Category Archives: Labour

Brexit: Labour to back rebel Tory bid to force Johnson to demand extension – live news

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Prime minister has said he is ‘very confident’ deal will be approved in historic Commons vote on Saturday

The Labour MP Sarah Champion says she will vote for Boris Johnson’s deal, BuzzFeed’s Alex Wickham reports (assuming MPs get the chance to vote on the deal tomorrow).

NEW: Another Labour MP switcher

Sarah Champion signals she will vote FOR the deal in an email to a constituent this afternoonhttps://t.co/LXj8LW5nu4 pic.twitter.com/foKgazJ03p

Sir Oliver Letwin has released a note to journalists explaining what his amendment will do. (See 4.05pm.) Here it is.

I am writing this as somebody that voted three times for Theresa May’s deal, who has guaranteed publicly to vote for any deal that provides for an orderly exit, and who will vote for Boris’s excellent deal at all stages through to third reading of the implementing legislation, without any changes whatsoever.

The one issue that concerns me is to keep the Benn Act extension in place as an insurance policy until the implementing legislation is passed by both Houses of Parliament and the UK’s withdrawal Is ratified.

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Boris Johnson wins more backing from MPs for Brexit deal

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Eurosceptics and Labour MPs indicate they could back prime minister’s deal if he clinches agreement in Brussels

Boris Johnson is edging towards the parliamentary numbers needed to pass a Brexit deal after more hardline Eurosceptics and pro-deal Labour MPs indicated they could back a new agreement made with the EU.

The prime minister will need to win over almost all the 28 Tory “Spartans” who held out against Theresa May’s deal if he manages to bring an agreement back from Brussels, as well as either the Democratic Unionist party or a chunk of Labour backbenchers.

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Support grows for a new Brexit poll amid fears over Johnson’s plan

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DUP raises doubts on customs union, while Labour says it will whip MPs to support a second referendum

Pro-remain MPs predicted on Saturday that they were gaining sufficient cross-party support to secure a second Brexit referendum as fresh doubts were raised over whether Boris Johnson can secure a deal with the EU that can pass through parliament.

Related: No-deal Brexit will wreck Tories’ reputation as party of business, says Lidington

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Brexit: Varadkar says new agreement ‘possible’ by end of October after talks with Johnson – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson’s meeting with Leo Varadkar to discuss Brexit

Brexit party MEPs vote against plans to address Russian propaganda

Brexit party MEPs vote against plans to tackle Russian propaganda https://t.co/ZP99X4GXrN

A few key dates for the diary:

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will meet the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, in Brussels on Friday when they are expected to assess whether there are the grounds to move forward.

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Army investigates soldier who sent death threat to Angela Rayner

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Labour MP received tweet as MPs urged Boris Johnson to tone down his language

The army and police are investigating after a soldier sent a death threat to the shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, defence officials have said.

The commander of the British field army, Lt Gen Ivan Jones, and the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, denounced the message, which was posted on Twitter on Wednesday, as MPs pleaded with the prime minister to tone down his Brexit rhetoric, saying they feared it would incite violence against them.

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UK ministers accused of sealing Thomas Cook’s fate

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Offers from Spain and Turkey to save firm reportedly had no support from Westminster

The government has been accused of sealing Thomas Cook’s fate, as claims emerged that the Spanish and Turkish governments had offered to help save the stricken tour operator, only for the deal to disintegrate due to a lack of support in Westminster.

As recriminations flew, government-chartered aircraft began flying 150,000 stranded Thomas Cook customers back to the UK after the 178-year-old tour operator collapsed into liquidation in the early hours of Monday under the weight of its debts.

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David Lammy blames Trudeau’s blackface outfit on ‘racist tropes’

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Labour MP says Canadian PM’s scandal reveals ‘even liberal leaders’ succumb to racism

The Labour MP David Lammy has blamed the decision by Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to blacken his face at a party on pervasive racist tropes that even “liberal leaders” succumb to, as he made calls to tackle white supremacy and privilege.

Speaking at a fringe event at the party’s conference in Brighton, the anti-racism campaigner spoke out about old pictures that have emerged of Trudeau in blackface, including one of him dressed up for an Arabian Nights themed gala while still a teacher in 2001.

