We’re closing down this live blog now. See 5.26pm for a comprehensive summary of the day’s events. And you can read our main story here:
And this is an interesting take from Gary Younge:
There is no other credible fall-back solution to replace the backstop that would allay Irish fears of seeing a “corrosive” hard border on the island of Ireland, the country’s foreign affairs minister has said.
Simon Coveney has told an Irish parliamentary committee that, even though the country’s government did not want to use the insurance mechanism contained in the draft withdrawal agreement, it had to be included.
His comments come as Theresa May seeks a form of backstop agreement she can sell to a sceptical UK Parliament. She was previously understood to be looking merely for a promise from the EU that it would not become a permanent arrangement shoutld it be used. But the prime minister has been left in little doubt in recent days that anything short of a legally binding control on the backstop will be difficult to push through when MPs vote.
Coveney said:
We are all committed to ensuring that the backstop never takes effect and should it take effect, we are committed to trying to ensure that it is only temporary so that it can be replaced with something more permanent.
But, for the moment in my view, there is not another credible fall-back solution that can take the place of the backstop and that is why EU leaders have been so clear and why the British prime minister has been so clear that there is a need for the backstop, even though we want to avoid using it.
The backstop is about preventing the threat to the normality and stability and peaceful relations that have built up over the last two decades on the island of Ireland and ensuring that we don’t have the corrosive impact in the future of enforced border infrastructure between the two jurisdictions,” he said.
Coveney also said the Irish government was continuing to prepare “for all eventualities”, including a no-deal Brexit.
But the UK’s defence minister, Tobias Ellwood, has said such a Brexit represents a threat to the UK’s security.
Strong intervention from defence minister @Tobias_Ellwood - no deal “not an option” for the army
— Rob Merrick (@Rob_Merrick) December 13, 2018
"MoD planning shows that arrangements are NOT in place - economically, and from security perspective, it’s not possible” @BBCNews
Afternoon summary
- Theresa May has arrived in Brussels for the EU summit saying she does not expect any “immediate breakthrough” on the Irish backstop issue. (See 12.54m.) But she also said she would be discussing with her fellow EU leader possible “legal and political assurances” on the backstop that could make it more palatable to MPs. Other EU leaders repeatedly said that, while they were willing to help May by clarifying what was intended, they were not prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.
- Jeremy Corbyn has said that May should put her deal to a vote in the Commons next week. Speaking after May’s Brussels statement, he said:
It is clear there will be no changes to the deal the prime minister brought back last month. Theresa May herself says she isn’t expecting a breakthrough.
There must be no more dither and delay, or attempts to run down the clock in an attempt to deny parliament alternative options.
People and businesses need certainty. The prime minister should put her deal before parliament next week in our country’s interest.
She has admitted her deal is likely to be defeated by a significant margin. There is no time to waste, and parliament must take back control.
- Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, has said the EU may call an emergency summit in January to agree “additional assurances” which could be attached to the political declaration on future relations addressing the concerns of MPs. Austria holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Speaking to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Kurz said:
Brexit will happen at the end of March. I am working on the basis that May will try to bring the deal to a vote in the House of Commons in January. I very much hope that the British MPs will become aware over the Christmas holidays that they will not be doing their constituents a favour if they allow it to end in a no-deal Brexit.
At some point the day of truth will come. The vote has already been pushed back but it must happen before the end of March. The plan is that it will take place in January. Then we will see if there is a majority.
If there is no majority in the Commons, that would lead to a chaotic situation. Forces could be unleashed in all directions - from a second referendum, which I believe unlikely, to a repeat vote in the Commons or a no-deal Brexit.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
A colleague will be taking over now, to cover further developments from the EU summit.
Updated
Nigel Lawson, the Conservative former chancellor, is a hardline Brexiter. But even by their standards, what he says about Theresa May in a Prospect interview is unusually harsh. He says:
I would have obviously voted against her, because she has been a disaster in every way. The deal which she has come back with is the worst deal imaginable.
There was nothing to be said for May’s deal, he told Prospect. It would “commit the UK to being a dependency of the European Union, and indefinitely.”
Former European commission Barroso president urges EU to show more flexibility over backstop
Jose Manuel Barroso, the former president of the European commission, is urging the EU to show a bit more flexibility towards the EU on the backstop issue.
Now that #Brexit appears unavoidable it’s extremely important to get a deal that avoids the so called hard Brexit. The #EuropeanUnion , that until now as shown such remarkable coherence and intelligence on this issue ,should show some flexibility on the #backstop.
— José Manuel Barroso (@JMDBarroso) December 13, 2018
I know it’s possible some flexibility of the #EU to get a deal acceptable by the #uk . If there’s political will the excellent lawyers of the #EU can find a creative solution for the #backstop issue. And wisdom should prevail btw the EU and U.K.
— José Manuel Barroso (@JMDBarroso) December 13, 2018
In the future there will be no relation more important for the #uk than the one with the #EU . And for the #eu also there will be no third country more important than the #uk. It’s crucial to avoid resentment in the way the withdrawal is made. I hope the #eucouncil understands it
— José Manuel Barroso (@JMDBarroso) December 13, 2018
MPs should not be allowed to start Christmas recess until they've voted on Brexit deal, say Lib Dems
Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, seems to be on a mission to alienate Westminster political journalists. He has sent out a press release urging the government to cancel the Christmas parliamentary recess until there has been a vote on the Brexit deal. He explains:
At a time of so much uncertainty caused by this Brexit mess, it is an insult to the British people that Theresa May is happy for MPs to go on holiday without voting on the biggest issue in generations. People deserve better, and the Liberal Democrats demand better.
Liberal Democrats do not believe parliament should rise for the Christmas recess until Theresa May does what the people expect and give MPs a vote on her deal. Now more than ever MPs should be working to help their constituents, not least by giving them a final say on Brexit with the option to remain in the EU.
(Some of us are looking forward to recess ....)
No 10 says Commons vote on Brexit deal will take place 'as soon as possible in January'
Downing Street has now said the Commons vote on the Brexit deal will definitely not happen until after Christmas. At the afternoon lobby briefing, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said:
The ‘meaningful vote’ will not be brought to parliament before Christmas.
