being sought by the Conservatives do work, but that they take time.

“I think the Dáil [the Irish parliament] had to adjourn and reconvene five or six times before our confidence and supply agreement was reached” between the two main parties in the present government.

“That is prudent. The DUP have constituents to look after, interests to protect,” he said.

Updated

Besides the 1922 Committee, the prime minister met the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, whose influence in Westminster has increased after the Tories won a clutch of seats in Scotland at last week’s general election.

Following that private meeting, Davidson reportedly said the government could change its Brexit plans.

According to the BBC, she said the Tories would need to “reach out to others” and that the UK should keep the “largest amount of access” to the single market.

She said:

I think what is clear is that there is a commitment from around that cabinet table, from within the Conservative party, to now work with others to make sure that we go after the best economic deal.

In terms of how we reach out to others and how we take on board their ideas there is lots of work to be done.

But I do think that there can be changes in the offer of Brexit as we go forward.

Davidson also said she had stressed in the meeting that Britain had said “they want the Conservatives in government, but by denying us a majority they don’t want us to govern alone”.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, a spokesman for the prime minister said it had been made clear that the UK could not control its borders while remaining as a single market member.

Updated

MPs said there was a tacit acceptance of the need to build a better consensus. “A broader backing for Brexit has to be built and I think she recognises that,” one former minister said. “She was clear she was responsible. She agreed on the need to listen to all the wings of the party on Brexit.”

At the centre of the debate were MPs’ concerns about the manifesto, which they told the prime minister had been a disaster with voters; particularly policies on social care and the decision to press ahead with school funding cuts. “Public sector works felt very strongly about austerity,” a former cabinet minister said. “We have to offer a message of aspiration which is a very Conservative word.”

The so-called “dementia tax” reforms to social care were raised too, MPs said, which the prime minister acknowledged had been unpopular, as had school cuts. Several MPs told May they had difficulties rebutting questions over school funding on doorsteps and in local hustings. Justine Greening, the education secretary, had been told to focus on addressing those concerns, the prime minister told MPs.

Leaving the committee room, MPs described May’s response as “emotionally intelligent” given how she had been criticised for not mentioning the MPs who had lost their seats in her first appearance after the election as she entered Downing Street. “There was a discussion but there wasn’t a single MP who dissented,” one minister said. Several expressed horror at the idea of another election.

Lessons would be learnt from what went right, as well as what went wrong, one minister said, with the party’s 12 new Scottish MPs greeted with cheers when they arrived. Gavin Barwell, the MP who lost his seat and has since been appointed the prime minister’s chief of staff, was cheered on arrival and hailed by one MP previously critical of May as “a huge step forward”.

MPs said May spoke unprompted about concerns MPs might have about the DUP, especially over gay rights. “She acknowledged that without being asked, she said there would be no watering down of equalities legislation which is to be welcomed,” one MP said.

Updated

Theresa May at the 1922 committee - verdict

Theresa May has survived – at least for now. On Sunday George Osborne said that “we could easily get to the middle of next week and it all collapses for her”. But from the moment we heard the reasonably hearty desk-banging as May arrived (see 5.07pm) it was clear that she was not facing an execution squad and, despite squandering a huge lead with the most inept campaign anyone can remember, it seems her MPs are willing to let her carry on in the short to medium term. Her performance seems to have made a good impression, although the broader political problems created for her by Thursday’s election result remain severe, and probably, in the long run, career-terminating.

Here’s the Spectator’s James Forsyth on the outcome.

That’s all from me for today.

My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is now taking over.

Updated

Theresa May accepted that the social care proposals in the manifesto were a problem, an MP says. But the MPs says Tories recognise that this is an issue that has to be addressed at some point.

This is from the Spectator’s James Forsyth.

Another MP says Theresa May was very clear about the need to move forward, and listen to what people are saying.

This is from the FT’s Jim Pickard.

Theresa May has just come out. Before she left, there was sustained desk banging, and even some cheering. She looked relieved rather than elated, but certainly better than when she went in.

Updated

Another MP has come out. He says Theresa May recognised that there had been problems in the relationship between Downing Street and the party. That seems to have been a reference to Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned as her co-chiefs of staff on Saturday.

A cabinet minister who could be described as being so close to Michael Gove he could be Gove himself (I’m not sure what the lobby rules have to say about attributing hand gestures) has just come out, without saying anything, but giving a big thumbs up.

Updated

This is from the BBC’s Vicki Young.

Another round of desk-banging. Perhaps it’s coming to an end.

The meeting is still going on. A few MPs have left already. It is hot in the committee corridor, and we’re hoping it’s going to wrap up soon.

This is from the Sun’s Steve Hawkes.

Here is Bloomberg’s Tim Ross’s take on Theresa May’s meeting with the ‘22.

This is from Sky’s Faisal Islam.

This is from the Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, has put out a statement about her meeting with Theresa May today. This is from BuzzFeed’s Jamie Ross.

As the Times’ Kenny Farquharson points out, the tone of the statement is rather revealing.

This is from the Conservative MP Julian Knight.

Some 1922 jokes, while we wait for the meeting to wrap up.

From my colleague Stephen Moss

From the Sunday Times’ Tony Allen Mills

This is from the Tory MP Justin Tomlinson.

The prime minister told MPs “I’ve got us into the mess and I will get us out of it,” according to another MP leaving the committee room. The MP said:

She was very concerned about people who have lost their seats, the party is going to help them, some of them are in dire financial situations. She did say sorry, several times. She apologised for colleagues losing their seat, for making the call about the early election.

MPs said the room was roasting hot, stuffed with members of the House of Lords as well as MPs. May took questions, but one MP described them as more like “speeches”.

There was no appetite for a leadership election, the MP said.

That’s the last thing the country needs. She said she would serve us as long as we want her, and that she’s been a party servant since she was 12-years-old stuffing envelopes.

This is from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn.

Caroline Shenton, who used to head the parliament archives, is determined to spoil the best story of the day.

Updated

Theresa May met with her Conservative backbenchers and declares: “I got us into this mess, and I’m going to get us out of it”.

A senior MP described the prime minister as “contrite and genuine but not on her knees” as she repeatedly apologised for the election result that cost her party its majority.

“There was was none of the Maybot,” added the MP, arguing that the Tory leader’s response had taken away the sense of a leadership battle.

