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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Andrew Sparrow and Claire Phipps

Theresa May arrives in Berlin for Brexit talks with Merkel – as it happened

Merkel supports May’s plan not to trigger Brexit this year – video

Merkel/May press conference - Summary

Here are the main points from Theresa May’s press conference with Angela Merkel.

  • Angela Merkel signalled that Germany would be happy to let the UK wait until it triggers article 50, starting the formal EU withdrawal process. Theresa May has said this will not happen before the end of the year, and Merkel seemed to accept this, saying it was sensible for Britain to decide what it wanted first. Merkel said:

From my point of view it’s completely understandable that a few days after the referendum, a few days after a new government in Great Britain is formed, that the government has to first think what are our interests, what exactly do they look like ...

And I think it’s in all of our interests if Great Britain has a very well defined negotiating position [when talks start.]

Merkel also said it was “absolutely necessary” to have a “certain period of time” to prepare for Brexit.

That’s what’s in the treaty. We have to wait [for article 50 to be triggered] to have an idea how the UK envisages leaving, envisages the future relationship. No one wants things to be up in the air. I don’t think the British citizens want that, nor do the European member states want that. But we all have an interest in this matter being carefully prepared, in positions being clearly defined and delineated. And I think it is absolutely necessary to have a certain period of time to prepare for it.

May also said that she did not want to rush the process. She said:

All of us will need time to prepare for these negotiations and the United Kingdom will not invoke Article 50 until our objectives are clear. That is why I have said already that this will not happen before the end of this year. I understand this timescale will not please everyone but I think it is important to provide clarity on that now. We should strive for a solution which respects the decision of British voters, but also respects the interests of our European partners.

  • May was asked to justify her decision to appoint Boris Johnson as foreign secretary. A German journalist asked her to explain why Johnson was made foreign secretary given that he was someone “who doesn’t really want to play the game”. May sidestepped the question, saying she had appointed “a team of ministers who will take forward the position of the British government”. Merkel said that, whoever was foreign secretary, “the country is an experienced country when it comes to diplomacy and diplomatic expertise” (implying Johnson’s appointment did not matter too much, because Foreign Office diplomats are good). This came only a day after Johnson was repeatedly asked about his “outright lies” and past insults to foreign leaders by American reporters at a press conference in London. On this basis it seems fair to describe his appointment as a national embarrassment.
  • May sidestepped a question about whether she would be willing to sacrifice trade in order to secure control of immigration. The Reuters report puts this well.

May said it was clear the British people wanted more control over immigration, but underlined that good trade was vital for the economy, offering little insight into her stance on the thorniest part of future talks.

“It’s very clear to me that one of the messages that the British gave in their vote that the UK should leave the European Union is they wanted control brought into movement of people from the European Union ... and so that of course will be one of the issues we will be looking at and we as a government will deliver on for people,” May told a news conference.

May gave a clearer answer on this in the Q&A after her speech on Monday last week, only a few minutes before Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the leadership contest, paving the way for her to become prime minister. May hinted that stopping free movement would take priority over retaining single market membership.

  • May said that Britain would not walk away from its “European friends” after Brexit. She said

I have been clear that Brexit means Brexit and the United Kingdom is going to make a success of it. But I also want to be clear here today, and across Europe in the weeks ahead, that we are not walking away from our European friends. Britain will remain an outward-looking country and Germany will remain a vital partner and a special friend for us ...

The nature of our relationship is going to change as the UK leaves the EU, but we both want to maintain the closest possible economic relationship between our countries.

  • May said she wanted to get net migration down to “sustainable” levels and that this meant getting it into the “tens of thousands”.
  • May described herself and Merkel as women who wanted to “get on with the job”. Merkel agreed.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Here is some comment on the press conference.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From Pawel Swidlicki from Open Europe

From the Guardian’s Rowena Mason

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the BBC’s Kamal Ahmed

From the FT’s George Parker.

Q: Are you still committed to cutting net migration below 100,000?

May says she wants net migration down to sustainable levels. That means the tens of thousands, she says.

Q: Are you happy for the UK to wait until next year before triggering article 50? Is there a penalty for the UK if this drags on.

Merkel says EU leaders have to see how the UK envisages leaving.

No one wants this up in the air.

But we all have an interest in this being properly delineated, she says. It is in everyone’s interest for this to be conducted carefully, she says.

And that’s it. I will post a summary soon.

Q: {From a German journalist] Why did you appoint Boris Johnson foreign secretary?

May says she has appointed a team of ministers who will take forward the government’s work. She will be looking forward to building good relations with Germany. The need for positive relations will underpin everything she does and everything her government does.

Q: How do you envisage relations with Johnson?

Merkel says, whoever is foreign secretary, negotiations with the UK involve negotiations with people with a lot of expertise. She says the British people who negotiate are clever. The foreign secretaries have already met.

She says she is confident that Johnson (whom she calls the British foreign secretary) will cooperate with other ministers.

From the BBC’s Laura Kuennsberg.

Q: Will you sacrifice trade to give you control of immigration?

May says it is clear that the Brexit vote showed people wanted controls on immigration. She will deliver on that, she says. But she also wants the right deal on trade. This will be part of her discussions.

Q: Can the UK impose migration controls and still have access to the single market?

Merkel says the UK voted to leave. But we need to find out what relationship it wants, she says.

She says the UK PM will no longer be sitting around the table when the European Council meets.

We have to listen to what the UK wants.

We cannot give an answer to a question that has not been raised yet, she says.

She says May said she wanted to avoid too much disquiet.

She says they will be guided by the principle of friendship. Britain wants a successs. But the other 27 states want a success too.

Q: What do you make of each other?

May says what is important is that we have two women here who have had a constructive discussion, and who get on with the job to deliver the best for their citizens.

Merkel says she agrees.

Merkel implies she does not expect article 50 to be invoked quickly

They are now taking questions.

Q: [From a German journalist] Cherry picking is supposed to be prevented. How will you find a common position on free movement? And how can you stop the negative consequences.

Merkel says Britain has only just got a new government.

It is Great Britain, she says.

She says not all of the UK’s links with the EU will be severed.

She says it is sensible for the UK to think about it negotiating position.

  • Merkel says it is right for UK to consider its options before invoking article 50. She implies she does not expect article 50 to be invoked quickly.

May says she wants “the closest possible” economic relationship with Germany after Brexit

May says she and Merkel believe in trade and want to ensure everyone benefits.

The nature of the relationship will change.

But they both want the “closest possible” economic relationship between our countries.

  • May says she wants “the closest possible” economic relationship with Germany after Brexit.

