Category Archives: Brexit

Brexit: Labour to back common market 2.0/Norway amendment for staying in single market – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the second day of Commons votes on alternative Brexit options

The indicative votes debate is now over.

John Bercow, the Speaker, is telling MPs that they have half an hour to cast their vote, on paper in the division lobbies.

MPs are now voting on four propositions for #IndicativeVotes2 on light blue coloured between 8pm-8.30pm:

(C) Customs Union - Clarke
(D) Common Market 2.0 - Boles
(E) Confirmatory Public Vote - Kyle/Wilson
(G) Parliamentary Supremacy - Cherry pic.twitter.com/550xBpSAMk

Vicky Ford, a Conservative, says she will back the custom union amendment. Being in a customs union is not the same as being in the customs union, she says. She says the UK would be out of the common agricultural policy and out of the common fisheries policy.

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Ministers try to force May’s hand over Brexit as cabinet rift widens

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Remainers and Brexiters alike threaten to resign as MPs prepare for second round of indicative votes

Theresa May’s government is on the verge of meltdown as cabinet ministers prepare to clash over whether to support plans for a softer Brexit and a possible lengthy delay before leaving the European Union.

In a decisive intervention, David Gauke, the justice secretary, said on Sunday that the prime minister would have to accept the possibility of backing a customs union if the measure is supported by parliament this week.

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Labour may call fresh vote of no confidence in Theresa May

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Shadow foreign secretary also says it is likely Labour would pursue policy of leaving the EU in government

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, has said Labour is considering calling another vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s government following parliament’s failure to pass her Brexit deal with 10 days before the UK is due to leave.

The prime minister survived a vote of no confidence in January, the day after her Brexit deal was rejected for the first time. Her deal has since been voted down two further times.

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Grieve accuses ex-Ukip opponent of insurgency after confidence vote loss

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MP says Jon Conway only joined Beaconsfield Tories to defeat confidence motion

Dominic Grieve has blamed a former Ukip opponent for orchestrating an insurgency of his local association which has plunged his future into doubt after he lost a confidence vote.

The remain-supporting Tory MP is facing de-selection from his party after the Conservative association in his Beaconsfield constituency said it no longer had confidence in him at a “rowdy” meeting on Friday.

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May hints at possible need for election, saying MPs ‘reaching limits’ of Brexit process – as it happened

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Rolling updates on the fate of the withdrawal agreement on the day UK was supposed to be leaving EU

That’s all from us this evening – thanks for reading. Here’s a summary of the day’s events:

Related: May hopes to hold fourth vote on Brexit deal

Scotland Yard has now updated the arrest figures for today’s rallies:

As of 21:00hrs five arrests have been made at the demonstrations in central #London today: x2 for assault, x1 drunk & disorderly, x1 for assaulting a
police officer & x1 male arrested after being identified as wanted for an
offence in Herts. All are in custody.

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Brexit: MPs to only vote on withdrawal agreement tomorrow – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the latest Commons Brexit votes and to Theresa May’s announcement that she will quit before next stage of negotiations with EU

Theresa May is now embarked on a new strategy to get her Brexit deal through the Commons. Her new strategy seems largely driven by the decision of John Bercow, the Speaker, to declare that he will rule out repeat votes on the same proposition (a ruling that he firmed up yesterday, and again today). The details of the new approach are complicated, and at this stage not all 100% clear, and some MPs are already questioning the legality of what she is trying to do. But this is what we know.

DUP to vote against government on withdrawal agreement

For avoidance of doubt, DUP will vote against agreement tomorrow, party source says

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Brexit: May suffers fresh setback as DUP says it will vote against deal for third time – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including the indicative votes debate as MPs choose from eight options

The Commons sitting has been suspended but, as my colleague Dan Sabbagh and others report, there is a bit of a row going on about the fact that the mace is still there.

Speaker has walked out suspending proceedings until the indicative votes are counted. But Tories are furiously pointing to the mace, still in its place, and trying to encourage deputy speaker Eleanor Laing to take the chair. Which would be a parliamentary take over...

The mace is still in place which I think is the cause of the uproar. It’s not meant to be there if we’re not sitting, but I don’t know if a brief suspension counts. It’s not normal for the Chamber to be occupied without anyone in the chair.

Speaker suspends sitting & vacates chair while we wait for results of this evening’s votes - as he had said he would do.
Tory MPs object that the mace is still there.
They object by trying to raise points of order to an empty chair.
What a total shambles of a parliament.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says he is not able to announce the results of the indicative votes ballot yet because they have not all been counted. But he says he hopes to be able to announce them soon.

So he suspends the house.

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Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit

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Prime minister says she will not stand in way of desire for new approach, in bid to get Tories behind deal

Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister within the next few months in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal.

The prime minister indicated she would resign only if her Brexit deal passes in order to allow a new leader to shape the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

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Donald Tusk: EU cannot betray increasing majority wishing to remain – video

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Donald Tusk has said the EU cannot betray an 'increasing majority' of British people who want to cancel Brexit and remain in the bloc. The European council president hailed those who marched on the streets of London and the millions who were petitioning the government to revoke article 50. Tusk finished his speech by saying: 'They may feel that they are not sufficiently represented by the UK parliament, but they must feel that they are represented by you in this chamber. Because they are Europeans'

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All new UK cars to have speed limiters by 2022 under EU plans

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Road safety measure part of package of reforms likely to be adopted despite Brexit

All new cars sold in the UK and Europe are to be fitted with devices to automatically stop drivers from exceeding the speed limit under sweeping changes to vehicle safety rules provisionally agreed by the EU.