Tories banged on the tables for around 30 second as May arrived for the crunch meeting in front of her politicians- many of whom have expressed anger at the result.

The prime minister was said to offer reassurance that an electoral pact with the DUP would not affect gay rights.

This is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.

May tells Tory MPs she will serve as long as they want

This is from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.

May tells Tory MPs: 'I got us into this mess and I'm going to get us out of it'

Another MP has come out. He says May said:

I got us into this mess and I’m going to get us out of it.

Updated

This is from the Times’ Sam Coates.

According to the MP who has come out, Theresa May addressed the issue of the DUP, and their approach to gay rights. She said the DUP would not change things; MPs would get a free vote on issues of this kind.

The party has confidence in May, he says.

The MP says that resigning would have been easy for May to do, but that that is not in her nature.

An MP who has left the room says Theresa May spoke very well. “There was none of the Maybot,” he says.

He says one of the cheers was for the appointment of Gavin Barwell as the chief of staff. He is a “genuinely nice guy”, the MP says. He says Barwell and the chief whip will get on well.

Asked if May said sorry, the MPs said her argument was that she got the party into this mess, and she will get it out. She stressed that she had been working for the party all her life, stuffing envelopes as an activist.

Updated

Angus Robertson, the SNP’s former leader at Westminster, lost his seat last week. The SNP has announced that nominations for the new leadership post will open tomorrow, with the winner announced on Wednesday evening.

We’ve had several rounds of desk-banging now. Like a thunderstorm heading your way, they seem to be getting louder each time ..

We’ve just heard another rumble of desk-banging, but it was quite quiet.

And another ...

And another ...

Honestly, measuring the volume and length of the cheering and desk-banging is about the only way to assess what is going on at these meetings if you are standing outside, until people start texting. We ought to come equipped with some sort of decibel-ometer.

She has arrived. She marched purposefully down the corridor, flanked by aides and security, and ignored a question about whether she was nervous.

After she went in there was some banging of desks. It didn’t sound frenzied, but it was loud enough and lasted reasonably long – 25 seconds, the consensus.

(So that Telegraph story - see 4.36pm - didn’t stand the test of time ...)

Updated

We’ve heard a bit of desk banging, and the meeting seems to have started. But there is still no sign of Theresa May. Journalists are starting to wonder if she got in without us noticing. But we’re pretty sure she didn’t ...

The room now seems to be full. MPs are being sent away from the main door (the one to the back of the room) and directed towards the one for the front. Andrea Leadsom, the new leader of the Commons, went in that way.

There is a 20-yard gauntlet of lobby journalists awaiting those Tory MPs arriving. Jacob Rees-Mogg has just gone past, and David Willetts, and Iain Duncan Smith ...

Updated

They continue to stream in. Michael Gove has just gone past, head nodding and saying, “Yes, yes” to a colleague.

Still no sign of the PM though ...

Updated

Zac Goldsmith arrives, with a dapper leather briefcase and no tie.

Boris Johnson has arrived, muttering: “Hello, hello, hello.”

“How’s the leadership campaign going?” someone shouts. (Me). No reply …

Updated

The Conservative parliamentarians are arriving thick and fast now. Overall, the mood doesn’t seem too glum. These are the ones who won their seats, of course.

Updated

Tory MPs and peers are arriving in large numbers now.

Some say hello to the journalists and chat, but some just walk past. By and large, the two tribes – MPs and hacks – keep their distance, and eye each other warily.

Updated

Dominic Grieve arrived with Anna Soubry, and they have gone in. Charles Walker and Nicholas Soames turned up in tandem, and they’ve gone in too.

Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary (and a critic of Theresa May’s), arrived and went in. “She was looking exceptionally jolly,” a colleague said.

Updated

George Young, the former cabinet minister who is now a Tory peer, has arrived, and is speaking to three colleagues (whom I don’t recognise) outside the door. Graham Brady, the 1922 committee chair, has arrived and gone straight into the room. The ‘22 executive are supposed to be holding a meeting before the main event gets under way, and so presumably he went in for that.

Updated

Theresa May faces Tory 1922 Committee

Theresa May is due to face the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee at 5pm. The ‘22, as it’s known, meets in committee room 14 in the House of Commons. I am waiting outside with my laptop, with a gaggle of hacks.

The only Tory MP we’ve seen so far is Bob Stewart.

Normally appearances by the prime minister at the ‘22 are marked by the excited banging of desks. But this is likely to be a very awkward meeting for May and, according to Steven Swinford in this morning’s Daily Telegraph, May is likely to be greeted by silence.

Theresa May will be met with silence rather than the traditional banging of desks by Tory MPs as she is told to show “humility and contrition” in the wake of the party’s disastrous election performance.

The prime minister will on Monday evening attend a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs where she will be told she must abandon “poisonous” manifesto pledges and change her style of government.

MPs said that instead of the traditional banging of tables there will be a “banging of heads” amid fury on behalf of colleagues who lost their seats and had their dreams “shattered”.

Updated

The Queen’s speech could still be back on for Monday after all, the BBC’s Norman Smith says.

George Freeman, the Conservative MP who chairs Theresa May’s policy forum, has posted a tweet saying the government should drop its “hard Brexit” message.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph today, Freeman deploys the phrased used by Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, and calls for an “open Brexit”.

As the parliamentary Conservative party convenes this week we need to show fast that we have listened to the British public, that parliamentary democracy is alive and well, and that we trust the people and their elected representatives.

That is, after all, what Brexit was supposed to be about. So let’s commit to an ‘Open Brexit’ based on much greater parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and democratic mandate ...

[The British people] did not vote for a Brexit which makes us poorer or less secure. This new Conservative government must not ignore that plea. Fail to capture the mood of the nation and we risk gifting the keys of No 10 to Jeremy Corbyn and his hard left union barons waiting in the wings.

So we need a Queen’s speech which reflects what the electorate are trying to tell us. A hardline Brexit coalition with the DUP risks sending the wrong signal. Let us signal a commitment to redouble the domestic reforms we need to tackle the grievances underlying the Brexit vote, and the big challenges like social care, intergenerational fairness and mental health.

The mandate is in parliament now. By building alliances to address the grievances of the electorate this new government can secure the mandate it deserves.