May says she wants to strengthen international cooperation with Germany on issues like terrorism and migration.

On Brexit, she says she wants a “sensible and orderly” departure.

She says she will not invoke article 50 until the UK’s negotiating position is clear.

She says she thinks the UK can forge strong relationships with EU countries after Brexit.

May says UK is leaving EU, but not walking away from its European friends

Theresa May starts by offering her condolences to those killed in the axe attack.

She thanks Merkel for inviting her (calling her chancellor) and she says this is the first visit to Germany by a UK prime minister since the Brexit vote.

She is clear that Brexit means Brexit.

But we are not walking away from our European friends, she says.

  • May says UK is leaving EU, but not walking away from its European friends.

Merkel says the Germans will try to safeguard British interests, as the British will try to safeguard German interests.

Theresa May's press conference with Angela Merkel

The press conference is starting.

Angela Merkel starts.

She is talking about the axe attack in Germany.

She says she is very happy that Theresa May has come to Berlin. This is a sign of our unity, and of our being close to each other. We have started talking to each other.

Despite the decision Britain has made, our countries are close. We have similar values, we are both members of Nato, we will both attend the G20, we are both members of the G7, she says.

She says the UK and Germany worked well together in the EU. And this will be the spirit in the next few months.

She says Brexit negotiations can only start after article 50 has been triggered.

Today we will talk about the general situation. But we will not negotiate.

And we will discuss other issues too.

Or you can watch on the feed at the top of this blog (although it crashed a moment ago - hopefully temporarily).

There is a live feed of the press conference at the top of this blog.

These are from Channel 4 News’ Michael Crick.

Angela Merkel’s press conference with Theresa May is due to start soon.

Here is Rowena Mason’s preview story.

Back in the House of Commons, Labour has just lost a vote on an opposition motion saying the government should exempt supported housing from the planned housing benefit cuts.

MPs are now debating a motion saying the government should withdraw the charter for budget responsibility. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is opening the debate. But there are not many Labour MPs in the chamber to support him - something the Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop attributes to what McDonnell said about anti-Corbyn Labour MPs last week.

Here are some more pictures from Theresa May’s arrival in Berlin.

Angela Merkel and Theresa May shake hands.
Angela Merkel and Theresa May shake hands. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images
Theresa May inspects the Guard of Honour as she meets German chancellor, Angela Merkel
Theresa May inspects the Guard of Honour as she meets German chancellor, Angela Merkel Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Merkel and May listen to national anthems.
Merkel and May listen to national anthems. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
Merkel and May review the Guard of Honour.
Merkel and May review the Guard of Honour. Photograph: Stefanie Loos/Reuters
A close up of the shoes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Theresa May.
A close up of the shoes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Theresa May. Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP

Updated

Here is more on Theresa May’s arrival in Berlin.

Stewart Wood, who worked as Gordon Brown’s foreign policy adviser, says Theresa May is following in the footsteps of Brown.

This is from the BBC’s Gavin Hewitt.

Here is footage of the arrival.

Angela Merkel has welcomed Theresa May to Berlin.

Theresa May and Angela Merkel in Berlin
Theresa May and Angela Merkel in Berlin Photograph: BBC

Theresa May arrives in Berlin

Theresa May has arrived in Berlin for her meeting with Angela Merkel. She is about to get a ceremonial welcome.

This is from my colleague Rowena Mason who is there.

German British and European Union flags fly in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin.
German British and European Union flags fly in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin. Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

YouGov has published its first state of the parties poll since Theresa May became prime minister. It gives the Tories an 11-point lead.

YouGov poll.
YouGov poll. Photograph: YouGov

Owen Smith sets three tests for Brexit

Owen Smith, the Labour leadership contender, has announced that he is setting three tests by which Labour should judge the success of the Brexit negotiations. They are:

1 - Do the plans for the UK’s future as a trading nation protect prosperity, growth and jobs in key economic sectors?

2 - Will workers’ rights be protected and extended?

3 - Have EU nationals been given the right to remain?

He also said he would appoint a full-time shadow Brexit secretary if he became leader. Jeremy Corbyn has appointed a shadow brexit secretary, but Emily Thornberry is combining the role with being shadow foreign secretary. (See 2.28pm.) Smith said:

Labour isn’t on the pitch at the moment. We need an effective opposition to scrutinise every line of every piece of Brexit legislation the Tories push through.

That’s why I’ll appoint a full-time shadow Brexit Secretary as soon as I’m elected. Brexit is the biggest political process of our generation, and it’s not good enough to make scrutiny of this vital brief a jobshare.

Under my leadership, my shadow Brexit Secretary will be full time and their task will be to ensure this Tory government can’t get away with stripping vital protections and support from the British people.

He also repeated his call for a second referendum on the final Brexit deal.

Once that deal has been finalised, the Labour Party I lead will demand the British people are trusted to have the opportunity to sign that deal off.

Owen Smith launching his leadership campaign on Sunday.
Owen Smith launching his leadership campaign on Sunday. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Updated

Burnham calls for Orgreave inquiry to be launched now

Andy Burnham has accused the government of trying to shunt a proposed inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave “into the long grass” and demanded it is launched “today”, the Press Association reports,

But newly appointed home secretary Amber Rudd said she is not going to “rush it” and will consider the evidence over the summer.

The comments come after the House of Lords was last week told the Home Office will not launch an inquiry into police actions in the clash with miners until all Hillsborough investigations are concluded.

Around 10,000 strikers and 5,000 police officers clashed at the coking plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in June 1984.

In a Commons urgent question on this, Burnham said:

Might it not help build the right climate if [Rudd] today corrects the misleading impression given to Parliament that the IPCC had advised against the establishment of an inquiry at this time?

Does she accept that there is no reason why ongoing investigations should delay an inquiry, and that in similar situations it is commonplace for protections to be put in place to manage any risks?

Can she see why the government’s actions look like a Home Office manoeuvre to shunt a controversial issue into the long grass?

This, one of the final decisions of the former home secretary, was announced as she stood on the steps of Downing Street promising to fight injustice.

People may remember another Tory prime minister quoting Francis of Assisi outside No 10 and the subsequent gap that emerged between her fine words and her deeds.

To ensure history doesn’t repeat itself, will the Home Secretary do the right thing and restore damaged trust of people who have already waited more than 30 years for the truth and today order a public inquiry into Orgreave?

Rudd said the issue of whether to order a public inquiry into Orgreave was “one of the most important issues in my in-tray” and said that she will be considering the facts “very carefully” over the summer. She told Burnham:

You will know that this Government has not been slow in looking at historical cases. There have been Labour governments and there have been Conservative governments since 1984, but it is this Government that is taking the campaign very seriously.