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Labour conference: shadow ministers should quit if they won’t back Corbyn on Brexit, says McCluskey – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including events from the Labour conference in Brighton

In her speech to the conference Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said Tory policies were to blame for rising crime. She said:

There is no question that the cuts in police numbers have contributed to the rise in crime. But other contributors are the cuts to education, the increase in school exclusions, all the zero-hours contracts, all the homelessness and inequality. All the cuts in mental health services have also played their part.

And these are all Tory policies. When they say they will lead the fight against crime – do not believe a word of it. They are the ones who have created the conditions for rising serious and violent crime. Senior police officers are increasingly going on record and saying that cuts to public services have created an environment where crime flourishes. Cuts have consequences. You cannot keep people safe on the cheap.

We will welcome refugees, including child refugees.

We will proudly uphold the torture ban and treat the victims of torture with humanity, not detentions and deportations.

Speaking at a fringe meeting about how Labour can win back support in its heartlands, Jon Trickett – shadow Cabinet Office minister and MP for Hemsworth – said he was fed up with the argument that the people who voted for Brexit were from “backwards” communities in the north of England. He said:

Here’s the point I want to make. Those held-back communities – the heartland communities – can be found in Hastings, they can be found in Hackney and they can be found in Hartlepool.

A very senior member of the Labour party, she said to me: ‘Well, no wonder they’re all coming down south, the young people, because you can’t be gay up north.’ That was said by somebody whose name you will have mentioned several times in the past few weeks.

Those people who are suggesting that the people who voted for Brexit did not know what they were voting for infantilises 17 million people.

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Boris Johnson urged to justify ‘awarding public funds to close friend’

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Sir Alastair Graham, former standards watchdog chief, says there is prima facie case of PM having broken code of conduct

Boris Johnson is under growing pressure to explain why he allegedly failed to declare an interest in the allocation of public money to a close friend while he was mayor of London.

The Sunday Times reported that a company run by Jennifer Arcuri, an American technology entrepreneur and friend of Johnson, was given tens of thousands of pounds in public funds and access to overseas trade missions led by Johnson during the prime minister’s time as mayor.

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Brexit divisions threaten to plunge Labour party conference into chaos

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Senior shadow ministers publicly defy Jeremy Corbyn with calls for Labour to back remain

Jeremy Corbyn was struggling to contain an open revolt by some of his most senior shadow ministers, MPs and party activists last night as anger over his refusal to back a policy of remaining in the EU threatened to wreck the Labour conference.

Related: What should Labour do about Brexit? Five key party voices

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Antisemitism: Labour criticised for failing to consult Jewish members

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Jewish Labour Movement also criticises party for allowing issue to be debated at party conference on Jewish Sabbath

Labour has been criticised for failing to consult Jewish members over its new disciplinary procedures for expelling members, and allowing the revised rules to be debated at conference on the Jewish Sabbath.

The Jewish Labour Movement, which is affiliated to the party, accused Labour of more “institutional failings” after it failed to discuss with it Labour’s proposed changes to the process for dealing with serious misdemeanours including antisemitism and other racism.

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Jeremy Corbyn: I’ll stay neutral and let the people decide on Brexit

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Labour leader’s call for ‘sensible’ deal is signal to party that he will resist call to pick sides

Jeremy Corbyn has set out the four pillars of a “sensible” Brexit deal he would negotiate with the EU, as he pledged to carry out whatever the people decide in a second EU referendum as Labour prime minister.

The Labour leader set out how he would go into an election offering to negotiate a Brexit deal involving a customs union, ahead of next week’s autumn conference where activists will launch a bid to shift the party’s position towards campaigning to remain in the EU.

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We must stop Brexit in any form, councillors tell Jeremy Corbyn

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Grassroots leaders call for a decisive stance to stay in EU and deliver a radical new manifesto

Jeremy Corbyn has come under growing internal pressure to commit Labour to a unequivocal policy of remaining in the European Union as more than 100 councillors issued a joint warning to the party’s ruling body that any form of Brexit would threaten jobs, public services, workers’ rights and the environment.

In a letter to the national executive committee (NEC), which meets this week, the Labour councillors, including several leaders of county and borough councils, called on the party “to campaign unambiguously and energetically for a public vote on Brexit and to endorse a ‘remain and transform’ position in all circumstances”.