Updated

One Conservative MP, speaking anonymously, has described Theresa May as “clearly a lame duck” who will most likely leave the job soon. And this is someone who is scrupulously loyal, indicating how widespread such a view is. Of May they said:

She can never fight another election, so from that point of view she’s clearly a lame duck. When she goes depends, but I’d say it’s more medium term than long term. It could be after the party conference, or when we’ve had some substantive Brexit talks. But it could even be in two years, at the end of the talk.

However, the backbencher said this did not necessarily mean another election:

I’m clear on this, and fellow MPs I’ve talked to all agree – there’s no appetite for a new election. For a start, we’d probably lose. And there’s no appetite among voters for it. They’re sick of elections.

Finally, on who might succeed May:

It’s interesting to see Damian Green getting his new job. Some people are talking about him as a possibility. He’s seen as a safe pair of hands, and he’s popular. And you could balance him with a Brexiteer as his number two, maybe David Davis.

David Coburn, the Scottish Ukip MEP, has announced that he is standing for the party leadership. Characteristically, he announced his candidacy in a vituperative tweet.

Even in a party like Ukip that serves as a magnet for eccentricity, Coburn is something of an acquired taste. Among his more notable pronouncements are his claim that “a woman is a special sort of a man” and his declaration that EU rules are to blame for his toaster not working properly.

David Coburn.
David Coburn. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters

Updated

Northern Ireland’s SDLP has expressed alarm about the prospect of an alliance between the UK government and the DUP.

Colum Eastwood, the party leader, also said the DUP, which backed Brexit against the will of the remain-backing province, could not be trusted to help deliver a softer version of Brexit.

Eastwood was asked by reporters at Stormont whether the peace process was at risk from a deal between the DUP and Tories. He said:

I’m not somebody who uses language like that. Our peace process is very strong. Many people gave a lot over many years to make sure that it is strong and stable. But we’re not blind to the fact that the Good Friday agreement is based upon the principle that we’ve two governments as co-guarantors to our peace process.

Eastwood, whose party did not win any seats in the general election, called for more urgency in efforts to resume power sharing in Northern Ireland. He said:

Those of us who are worried about the Tory government working alongside [DUP leader] Arlene Foster as some kind of deputy prime minister and running this talks process, or this place, for the foreseeable future, need to do everything in our power to make sure this is achievable, that we can meet the deadline. We know deadlines have passed before, but we have entered every stage of these negotiations with a positive mind, trying to solve our problems.

Everybody else needs to get on with that job now. We’ve had enough elections, we’ve had enough messing about. It is time now to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.

Updated

Theresa May should publicly pledge her support for the gay community in Northern Ireland before sealing any deal with the Democratic Unionist party aimed at putting her back into power, LGBT activists in Belfast demanded today.

John O’Doherty, of the Love Equality Campaign, said the prime minister should “make an explicit statement of support” to assure LGBT people in Northern Ireland that the Tories will not row back on promoting gay rights because of any parliamentary alliance with the DUP.

He was speaking at a rally in favour of gay marriage equality in Northern Ireland at Belfast city hall. It was a precursor for a large demonstration by a coalition of gay activists, human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, and the trade unions on 1 July.

The country is the only one in the UK where gay marriage is not recognised in law. Attempts to legalise gay marriage in the Stormont assembly have been repeatedly vetoed by the DUP. O’Doherty said:

It is fair to say that a lot of LGBT people have become prominent even in the Tory party. We should not forget that David Cameron introduced gay marriage reforms in Britain. So it is really important that Theresa May commits herself and her party once more to promoting LBGT rights and equality. She needs to reassure the local LGBT community that she supports their rights too.

Sally Bridge, who attended the rally with her partner, Catherine Couvert, said it was terrifying that the Conservatives were going to be propped up in government by a party that had consistently opposed gay rights.

However, Couvert, from Canada, said she believed a younger generation of DUP politicians were “no longer interested in policing our relationships”:

Most people in Northern Ireland, a majority in the assembly even, support gay marriage equality. The DUP need to come into the 21st century and maybe they will on this issue at last. But the situation is that if Sally and I got the train to Dundalk in the Irish Republic and got married, by the time we got back home to Belfast we would only be in a civic partnership, our marriage up north would not be legal.

Love Equality protest in Belfast.
Love Equality protest in Belfast. Photograph: Henry McDonald

Updated

Theresa May has been chairing the first meeting of her new cabinet today.

Theresa May holds the first cabinet meeting since the election.
Theresa May holds the first cabinet meeting since the election. Photograph: Leon Neal/PA

Former Irish leader predicts DUP will push for UK to stay in customs union

The former Irish taoiseach John Bruton said an agreement between the UK government and the DUP would make prolonged direct rule difficult to sustain. Speaking on the World at One, he said:

If you have, in a sense, the DUP in government in Westminster, it is going to be difficult for the parties there, particularly for Sinn Féin and the nationalist side, to contemplate any prolonged period of direct rule, because essentially it will be direct rule by DUP-Conservative coalition, which wouldn’t be acceptable to them.

He said the onus was now on Sinn Féin to agree to power sharing.

I’m hoping that at least as far as Sinn Féin is concerned that they will be more forthcoming in wanting to get the [power-sharing] institutions back up and running. So the issues that are concerned will be being dealt with in Belfast and not by the DUP-Conservative arrangement.

On Brexit, Bruton said:

The DUP will probably push for the UK to stay in the customs union. You can’t be half in and half out of the customs union.

If Britain is not in the customs union, tariffs would have to be collected on every one of those [lorry] consignments. And you would have to know exactly what’s inside the lorry. There will have to be checks by someone, which means stopping and opening the lorries. For anybody who is doing business, that is going to make the business much less competitive. It is going to adversely effect jobs and many of those jobs lost will be the jobs of the Democratic Unionist party supporters.

Updated

The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, has pledged to oppose any alliance between the British government and the DUP.

Speaking to reporters in Belfast, he said: “Any deal which undercuts the process here, or the Good Friday and other agreements, is one that has to be opposed by progressives.”

He also called for an independent broker to oversee the power-sharing arrangements, claiming the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, was not neutral.

“He represents the British government. We have a longstanding view that the British government are players, that they are partisan, they have their own interests in all of this.”