I will not resile from that. I have told the campaign that I will look at the evidence that I have; they submitted it at the end of last year - it is a substantial file.

It is because I take it so seriously that I am not going to rush it. It would be a mistake to do it today.

What I am going to do is look at it over the summer and meet with the campaign group in September, and reach a decision after that.

A striking miner facing a line of police at the Orgreave pit during the miners’ strike in 1984.
A striking miner facing a line of police at the Orgreave pit during the miners’ strike in 1984. Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian

Angela Eagle’s local party in Wallasey has been suspended after allegations of bullying and intimidation at constituency meetings.

There has been growing hostility between the local party and Eagle in the weeks since the EU referendum. Wallasey CLP, whose chair, vice-chair and secretary are all newly elected, has denied claims by Eagle that the MP was subjected to homophobic bullying at the AGM on June 24, as well as sustained intimidation since she announced her bid to be Labour leader.

Paul Davies, the local vice-chair who is a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, said he would willingly pay for a lie detector test to prove there had been no homophobic language or other bullying in the party, saying several members of the CLP were gay themselves or had gay relatives.

He called the allegations a “smear” and said he had only found out about the suspension from the media. “We expected [the suspension] since the day we said we would not support Angela Eagle, because that’s what the Labour party in London does,” he told the Guardian.

“I want to challenge those who make the allegations to come with me and take a lie detector test. We can sort this out quickly, but there are lies, there’s no grey here. It’s outrageous. If there was any homophobic or racist abuse I would grab hold of them.”

Davies said he expected to be expelled from the party, having previously been suspended in the 1980s and then re-instated. “I can say anything now, I have nothing to fear, but what I do fear is lack of truth,” he said. “This is binary, someone is telling lies.”

A North West Labour spokesperson confirmed the branch had been suspended while an investigation was carried out said: “Any complaints of bullying or intimidation and allegations of misconduct are always taken very seriously. ”

Local meetings have been banned during the Labour leadership election because of the climate of hostility between the Corbyn and anti-Corbyn factions in the party.

Eagle’s CLP held an informal meeting instead of their official event, where a vote of no confidence in the MP was passed by 54 votes to nine. Corbyn later addressed some of the members on speakerphone in the local pub.

Angela Eagle.
Angela Eagle. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

A survey carried out by French pollsters Ifop showed that 53% of French want their country to remain in Europe and 26% wish to leave.

On Brexit, the poll found mixed feelings between understanding the move and total incomprehension, but generally the French gave a shrug and considered Britain’s departure as “not so serious” as thought. The consecutive resignations of pro-Brexit campaign leaders - including Nigel Farage and- was seen as an important facture in halting the spread of Euro-scepticism in Europe.

“The Brexit contagion that was supposed to happen hasn’t and pro-European sentiments have increased,” Ifop reported.

A similar poll in Germany, Italy and Spain showed a majority in each country wish to remain in the EU.

Emily Thornberry to become shadow Brexit secretary

Labour has announced that Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, will also take the post of shadow Brexit secretary. And Barry Gardiner, the shadow energy secretary, will take the extra post of shadow international trade secretary.

A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn said the Labour leader had neither ruled out nor endorsed proposals for a second EU referendum after the Brexit negotiations are complete. The spokesman said:

That has to be dealt with later. There needs to be some form of democratic accountability for what is negotiated. People voted in the referendum, but didn’t have a clear sense of what package was involved. But what form that accountability should take should be settled later.

Updated

The House of Commons photographer, Jessica Taylor, was in the Commons chamber to take pictures of PMQs. Here are three of her pictures.

Theresa May’s first PMQs as prime minister
Theresa May’s first PMQs as prime minister. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
May’s first PMQs.
May’s first PMQs. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor
May’s first PMQs.
May’s first PMQs. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Updated

There’s much excitement in Berlin ahead of Theresa May’s visit to the German capital in a few hours’ time, with media widely dubbing the event “May Day”. It is unclear whether this is a reference to the international distress signal or the spring holiday celebrations – or perhaps a touch of German irony that the visit has a whiff both of disaster and mirth about it. On the one hand, there is the deep German disappointment that Britain is to leave the EU, on the other, an uplifting mood that this is a historic encounter between the first female leaders Germany and Britain have had simultaneously.

Whilst the flagship news programme Tagesschau poses the pressing question that “having worn red pumps for her visit to Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, what shoes will she wear in Berlin?”, Bild Zeitung is leading with the headline “Bombshell Ahead of May’s Maiden Visit” after Britain announced it would not take up the rotating presidency of the EU in 2017.

Tagesschau points out that the two women have never met before, and have only telephoned once, a week ago, with Merkel calling to congratulate May and invite her to Berlin.

It stresses again the extent to which the two women have quite a bit in common, which can only be of benefit to their working relationship, including the fact they are of the same generation – Merkel is 62, May 59 – both have held the position of general secretary of their respective parties, and both took over leadership when their parties were in crisis. (Merkel after a party donor scandal that marked the end of her predecessor Helmut Kohl’s political career). That’s not to mention the oft-dredged up pastor daughter/childless similarities.

Tagesschau says that a huge number of journalists have accredited for the press conference to be held in the cuboid chancellery in Berlin late this afternoon “and surely not just because everyone wants to know what shoes Theresa May is wearing today”.

Just in case anyone has any doubt that she is also a serious politician, Deutsche Welle says that “alongside her wardrobe, May is also known for her police reform and surveillance measures and she is considered to be a tough but polite negotiating partner”.

Updated

PMQs - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about PMQs on Twitter.

The general view is that it was a triumph for Theresa May.

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the Sun’s Craig Woodhouse

From the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee

From the Mirror’s Jason Beattie

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From the Telegraph’s Michael Deacon

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman

From Steve Richards

From the Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff

From the BBC’s Norman Smith

From the Sun’s Steve Hawkes

From the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy

From the Guardian’s Peter Walker

From politics.co.uk’s Adam Bienkov

From the Scottish Mail on Sunday’s Michael Blackley

Updated

PMQs - Verdict

PMQs - Verdict: When George Osborne first stood in for David Cameron at PMQs, even though he had spent five years as chancellor, he displayed a palpable nervousness. Everyone who has ever taken PMQs says it is a huge challenge, quite unlike anything else parliamentarians have to do, and Osborne seemed a little worried. The most important takeaway from Theresa May’s performance today was that she sounded confident and assured and prime ministerial (in the sense of up to the job). She was chosen as Tory leader primarily for her competence and today it was on display.