The spokeswoman also said the vote will come “as soon as possible in January”. The government has committed to holding it before January 21.
Updated
Varadkar says UK could remove threat of no-deal Brexit by revoking or suspending article 50
And this is what Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach, said earlier after his meeting with Theresa May.
It was a very good meeting, it was an opportunity for all of us to put forward ideas that might work, things that might be considered. It really wouldn’t be helpful to go into that sort of detail.
[The threat of a no-deal Brexit] can be withdrawn at any point by the UK should they choose to revoke article 50 or, if that’s a step too far, to extend it to allow us more time, and to allow Britain more time. That’s certainly an option, but my preferred option is to ratify the deal we have.
I don’t think we could agree to anything that would change the content to the treaty, the content to the withdrawal agreement. What we can say is the backstop is not on the table. It needs to be there for a reason.
Updated
Over in Greece where memories are still fresh of the debt-stricken country’s own cliffhanger talks with the EU, the media are watching today’s events with a sense of déjà vu.
“May heads to Brussels with few hopes,” proclaimed the left-leaning Syntaktwn newspaper describing her survival of the confidence vote as a pyrrhic victory given the British PM had lost the support of a third of her MPs.
In a column recalling Athens’ own clashes with the EU as it struggled to avoid crashing out of the eurozone, Alexis Papachelas, chief columnist of the conservative daily Kathimerini, bemoaned Britain’s descent into chaos, saying in many ways it resembled the “huge mistakes” Greece had made at the height of its debt crisis. He explained:
We Greeks are watching the unfolding of a situation which is somewhat paradoxical … we have seen how a country can enter a precarious phase when its establishment flounders and makes huge mistakes.
The difference between Greece and Britain? Basically, it is that we, as southern Europeans, are good at political acrobatics.
He was referring to how Greece’s leftist prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, accepted the excoriating terms of a third bailout with the EU in 2015 – only weeks after the Greeks voted in a referendum rejecting this option. Tsipras blatantly disregarded the referendum result, but Greece avoided Grexit.
Papahelas went on:
The British are making all the mistakes we made in Greece, but they lack our flexibility.
A British politician told me: “Obviously I believe there should be a second referendum and that a disorderly Brexit will be devastating. But I prefer [not to] because if parliament votes to have a second referendum we will become a banana republic. We will show that we do not respect the institutions and the opinion of the people.”
Updated
And, talking of Ireland, Sky’s Faisal Islam has interviewed Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister. As Islam explains in a Twitter thread, starting here, Varadkar floated the idea of the UK revoking article 50 to allow more time for the Brexit talks.
Just had fascinating exchange with Taoiseach Varadkar
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 13, 2018
- who said No to idea of bilateral deal between London & Dublin as way through impasse
- who said the EU can help if the UK wants to avoid No Deal with A59 extension
- backed enthusiastically the UK-Ireland 2030 World Cup bid pic.twitter.com/YhTyLtLPzW
Islam reads this as Varadkar trying to negotiate with parliament, not the government.
Shorter take:
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) December 13, 2018
EU leaders have effectively started public negotiations, not with Government, but with Parliament.
But parliament cannot revoke article 50; that would be a decision for the prime minister. And, regardless of the rule about Theresa May being safe from a no confidence vote for another 12 months after yesterday’s vote, it would be hard to imagine May lasting for long as Conservative leader if she were to announce that Brexit has been abandoned.
RTE’s Tony Connelly says Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, has resorted to sartorial diplomacy today to make a point about the EU standing behind the Republic of Ireland on the backstop issue.
.@JunckerEU deliberately chose a green tie this morning, I’m told. #euco pic.twitter.com/GYdeDoXmoZ
— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) December 13, 2018
Tories defend decision to restore whip to two suspended MPs before confidence vote
Theresa May was accused of putting “political power” ahead of “protecting victims of sexual abuse” by restoring the whip to suspended Tory MPs Andrew Griffiths and Charlie Elphicke. The issue come up during business questions in the Commons, where the Labour MP Jess Phillips read out some of the messages Griffiths sent to two young women. She said:
“She’s so cute, so sweet, I can’t wait to beat her. Can she take a beating?”
Not my words, but the words of the MP for Burton [Griffiths], as he was barraging two of his female constituents with thousands of sexual text messages.
Last night Mrs Leadsom’s party gave him and the MP for Dover [Elphicke] the whip back without any due process.
What message does this send about how any process here in this place can ever be trusted?
Addressing Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, Phillips went on:
Can she answer that question, and also answer me to what matters more; political power or protecting victims of sexual harassment and abuse?
Leadsom replied saying she was “absolutely committed to changing the culture of this place and to seeing that everybody here is treated with dignity and respect”.
As to the two MPs getting the whip back, she said:
There has been a process that has been undertaken, it has been a decision by the chief whip, it’s not something that I have been privy to.
That prompted shouts of “shame” from the Labour benches,
Griffiths was suspended for sending sexually explicit texts to two young women. He resigned as a small business minister after the scandal. Elphicke was suspended after serious sexual allegations against him were reported to the police. He strongly denies wrongdoing.
Both men had the whip restored yesterday, allowing them to vote in the confidence vote, although the prime minister may not have gained from the decision. Griffiths backed May in the vote, but Elphicke is thought to have voted against her.
A spokesman for the Conservative party said:
They were elected as Conservatives. The restoration of the whip had been under consideration for some time, and the chief whip decided that in the circumstances of a leadership confidence ballot, it was right they have the whip restored to be able to vote in that.
Updated
Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, met Theresa May in Brussels before the formal start of today’s summit. He said it would not be possible to make significant changes to the withdrawal agreement. He said:
We won’t be able to do genuine changes. Renegotiating will be very, very hard, but if we need to do precisions or help Theresa May - I really want to help her.
Austrian chancellor says it is hard to know what will satisfy Brexiters because their arguments aren't rational
As Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, was arriving at the EU summit (see 2.16pm), he was asked what concessions might succeed in winning over Theresa May’s domestic critics. He replied:
It is difficult to judge, because many of the sceptics do not argue in a way that is really rational.
