Category Archives: Jeremy Corbyn

Karen Bradley ‘not fit to be NI secretary’ after Troubles comment, former police ombudsman says – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen

Amber Rudd has apologised. According to the Press Association, she said she was “mortified at my clumsy language” and has apologised for describing Diane Abbott as “coloured”. (See 2.42pm.)

Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, has referred to Diane Abbott as “coloured”. As Patrick Maguire reports at the Staggers, she used the term in an interview with Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. Speaking about the abuse directed at MPs (see 1.12pm), Rudd said:

It definitely is worse if you’re a woman, and it’s worst of all if you’re a coloured woman. I know that Diane Abbott gets a huge amount of abuse, and I think that’s something we need to continue to call out.

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Government defeated in Lords over meaningful vote on future trade deals – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

- The government are defeated on Labour’s amendment 13 in the House of Lords. The amendment makes it an “objective” of the government during negotiations to pursue a free trade deal allowing the UK to stay “in a customs union” with the EU after Brexit.

- The government was defeated on amendment 12 which called for parliamentary approval of future trade agreements.

Prince Charles has saluted the ”unparalleled bonds” between Britain and Ireland at a time of strained Anglo-Irish relations caused by Brexit.

The Prince of Wales was attending a special St Patrick’s Day dinner at the Irish embassy in London where British and Irish politicians mingled amid continuing uncertainty and recriminations over the Irish border issue in the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

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Brexit: ERG chair Jacob Rees-Mogg drops his calls for wholesale removal of backstop – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the Commons debate on Brexit next steps, and Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

The Electoral Commission has released its latest figures for political donations. In the last three months of 2018 £10.4m was given to political parties - £1.9m more than in the previous quarter. Most of it, £7.4m went to the Conservatives, who received more than four time as much in donations as Labour (£1.6m). The increase is almost certainly linked to speculation about a possible early election.

There are more details on the Electoral Commission website here.

Yesterday the arch Corbynite MP Chris Williamson was reprimanded by Labour party officials after he helped to arrange a screening in parliament of a film defending Jackie Walker, the activist suspended from the party over comments about antisemitism. This morning Williamson is in the headlines again after the Yorkshire Post uncovered a video of him saying Labour had been “too apologetic” over antisemitism allegations.

On Sky’s All Out Politics the Labour MP Phil Wilson said Williamson should be suspended from the party for his comments. Wilson said:

I think it is just outrageous, really. And I think he should be suspended from the Labour party. I actually spoke to Tom Watson [the Labour deputy leader] about this this morning, and Tom is [of] the same view. Tom, I know, is writing to the general secretary of the Labour party to express his concerns about it. I just think it’s outrageous. There has got to be tough action taken on people like this in the Labour party. And when you have got a member of parliament expressing these views, I don’t think there is any place for them ultimately in the Labour party.

Stomach-turning. No action will be taken. https://t.co/gWd1a8G3zK

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Labour to accept Hezbollah ban but queries Javid’s motives

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Spokesman says party will not oppose measure but cites lack of sufficient evidence

Labour has said it will not seek to block the government’s decision to ban the political wing of Hezbollah in the UK, but suggested the move by Sajid Javid was motivated by his leadership ambitions rather than actual evidence.

Membership of the Lebanon-based group’s military wing is already outlawed, but the proscription will now be extended to its political arm, the home secretary announced on Monday.

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MPs fear May could exploit Labour split to call early election

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Despite the Tories’ plan for a 2022 vote, cross-party concern remains over a snap poll

Labour and Conservative parliamentarians are anxious that the new breakaway group formed by Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna has increased the chances of Theresa May calling an early election.

On the Labour side, MPs and peers were worried that the prime minister would be tempted to exploit a split in the opposition if more of their number defected to the new political group.

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Labour MPs warn Corbyn: back a second referendum or we quit

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Labour leader struggling to balance conflicting forces in his party over Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn faces up to 10 resignations from the Labour frontbench if he fails to throw his party’s weight behind a fresh attempt to force Theresa May to submit her Brexit deal to a referendum in a fortnight’s time, frustrated MPs are warning.

With tension mounting among anti-Brexit Labour MPs and grassroots members, several junior shadow ministers have told the Guardian they are prepared to resign their posts if Corbyn doesn’t whip his MPs to vote for a pro-referendum amendment at the end of the month.

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Cooper wins wider Tory support for new plan to allow MPs to block no-deal Brexit – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May’s statement to MPs about Brexit

This amendment would stop the government from running down the clock on the Brexit negotiations, hoping members of parliament can be blackmailed into supporting a botched deal.

The Labour MP Yvette Cooper has published details of her latest plan to ensure that MPs get the chance to vote to rule out a no-deal Brexit. Here are the key points.

This bill would require the prime minister and parliament to take crucial decisions by the middle of March at the very latest on whether the UK is leaving with a deal, without a deal or seeking an extension to article 50.

It forces the prime minister to tell us whether she wants to leave with no deal or to extend article 50 if she still hasn’t got a deal in place by the middle of March. This bill creates a parliamentary safeguard to prevent us drifting into no deal by accident, and to prevent those crucial decisions being left until the final fortnight. The risks to jobs, the NHS and security from no deal are too great for us to stand back and let the government drift.

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Theresa May asks MPs to hold their nerve on Brexit talks

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Corbyn accuses PM of running down clock, as May indicates waiting period on treaties could be waived

Theresa May has appealed to MPs for more time to push Brussels into agreeing to changes to her Brexit deal, in an update to the Commons that contained no new announcements and reiterated her opposition to a Labour compromise plan.

With negotiations over possible changes to the Irish border backstop at a crucial stage, parliament needed to hold its nerve, the prime minister said, adding that a Brexit motion to be debated on Thursday would reiterate those intentions.