But she was not selected for her comedy skills, and that made her Thatcher moment rather odd. Tory MPs seemed to like it, but it sounded a little too contrived and perhaps May would be better advised to stick to dull and boring (dull and boring is hugely underrated in politics). Her “mine is bigger than yours” dig at Tim Farron (see 12.39pm) also sounded a little crass.

May did not use her first PMQs to announce anything new and in many ways it sounded like business as usual. Perhaps she is more inclined to address questions than David Cameron was, but on the basis of just one performance it is hard to be sure.

The Commons goes into recess at the end of this week and so we will not get another PMQs until September. By that time May’s honeymoon may be over, and the Labour leadership contest will be nearly over. Politics may look very different by then.

Updated

I missed Angus Robertson’s question earlier, because I was writing up m snap verdict, and so here are the questions from the SNP leader at Wesminster.

He started by asking if Theresa May agreed that Scotland could remain part of the EU, and how her talks with Nicola Sturgeon were going.

May replied:

I did discuss the arrangements in relation to negotiations ... I was very pleased that my first trip was to Scotland and that I was able to do that so early in our premiership ... I was also clear with the FM that i think there are some ideas being put forward that are impractical but I am willing to listen to ideas that are brought forward.

Robertson then mentioned May’s trip to Berlin this afternoon.

Would the PM thank Chancellor Merkel for the interest of the members of her government and members of the bundestag, their interest in having Scotland remain members of the EU. And will she reassure that we will do everything – everything – to stay in the EU.

May replied:

I have to say - because this is a line he has been taking for some time - I do find it a little confusing given that only two years ago the SNP was campaigning for Scotland to leave the UK, which would have meant them leaving the European Union.

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, says May has come a long way since they were candidates together in Durham in 1992. It has been reported the new Brexit department will be hiring lawyers at a rate of £5,000 a day.

May says the Brexit department needs to be properly staffed. And she says when she and Farron were both candidates, people would not have expected them both to lead parties. But hers is bigger than his, she says.

And that’s it.

Philip Davies, a Conservative, asks if May will keep her promise to get immigration below 100,000.

May says the Brexit vote sent a very clear message about the need to control immigration. She is firm in her belief that net migration needs to come down to sustainable levels. She says to her that means getting it into the tens of thousands.

Labour’s Barry Sheerman reminds May that he told her a few weeks ago that he thought she would end up prime minister. Will May soon give young millennials her vision of the future?

May says she remembers Sheerman telling her she would “trounce the men”. The Tories came up with an all-woman shortlist without being told to, she says. She says she wants young people to know that their opportunities are not just in Europe.

Simon Hoare, a Conservative, asks May if she will consult farmers over Brexit.

May says she will consult widely as we leave the EU. Agriculture will be particularly affected, and farmers will be consulted.

The SNP’s Stuart Donaldson asks May if she will ratify the Istanbul convention.

May says she is committed to tackling violence against women and girls. But there is always more to do, she says.

May says the Conservative benches contain MPs brought up in council homes, MPs brought up by single mothers, and the Tory chairman is a former miner. The party will govern in the interests of everyone.

Labour’s Imran Hussain asks for an assurance that the Northern schools strategy will continue.

May says it is important that children get the education they deserve. A review has been looking at this. The education secretary will make the position clear later.

Kelly Tollhurst, a Conservative, asks if the government has plans to strengthen the protection available to young women at risk of sexual abuse.

May says since the Rotherham scandal the government has been putting more measures in place to help the police to address this. In the coming months arrangements will be strengthened.

Labour’s Catherine McKinnell asks about Heathrow expansion. Will May do better than “dithering Dave” on this?

May says the position has not changed. Further work has been done on air quality. The cabinet and government will take a decision in the proper way in due course.

Snap PMQs Verdict

Snap PMQs Verdict: Theresa May continues to surprise us. We were told that she does not do jokes, but the highlight of her first exchange with Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs was a sustained, comic analogy that ended with May dropping her voice and saying “Remind him of anybody?” in a tone that made her sound just like Margaret Thatcher. We never knew impressionism was one of her talents. It was rather funny joke, but unsettling, and it jarred slightly because it was out of character. If Corbyn thought that the removal of David Cameron would spare him from scorn, he will have been disappointed. May is not as insulting as Cameron, but she delivered several withering put-downs in a PMQs which will be judged a success. For Corbyn this was always going to be tricky, because May has the goodwill of Tory MPs behind her. He was right to identify some wide gaps between the rhetoric in May’s “one nation” Downing Street speech last week and the government’s record, but his scattergun approach meant that he never highlighted these effectively. Starting with a question on Orgeave was odd too. For the public at large, this is an obscure piece of history, but it is a subject that matters to Labour and union members, and so perhaps this illustrated how the leadership contest is already dominating his thinking.

Updated

Corbyn says austerity means people being poorer, and services being cut. May said in her Number 10 speech that some people have job insecurity. Does that mean May will scrap employment tribunal fees, or ban zero hours contracts? That would give greater job security to people.

May says it is important that MPs consider not just the obvious injustices, but the problems facing people struggling to make ends meet. That is why the income tax threshold has gone up. Corbyn refers to the situation of workers with job insecurity and unscrupulous bosses. Many MPs might be familiar with this. A boss who does not listen to his workers. Or asks his workers to double up? Or exploits the rules to further his own interest. “Remind him of anybody?”

Corbyn says this may be funny for Tory MPs, but Tory MPs do not need to use food banks. May highlighted government failings in her speech last week, he says. Yesterday the IFS said two thirds of Britons living in poverty have at least one parent in work. What can May offer them?

May says it is the government’s duty to offer these people something. But the answer is not uncapped welfare. The answer is to deliver jobs, she says. The government must create an economy that works for everyone. Labour may be about to spent several months fighting and tearing itself apart. The Tories will bring the country back together.

Updated

Corbyn says Labour put in place a decent homes standard. Starter homes at £450,000 a year aren’t affordable. May said in her Number 10 speech last week that blacks were discriminated against. So did she ask Boris Johnson about calling blacks “piccaninnies” when she appointed him?

May says house prices are higher in London. That is why the starter home limits for London are higher.

As home secretary she dealt with the issue of stop and search, she said. She did that as a Conservative. In 13 years Labour did nothing.

Corbyn said he had asked about Johnson’s language. The government has abandoned its deficit reduction target. Six years of austerity has failed. The long-term economic plan has failed. Is there a new one?

May says it is delivering the record employment today. She says the government has not given up its plans to balance the budget. Corbyn calls this “austerity”. She calls this “living within your means”, she says.