Updated
Macron says EU cannot reopen legal agreement
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, also said the withdrawal agreement was closed as he arrived. These are from my colleagues Lisa O’Carroll.
Macron: "one cannot re open a legal agreement" "The discussion tonight is about politics". "We can have a political discussion , not legal"
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) December 13, 2018
Macron chimes with Merkel - no re-opening of negotiation on the withdrawal agreement.
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) December 13, 2018
"one cannot re open a legal agreement" "The discussion tonight is about politics". "We can have a political discussion , not legal"
Macron only spoke in French, usually stops to speak in English to Britpack, but declined this time.
— lisa o'carroll (@lisaocarroll) December 13, 2018
Incidentally, Macron seems to have mastered the Tory power stance.
UPDATE: Here are the Macron quotes in full.
It is important to avoid any ambiguity. We cannot reopen a legal agreement, we can’t renegotiate something which has been negotiated over several months. We can have a political discussion in this context.
Updated
Austrian chancellor says UK could be offered 'better interpretation' of Brexit deal
You’ve got to hand it to the EU27; when it comes to message discipline, they are hard to fault. Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, has arrived and he, too, is saying that the Brexit deal must stand, but that it could be clarified. He told reporters:
The deal we already have is a good one. I think there is also an understanding from Theresa May that there will be no new negotiation of the withdrawal agreement.
But, of course ... I think there will be some readiness from our side to maybe find some better explanation about the future relationship ...
There is also some room to have a better interpretation of what we agreed on. But there will be no new deal about the withdrawal agreement.
And I hope she will bring it to parliament.
Kurz said he hoped May would hold a vote in January and get a majority for the deal.
If the British prime minister thinks one or another additional explanation can be helpful before she brings it to a vote, then we should do that.
Updated
Rutte says Brexit deal 'non-negotiable', but EU 27 can offer UK 'clarification'
And Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, also told reporters as he arrived at the summit that he did not expect the withdrawal agreement to be opened.
Asked if it would be possible to give the British a new legal commitment relating to the backstop, he replied:
It depends on what you mean with legal. That is very difficult if you are not going to break open the withdrawal agreement.
Instead, he said, EU leaders would listen carefully to what Theresa May has to say about this and will try to clarify and “demystify” the issue. He explained:
Nobody, nobody, in the European Union wants [the backstop] to be triggered. But you need have this last resort if by 2021 or 2022 you have not by then decided on the new relationship. You need to maintain stability in Ireland. And it’s all about clarification tonight ...
We are working first of all on the assumption, and the absolute conviction, that the deal itself is non-negotiable. So today is about clarification ...
The deal is there because of the red lines the UK itself drew: no border in the Irish Sea, no membership of the customs union, no free movement of people. So this is the only deal possible, the best deal for both the UK and the EU given those red lines. The big issue is now the backstop. So we have to demystify that, get clarity on what it means, and why all of us don’t want it to be triggered.
He also praised May personally. Asked about her, he said:
I feel respect. She is an able leader. I admire her tenacity and resilience. She’s a great leader. And if you saw the Labour people laughing at her when she said ‘I listened’ [in the Commons on Monday], I felt this was not very British. She stood there and kept her composure and won this fight within her party. I have the highest admiration for her.
Rutte answered questions for about 10 minutes in English. But, according to the AFP’s Danny Kemp, Rutte was more forthright when speaking to the Dutch media.
What Rutte didn't say in his English comments: 'If anyone in the Netherlands thinks Nexit is a good idea, look at England and see the enormous damage it does' https://t.co/p62fQGnEtu
— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) December 13, 2018
Updated
Merkel says withdrawal agreement cannot be changed
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has played down hopes of a major give-away for the UK. Arriving at the summit, she said:
Yesterday we have seen that the PM has survived the vote and can continue with her work, that is good news.
And we will hear from her again about what her ideas are. However, I would also like to say that I believe the exit agreement has been well negotiated and we will discuss among ourselves afterwards how we will proceed.
Of course we also have our basic values and I do not see that we could change the agreement again.
We can talk about additional securing but here the EU27 will be very united and make their interests clear. Always in the spirit that we want very good relations to Great Britain even after the exit.
Updated
Tory Brexiter David Jones complains about civil servants referring to 'disorderly Brexit'
At the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee this morning, Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, admitted that some government departments had “paused” domestic policy work to focus on preparing for Brexit. He told the committee:
Some departments have paused some of their other domestic policy agenda in order to focus their attention on planning for March 29.
That partly reflects the nature of their Brexit portfolio compared to others ... each department essentially needs to make its own judgment between the secretary of the state and the permanent secretary about what their capacity is to deliver.
During the hearing the Tory Brexiter David Jones strongly objected to Sedwill and John Manzoni, the Cabinet Office permanent secretary, using the phrase “disorderly Brexit”. Jones said that was “really worrying” because it implied the civil service was not preparing for a no-deal Brexit when it was. Sedwill replied:
The central point here is this: that of course we can make contingency plans, but we don’t have complete control over the circumstances that would pertain in the event of leaving without a deal on March 29.
There are things that no government can control.
We have had an economy and a country that has been knitted together for several decades with the EU with seamless transition in particular across those borders, seamless data sharing, a common legal framework etc.
If we leave without an agreement on how that is going to evolve, much of that is outwith our control.
When Jones continued to object, saying the phrase disorderly Brexit implied “chaos”, Manzoni told him:
That is not what I said. I said it was less orderly and it was disorderly v an orderly. It might be inconvenient but I’m here to tell you what I think is really going on.
Updated
Here is more on what the German papers are saying about Brexit.
“Take a look at that,” writes the Volksstimme, a regional newspaper based in the city of Magdeburg. It goes on:
May does have the ability to win. The crazy Tories who wanted to fire her with a vote of no confidence have failed. May will stay in her roles as party leader and prime minister. But this is a pyrrhic victory for her. The Brexit row has not moved on at all following this London intrigue. It has only served to cement the opposing positions within the largest governing party. All this hue and cry ... is only continuing to make British politicians and their people continue to look quite ridiculous. May has been demoted to a supplicant on the starting day of the EU summit.