But Brokenshire claimed the government’s current discussions with the DUP were separate from issues about power sharing. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, he said:

Discussions [with the DUP] are ongoing. A confidence and supply agreement is an agreement in relation to key votes in parliament ... This is not about the devolved issues that I remain focused on in my role as secretary of state and most particularly seeing that we get an executive back into position at the earliest opportunity.

Asked how he could continue to be an independent broker on the Good Friday agreement if his government was in alliance with the DUP, Brokenshire said:

As a government we stand four square behind our commitments under the Belfast agreement, the agreement that underpins the political settlement. That is how we will continue to govern.

There is a clear process that was paused just before the general election to seek to get a devolved government back into place. That is the stance that we take as a government. That’s what we want to see.

Asked to respond to Sinn Féin’s call for an independent chair to oversee power sharing, Brokenshire said:

The vast majority of issues that are at stake here are devolved. They are for agreement between the two main parties. That is where the focus lies. The issues on the table are about issues of identity and culture, issues that need to be resolved between the two main parties ... to come together to do what the people of Northern Ireland want to see.

Gerry Adams speaking to media at Stormont parliament buildings in Belfast earlier today.
Gerry Adams speaking to media at Stormont parliament buildings in Belfast earlier today. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Updated

George Osborne used to do battle with the Brexiters in government. Now he’s editor of the Evening Standard, but the fight goes on. Here is the Standard’s first edition splash.

And here is the second edition splash.

Updated

A government source said the Queen’s speech needed a week’s lead time in order to be prepared, hinting it was likely it would be delayed by a few days. In order for the speech to be given as scheduled, the contents would need to be decided by Tuesday morning at the latest.

The “gracious speech” was historically written on vellum with ink that takes three days to dry, although is is now written on thick goatskin parchment paper which also needs several days to dry, meaning a speech cannot be amended at the last minute.

“The lead time is a very long one,” a government source said. “There is still a political cabinet to come, talks with the DUP, who need to be happy with the contents to ensure they will vote for it, and a full cabinet tomorrow. There is currently no fixed date.”

Updated

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is on the World at One.

He says the delay to the Queen’s speech shows the level of disruption and chaos the government is in.

The government has fundamental problems with its deal with the DUP and with Brexit, he says.

Q: What is Labour’s view on the single market? John McDonnell says you won’t join, but Barry Gardiner has said something different.

Starmer says access to the single market is essential.

Labour rejects the idea that leaving with no deal is viable, he says.

He says David Davis is saying staying in the single market is incompatible with getting rid of free movement. But, Starmer suggests, it might be worth testing this in the negotiation.

As to rejection of the single market, what we’ve criticised the government for is simply sweeping options off the table before they even started the negotiations.

What David Davis said this morning is that it’s not that the government doesn’t want membership of the single market, it’s that they’ve been told that you can’t have that with freedom of movement.

It seems to me that would be a good place to start discussions, start negotiations, rather than simply taking it off the table.

Q: But if having access to the single market is so important, why not accept free movement?

Starmer says this is a matter for negotiation. He says he is confident that this can be done.

Q: But if someone like Angela Merkel says this is non-negotiable, what would you do?

Starmer says you would have a negotiation about this.

Q: But what about immigration?

Starmer says it is clear from the EU referendum that immigration rules must change. You could tighten it, and apply free movement just to workers and their families, he says.

Updated

Labour says Queen's speech delay shows government 'in chaos'

Labour says the reported delay to the Queen’s speech shows the government is “in chaos”. A party spokesperson said:

No 10’s failure to confirm the date of the Queen’s speech shows that this government is in chaos, as it struggles to agree a backroom deal with a party with abhorrent views on LGBT and women’s rights.

Updated

Sturgeon says Queen's speech delay casts doubt on May's ability to run 'functioning government'

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, told Sky News that the reported delay to the Queen’s speech “raises the very real question of whether this prime minister can put together a functioning government”. She went on:

Now that we hear the Queen’s speech is delayed, that raises concerns and questions about what is being cooked up behind closed doors.

The Queen may have to miss part of Royal Ascot – one of her favourite annual events – if the Queen’s speech is delayed by a few days, the Press Association reports.

She particularly looks forward to heading to the Berkshire racecourse each June, where she keeps a close eye on the form and the winners from the royal enclosure.

The state opening of parliament had been planned for Monday 19 June, but it is reported to have been shifted to a few days later as Theresa May’s Conservatives continue talks with the Democratic Unionist party to secure their support.

Royal Ascot begins on Tuesday 20 June 20 the Queen is due to attend all five days of the event.

She rides in the daily royal carriage procession and sometimes presents trophies to winning jockeys, as thousands flock to the summer social gathering.

There has already been one major change to the royal diary, which is planned months in advance, because of the Queen’s speech.

The order of the garter service, attended by the monarch, senior royals and figures from national life, was cancelled to accommodate the 19 June date at short notice.

The annual event at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, attracts hundreds of well-wishers who watch the colourful spectacle of Garter Knights processing to the service.

In a ceremonial change, the Queen is due to deliver her speech at Westminster wearing a day dress and hat, and not the traditional imperial state crown and grand robes.

The spectacular carriage procession carrying the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to and from the Palace of Westminster has been replaced with a car journey.

As the state opening of parliament was due to be held two days after the trooping the colour ceremony, it was deemed unfeasible for the military and the royal mews to stage two major events in such a short period.

Updated

The BBC’s royal correspondent Peter Hunt points out that the Queen cancelled the annual order of the garter ceremony so that she could attend the state opening of parliament that was scheduled for Monday. Presumably she will be none too pleased about the reported delay.

Updated

Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt says the Queen’s speech is being delayed because the Conservatives and DUP have not agreed a government programme yet and it takes several days to write the speech on goat’s skin.

As Watt explained on the World at One a moment ago, the Queen’s speech is not written on proper goat’s skin anymore, but on some sort of equivalent. But it is still necessary for the speech to be finalised several days in advance because it takes a while for the ink to dry on this material. The BBC’s Nick Robinson has more on this in this blogpost.

Updated

There’s more continental cartoon mirth at May’s expense.

The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung shows May as a boxer on the ropes after punching herself out.

The Dutch news site has May driving a double decker Brexit bus being overtaken by a bicycle.