Jeremy Corbyn welcomes May to her place. He says he hopes she agrees PMQs should be a place for serious debate.

He says as home secretary May kicked the proposed Orgreave inquiry into the long grass. Will she order a full public inquiry into this?

May says Corbyn said she was the second woman prime minister. Labour often asks what the Tories do for women. “Just keep making us prime minister,” she says. She says she hopes she will continue having discussions with Corbyn “for many years to come”.

She says the home secretary will respond to an urgent question on Orgreave later.

Corbyn says today home ownership is down. What target has May set for home ownership among young people?

May says the figures Corbyn are quoting include 13 years of Labour. This government is focusing on building more homes, she says.

John Glen, a Conservative, welcomes May to her place and asks if she welcomes the vote for Trident renewal. Will economic stability and national security be the guiding principles of her premiership?

May welcomes the vote on Monday. It showed the Commons is committed to national security, and to the security of our European allies, she says. She thanks the 140 Labour MPs who put the national interest first and voted for Trident renewal.

Theresa May is greeted with cheers as she stands up.

She starts by welcoming the employment figures.

And she says she is going to Berlin this afternoon to meet Chancellor Merkel. Tomorrow she is going to Paris, she says.

Theresa May's first PMQs

It is Theresa May’s first PMQs.

Her husband is in the gallery to watch.

Updated

Owen Smith's morning interviews - Summary and analysis

If you’re a candidate for the Labour leadership and you wake up in the morning to hear the second item on the Radio 4 news is a story about how you have been forced to say that you are committed to a publicly-funded NHS, then you are probably in a spot of trouble. But, from a bad start, the morning did get better for Owen Smith. He has given at least five interviews this morning, some of them quite long, and they have covered a wide range of topics. He had a lot to say, and he addressed some of the complaints that have been levelled against him in some detail. Unlike Jeremy Corbyn, he would turn slogans into solutions, he said. Of course that is a slogan too, but Smith delivered it with some plausibility. Overall, his media blitz probably did not go badly.

Here are the main points.

  • Smith said that, if he became leader, he would like Jeremy Corbyn to become party president. Currently there is no such post, but Smith seemed to be thinking of a role similar to the one played by the Lib Dem president, who plays a high profile campaigning role outside parliament. Smith said:

Jeremy has still got a lot to say for the Labour Party, but I don’t think Jeremy is a leader. I don’t think he’s a leader in parliament, but I do think he’s got a lot to say for Labour. I would absolutely want him to take a role like president, or chairman, as we have had in the past ... Jeremy has a way of communicating that many of our members find very appealing.

As the £80,000-a-year head of government affairs for the US drug company Pfizer, Mr Smith appeared to support an expanded role for private companies in providing healthcare for NHS patients.

In October 2005, commenting on a Pfizer-backed report into offering patients a choice between NHS services and private-sector healthcare providers, Mr Smith said: “We believe that choice is a good thing and that patients and healthcare professionals should be at the heart of developing the agenda.

Smith said the claim that he wanted more market involvement in the NHS was “a lie”. He said the Pfizer comment was made at a time when the then Labour government was using private providers to cut waiting lists for procedures like hip, knee and cataract operations. But he said the last Labour government went too far in allowing the private sector a role in the NHS. He said:

I believe in a 100% publicly owned NHS free at the point of use. It has been one of Labour’s profoundest achievements. I grew up swaddled in stories of the Labour Party creating the NHS.

There are obviously already many services in the NHS that are provided by private providers, there are a hell of a lot more of them now because of the way the current Tory government has twisted some of the words of the last Labour government. Broadly speaking, we made a mistake, the last Labour government, in not appreciating how a Tory government would ride a coach and horses through the language. In employing words like ‘choice’ I think we allowed them to use that as a Trojan horse to try and marketise the NHS. I’m opposed to that.

Smith was noticeably less critical of Labour’s decision to expand the role of the private sector in the NHS when he spoke about this in an interview with WalesOnline when he was a byelection candidate in 2006.

  • He said that he was standing against Corbyn because, although Corbyn had been good at identifying the problems facing Britain, he was not good at proposing solutions. He was just as radical as Corbyn, he said, but more practical. He claimed that he could turn slogans into solutions. He said:

That’s why people have lost faith in Jeremy … Jeremy’s been great at identifying some of the questions, some of the challenges, but he’s not been great at the answers.

He also said that, under Corbyn, Labour was “in crisis” and “a bit of a rabble”.

  • He came close to accusing Corbyn of condoning the abuse of MPs on social media. Referring to the abuse including misogyny and antisemitism directed at some Labour MP, he said Corbyn should have done much more about it. Corbyn had “let it run”, he said. Smith also said, spontaneously, that some people thought Corbyn was encouraging this - although he said he had no prove of this. He said:

Jeremy, in truth, has spoken a lot about it, but I think we need to be a lot more vigorous ... Jeremy should have stamped on this a lot harder. He’s let it run. Some people think he;s even encouraged it. Now, I don’t know that, but I do know that it has got to be stamped out in Labour.

When pressed as to whether he thought Corbyn had encouraged this, he replied:

But I think he’s not been strong enough. I think he has genuinely not understood what a grave problem this is.

  • He accused Corbyn of playing little part in the Labour campaigns that contributed to the government performing U-turns over tax credit cuts and personal independence payment cuts. Smith said these were his achievements. When it was put to him that Corbyn took the credit too, he replied:

I was working for him and I did not get a lot of guidance from Jeremy on any of those things. He was happy to talk about them after we had achieved them. But I tell you straight, it was me who drove that forward in the Labour party.

  • He claimed that a “bullying” culture at the BBC was partly responsible for a mistake he made when he was a junior reporter on the Today programme. It was put to him that he had called 999 to get a comment from the police on a story. Smith said actually he had called a police hotline. He told Good Morning Britain:

As a young man working on a radio programme, the Today programme where there was a bit of a culture of bullying, I made a very silly decision.

I’m telling you I made a mistake. It was very embarrassing with colleagues at the time and it was very embarrassing when the police did make a mistake.”

We all do daft things when we’re young... there was an editor of the programme who was a bit heavy-handed at the time. I think I was foolish to respond to that and do something daft.

The Good Morning Britain interview was the first he gave this morning. In later interviews he happily owned up to his mistake, but did not repeat the line about the culture of bullying.

  • He said he was disappointed that Labour was organising just three head-to-head hustings for him and Corbyn. He wanted 300, he said

I want to debate with Jeremy in every town, every village hall, every city in Britain.

Labour sources say that, although only three party hustings are planned, they expect other organisations to organise hustings.

