Deputy Frans Timmermans accuses Tory Brexiters of a ‘cavalier’ approach to peace
Jean-Claude Juncker has told Theresa May in a private phone call that shifting her red lines in favour of a permanent customs union is the price she will need to pay for the EU revising the Irish backstop.
Without a major shift in the prime minister’s position, the European commission president told May that the current terms of the withdrawal agreement were non-negotiable.
Continue reading...BBC’s John Humphrys criticised for putting ‘Brexit solution’ to Irish minister
Ireland has dismissed the suggestion that the best solution to the Brexit impasse might be for the country to quit the EU and join the UK.
Related: Leo Varadkar: Brexit has undermined Good Friday agreement
Continue reading...European Medicines Agency heads for Amsterdam 63 days before Brexit
The European Medicines Agency, one of the biggest EU regulators and one of the first casualties of Brexit, has closed its doors in the UK for the last time with the loss of 900 jobs.
Staff lowered and folded up the 28 national flags that adorned the lobby in London’s Canary Wharf headquarters on Friday night and bid farewell before moving to their new offices in Amsterdam.
Continue reading...Group of historians and writers publish manifesto warning against rise of populism
Liberal values in Europe face a challenge “not seen since the 1930s”, leading intellectuals from 21 countries have said, as the UK lurches towards Brexit and nationalists look set to make sweeping gains in EU parliamentary elections.
The group of 30 writers, historians and Nobel laureates declared in a manifesto published in several newspapers, including the Guardian, that Europe as an idea was “coming apart before our eyes”.
Continue reading...Ian Lavery says rerun could damage relationship between politicians and public
A senior ally of Jeremy Corbyn has said holding a second EU referendum could badly affect the relationship between politicians and the public, as a series of Labour backbenchers tabled new amendments seeking such an option.
Ian Lavery, a Labour MP who is also the party’s national campaigns coordinator, said that while the possibility of a second referendum should be maintained as a way to end an otherwise intractable Brexit impasse, he was worried about the consequences.
Continue reading...Speaking in Davos, chancellor says changes such as end to free movement are on the way
Philip Hammond has told business leaders they need to accept the result of Britain’s EU referendum and warned that a failure to implement it would damage the country’s political stability.
The chancellor told increasingly restless business leaders that he was working for a deal that safeguarded the economy, and said he understood their frustration but companies had to accept that changes were coming – such as an end to the free movement of people and business models built on a supply of cheap labour.
Continue reading...Carolyn Fairbairn warns bosses at Davos that damage caused by disorderly exit could spread far beyond the UK
Fears are growing internationally that a no-deal Brexit poses a threat to the stability of the global economy, the head of Britain’s leading business body has warned.
Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the CBI, said the failure to sort out Britain’s departure from the European Union was damaging Britain’s brand abroad and had joined a list of systemic risks to the world economy.
Continue reading...EU’s chief negotiator warns UK will crash out unless ‘positive majority’ of MPs agree on new vision
Michel Barnier has warned that the move led by Labour MP Yvette Cooper to block the prime minister from delivering a no-deal Brexit is doomed to fail unless a majority for an alternative agreement is found.
The EU’s chief negotiator, in a speech in Brussels, said the “default” for the UK was still crashing out if MPs could not coalesce around a new vision of its future outside the bloc.
Continue reading...Revised deal – including backstop concessions – could win support to see off ‘Europhile kamikaze MPs’
Tory Brexit supporters alarmed by the prospect of a delay have hinted they could be won over in the coming weeks – if Theresa May can produce a serious concession from Brussels on the Irish backstop.
The numbers may not be enough for May to win support for her deal, given continued opposition from a hardcore of Brexiters who also object to the £39bn financial settlement, those with personal grudges against the prime minister and Tory remainers hoping for a second referendum. However, some Brexiter MPs or those in seats which voted leave have suggested in recent days that there is a path to win their support.
Continue reading...Spokesman says it is ‘pretty obvious’ border controls would be needed under no deal
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The EU has confirmed it will enforce a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, despite the risk it would pose to peace.
In comments that will be highly uncomfortable for Dublin, Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief spokesman told reporters it was “pretty obvious” that border infrastructure would be necessary if the UK were to leave without deal.