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Brexit: May has ruled out Corbyn’s customs union plan – minister

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But Rory Stewart says PM’s letter showed ‘a lot of common ground’ between parties

One of Theresa May’s ministers has said the prime minister has rejected Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit plan of a customs union but insisted her letter to the Labour leader showed there was “a lot of common ground” between the parties.

“What’s happening here is not a shifting of red lines,” Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, told BBC Breakfast.

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Corbyn lays out Labour’s terms for backing May on Brexit

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Letter offers Labour’s support if PM makes five binding commitments – including joining a customs union

Jeremy Corbyn has written to the prime minister, offering to throw Labour’s support behind her Brexit deal if she makes five legally binding commitments – including joining a customs union.

The Labour leader held private talks with Theresa May last week for the first time since her deal was rejected by a historic margin of 230 votes in January.

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Theresa May faces pressure to clarify backstop changes

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Tory unity already evaporating as Barnier reiterates Brexit deal cannot be reopened

Theresa May is under mounting pressure to spell out what changes to the Irish backstop she hopes to negotiate with Brussels, after the fragile Brexit truce in her own party appeared to fray on Wednesday.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, became the latest senior figure to reject the idea of revisiting the withdrawal agreement on Wednesday, insisting: “Calmly, I will say, right here and now, we need this backstop as it is.”

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Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay says no deal remains an option, despite MPs voting to reject it – Politics live

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As Theresa May girds herself for renewed talks with the EU about changing the Irish backstop, follow all the news and reaction with our live blog

And Nathalie Loiseau, the French Europe minister, has said much the same thing. She said:

Brexit will take place in two months. Time is running out.

We are ready to talk about the future but now is the time to agree on the conditions of the separation.

This is from the Express’s Joe Barnes.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas on prospect of renegotiating Theresa May's #Brexit deal: 'The withdrawal agreement is the best and only solution for an orderly withdrawal.

'Germany and the entire Union are firmly on Ireland's side.'

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Jeremy Corbyn to meet Theresa May for Brexit talks

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Labour leader to argue for customs union, single-market ties and workers’ rights

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to meet Theresa May to discuss Brexit, with 58 days remaining until the UK leaves the EU.

The meeting later on Wednesday was confirmed that morning by Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, although the time is yet to be finalised. It comes two weeks after Corbyn rejected the prime minister’s invitation on the grounds that she should first rule out a no-deal Brexit.

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‘Meaner and angrier’: Brexit exposes growing fractures in UK society

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Survey shows Britons becoming more intolerant, politically disillusioned and disunited

Britons have become angrier since the referendum to leave the EU, according to a survey which suggests there is widespread unhappiness about the direction in which the country is heading.

Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said they felt their fellow citizens had become “angrier about politics and society” since the Brexit vote in 2016, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, a long-established, annual survey of trust carried out across the globe.

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Jeremy Corbyn ally dents Labour hopes of push for second referendum

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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.

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May claims EU second referendum would threaten ‘social cohesion’

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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.

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Corbyn could face string of resignations if he backs ‘people’s vote’

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A number of Labour frontbenchers say they would consider their positions if leader backed idea

Jeremy Corbyn could face up to a dozen resignations from the Labour frontbench if the party backs a second referendum as a way out of the Brexit crisis.

A string of junior shadow ministers have told the Guardian they are strongly opposed to the idea of a second referendum, which they fear would expose Labour to a vicious backlash in leave-voting constituencies.

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May claims it is impossible for government to rule out no-deal Brexit in reply to Corbyn – as it happened

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Labour leader says he won’t meet with PM until she takes no-deal Brexit off table, after May narrowly wins no-confidence vote in parliament

We’re going to close down this live blog now, so thanks for reading and for all the comments. Here’s a summary of the latest events:

Related: Corbyn could face string of resignations if he backs 'people's vote'

The public is “aghast” at the “Brexit pantomime” in Westminster, Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, has told the Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley, in what the former termed a “frank discussion”.

With each passing day, our business community, our farmers, our community and voluntary sector are growing more concerned at where this shambles will ultimately end up. And it is they who will pay the price of a no-deal crash Brexit.

Unfortunately, that is where we are likely to end up if Karen Bradley’s government pursues a solution by attempting to placate and appease the DUP and the hard Brexiteers.

It is crucial, now more than ever, that the Dublin Government and the EU27 stand firm on the position that there can be no agreement without a backstop that prevents a hard border in Ireland and protects our peace and political process.

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Brexit vote: Jeremy Corbyn tables no-confidence motion after May defeat – Politics live

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Prime minister’s Brexit deal is lost by 432 votes to 202

Earlier tonight, thousands of people in favour of a second referendum marched on Parliament Square, where they watching the thumping defeat of Theresa May’s deal broadcast on large screens.

Related: People's vote supporters revel in defeat of May's Brexit deal

The former Maryland congressman John Delaney has become the first 2020 presidential candidate to weigh in on Theresa May’s resounding Brexit defeat in parliament on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Guardian, Delaney, a former businessman and centrist Democrat mounting a dark horse bid for the White House in 2020, said: “The truth is Brexit was never honestly sold to voters, which is why the UK finds itself in such a difficult position right now.

Related: John Delaney becomes first 2020 candidate to weigh in on Brexit

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May faces crushing Brexit defeat despite last-minute plea to MPs

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Prime minister urges MPs to give her plan a second look on eve of crunch vote on withdrawal agreement

Theresa May appears to be on course for a crushing defeat in the House of Commons as Britain’s bitterly divided MPs prepare to give their verdict on her Brexit deal in the “meaningful vote” on Tuesday.

With Downing Street all but resigned to losing by a significant margin, Guardian analysis pointed to a majority of more than 200 MPs against the prime minister.

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