  • He said he would be willing to authorise a nuclear strike. Asked if he would pull the nuclear button, he replied:

Yes is the unfortunate answer to that because, if you are serious about defence and serious about having a nuclear deterrent, then you have to be prepared to do that.

  • He said Labour would split if it carried on as it is now under Corbyn’s leadership. The party was “teetering on the brink of extinction”, he said.
  • He said he wanted Labour to recommit itself to tackling inequality.
  • He said he wanted a law putting new constraints on a government before it could take the country to war.
  • He said, as leader, he would create a panel of party members to advise him.

I want to create a party democracy. I would set up a senate, a shadow cabinet, of party members to advise me as leader of the Labour party. I want new ways in which we retain greater contact between the members and the leaders of the party at Westminster. Members are right that they have been treated shabbily by previous leaderships.

  • He said he would consider nationalising the steel industry.
  • He said he would consider ending the charitable status of private schools.
  • He said he received death threats yesterday on social media.
  • He said that he had never used Viagra. This came about because he was asked on Good Morning Britain about testing Pfizer’s products when he worked for them. Asked if he had tried Viagra, he replied:

No, I haven’t actually, I haven’t needed it.

Owen Smith says he backs publicly owned NHS

Updated

Here is more on the Labour/Corbyn court case. (See 10.39am.) These are from the BBC’s Tom Symonds.

This is from the Press Association.

This relates to a court decision about whether Jeremy Corbyn can be a party to the proceedings in a legal case brought by a Labour donor who has gone to court to challenge the party’s decision to allow Corbyn to contest the leadership without having acquired the 51 nominations from MPs and MEPs that Owen Smith needs. There is more on this here, on yesterday’s blog.

Theresa May's conversation with Donald Tusk

Theresa May told Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, that the UK would be giving up its final EU presidency (see 9.26am) when the two spoke by phone last night. A Downing Street spokesperson gave this account of the conversation

The president of the European Council Donald Tusk called the prime minister yesterday evening to congratulate her on her appointment.

The prime minister thanked President Tusk for the clear message he has given that the UK remains a full member of the EU until such a time as we leave and the prime minister underlined that she wants to approach the negotiations on the UK’s exit from the European Union in a constructive and pragmatic spirit.

In this context, the prime minister suggested that the UK should relinquish the rotating presidency of the council, currently scheduled for the second half of 2017, noting that we would be prioritising the negotiations to leave the European Union. Donald Tusk welcomed the PM’s swift decision on this issue which would allow the council to put alternative arrangements in place.

Finally, the prime minister explained that we will need to carefully prepare for the negotiations to leave the EU before triggering article 50. Donald Tusk reassured the prime minister that he will help to make this process happen as smoothly as possible.

They concluded by looking forward to a strong working relationship and agreed that they should meet soon in Brussels or London.

Donald Tusk, president of the European council.
Donald Tusk, president of the European council. Photograph: Davaanyam Delgerjargal/EPA

Smith said the worst thing that happened to him recently was when he went to watch the Wales v Belgium game at the pub. He met someone he had known since childhood who asked why he wanted to be Labour leader. He said he was alarmed by how the reputation of the party had fallen.

And that’s it.

As promised earlier, I will post a summary of Smith’s morning media blitz soon.

Smith said he would be radical as leader. He was on the left of the party, and would supply radical solutions.

Q: You could split the Labour party?

Smith said he thought the Labour party would be more likely to split if Corbyn won.

That was why Corbyn had to compromise, Smith said. He said he had told him, “compromise, man”. Corbyn could become the Labour party president, he said.

Q: How likely is a split?

If Labour carries on like this, it will split, Smith said. That is why he is standing, he said.

Smith said he heard there would be only three head-to-head hustings. Smith said he wanted 300.

Q: Does Labour have a problem with women?

Smith said he thought there had been a problem recently with misogyny and antisemitism. Some women have been subject to appalling abuse, he said. Often these were criminal acts. They needed to be treated with zero tolerance.

He says Corbyn should have stamped down on this much harder. Some people even think Corbyn has encouraged it, he said.

Q: Do you think that?

Smith said he did not know. But he thought Corybn had to stamp it out.

Q: What have you achieved politically?

Smith said he got the government to U-turn over tax credit cuts and over the cuts to personal independence payments.

He said he played a part in getting rid of Iain Duncan Smith.

Q: Jeremy Corbyn claims credit for that.

Smith said he did not get a lot of guidance from Corbyn on those campaigns.

He repeated the point about a panel of advisers, saying it would be “an additional shadow cabinet”, giving him advice from the grassroots.

Q: Isn’t your candidature a kick in the teeth for Labour members?

No, said Smith. He wants a Labour government, not just a protest movement.

He said he was just as radical as Corbyn, but he could turn slogans into solutions.

He said he would set up a “senate” of advisers to advise him if he were leader of the Labour party.

Michael Gove said he was sick of experts, Smith said. But Smith said he was not sick of experts.

Updated

Q: Why did you call yourself “normal”, in what was seen as a jibe at Angela Eagle?

Smith said that remark was taken out of context. It was never intended as a comment on Eagle.

Smith said Britain could not afford not to invest.

Q: You have been accused a being a flip-flopper. You were a Blairite. Now you are praising Corbyn.

Smith said that was wrong. He was a conviction politician. His political awakening came during the miners’ strike. But, as John Prescott said, you need to modernise who you implement your values.

Q: Would you nationalise the steel industry.

Smith said he would consider that.

Q: Would you end the charitable status of private schools?

Smith said he would look at tha.

Q: Would you back Hinkley Point?

Yes, said Smith.

Q: Women-only carriages on trains? (This was an idea vaguely floated by Corbyn last year, but subsequently dropped).

Smith said that was a bad idea.

Owen Smith's interview on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show.

A few minutes ago Owen Smith finished a lengthy interview on BBC News, with Norman Smith and then Victoria Derbyshire. Here are some of the highlights. (I’ll leave out the answers that replicate things he said in his earlier interviews.

Smith said Jeremy Corbyn had “great Labour values”, and had taught the party to understand its radical roots.

Q: So are you just a more plausible, media-savvy Jeremy Corbyn.

No, said Smith. He said he was Owen Smith.

He said Corbyn had been great at slogans. Labour needed to be great at solutions.

He said Labour should be proposing a £200bn fund to invest in infrastructure.

Owen Smith.
Owen Smith. Photograph: BBC News/BBC

Unemployment falls by 54,000

Here are the headline unemployment figures.

  • Unemployment fell by 54,000 to 1.65m (4.9%) between March and May.
  • The number of people on the claimant count last month increased by 400 to
    759,100.
  • Average earnings increased by 2.3% in the year to May, 0.3% up on the previous
    month.