In FAZ, its London correspondent, Jochen Buchsteiner, writes that May has won a breather, but points out that, as the German saying goes, ‘Totgesagte leben Länger’ - or the condemned live longer. She will enter the negotiations in Brussels with more authority, but will she manage to secure the big deal she has promised, he asks.
May’s victory on Wednesday evening has not removed any of the stones on her path. The Tories remain split over Brexit ... and for the exit deal secured with Brussels there continues to be no majority in parliament. But whether the increased authority she has secured will help her to achieve more concessions over the Irish border question – which she needs in order to convince the British parliament – remains questionable.
As the Süddeutsche Zeitung sees it, the EU leadership now has to show responsibility towards the UK at the same time as exercise damage limitation. It says:
When the leaders of the EU meet they will be looking at the smithereens that the Brexit referendum has left behind it. Two and a half years after the vote, this pile of rubble has already become so huge, that it is completely unclear whether it can be swept away. The imponderabilities in the Brexit drama are no less since PM Theresa May survived a vote of confidence. London continues to be governed by chaos. For the EU this can only mean that it has to act in a responsible way. As the council president, Donald Tusk, put it in an honest albeit rather perplexed way, it’s clear that the EU wants to help Britain, the question is only how. This is a good question ...
[But] even if both sides want to remain friends, in the negotiations over Brexit they can be nothing but opponents. And regardless of how complex the discussions might be, at the core it’s a banal fact: the EU needs to ensure that no one is tempted to imitate Brexit. It cannot allow an exit from the EU to be something worthwhile. This is responsible politics. One might also say: self-protection ... and when held up against the confusion in London the union cuts quite a good figure.
Updated
Offering UK legally binding assurances on backstop will be 'difficult', says Finnish PM
Juha Sipilä, the prime minister of Finland, told reporters as he arrived at the EU summit that it would be “difficult” to provide the UK with the legally binding assurances on the backstop that Theresa May wants.
Asked if it would be possible to offer legally binding assurances, he replied:
Legally binding will be a little bit difficult.
But we all want to help [May] first of all, and then our goal is that the new relationship will be [in place] before the backstop.
So I think, at the political level, we can [offer assurances]. That’s our primary goal. And let’s see if we can find something from the legal side also, but it’s open still.
He also stressed how important the backstop issue was to the EU.
This Irish question is very important for all of us. We have to have some kind of solution in case there is no deal for the future relationship. This is the reason why this backstop is there. But our primary goal is to find a solution for the [future] relationship so that we don’t need any backstops.
Updated
May says she is not expecting 'breakthrough' on Brexit deal at EU summit
Here are the main points from Theresa May’s brief statement to reporters on her arrival at the EU summit.
- May said she was not expecting a “breakthrough” on the Brexit deal at this week’s EU summit. She said:
I don’t expect an immediate breakthrough, but what I do hope is that we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary.
- She said she had heard the concerns MPs have about the backstop “loud and clear”.
- She said she would be discussing with EU leaders the legal and political assurances needed on the backstop to get the deal through parliament. She made both points in her opening statement. She said:
Can I just say a word about yesterday, which was a difficult day. And I’m grateful for the significant support I had from colleagues. But I have also heard loud and clear the concerns of those who didn’t feel able to support me. And I know the concerns there are in the House of Commons about this issue of the backstop, that they do not want it to be permanent.
And what I will be talking to European leaders about here today is what we need to get this deal over the line. I’ve already met Leo Varadkar, I will be addressing the European council later, and I will be showing the legal and political assurances that I believe we need to assuage the concerns that members of parliament have on this issue.
- She said that both sides were discussing plans for a no-deal Brexit, but that it would be best to get a deal.
- She confirmed that she told Tory MPs last night she would not lead the party into the 2022 general election. Asked about what she told the 1922 Committee, she said:
Yes. I have said that, in my heart I would love to be able to lead the Conservative party into the next general election, but I think it is right that the party feels it would prefer to go into that election with a new leader.
- But she dismissed speculation that she might step down after the UK leaves the EU next March. Asked if that was her plan, she replied:
No. What I’m clear about is the next general election is in 2022 and I think it is right that another party leader takes us into that general election.
Updated
May confirms she will not lead Tories into 2022 general election
Theresa May has arrived at the EU HQ for the formal start of today’s summit.
Speaking to reporters, she says she will be asking for assurances to assuage the concerns of MPs on the backstop.
Although both sides are discussing no-deal planning, the best thing is a deal.
Q: Can you confirm you will not lead the party into the next election?
May says she accepts the party wants another leader to take it into the next election.
Q: So will you leave after Brexit?
May dismisses that. She says she will not lead the party into the 2022 election.
- May confirms she will not lead Tories into the 2022 election, but plays down speculation she will stand down after March.
Updated
The editorials in today’s German newspapers are without exception indignant in tone about the political chaos in the UK. (The German version of what we now know the Scottish refer to as a clusterbùrach is a ”Tohuwabohu”, by the way.)
In a page-long commentary, the tabloid Bild says the unofficial motto of British politics right now is: “If that’s reality, I don’t want to have anything to do with it.” It says this applies equally to the Tories as to Labour.
“The appointment with Brexit is in 100 days? We don’t care!” the paper writes, summing up the attitude as it sees it.
Without an agreement the country is threatened with an economic disaster, according to its own central bank? Other people – not the politicians - are to blame.
It has become nothing more than a game of running down the clock, rather than finding a clear line and accepting the fact that there is a price to pay for an EU exit. Theresa May upturned the overdue parliamentary vote on the deal earlier in the week, and as a result the conservative Tories forced her a confidence vote, which she won by 200 to 117 votes.
But it was simply political spectacle, because May’s victory was predictable and will keep her in office for weeks or months without anything actually changing about the brutal reality: there is no parliamentary majority for the variations of Brexit that are on the table.
For a long time the view in Europe towards the divorce-eager Brits was one of understanding and melancholy. But among diplomats in Brussels there is now a growing sense of anger towards these would-be captains of Westminster who are steering a whole country onto an iceberg of reality.
The possibility of changing course is disappearing by the day.