Bulgarian cartoonist Christo Komarniski shows May’s progress towards EU Exit being hampered by ballot boxes.

A Danish newspaper shows May being presented with a tiny superwoman suit.

The German newspaper General-Anzeiger shows sunshine in May turning to a Brexit storm in June.

Updated

No 10 lobby briefing - Summary

Here are the main points from the No 10 lobby briefing, the first since the general election.

  • The prime minister’s spokesman signalled that the Queen’s speech will be delayed. (12pm.) This could be to give the government more time to finalise its deal with the DUP.
  • The spokesman played down suggestions that the election result will change the government’s Brexit negotiating strategy. In response to repeated questions about whether the government’s approach will now soften, he said the government remained committed to “getting the best possible deal for the whole of the UK”.
  • The spokesman said the government remained committed to consulting with the devolved administrations over Brexit.
  • The spokesman refused to say which Conservative manifesto pledges might be dropped in the light of May’s failure to win a majority. David Davis this morning said that some pledges would be ditched. (See 9.12am.) The spokesman said the government’s legislative programme would be announced in the Queen’s speech. But he said the government was still trying to get annual net migration down to less than 100,000.
  • The spokesman insisted the UK government could still be an impartial broker in the efforts to get power-sharing in Northern Ireland back on track, despite the Tories’ deal with the DUP. The spokesman said that James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, stressed this morning the government’s commitment to “an impartial role in the talks”. Most of the talks related not to what the UK government was doing, but to what the parties in Northern Ireland needed to do, the spokesman added.
  • The spokesman said that May had recalled Michael Gove to the cabinet because he had “a wealth of experience” and would be “an excellent addition to the team”.
  • The spokesman said he was not aware of May having discussed ministerial appointments with Rupert Murdoch. This was in response to a question about Tom Watson’s letter to May (see 10.57am) asking if Murdoch pushed for Gove to be brought back to the cabinet. (Gove has worked for Murdoch as a journalist, and the media tycoon is a big fan.)
  • May is chairing a political cabinet meeting today.
  • May is due to go to Paris tomorrow for dinner with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. One of the main items on their agenda will be security, and their shared determination to force internet companies to do more to tackle online extremism. The pair are also due to attend the England v France football match.
10 Downing Street.
10 Downing Street. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Updated

According to the BBC, the Queen’s speech definitely will be delayed “for a few days”.

Brady says there is no 'clamour' among Tory MPs for leadership contest

Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, told Sky’s All Out Politics that Theresa May needed to act in a “much more collegiate” way.

Speaking before this afternoon’s meeting between May and the 1922 Committee, he also played down the prospect of an immediate challenge to May’s leadership. Asked if there should be a leadership election, Brady said:

My preoccupation at the moment is to make sure that we form a good, reliable, responsible government under Theresa May’s leadership. Obviously what happens in the distant future is for another day.

I have spent three days on the phone and obviously my colleagues are very disappointed. We had all hoped and even expected to come back with a significant Conservative majority. Of course we are massively disappointed.

What we are addressing at the moment is the need to cope with the reality of this parliament, to make things work, to try to supply government for the country.

I don’t think there is any clamour out there for another general election. Certainly I don’t see any clamour from my colleagues for a leadership election.

Asked if May was on life-support, Brady said:

It is very brave of anybody to make predictions in today’s world of politics. If we can get a government on track functioning well, delivering for the country then it may well be that people are quite happy to see that proceeding.

Brady was also asked how the government could square being an honest broker in the Northern Ireland peace process with doing a deal with the DUP. He replied:

That is something that needs to be handled extraordinarily sensitively and James Brokenshire as Northern Ireland secretary is well able to do that. It isn’t a full coalition.

Updated

No 10 hints Queen's speech will be delayed

I’m just back from the No 10 lobby briefing. It went on for ages, and the general gist of it was that the prime minister’s spokesman was insisting that nothing much has changed in the government’s position on X, Y and Z, when all the journalists in the room were assuming that, in the light of the election result, it clearly has.

But there was one proper bit of news: the spokesman said the new leader of the Commons, Andrea Leadsom, would be making a statement about the date of the Queen’s speech in due course. The spokesman would not say any more, but he would not confirm that it will go ahead as planned on Monday next week.

It may be that the government has decided to delay it until it has agreed its deal with the DUP. Theresa May would not want to have a Queen’s speech without knowing the DUP will support it and, as the party showed on Saturday night, when it contradicted No 10 claims that a deal had been agreed, it is no pushover in talks of this kind.

I will post a proper summary soon.

Updated

This is from Channel 4 News’ Michael Crick.

I’m now off to the No 10 lobby briefing. I will post again after 11.30am.

Updated

A gay rights activist who won a landmark case in Europe that legalised homosexuality in Northern Ireland has claimed that the Democratic Unionists are changing their views on LGBT issues.

Jeffrey Dudgeon won his case in 1982 at the European court of human rights, which overturned strict-anti homosexual laws in Northern Ireland.

Dudgeon, who is now an Ulster Unionist councillor at Belfast city hall, said he had noticed a change among new DUP politicians towards LGBT issues.

He also pointed out that the party’s leader, Arlene Foster, backed his campaign for the government to pardon gay men who were prosecuted for homosexual acts in Northern Ireland in the past.

Before a gay rights demonstration at city hall later today Dudgeon told the Guardian:

Having been involved for decades in campaigning for gay decriminalisation and then LGBT equality, I can only take the long view. I can observe change and progress in my erstwhile DUP opponents and from all sides.

Maybe not enough for younger activists but it must be acknowledged.

Arlene Foster’s helpful intervention around the gay pardons legislation to ensure it applied to Northern Ireland indicated that not only had the party no intention of going backwards but that they were willing to facilitate a rectification of the hurt done in the pre-1967 past. Remember that was a time when no one spoke up for decriminalisation except North Belfast Unionist MP Montgomery Hyde.

At city council, although perhaps not at Westminster level, old-style religiosity is absent from the DUP. The party has moved into the centre ground as its vote increases.

Updated

How Theresa May has become a laughing stock for cartoonists around the world

Theresa May has become the butt of cartoonists’ jokes in the world’s newspapers.

Many opt to show May’s decision to call the election as an act of self-harm.