Although Britain may no longer be part of the EU when the rules come into effect, the UK regulator, the Vehicle Certification Agency, has said it will mirror safety standards for vehicles in the UK.

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Tory Brexiters want May resignation date in order to back deal

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Prime minister under pressure to say publicly she will hand over next stage to new leader

Theresa May is under intense pressure to set out a timetable for her departure from Downing Street to seal the support of Brexit hardliners for her twice-rejected deal.

The prime minister will address Conservative MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers on Wednesday as the House of Commons prepares to vote on alternatives to her Brexit deal.

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Opera singer asked to change pro-EU dress for London concert

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Anna Patalong, performing at Royal Albert Hall, says free movement ‘essential’ for musicians

An opera singer who was asked to change her EU-themed dress for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, has described her choice of attire as a “subtle nod” to Europe at a time when she and other musicians fear for their livelihoods.

The British soprano Anna Patalong donned the yellow-and-blue outfit, along with a necklace of gold stars redolent of the EU flag, for a Classical Spectacular performance on Saturday after taking part in the anti-Brexit march in London earlier in the day.

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European parliament votes to scrap daylight saving time from 2021

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Directive would apply to UK if it stayed in EU, and also during Brexit transition period

The European parliament has voted to scrap the twice-a-year custom of changing the clocks by an hour in spring and autumn by 2021, leaving only national governments to now give their assent.

The change would apply to the UK if it stays in the EU, and also during an extended transition period that is part of Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

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Tory rebels asked by No 10 if they would back Brexit deal if May quit

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Downing Street aides put question to hard Brexiters at Chequers summit last weekend

Downing Street aides directly asked hard-Brexit Conservatives at Chequers on Sunday whether Theresa May’s resignation as prime minister would be enough to get them to endorse finally the exit deal struck with the European Union, it has emerged.

The afternoon summit at the prime minister’s country retreat was carefully choreographed so that Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith, Jacob Rees-Mogg and other Tory rebels present ended up in one-to-one chats with key No 10 staffers when the main meeting periodically broke up.

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Brexit: Three ministers resign to join 29-strong Tory revolt on indicative votes – as it happened

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MPs vote by 329 to 302 for Letwin amendment, despite Theresa May saying government would not be bound by result

As not much has happened in the past hour, I’m going to close the blog by republishing my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s excellent snap analysis for those who missed it an hour or so ago. Thanks and goodnight.

Sky’s Lewis Goodall seems chirpy:

I’m going to bed and finally having a day off tomorrow. But in conclusion: something actually happened tonight.

No, really. I can’t believe it either.

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Warning of legal limbo for 3m EU citizens living in UK after Brexit

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Free movement, housing and social security rights at risk, says parliamentary report

EU citizens living in the UK would be stripped of their freedom of movement, housing and social security rights by Home Office legislation introduced to regulate immigration following Brexit, a parliamentary report has warned.

Despite repeated government reassurances that their privileges will be protected, a study by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) concludes that more than 3 million Europeans living in Britain would be left in legal “limbo”.

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MPs seize control of Brexit process by backing indicative votes amendment

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Amendment giving MPs a series of votes on alternatives to May’s Brexit deal passes 329 votes to 302

MPs have inflicted a fresh humiliating defeat on Theresa May, voting to seize control of the parliamentary timetable to allow backbenchers to hold a series of votes on alternatives to her Brexit deal.

An amendment tabled by former Tory minister Oliver Letwin passed, by 329 votes to 302 on Monday night, as MPs expressed their exasperation at the government’s failure to set out a fresh approach.

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The week ahead for Brexit: third time lucky for May?

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With more than 120 MPs backing an amendment in support of indicative voting, it’s going to be a fraught five days

Many weeks have so far been billed as crunch weeks for Brexit. But with the revised departure date looming, Theresa May’s proposal looking all-but doomed and the prime minister’s own position openly questioned, the next days really do appear crucial. Here is what could happen and when.

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Brexiters pile on pressure as May’s deal drifts away

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High-stakes Chequers summit breaks up without agreement

Theresa May’s prospects of getting her Brexit deal through parliament this week dramatically receded on Sunday night after a high-stakes summit with Boris Johnson and other leading hard-Brexiters at her country retreat broke up without agreement.

Tory rebels present said that the prime minister repeated “all the same lines” about her deal and that nothing new emerged during the three-hour meeting, at which Jacob Rees-Mogg, Iain Duncan Smith and Dominic Raab were also present.

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Theresa May has failed to offer sound leadership in this toxic Brexit phase | Phillip Lee

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The PM has brought us to this crisis with a series of calamitous decisions

How has it come to this? Theresa May and her husband, Philip, have long been friends of mine and I have in the past admired her sense of duty and commitment to her party and her country. So it grieves me that her stubborn choices have left both in peril.

At a time when our politics needs statesmanship, not brinkmanship, when our divided people need time to heal and come back together, and when our country needs honest leadership rooted in reality not ideology, Mrs May has embraced division. Rather than providing the calm, compassionate and unifying leadership we so desperately needed after a divisive EU referendum campaign, she rushed to own Brexit. She has clung to power in the process, but she is letting us all down.

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