And here is the Office for National Statistics bulletin with the full details.

UK to give up its presidency of the EU in 2017

Downing Street has just announced that Theresa May has told Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, that Britain will relinquish its six-month presidency of the EU in the second half of 2017.

That was expected. The country that has the presidency of the EU gets considerable influence over the items on the agenda for European Council meetings, and the idea of the UK being in charge when it was simultaneously negotiating Brexit always seemed unsustainable.

Q: Who said six months ago that Jeremy Corbyn would be taking the party into the election, “end of”.

That was me, says Smith. Corbyn had a stonking majority. He is a great Labour person with convictions. But no one out there thinks Corbyn will win an election.

Q: What if he wins?

Smith says he will still be Labour. It is Labour or nothing for me, he says. He says he would serve Labour from the backbenches.

He says people should vote for him in order to unite Labour.

Q: It has been reported that, when you were working as a journalist, you were asked to get a comment from the police and you called 999.

Smith says that is embarrassing. He was a cub researcher. He does not think he called 999, but he did call a police hotline, he says.

And that’s it.

Smith has given a series of interviews this morning. Claire has already covered some of them, but I will pull together a summary soon.

Q: When you worked for Pfizer, you said you believed in choice. Does that mean you believe in part-privatisation of the NHS?

No, says Smith. He says he was brought up on tales of the founding of the NHS.

He says the question refers to a press released about a report commissioned before he started working for Pfizer. He says the then Labour government was using private providers to clear waiting lists. The current Tory government has taken the use of the private sector further.

Q: It says here choice is a good thing. Was is it good then, but bad now?

Smith says that was referring to limited use of the private sector to clear backlogs.

But the last Labour government did not realise how employing private provision in the NHS could be exploited by the Tories.

Owen Smith's LBC interview

Owen Smith, the Labour leadership contender, is on LBC now.

He says the Labour party is being seen as a bit of a rabble now.

Q: You said at your launch Labour needed to be pro-prosperity. What does that mean?

Smith says it means there needs to be a plan for investment.

Anyone who has worked in business, “like me”, knows you have to invest, he says.

Q: How would you afford that?

Smith says the government should issue gilts.

Updated

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.

Oliver Letwin, who left the cabinet last week after six years as David Cameron’s chief policy coordinator, has announced that he will stand down as an MP at the next election, his local paper, the Dorset Echo, reports. He wants to spend more time with his family.

Nick Clegg, having weighed in to demand a general election before Brexit actually happens, begins his new job today as the Liberal Democrats’ official spokesman for Brexit. Well, on Brexit. The Lib Dems are not “for”.

Here’s what Clegg – who didn’t take a frontbench role in Tim Farron’s team after stepping down as leader last year – has to say about his new role:

Theresa May says Brexit means Brexit but no one actually knows what that means. Will we be in the single market or cut off from it, with all the implications that has for British jobs and our economy? What does it mean for immigration? What about the Brits who live abroad and the Europeans who have made our country their home? How will we co-operate with our neighbours to tackle terrorism, cross-border crime and climate change?

With no meaningful opposition from the Labour party, no exit plan from the government, Whitehall unprepared for the Brexit negotiations, and above all, Theresa May’s refusal to seek a mandate from the people for what is in effect a new government, there is a real risk that she and her Brexit ministers won’t be subject to the scrutiny and accountability which voters deserve.

Whatever your views on Brexit, it is in everyone’s interest to make sure what happens next is debated openly and scrutinised properly. So I want to make clear that we will work openly and collaboratively with people of all parties and none who believe that Britain must remain an open economy and a tolerant, outward-looking nation.

Nick Clegg: back on the Lib Dem front bench.
Nick Clegg: back on the Lib Dem front bench. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

My colleague Kate Connolly offers this perspective from Berlin on today’s meeting between Theresa May and Angela Merkel:

When Merkel made her first visit to the UK as newly elected German chancellor in 2005, she was quickly referred to as Germany’s Margaret Thatcher. No one makes such a comparison any more. Instead May is referred to as Britain’s Merkel and it has even been suggested has modelled herself on her German counterpart, not least in her maiden speech in which she expressed her wish to ‘make Britain a country that works for everyone’, which had strong echoes of Merkel’s social market tendencies …

In a nod to the potential convivial relationship the two women might have, as well as their unlikely rises through the ranks of male-dominated conservative parties, a Berliner Zeitung cartoon depicted them drinking cups of tea, with Merkel telling May ‘Simply let the men get on with their thing …’ and May, fresh from taking over from David Cameron, finishing her sentence with ‘… and then you end up getting their jobs!’.

(That noise you can hear is my eyebrow hitting my hairline at that “their jobs” comment.)

Read the full article here:

Seeing as we’re talking about Owen Smith’s 2005 comments, here’s one from Jeremy Corbyn in 2003, courtesy of Private Eye:

Owen Smith says he would make Corbyn Labour party president if he became leader

Smith says if elected, he would offer Jeremy Corbyn a job: a role as president or chairman of Labour, he suggests would suit him. But he’s just not a leader, Smith insists.

Updated

Questioning turns to Smith’s time as a lobbyist for pharmaceutical firms including Pfizer.

He says its “clearly not true” that he wanted private providers to take over more of the NHS. He did not commission the report in question, he maintains.

I’ve never advocated privatisation of the NHS …

There are already many services in the NHS provided by the private sector, adding that the last Labour government made a mistake with its steps towards privatisation, introducing a “Trojan horse” for the Tory government to take it further.

Owen Smith on the Today programme

Owen Smith has now made his way on to the Today programme.

We do need a radical, left Labour party that has a clear sense of what it’s about … I will provide that because those are my politics.

But he says they need to provide “powerful opposition” and to be a government-in-waiting: that’s not what voters see right now, he says.

That’s why people have lost faith in Jeremy … Jeremy’s been great at identifying some of the questions, some of the challenges, but he’s not been great at the answers.

Anti-austerity, Smith says, is just a slogan at the moment. He proposes a £200bn investment programme, funded through the government, to build infrastructure including schools, railways, 300,000 houses a year.

Jeremy Corbyn’s never spelt out what he wants to spend … It’s time for Labour to start offering more than slogans.

The Telegraph reports that Theresa May will move into Downing Street this week – having begun her tenure at No 10 by commuting in each day:

Mrs May agreed a timetable with David Cameron after she took over the residence following Andrea Leadsom’s unexpected decision to stand down from the leadership race.