Updated
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, when asked if the decision not to schedule the Brexit vote next week meant it would definitely be postponed until January, the prime minister’s spokeswoman was non-committal. All she said was:
We will be guided by the pace at which we can get the assurances that parliament needs. And obviously, a key part of that is happening today and tomorrow in Brussels, where the PM is meeting fellow leaders.
So, although no Brexit vote is planned for next week, No 10 seems to be keeping that option open, just in case there is a significant breakthrough at the EU summit. But it is understood that Number 10 is assuming the chances of this happening are unlikely.
Updated
As well as her meetings in Brussels with Leo Varadkar, the Irish PM, and Donald Tusk, president of the European council, Theresa May has also got a bilateral scheduled with Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, before the summit proper starts this afternoon.
Brexiter Nigel Evans claims 'vast majority' of Tory MPs now back May
It is generally assumed that the Tory Brexiters operate and vote as a bloc, but that is a mistake. The European Research Group was divided three weeks ago, when some members wanted to trigger a no confidence vote then and others didn’t. And this morning we’ve seen a more subtle split in the Brexiter ranks. While figures like Jacob Rees-Mogg (see 9.37am) and Steve Baker (see 9.51am) have continued to denounced the PM and her plan (“implacable Brexiters”), Sky News found another Brexiter who adopted a very different tone. If there are more like Nigel Evans (“biddable Brexiters’), then there might be a sliver of hope for Theresa May.
Evans would not say how he voted in the no confidence vote, because he is a secretary of the 1922 Committee and its officers agreed not to reveal how they voted, but he has always been placed squarely in the Brexiter camp. In the Guardian list of how MPs plan to vote on the deal, we have him down as committed opponent.
But Evans told Sky that he thought May had the support of “the vast majority” of the party. He said:
I think she now generally has the support of the vast majority of the party. We accept the verdict of yesterday, that Theresa had the confidence of two thirds of the party. Now I believe today she has the confidence of the vast majority of the Conservative party, apart from a very small number, for her to continue that negotiation with the European Union.
He also said that, in the Commons tea room this morning, the mood amongst Tory MPs was very much “now, let’s get on with it”.
Evans said he wanted assurances that the UK would be able to withdraw unilaterally from the backstop. But he did not sound especially gloomy about the prospect of achieving this. He suggested yesterday’s vote may have added “backbone” to May’s negotiating position, and he said that he thought the assurances he wanted could be provided in the form of a codicil to the agreement.
He also refused to accept that it would be impossible to get the DUP’s support for an agreement. He said that he had spoken to the DUP MP Ian Paisley about this, and Paisley had stressed that there was time to find a solution. The backstop would not kick in until the end of 2020, Paisley apparently told Evans, and so there was no particular urgency, Evans said.
Most Brexiters aren’t sounding like this this morning. But the BBC’s Ross Hawkins also seems to have picked up evidence of some being “biddable” (unless, of course, his source was Evans himself.)
One leaver who's made headlines in recent dramas tells me could back May's deal with legal change. This could yet turn into impassioned debate about legal force of codicils
— Ross Hawkins (@rosschawkins) December 13, 2018
Updated
Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, is meeting Theresa May in Brussels. He has just tweeted a picture.
First meeting of the day here in Brussels is with @theresa_may Summit in the Irish delegation rooms before this afternoon’s @EUCouncil. We’re talking state of play with #Brexit pic.twitter.com/ZqQjEhORy3
— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) December 13, 2018
German parliament votes to oppose renegotiation of Brexit deal
This is from Jenny Hill, the BBC’s Berlin correspondent.
And just in case you were in any doubt as to German position, the Bundestag has just agreed to oppose renegotiation of Brexit deal. Majority of MPs voted in favour of a motion which states ‘it would be an illusion to hope that a rejection of the deal could lead to renegotiations’
— jenny hill (@jennyhillBBC) December 13, 2018
When pressed by Labour’s Valerie Vaz in business questions on when the vote on the Brexit deal would take place (see 10.45am), Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, would just say that the government has given a commitment to hold the debate before 21 January.
Leadsom confirms Brexit debate not scheduled until January
In the Commons Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has just announced the business for next week. It does not include a vote on the Brexit deal.
That means it won’t take place until January, because the Christmas recess starts a week today.
The business for next week will be: pic.twitter.com/NXk2ctECNx
— Leader's Office (@CommonsLeader) December 13, 2018
UPDATE: The Brexit debate has not been scheduled for next week, but No 10 are keeping open the option of changing the business to make time for one, if there is a breakthrough in Brussels. But that is not expected. See 11.45am for more.
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EU may delay significant backstop concessions until January, AFP reports
Here is an extract from the AFP’s story about the EU summit starting this afternoon.
The other 27 EU countries have drawn up a six-paragraph statement designed to appease concerns about the “Irish backstop” in the Brexit withdrawal and ease the deal’s passage through the British parliament.
According to European diplomats, the leaders will not allow the backstop nor the deal itself – which was only agreed at the end of last month – to be renegotiated at this stage.
But the statement, which could be issued at the summit, would declare that any backstop “would only be in place for a short period and only as long as strictly necessary”.
And it will add: “The union stands ready to examine whether any further assurances can be provided. Such assurances will not change or contradict the withdrawal agreement.”
This would not be the legally binding promise that British eurosceptics are seeking that the measure to keep the Irish border open would not be used to bind the UK into a customs union indefinitely.
“This is incredibly innocent language. Nothing of this is new. There is no end date for the backstop,” one European source told AFP.
“Not even the wording is different. There is the word temporary, but this is already in the withdrawal agreement,” he noted.
But the diplomat said that, in the likely event that the statement will not assuage the concerns of May’s parliamentary opponents, then a legal “interpretation” of the deal could be produced.
This would only be published in January, he said, as if it were released too soon, the Brexiteers might immediately seek more concessions, pushing approval of the plan still further back.
And this is from the AFP’s Danny Kemp.
EU leaders won't give May much until January, for fear that the Brexiteers will just ask for more now - key details from @AFP story on today's #EUCO summit pic.twitter.com/3IEuLFBc2P
— Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) December 13, 2018
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Supreme court says parts of Scottish parliament's Brexit bill outside its legislative powers
The UK supreme court has ruled that a key part of the Scottish government’s emergency Brexit legislation breaches the law, because ministers in Edinburgh cannot veto legislation introduced by the UK government.