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Jeremy Corbyn is wise to emulate Harold Wilson’s pragmatism on Europe | Steve Howell

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Wilson left it late before backing his own deal in the 1975 referendum. Corbyn should keep Labour’s options open too

It is said of Harold Wilson that he epitomised the quip: “If you can’t ride two horses at the same time, you shouldn’t be in the circus.” He was often criticised for putting pragmatism before principle in his 13 years as Labour leader, but it was an attribute that served him well in preventing the party from tearing itself apart on Europe in the 1970s.

When Wilson won a fourth general election on 10 October 1974, he faced the challenge of navigating Labour’s deep divisions on whether or not to reverse the 1972 decision to join the common market. The party’s election manifesto had promised the British people a “final say” on Britain’s membership without committing itself one way or another to a recommendation. “It is as yet too early to judge the likely results of the tough negotiations which are taking place,” it said.

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Boris Johnson accused of using police as ‘props’ during rambling Brexit speech – live news

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PM addresses police in Wakefield after brother Jo Johnson quits citing ‘unresolvable tension’ between ‘family loyalty and the national interest’

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has warned that there is “no such thing as a clean break” – Brexit deal or no Brexit deal – with difficult and complex negotiations on the future relationship with the EU whatever the outcome of talks. In a speech in Dublin to the British and Irish Chambers of Commerce, he has said:

If there is no deal – and I believe we may have to live with no deal for a period – then, at a certain point, we will have to begin negotiations again. The first and only items on the agenda ... will be citizens’ rights, the financial settlement with the EU and a solution to the Irish border.

Whatever happens, Ireland will not be dragged out of the single European market.

Recently, Prime Minister Johnson and I spoke by phone. We spoke of our shared desire to see the Northern Ireland political institutions reinstated. We shared our perspectives on the withdrawal agreement and agreed that our teams would establish one-to-one contact.

We will meet again in Dublin on Monday. Unfortunately, given political developments in the UK, there is a significant and growing risk of no-deal.

Here’s some more detail on the criticism of Johnson from the West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, Labour’s Mark Burns-Williamson:

To use police officers as the backdrop to what became a political speech was inappropriate and they shouldn’t have been put in that position.

It clearly turned into a rant about Brexit, the opposition and a potential general election. There’s no way that police officers should’ve formed the backdrop to a speech of that nature.

Yes, because he’s used the pretence of an announcement around police recruitment for mainly a political speech.

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Brexit: Boris Johnson to table motion for general election – live news

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More than a dozen Tories defy leader by voting in favour of seizing control of Commons timetable

Still scratching your head about what happened today? Or arriving at this blog from a non-UK timezone and need some catching up?

I’ve written a very basic explainer of what happened today, addressing questions like:

Related: Whips and votes and early polls: what is going on in UK politics?

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Jeremy Corbyn agrees to prioritise legislation to stop no-deal Brexit

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Labour leader tells opposition parties he will not seek early confidence vote in government

Jeremy Corbyn has backed cross-party plans to delay a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson and prioritise rebel MPs’ attempts to use legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, with plans set to be agreed by the end of the week..

In a meeting with opposition parties convened by the Labour leader, Corbyn opened the discussion by reassuring MPs that Labour would not seek a premature vote of no confidence that might stymie legislative efforts to stop no deal.

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Brexit: no-deal exit edges closer as key Tories refuse to back Corbyn

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Oliver Letwin becomes latest figure to reject call for unity government led by Labout leader

Splits in the anti-no deal alliance of MPs in parliament threatened to stymie plans to stop a no-deal Brexit on Friday, as Conservatives and independent MPs ruled out backing plans brokered by Jeremy Corbyn.

The row between the Liberal Democrats and Labour deepened as the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, urged the Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, to seriously reconsider Corbyn’s offer to head a temporary government to stop a no-deal Brexit. The Lib Dem’s former leader Vince Cable demanded Corbyn name a unity figure whom he would back if his plan failed.

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Jo Swinson says she would work with Labour to avoid no-deal Brexit

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Lib Dem leader also says she thinks Corbyn-led unity government would not win MPs’ confidence

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, has reiterated that she would work with the Labour party to prevent a no-deal Brexit amid pressure from other opposition leaders, but underlined her belief that a Jeremy Corbyn-led unity government would not win the confidence of the House of Commons.

The Conservative grandee Ken Clarke and senior Labour MP Harriet Harman – the father and mother of the house – are prepared to lead the emergency government, Swinson added, saying she had won both of their assurances.

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