Zapiro, a cartoonist for the South Africa’s Sunday Times, depicts May hanging herself on a Brexit flagpole.

The Kenyan cartoonist Gado goes for a similar image of May swinging from a rope in a hung parliament.

The Belgian cartoonist Klier shows May shooting herself in the foot.

The Dutch cartoonist Jos Collignon pictures May bashing herself over the head with a mallet as European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker offers to help.

Tom Janssen, another Dutch cartoonist, shows May entering Brexit negotiations with her head on a plate.

Japanese cartoonist Masaaki Sato has May warning Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, not to delay an election too long.

And Ian Knox, a cartoonist for the Irish News, shows a green-looking May kneeling at the feet of the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, depicted as the queen.

Updated

Here is my colleague Jessica Elgot on Labour MPs suggesting the party should back remaining in the single market. (See 9.40am.)

Updated

David Davis says Brexit talks may not start as planned next Monday

We’ve been told the the Brexit negotiations were due to start next Monday. But David Davis, the Brexit secretary, told Adam Boulton on his Sky News All Out Politics programme a few minutes ago that, although the talks would start next week, it might not be on Monday because that was the day of the Queen’s speech, and he was due to speak in the debate.

  • David Davis says Brexit talks may not start as planned next Monday.

Davis also hinted that the government now accepts that talks on how much the UK will have to pay the EU as it leaves will have to take place before the two sides start negotiating a trade deal. Until now the government has been saying that both aspects should be negotiated in parallel. The EU is saying that it wants to start with the preliminary issues, including money, and that it only wants to move on to the trade aspects when significant progress has been made.

Asked if the UK now accepted the EU timetable, Davis said:

What we have said is we will start down this process. But I will have some discussions with [Michel] Barnier [the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator] about how we progress to the wider thing, of the trade area. The most important thing in the aggregate is the trade area.

  • Davis hints government now accepts EU’s timetable for Brexit talks.

Updated

The Sun thinks there is now a majority in the Commons for a softer Brexit. Tom Newton Dunn, the paper’s political editor, has tweeted this chart making the case.

There may well be 25 or so Tory MPs who might favour keeping the UK in the single market or the customs union, but the passage of the article 50 bill through parliament showed that pro-European Tories were extremely reluctant to vote against their government on this issue.

And Labour’s position is complicated too. Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said in a speech at the start of the election campaign that, unlike the Tories, Labour would consider keeping the UK in the customs union. But the party is officially committed to leaving the single market, even though many Labour MPs would probably privately like to stay in it.

Staying in the single market would be the softest form of Brexit; the hardest would be leaving with no deal (something David Davis confirmed today was being considered as an option - see 9.12am.) The government’s preferred option – out of the single market and the customs union, but with a trade deal – would count as a relatively hard Brexit by most definitions, but staying in the customs union would make it softer.

Updated

Greens say Gove 'entirely unfit' to be environment secretary

The Green party has protested against Michael Gove’s post-reshuffle role as environment secretary. They point out that he has previously called for a reduction in environmental regulation after Brexit and tried as education secretary to remove the topic of climate change from the national curriculum.

Caroline Lucas, the party’s co-leader, said there were few politicians as ill-equipped for the role as Gove:

His record of voting against measures to halt climate change and his attempt to wipe the subject from our children’s curriculum show him entirely unfit to lead our country in tackling one of the greatest threats we face. And as we enter Brexit negotiations, Gove’s past suggestion we scrap vital EU environmental protections becomes ever more concerning.

This appointment is further evidence of both Theresa May’s complete disregard for the environment and her desperation to hold together a government in chaos.

Caroline Lucas speaking at her election count last week.
Caroline Lucas speaking at her election count last week. Photograph: Adam Holt/Reuters

Updated

Michael Gove, the new environment secretary, spoke to reporters as he left his home this morning. Having been recalled to the cabinet from the backbenches, he was the epitome of loyalty.

I’m looking forward to starting work as the environment secretary. I’m looking forward to being part of a team united behind Theresa [May]. I think she’s doing a fantastic job at the moment.

Speaking about his new job, he said:

I think it’s a tremendous opportunity as environment secretary to do a job at the heart of government to make sure that we enhance one of our greatest assets, which is our countryside. And I want to do everything I can to make sure that we pass on the environment in a stronger condition to the next generation.

Updated

Gardiner suggests Labour could back staying in a reformed single market

Here is my colleague Peter Walker’s story on Barry Gardiner’s interview this morning. Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, suggested Labour might back membership of a reformed single market after Brexit, even though Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell yesterday both said staying in the single market was not an option.

Here is Peter’s story.

And here is the key quote from Gardiner.

[May] has taken off the table membership of the single market. We’ve said let’s look at that and see if it can be reformed. But the key thing is not to get hung up on the membership of the single market, but to be assured of the benefits that it can bring for our economy and for our jobs.

Matthew Holehouse from MLex says at least one new Labour MP, Ellie Reeves, campaigned for election on the basis that the UK should stay in the single market.

That quote is from this article.

Updated

Former Tory leader Michael Howard has expressed his support for Theresa May, claiming the prime minister has a responsibility to lead the Brexit negotiations.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Howard said:

I don’t think there’s going to be a leadership contest. I think it would be very disruptive for our negotiations with the European Union if there was. And I don’t think there is any appetite anywhere for another general election.

She’s got a duty and responsibility to carry on.

Like the Brexit secretary, David Davis, Howard claimed that Labour now had a similar position on Brexit to that of the government:

It is in the national interest that we proceed with these negotiations, which the country voted for. There’s actually, it now emerges, very little difference between the position of the Labour party and the position of the government. There’s a huge actual majority in the House of Commons for the kind of negotiating position she is going to be taking.

But the former Labour lord chancellor, Charlie Falconer, said May had no authority.

Michael [Howard] is not really conveying what happened. It was absolutely transformative that election on Thursday. Everybody can see it both in the United Kingdom and in Europe. She has totally lost her authority. She said ‘I must be given an increased majority’ and her majority was taken away from her. What are the Europeans going to think? They are going to think this person plainly has no authority, and it’s going to get worse.

The longer this goes on the worse it is for the country, the worse it is for the [Brexit] negotiations. Michael is absurd to say that the Europeans will think that Mrs May is our best negotiator. They will think she is a completely busted flush.