UK ministers said the ruling vindicated their decision to challenge legislation introduced by the Scottish parliament earlier this year in a constitutional confrontation over the repatriation of EU powers into domestic law.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, and Carwyn Jones, then first minister of Wales, accused Theresa May’s government of a “power grab” because the UK government wanted to retain the final say over scores of pieces of legislation.
After both the Scottish and Welsh legislatures introduced so-called “continuity bills” in February which allowed them to take control of key bits of EU regulation, Welsh ministers suspended their legislation because they accepted a compromise deal over those powers brokered with the UK government.
Sturgeon refused to sign off on the compromise deal, and in a long and complex judgment, the court said that one key section of Holyrood’s act section 17, which seeks to amend Westminster’s Scotland Act, was ultra vires because Scottish ministers cannot change power reserved to Westminster.
Here is the press summary of the judgment (pdf). And here is the judgment in full (pdf).
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Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Brexiter and former party leader, also criticised Philip Hammond for his saying the Brexiters were “extremists”. (See 10.06am.) Speaking on the Today programme, Duncan Smith said:
I have one simple message for the chancellor: When you start turning on your own party and making accusations about them, that’s the beginning of the end for your party.
You need to moderate your language and recognise that a party is a coalition and we need to get this thing through the line. I do not want to see the party where it is at the moment.
Tory deputy chairman joins criticism of Hammond for saying May's opponents 'extremists'
James Cleverly, the deputy chairman of the Conservative party, has also joined those speaking out against Philip Hammond for his comment yesterday about Theresa May’s opponents being “extremists”. He does not name Hammond, but it is obvious that he is referring to the chancellor in this tweet.
Some colleagues, perhaps out of frustration, saying foolish things about other Conservatives.
— James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) December 13, 2018
Now would be a good time to stop.
Respect the results of the two referendums; 52% to leave the EU and 63% to support @theresa_may
There’s work to do.
Hammond probably feels that is is open season on him at the moment. Stephen Barclay, the new Brexit secretary (and, like Cleverly, someone who is well below Hammond in the Tory hierarchy), also criticised his use of language this morning. (See 8.57am.) But Cleverly and Barclay can feel confident about speaking out, because May herself said Hammond’s comment was wrong when she was addressing the 1922 Committee last night. This is from the BBC’s Nick Eardley.
Hearing the PM rebuked the chancellor after he described some Brexiteers as extremists.
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) December 12, 2018
Source said she told room: “There are no extremists here”
For the record, this is what Hammond actually said yesterday.
What this vote today will do is flush out the extremists who are trying to advance a particular agenda which would really not be in the interests of the British people or the British economy. Leaving the European Union without a deal would be bad for Britain.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, has said he is holding last-minute talks with Theresa May ahead of today’s EU summit.
Ahead of #EUCO I will meet PM @theresa_may for last-minute talks.
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) December 13, 2018
Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister and deputy chairman of the European Research Group, which represents Tory MPs pushing for a harder Brexit, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Theresa May should stage the vote on the Brexit deal soon. He said:
I’d like the prime minister to bring this deal forwards, let us vote it down, so it can go back to the European Union and we can say this clearly won’t go through parliament, we need to change the backstop.
It’s an awful deal, the country doesn’t want it. Parliament would overwhelmingly reject it. This isn’t personal, this is about the policy being wrong for the country long-term.
Labour is also pushing for an early vote, although the government has indicated it is likely to be delayed until January.
Sir Bill Cash, the Tory Brexiter, has just told BBC News that there is no chance of his lining up with Labour to vote against the government in a no confidence motion. Asked about the chances of this happening, he replied: “None at all.”
That may not sound at all surprising, but there has been speculation that Brexiters like Cash are so determined to see Brexit happen that they would rather bring down their own government than allow it to do something that would deliver a softer Brexit, or no Brexit at all.
(It was always a far-fetched theory in the first place, not least because bringing down the government could easily result in Labour forming a government and implementing a softer Brexit, or holding a referendum.)
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The Press Association has snapped this.
The supreme court has ruled that parts of a Brexit bill passed by the Scottish government would be outside its legislative powers.
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'After the apocalypse, all that will be left will be ants' - Tory minister delivers warning about party's future
And, since we’re on the subject of Jacob Rees-Mogg, this is what the pro-European Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt posted on Twitter last night after watching Rees-Mogg on Newsnight.
They never, ever stop. Votes against them, letters going in late- nothing matters to ERG. After the apocalypse, all that will be left will be ants and Tory MPs complaining about Europe and their leader. https://t.co/n3Jt04CjJe
— Alistair Burt (@AlistairBurtUK) December 12, 2018
Rees-Mogg claims May could still decide to resign
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory Brexiter and chair of the European Research Group, which was the driving force behind the move to oust Theres May, was also on the Today programme this morning. After the result was declared last night he said that May should resign, and this morning, when it was put to him that she was staying put, he claimed that she might think again. He said:
You may remember that Margaret Thatcher... said ‘We fight on, we fight to win’. Nobody was tougher than Mrs Thatcher, and the next day she resigned. So it’s not impossible.
I think Theresa May should consider what she said last night. I agree with her that we do want somebody who can unite the country and the Conservative party and she has to ask herself is she realistically that person?
Rees-Mogg also dismissed a report saying the ERG HQ had been nicknamed “the kill zone”. That term was invented by opponents wanting to smear the ERG, he claimed.
It wasn’t referred to as that by me, I think it was only referred to as that by our opponents. I think it’s a deeply disagreeable term invented by people who wanted to support the prime minister. I never heard anybody refer to it as that, I would not have dreamt of referring to it as that. I think it’s deeply silly to have done so, and I don’t think it came from us, it came from others.
He also dismissed Philip Hammond’s comment about May’s opponents being “extremists”, saying:
Don’t take the chancellor too seriously when he gets a little bit over-excited - an unusual state for him, it has to be said.
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Agenda for the day
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Matthew Weaver.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The supreme court rules on a legal challenge to Brexit legislated passed by the Scottish parliament.