It is thought that the speed of the change meant Mr Cameron and his family needed more time to pack their belongings and removal vans were spotted in the street over the weekend.

May will, in fact, live in No 11, while chancellor Philip Hammond takes the smaller (it’s all relative) No 10 residence, following the pattern set by the Camerons and Osbornes.

A confession: I can’t see Owen Smith on ITV’s Good Morning Britain right now, but I assume – and hope – that this question was asked in relation to Smith’s past employment at Pfizer:

Labour challenger Owen Smith is hurtling from studio to studio this morning, and right now he’s on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

He did once, he admits, when working as a researcher on the BBC’s Today programme, call 999 to get a comment from the police on a story: “We all do daft things when we’re young.”

Morning briefing

Good morning and welcome to our daily politics live blog. Here’s your morning briefing to wake you up and switch you on to the day’s key news, before the live blog guides you through it all.

Do come and share thoughts and questions in the comments below, or find me on Twitter: @Claire_Phipps.

The big picture

After a break-up she didn’t want, Theresa May heads to Berlin today to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the divorce terms. They’ll talk Brexit negotiations and the delicate timetabling of article 50, after which we’ll be treated to pictures of their shoes and analyses of their jackets or some such rubbish.

Still, let’s cheer ourselves up with the prospect of a top-level political meeting that passes the Bechdel test.

Angela Merkel at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Ulan Bator last week.
Angela Merkel and men at the Asia-Europe Meeting in Ulan Bator last week. Photograph: Wu Hong/EPA

May will be taking her Brexit-means-Brexit banner with her to the meeting with Merkel, and on Thursday with French president François Hollande:

I am determined that Britain will make a success of leaving the European Union and that’s why I have decided to visit Berlin and Paris so soon after taking office.

I do not underestimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the EU and I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation.

Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – who’ll be on his way to Washington as May goes to Berlin – is urging haste along with that frankness and openness:

I think we can expect that Britons will act as quickly as possible to end this period of uncertainty in Britain and in Europe.

Despite Brexit, we need the cooperation with Britain in our international relations, particularly in these times of crisis.

Those personalities that campaign for Brexit are now obligated and responsible to make the decision a reality.

Here’s one of those personalities, the new foreign secretary Boris Johnson, not feeling obligated to make amends for previous statements about “the part-Kenyan president’s ancestral dislike of the British empire” (that’s Barack Obama, by the way) or likening Hillary Clinton to “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”. Diplomacy is such a yawn, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, back at Westminster

May will host her first PMQs at noon against – *checks news* – Jeremy Corbyn, still the leader of the opposition, despite the efforts of his own opposition.

That unity candidate has been chosen now, and it’s Owen Smith, who secured the backing of more MPs and MEPs than challenger number one, Angela Eagle – 90 for Smith v 72 for Eagle, according to Guardian calculations. Eagle has stepped out but insists she remains “in lockstep together” with Smith to oust Corbyn.

Smith, perhaps having decided that “I am normal” isn’t the most inspiring of rallying cries, made a fresh appeal:

I want to say to all members of the Labour party tonight, young and old, longstanding and new members: I can be your champion. I am just as radical as Jeremy Corbyn.

Owen Smith: normal, but in a radical kind of way.
Owen Smith: normal, but in a radical kind of way. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

But, ask some, how radical was Smith when he worked as a lobbyist in the pharmaceutical industry before becoming an MP in 2010? That depends on your definition of radical, perhaps, with the Times reporting today:

In October 2005, commenting on a Pfizer-backed report into offering patients a choice between NHS services and private-sector healthcare providers, Mr Smith said: ‘We believe that choice is a good thing and that patients and healthcare professionals should be at the heart of developing the agenda.’

Smith’s campaign responded:

Owen has been crystal clear that he is 100% committed to a fully publicly owned NHS, free at the point of use. He has repeatedly argued passionately for this.

Would-be Labour influencers have until 5pm Wednesday to register (and shell out £25) to vote in the leadership bout.

Angela Eagle pulls out of Labour leadership race

You should also know:

Diary

Read these

The latest in the Guardian’s Europe after Brexit series shines a light on France, where the far-right has seen an opportunity in the UK’s vote to leave the EU.

Sam Bright, writing in the New Statesman, says the major parties ought to keep an eye on a refreshed Ukip:

Farage’s doom-mongering about repressed wages, overwhelmed public services and burgeoning crime is being supplanted by a positive message focused on opportunity and success. Ukip is casting off its petulant whinging and is starting to evolve into a grown-up political party.

Yet, even as it crafts a more professional, forward-thinking image, Ukip will retain its hero status as the anti-establishment victor of the referendum. Thus, if the Tories’ centre-ground pitch proves to be a rhetorical illusion, Ukip will surely entice those who are attracted by the promise of social mobility, but are fed up with the backsliding of mainstream politicians.

Michael Gove on the back benches on Tuesday, perfectly happy not to be prime minister, a job he never wanted to do anyway.
Michael Gove on the back benches on Tuesday, perfectly happy not to be prime minister, a job he never wanted to do anyway. Photograph: PA

More of a “saving you from reading” choice, as Sarah Vine’s return to her Daily Mail column swerves the only issue we want to hear about, but offers this harrumph:

An infuriating new cliche has entered the vernacular: ‘life chances’. It crops up everywhere, from interviews with politicians to reports by charities, and has no meaning other than to ostentatiously display the user’s social conscience.

All I can say is this: the next person who says it to me may find theirs drastically curtailed.

Would it be churlish to point Vine in the direction of this speech by Michael Gove, when education secretary?

The essence of this attack is a belief that teaching cannot actually make that much of a difference to the life chances of children.

And from the same speech:

Why do these schools succeed, transforming poor children’s lives and life chances, for good?

Hmmm of the day

“Politics is not a game,” May told her new cabinet on Tuesday, sitting next to the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.

Theresa May tells first cabinet meeting: ‘We won’t be a government defined by Brexit’

Celebrity parallel-drawing of the day

Ralph Fiennes, currently appearing as Richard III at London’s Almeida theatre, sees some modern-day reflections of Shakespeare’s scheming king:

Michael Gove is closest. Because all those protestations about ‘I could never lead, it’s not in my DNA to lead’ – that’s classic Richard.

Director Rupert Goold admitted he’d originally had a different character in mind:

I thought Boris is this figure who is physically strange and yet sexually predatory and potent, inherently comic, outside the rules, of questionable motives, ultimately ambitious. It was going to be very crude ... Milibands as princes in the tower.

The day in a tweet

If today were a GCSE German question

It would be wie komme ich am besten zum Brexit, bitte?

And another thing

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