Falconer also conceded that Labour “moderates”, like himself, had misjudged Jeremy Corbyn:

The big concern among those called the moderates, was that Jeremy would lead to a total rejection by the public of Labour, and quite the reverse has happened. He genuinely did bring people into the voting booth who wouldn’t have voted before. He genuinely did connect with young Britain.

He is basically saying we should abandon austerity. That does mean more government expenditure. There are real issues about whether or not the tax increases would produce enough, but that’s a legitimate debate.

Updated

David Davis interviews - summary

Here are the main points from David Davis’s interviews this morning.

  • Davis, the Brexit secretary, confirmed that some manifesto pledges will be ditched.

We have been given an instruction by the British people and we are going to carry it out. And that may mean that some elements of the manifesto may be pruned away, shall we say.

Davis would not say what proposals he was referring to, but the plans to take away the winter fuel payments from most pensioners and to force some pensioners to commit to selling their houses to pay for the cost of home-based social care seem to be two ideas likely to be ditched.

  • He said that Conservative party talk about Theresa May being replaced as leader was “a complete waste of people’s time” and “unbelievably self-indulgent”.
  • He strongly defended May, saying that although she might not be a great campaigner, she was a “very good prime minister”. The election result was “a nightmare”, he said. But governing the country was different, he argued. He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

There is a distinction between running a campaign and running a country. And running a country is more difficult and she’s incredibly good at it.

And he told the Today programme:

Theresa May is a very good prime minister. I’ve served with her for 10 months. I’ve seen a number of previous prime ministers in operation. She is incredibly effective as a prime minister. She is decisive; she takes her time, she consults, but when she gets to the point of a decision, she is decisive. She is brave in her decisions. She knows what she is trying to do. And you saw that, for example, at the beginning of the election campaign, the way she dealt with infamous briefing from Brussels.

The campaign was not a good campaign, let’s be clear about that. But we are now talking about government. It it a very, very different set of skills, and she is very good at that.

  • He dismissed the prospect of standing for the Conservative leadership himself. He was “not interested”:

I’ve done this a few times before, it hasn’t been a 100% success.

He also said he was “100% an unswerving supporter” of May’s.

  • He played down the prospect of the government’s stance on Brexit changing as a result of the election result. He said the referendum result amounted to a vote to leave the single market. And he said Labour’s position on Brexit was “incredibly similar” to the government’s.
  • He said the government had made plans for leaving the EU without a deal. Asked about this, he said:

It’s possible. We have worked up that alternative in some detail. We are still working on it. Not because we want to, but in government you have to, if you are responsible, work up every contingency.

Here is Sky’s Faisal Islam on this revelation.

  • He said a deal with the DUP would not lead to changes in the UK law on issues such as gay rights.

Clearly. We are the Conservative party. David Cameron introduced gay marriage, for example, there’s a whole series of things we did, Turing’s law, you know, the repeal of the effect of the convictions against people for homosexual acts, which were silly, a different era. Those things will stay on the statute book. What we have done, we will keep.

Updated

Davis confirms some manifesto proposals will be ditched

Q: Your manifesto was rejected. So will you implement it?

Davis says the Tories got most votes and seats. And they got more votes than Tony Blair.

He says some elements of the manifesto will be “pruned away”.

  • Davis confirms some manifesto proposals will be ditched.

Q: Will May be able to cope without Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill?

Yes, says Davis. He says May is “formidable”. She does not need to rely on her advisers who quit over the weekend.

There is a “huge apparatus” of people in No 10 able to support her.

Q: And Michael Gove, her old enemy, is back?

Davis says Gove was a “formidable” figure in the election campaign.

He says he is happy to see Gove back.

And that’s it.

I’ll post a summary soon.

Updated

Davis says Labour’s position on Brexit is “incredibly similar” to the government's

Q: The Brexit talks start a week today. What will be on your agenda?

Davis says he wants to start with the rights of EU citizens in the UK.

The first three items on the agenda are EU citizens, money and Ireland.

But the issue of EU citizens is “hypersensitive” because of time. EU citizens are worried about their future. That is why the government wants to get on with this. And EU countries want to address this too.

Q: You have been weakened by the result, haven’t you?

Davis says 80% of the electorate voted for parties that want to leave the EU. The parties in favour of staying, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National party, had setbacks.

Q: Boris Johnson is worried about backsliding on Brexit.

Davis says it is not about backsliding. It is a matter of delivering on the EU referendum.

Q: You could leave, but stay in the single market.

Davis rejects that. He says that during the campaign both sides accepted that leaving the EU meant leaving the single market. There is no doubt about that.

People voted for three things, he says: control of borders, control of laws and control of money.

Q: Why not do the Norway option?

Davis says the government is not doing this.

Labour had six or seven positions on the UK. But its final manifesto position was “incredibly similar” to the government’s, he says.

  • Davis says Labour’s position on Brexit is “incredibly similar” to the government’s.

Q: Labour says it would not be willing to walk out with no deal.

Davis says the government must prepare for every eventuality. And he says it would be irresponsible to accept any deal, regardless of what it is like.

He says it is important to have the option of walking away.

Updated

David Davis's Today interview

Good morning. I’m taking over from Matthew.

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, is being interviewed on the Today programme.

Q: It’s your fault this, isn’t it? You pushed for an early election.

Davis said he did push for an early election. But the 20 other members of the cabinet backed the idea too.

Q: Theresa May is not going to be able to deliver Brexit, is she?

Davis says the stuff he has been reading in the papers about a leadership challenge is “the height of self-indulgence”.

The government has got to get on with delivering Brexit, he says.

He says May is a very good prime minister.

He has seen a number of prime ministers, he says. May is very effective. She is decisive; she may take her time, but when she takes a decision she is brave.

He says the campaign was not very good. But he says governing requires a different set of skills. May is good at it.

Q: And you would run yourself?

Davis says when he ran previous leadership campaigns, it did not work well.

Updated

Davis: '100% May supporter'

David Davis
David Davis Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images

The Brexit secretary, David Davis, has expressed his full backing for Theresa May, but conceded that the election result was a “nightmare”.