9.30am: Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee.
10.10am: Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, takes questions in the Commons.
10.30am: Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, takes business questions in the Commons.
12.30pm: EU leaders start to arrive for the EU summit in Brussels.
2.30pm: EU leaders start their first working session at the summit.
6pm: Donald Tusk, president of the European council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, hold a press conference.
Brexit secretary says Hammond was wrong to label May's Tory critics 'extremists'
The Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay, has indicated that the government will try to run down the clock in the hope of getting the withdrawal agreement through parliament. Speaking on the Today programme he said:
It is a question of having the time. The prime minister through the mandate she secured from the parliamentary party last night, now has the time to have those discussions with European colleagues.
He insisted “there is movement” in EU on the issue of the backstop.
But he added:
The question is how do we ensure that that movement is sufficient for colleagues. But colleagues also need to focus on the alternatives – the alternatives deals also require a backstop.
Barclay said May would try to secure concessions on the backstop but he warned that renegotiating the withdrawal agreement risked losing gains she had already secured. He said:
The prime minister has been very clear that this is the only deal that will command the confidence of the house. But there is an issue that she has listened to colleagues on, the issue of the backstop, that’s why she is back out in Brussels again today.
He refused to say when the meaningful vote on the deal would take place but confirmed it would be before 21 January.
On the confidence vote he said: “The vote give us a chance to settle the issue of the leadership and really now to heal the party and back together in the national interest.”
Barclay also criticised the chancellor, Philip Hammond, for describing Brexiters as “extremists” ahead of the vote. He said:
All of us say sometimes things in interviews which we perhaps could have phrased in a better way. It’s not the phraseology I have would of used.
Updated
Nicky Morgan says Tory party may have to split to get Brexit deal through Commons
Former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan suggested that a split in the Conservatives may be looming, with hardline Eurosceptics leaving the party.
She told the BBC:
I think there’s an inevitability that some of these people – the hardest Brexiteers – are going to walk.
There may be some sort of reconfiguration of parties on the right of the UK political spectrum and that may be something we are going to have to accept in order to get a Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
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George Freeman, the Conservative MP and former head of the PM’s policy board, warned that the PM faces further struggles to get her Brexit plan through parliament, PA reports. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
I think there will be at least one if not two or three defeats before opposition MPs and Conservative MPs start to realise that they’ve done their signalling and now it’s real.
One of the reasons I think it’s important that the prime minister stayed is that whoever leads through this, I think, will be finished by it.
Former minister David Jones suggested that campaigns for the leadership succession were already under way.
I’ve no doubt that there will have been people in the room there who applauded the prime minister but are part of one campaign or another.
Simon Hart, who founded the Brexit Delivery Group of Tory backbenchers and is supportive of the prime minister, said:
I’ve had potential leadership candidates approaching me. I’ve had people I haven’t spoken to in nine years since I was first elected in 2010 using this opportunity to sell their own credentials and engage in a private beauty parade.
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Duncan Smith says it would be 'mad' for Tories to try to reach deal on Brexit with Labour
Iain Duncan Smith, the Brexiter former Tory leader, told the Today programme that the last thing people wanted was a government of national unity with the Tory party reaching out to the Labour party to get May’s Brexit deal through. That idea was coming from “a mad place”, he told Today.
People like me have never voted against the Conservative party in decades.
If you think you can reach out to the Labour party with the leadership they have got at the moment you must be living in a mad place, because there is no way on earth the public want to see us deal with the Labour party.
He insisted that Theresa May had to listen to the party after last night’s vote and work to get the DUP back on board. He added:
The reality is for them the biggest issue for them is the backstop. If that’s not resolved they cannot go back to their electorate and say we allow that to go through where we are basically tied to Ireland. that would be a disaster for them.
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German minister says text of withdrawal agreement cannot be changed
Stephan Mayer, a minister in the German government, has insisted there is no scope for renegotiating the withdrawal agreement. Speaking to Today he said:
There were very serious negotiations for one year and now we closed these negotiations. I’m deeply convinced there is no better deal to achieve for the UK than what we have now.
He suggested that a EU could offer different wording to the accompanying political declaration.
We should do everything to find a solution. One thing is clear there is no room for changing the treatment [withdrawal] agreement itself. But I’m deeply convinced that the EU 27 should be open to push forward clarifications especially with regard to the backstop.
We should consider to make clarifications in the political declaration or elsewhere to avoid a hard Brexit. This must be the main objective for both sides for the United Kingdom and for the EU 27.
Mayer said a hard Brexit would mean a “lose-lose situation for both sides”. He added:
My perception is that Theresa May did negotiate quite well. After one year of negotiations the treaty which lays on the table isn’t too bad for both sides. It is not possible to achieve any better deal than that which is not laying on the table.
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Former Tory leader and cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith confirmed he voted against May in last night’s vote, but was not one of the MPs who wrote to trigger the ballot.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he also called for changes to the withdrawal bill. “Yesterday’s vote said ‘engage’, ‘listen’,” he said.
“A compromise is there but the backstop has to be resolved,” he said. The backstop can be replaced by an open borders policy, he claimed.
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The morning spinning against Theresa May has begun. Tory Brexiter Peter Bone said the result was “very damaging” against the prime minister.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast Bone pointed out that the majority of backbenchers voted against her. He said he hoped she could secure substantial changes to her withdrawal bill, but said this would be “difficult”.
Updated
That’s it from me, I’m handing over to my colleague Matthew Weaver.
Germany is not willing to renegotiate a backstop solution for Northern Ireland that is laid out in the draft agreement for Britain’s exit from the European Union, foreign minister Heiko Maas told Deutschlandfunk radio on Thursday.
The text of the draft deal is not the basis for discussion, but the basis of decision-making, Maas said.
Theresa May is seeking legal assurances on the most controversial part of her deal - an insurance policy known as backstop to prevent a hard border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.
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A taste of the Brexit coverage from some European newspapers today. Süddeutsche Zeitung has “May is weakened but not weak”.
Spiegel Online calls the PM’s win “May’s bitter victory”.