Continue reading...PM faces a looming revolt over a no-deal Brexit as Corbyn criticises her talks as ‘PR sham’
Theresa May doubled down on her opposition to a second Brexit referendum on Monday night, claiming it would threaten Britain’s “social cohesion” and insisting the centrepiece of her strategy remained negotiating changes to the Irish backstop.
With just 67 days to go until Britain is due by law to leave the European Union, May exasperated MPs and business groups by offering scant evidence that she was willing to change course.
Continue reading...Critics warn many could be left without legal status to stay if settlement scheme fails
Migration experts have warned that the post-Brexit system for registering EU citizens living in the UK could become a new “Windrush scandal” as the scheme to register an estimated 3.5 million EU citizens living in the UK begins.
From Monday, the third phase of testing will open to EU residents in the UK, who will be able to register for the new post-Brexit “settled status”. The Home Office is extending its live trial to all EU citizens who hold a valid passport and any non-EU citizen family members who hold a valid biometric residence card.
Continue reading...Statement on Monday expected to focus on finding a remedy to issue that threatens to split Tory party
Theresa May is expected to reject calls to forge a cross-party consensus on Brexit when she lays out her plan B to parliament on Monday, choosing instead to back new diplomatic efforts in Brussels to renegotiate the Irish backstop.
The prime minister held a conference call with her bitterly divided cabinet from the country retreat of Chequers on Sunday evening.
Continue reading...Downing Street says it is ‘extremely concerning’ MPs could attempt to override the government
Downing Street has said it is “extremely concerning” that MPs could attempt to override the government to suspend or delay the article 50 process to leave the EU in their effort to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
A slew of backbench amendments are expected to be attached to the prime minister’s statement on Monday on the way forward for the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Continue reading...Thousands gathered across the globe to call for equality and the protection of women’s rights
Continue reading...Vince Cable says move follows cross-party talks on Brexit deadlock options
Cabinet ministers involved in cross-party talks on how to break the Brexit deadlock have given the first indication that they are prepared to examine plans for a potential second referendum on the UK’s departure from the EU, according to the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable.
The offer to examine a possible timetable for a second vote drawn up by the Lib Dems was made during discussions between senior Liberal Democrats and two cabinet ministers involved in the talks, Michael Gove and David Lidington, in the Cabinet Office on Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Ex-PM urges Theresa May to stage series of ‘indicative’ votes as way out of impasse
Sir John Major has called for MPs to be allowed to have a free vote on a series of options to solve the unfolding Brexit crisis, saying he feared millions will be hurt if Britain leaves the EU with the wrong deal or none at all.
The former prime minister called on Theresa May to stage a series of “indicative” votes in parliament to establish whether any proposals could command a majority.
Continue reading...Doctors call for more transparency amid fears of shortages, especially of insulin
Ministers have been urged by top doctors to reveal the extent of national drug stocks, amid growing evidence patients are stockpiling medication in preparation for a no-deal Brexit.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), which represents tens of thousands of doctors, urged the government to be more “transparent about national stockpiles, particularly for things that are already in short supply or need refrigeration, such as insulin”.
Continue reading...Jon Henley answers Brexit queries from confused readers around the world
Having asked those of you living outside the UK if you were confused by the latest news from Brexitland, I got so many responses (thank you all) that I have grouped and paraphrased the most common ones so as to be able answer, at least approximately, as many as possible.
And I’ve mostly stuck to factual questions on the Brexit process. “Will Brexit finally teach Britain it no longer rules the world?” from (among others) Steve Norman in Canada, Ferdy in Dublin and Thijs in the Netherlands, warrants a book-length response, but not now.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson’s Brexit speech
Here is Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, on Boris Johnson’s speech.
No one will take lessons from Boris Johnson on eroding trust in our democracy. The fact he is still peddling mistruths about money from Brexit going to our NHS is shameful. Brexit will make us poorer.
As exit day approaches, with Theresa May’s deal soundly defeated, extending Article 50 is the only responsible course of action left.
And here are some more examples of Boris Johnson raising Turkey as a leave campaign issue in 2016.
I am very pro-Turkish but what I certainly can’t imagine is a situation in which 77million of my fellow Turks and those of Turkish origin can come here without any checks at all. That is mad - that won’t work.
Here's Boris during a HuffPost/Tele referendum debate suggesting British public should be given referendum on any Turkish membership of the EU. And that he is 'all in favour' of Turkey joining the EU as long as the UK 'comes out'. (1hr 12mins)https://t.co/jBMWY530mw
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