Davis, who has been touted as a leading contender to replace the prime minister, dismissed talk of a leadership contest as “unbelievably self-indulgent”. Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Davis insisted he would not stand against May. “I’m not interested. I’ve done this a few times before, it hasn’t been a 100% success,” he said.

Asked whether he was hitching his career to that of May’s, Davis said: “Absolutely. I’m 100% an unswerving supporter.”

He said he had not seen the prime minister in tears after the election result, as many have reported. “She’s fine. She’s getting on with her job. For 10 months I have worked with this prime minister. She is a formidably good prime minister. She is good at making decisions.”

Davis appeared to concede that May had run a poor election campaign. “There is a distinction between running a campaign and running a country. And running a country is more difficult and she’s incredibly good at it.

“You’re going to see in the next few weeks her taking back command, her taking back the reins, her showing what’s she’s good at, which is delivering for the country. That’s why she’s going to be there probably for my career at least.”

Asked if before the election he could have imagined waking up after the vote with the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn being perceived to have done better than the Tories, Davis said: “In my nightmares; that probably was a nightmare.”

But he also pointed out that the Conservatives got a bigger vote than Tony Blair ever managed.

Asked about the conservative views of the Democtratic Unionist party on gay marriage and abortion, Davis said: “We don’t adopt their views, we don’t adopt their policies. We have just been returned to government with a minority government. It is our duty to make it work.”

He added: “The issue here is about delivering the substantive agenda that we were elected on. That includes Brexit. They [DUP] are strong supporters of Brexit.”

Asked if a hard Brexit was off the agenda following the election, Davis said: “I don’t recognise this term hard Brexit. They [the referendum electorate] demanded that we take control of our borders so we have got to do that. That takes us out of the single market, whether we like it or not. So what we are trying to do is get a free trade area, which gives us as close to the single market advantages as we can.”

He pointed out that the Labour party takes a similar stance on Brexit. “If you look at their [the Labour party] manifesto it is like a rebadged version of ours [on Brexit],” Davis said.

Updated

The shadow trade secretary, Barry Gardiner, has just been on the Today programme, where he was mainly quizzed about whether his party would or would not support continued membership of the EU’s single market after Brexit.

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said Labour is opposed to remaining in the single market.

It’s fair to say Gardiner was being a bit more deliberately vague. He said:

What we’ve said is that we need those benefits, and whether they’re achieved through reformed membership of the the single market and the customs union, or through a new, bespoke trading arrangement, is actually secondary to achieving the benefits.

It’s an open question as to what we can get. What we criticised [Theresa May] for doing is taking membership of the single market off the table right from the beginning.

He did, however, seem to hint that Labour would not want to work in tandem with May’s government on Brexit. Asked about such an idea, Gardiner said Labour would work in parliament and through the Brexit select committee, indicating that anything closer that that isn’t about to happen.

Updated

Boris Johnson says people want government to 'get on with the job', not another election

On the papers again, the Sun has a commentary from Boris Johnson which it trumpeted on its front page. Here is the Press Association’s take on that:

He [Johnson] said there was no appetite among the public for a leadership contest which could plunge the party into a fresh general election.

“To those that say the PM should step down, or that we need another election or even – God help us – a second referendum, I say come off it. Get a grip, everyone,” he said.

“This is the third year running that we have forced the people out to the polls. This is the third year running that they have been accosted at stations and asked for their support, or had campaign literature thrust into their hands.

“My judgment is that they are fed up to the back teeth with all this. They are fed up with politics, politicians and the uncertainty and dislocation of the electoral process. They overwhelmingly want us to get on with the job.”

Updated

The papers have naturally been full of the post-election wash-up, with commentary, stories and speculation.

A very brief review of most of the broadsheet and tabloid front pages would have you believe that the UK is in now in line for: 1. A softer Brexit 2. A harder Brexit 3. Labour in power soon.

A longer review is here:

The Mirror goes for option three. “I can be prime minister in months,” it says, splashing with a picture of a smiling Jeremy Corbyn.

The Sun continues its bin theme of last week (Cor-bin etc) with “Bojo: binning May is a no-no”. Boris Johnson is writing for the paper and apparently telling mutinous Tories to rally around the prime minister. The Express also has the headline: “Boris: Tory MPs must back May.”

The Times says the cabinet reshuffle and mood in Downing Street are indicative of a rethink on Brexit. “May signals soft Brexit in cabinet reshuffle.” It says she has done what was almost unthinkable only a few weeks ago – brought back Michael Gove as environment secretary and kept Philip Hammond as chancellor.

The Telegraph however sees the Gove appointment as a ploy by May to stave off a leadership challenge as well as a signal that a “hard Brexit” is still the course to be plotted. It quotes Iain Duncan Smith welcoming the arrival of a man who was committed to the “control of our border, our laws and our money”.

The Guardian goes with: “May appeals for support as her future hangs in the balance.” And the FT echoes George Osborne’s colourful phrase from Sunday with: “May faces showdown after being labelled ‘dead woman walking’”. The paper also points out that the appointment of Damian Green to the effective post of deputy PM means a more business-friendly Brexit is now on the cards.

Updated

Morning everyone and welcome back to Politics Live. It’s the busiest and most important week in politics since, well, last week.

But it’s hardly an overstatement to say the next seven days are going to be monumental.

Here is what is happening today and a bit of what happened in the past 24 hours to bring you up to speed:

Theresa May will face Conservative backbenchers in the next few hours and is expected to promise a less controlling style of leadership in an attempt to secure enough support to enable her to continue as prime minister.

May carried out a modest reshuffle of her top team on Sunday, including bringing back Michael Gove – who she sacked last year – as environment secretary. One-time leadership rival Boris Johnson, who remains as foreign secretary, seemed happy with this, but inevitably had to deny reports he was manoeuvring to replace May.

If May stays in place – and given the uncertainty of her deal with the Democratic Unionist party – her policy platform is likely to shift radically away from flashpoints, and the hitherto full-fat Brexit might become Brexit-lite. The PM may have to come up with a strong economic message soon, as Visa revealed today that household spending has fallen for the first time in almost four years.

Amid the political chaos at home, the EU has threatened to take a year to rewrite its negotiating rulebook if May insists on holding trade and divorce discussions at the same time.

As Matthew d’Ancona states, it looks like yet another general election beckons, and one without May. Tom Watson says Labour is ready.

Updated

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