Le Monde has: “May strengthened against the EU after winning the confidence of Conservative MPs”
And El País says: “May survives the motion of Eurosceptic Tories”
- This post was amended on 14 December 2018 to correct the translation of the original Le Monde headline.
Updated
The pound largely held on to overnight gains on Thursday after the British prime minister, Theresa May, survived a no-confidence vote on her leadership, buying her more time to sell her unpopular Brexit deal to a deeply divided parliament.
Sterling held steady at $1.2627 in early trade on Thursday. It had bounced off a 20-month low of $1.2477 during the previous session, ending 1.1% higher on the day in the aftermath of the vote.
Any respite for the pound was expected to be short-lived, however, as a mutiny by more than a third of her own party signalled she was no nearer to passing her plan to leave the European Union.
“Just after the actual result was announced, profit-taking dominated, [but] sterling stopped appreciating,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.
“That shows it’s not bad news, but it doesn’t fix the Brexit issue. In that sense, uncertainty continues.”
Timothy Garton Ash has written a letter to Europe, imploring them “tell us you want Britain to stay” He writes:
Dear European friends,
We are fast approaching a critical period in Britain’s Brexit drama. Incredible though it may seem, there is now a serious chance of the British voting in a second referendum to stay in the European Union. What an extraordinary boost that would be to the whole post-1945 project of building a better Europe!
To get there, we need a little help from our friends. I can well understand why many Europeans just want to get the whole thing over and usher the UK out of the door. We have now had 900 days of the British government either not being able to articulate a negotiating position, or making unrealistic demands, or, as this week, being unable to deliver parliamentary approval for the deal it has negotiated.
If you are persuaded that building a stronger Europe in a dangerous world needs the UK to be pulling its weight inside the EU; if you regard any blow struck against the dark forces of nationalist populism as a good thing; if what the UK has contributed to Europe over the centuries means anything to you; if you place any value on what Britain did for European freedom in the second world war, for postwar reconstruction and for helping to throw off the yoke of communist dictatorships; then let us have this chance. If you have worked with British colleagues, spent time at a British university, enjoyed some aspect of British sport or culture, or have British friends; if anything the British have ever done has touched your heart; then give us your solidarity and support. In helping Britain you will also be helping Europe.
No 10 will not be happy with today’s front pages, which are all about Theresa May’s survival in the no-confidence vote, but paint the win as less of a triumph for May than a pyrrhic victory.
The Sun tells the prime minister: “Time to call it a May”, showing its inability to pass up any opportunity to get a play on words into their headline. Let’s hope for the sake of the Sun’s subeditors that whoever is PM next has a name that lends itself equally well to punning.
“A vote to remain, but when will she leave?” asks the Telegraph. The Mirror says: “It’s lame duck for Christmas” saying May’s “goose is cooked”.
But two papers are backing May and her authority. The Daily Mail’s headline is: “Now let her get on with the job!” and the Express has: “Now just let her get on with it.”
Tomorrow's front page: Theresa May was left wounded after a battering by Tory Brexit rebels in a make-or-break confidence vote https://t.co/SZTSNZoCZq pic.twitter.com/3OO11Qrm85
— The Sun (@TheSun) December 12, 2018
Tomorrow's front page: It's lame duck for Christmas#tomorrowspaperstoday https://t.co/fFIeHwiekz pic.twitter.com/xL0ijW0Qzv
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 12, 2018
The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph 'A vote to Remain, but when will she leave?' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/t5XG22nstC
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 12, 2018
FINANCIAL TIMES: May survives Brexiter challenge but margin fails to quash revolt #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/p48ZZRZqSD
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 12, 2018
The Guardian front page, Thursday 13 December 2018: Tory coup fails. But scale of rebellion damages May pic.twitter.com/ZPOVCnTkbR
— The Guardian (@guardian) December 12, 2018
Thursday's front page: Stay of execution - Theresa May unable to pass her deal, and Tories unable to oust Theresa May #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/iLWDQtagdo
— i newspaper (@theipaper) December 12, 2018
THE TIMES: May scrapes home #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/A58v5ABXls
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 12, 2018
EXPRESS: Now just let her get on with it #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/jBhPRSqbAc
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 12, 2018
DAILY MAIL: Now let her get on with the job! #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/oaEihTtsOv
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) December 12, 2018
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Politicians are heading back to Brussels for further discussions about the Brexit deal.
Helen McEntee, the Irish minister for European Affairs, has tweeted a view from her car (which I’m hoping was not being driven by her) as she headed in for meetings at 6am, sharing it with the caption “#Backto Brussels #EUCouncil #tooearly”.
#BacktoBrussels #EUCouncil #tooearly 😩 pic.twitter.com/zGMuTFUpsD
— Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) December 13, 2018
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Good morning and welcome back to another day of Politics live.
I’m Kate Lyons and will be steering the ship until Andrew Sparrow is up and about and takes things over in a few hours.
As usual, please get in touch with any thoughts or questions through the comments section below (yesterday we got to more than 30,000 comments, and though I don’t think our moderators will thank me for saying this, let’s see if we can break that record today) or on Twitter, I’m at @mskatelyons.
Theresa May is flying to Brussels today to appeal to her fellow EU leaders to offer Britain what she told MPs must be a “legally binding” commitment that the Irish backstop will be temporary.
The whistle-stop tour comes after Tory MPs rejected a no-confidence motion in the embattled prime minister’s leadership by 200 votes to 117 on Wednesday night, after a swift contest that exposed the bitter split in her party over Brexit.
Speaking at a tense meeting of the Tory party before the vote, May offered a sobering message about the challenges the government faces in getting its Brexit deal through parliament, with shifting groups of MPs advocating a series of incompatible options – from a second referendum to no deal, according to MPs present at the meeting.
The confidence vote marked the culmination of a tumultuous 72 hours, after the prime minister outraged many backbenchers by announcing at the last minute that she would cancel the “meaningful vote” on her Brexit deal. She spent Tuesday criss-crossing Europe seeking fresh reassurances from her EU counterparts on the Irish backstop.
It’s been quite a week and who knows what Thursday will bring, but the Guardian team will be here to guide you through it as whatever unfolds unfolds. Off we go.
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