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Britain’s sitting MEPs on their long goodbye: ‘People say, “You’re still here!”’
They thought they’d be out of Brussels weeks ago – instead they continue to work in limbo. We followed four through months of near-exits and false dawns
When the Newcastle upon Tyne result came in, Linda McAvan knew it was all over. It was 23 June 2016 and, after a day knocking on doors, the Labour MEP and remain campaigner was at her local count in Sheffield. Things started to go wrong before midnight. Newcastle was meant to be a comfortable victory, but remain only scraped home. Then Sunderland voted to leave. Across McAvan’s Yorkshire and Humber constituency, counts were called: Craven, Scarborough, Sheffield; leave, leave, leave. In the small hours, David Dimbleby called it: “We’re out.” At a stroke, 73 British members of the European parliament were handed their redundancy papers.
These MEPs, who make up nearly 10% of the 751 members of the European parliament, did not lose their seats immediately: this was just the start of the UK’s odyssey to leave the European Union. While the past three years have seen Westminster convulsed by cabinet resignations, missed deadlines and political deadlock, British MEPs have carried on their business more or less as usual. Now, they face the once-unimaginable prospect of a fresh European election – an event that some hope will be a proxy referendum, while Nigel Farage seeks to repeat his 2014 landslide with a new Brexit party.
Continue reading...Tories lose over 1,300 seats in local elections as major parties suffer
Lib Dems main beneficiaries as May and Corbyn vow to press ahead to break Brexit deadlock
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have vowed to press ahead with seeking a cross-party solution to the Brexit deadlock at Westminster, after voters punished both major parties in local elections.
The Conservatives’ net loss of more than 1,300 seats on their 2015 figures marked their biggest defeat since John Major was prime minister. Disillusioned voters deserted the party in droves, including in traditional Tory areas such as Chelmsford and Surrey Heath.
Continue reading...More than 600,000 EU citizens apply for UK settled status
Home Office figures revealed as immigration inspector calls for scheme to be improved
More than 600,000 EU citizens have already applied to stay in the UK post-Brexit, Home Office figures reveal.
But the settled status scheme for EU citizens seeking to remain has room for improvement, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) in the UK has said.
Continue reading...Britons most positive in Europe on benefits of immigration
Findings contradict assumption UK is more hostile than European neighbours
British people are more persuaded of the benefits of immigration than any other major European nation, according to a global survey, which has also found that almost half of Britons think immigrants are either positive or neutral for the country.
The YouGov–Cambridge Globalism survey found that 28% of Britons believed the benefits of immigration outweighed the costs, compared with 24% in Germany, 21% in France and 19% in Denmark. A further 20% of British people believed the costs and benefits were about equal, while 16% were not sure.
Continue reading...Will the UK commitment to development become another casualty of Brexit? | Preet Kaur Gill
Uncertainty and the falling pound are jeopardising aid that millions of people worldwide rely on, says the shadow development minister
Since the 2016 referendum we have all learned a lot more about the depth of the relationship between the UK and the EU; whether it’s joint cooperation on research, or the potential impact of leaving the EU on agriculture exports.
When considering the effects of Brexit, parliamentarians have focused their attention on our constituencies and the country as a whole. International development has only raised its head in discussions of post-Brexit trade deals.
Continue reading...Anger as Corbyn faces down calls for Labour to back new Brexit vote
Labour NEC resists pressure to unequivocally support second referendum in EU election manifesto
Jeremy Corbyn has faced down a challenge spearheaded by his deputy, Tom Watson, for Labour to signal its unequivocal backing for a second Brexit referendum in the forthcoming European election campaign.
In a move that sparked an immediate backlash among remain-supporters, Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC), announced that its manifesto for the election would be “fully in line” with its longstanding policy.
Continue reading...Hunt: Brexit customs union deal could cost key Tory votes
Plan could lose support of more Tory MPs than it gains from Labour, says foreign secretary
A Brexit deal with Labour to enter a customs union could cost the Conservatives the support of as many of their own MPs as they would gain from Labour, Jeremy Hunt has said as pressure mounts on Theresa May’s leadership over the cross-party talks.
Related: Brexit: Tory MPs won't accept cross-party compromise involving customs union, says Hunt - live news
Continue reading...MPs could vote again on Brexit options if talks break down
PM raises prospect of more indicative votes as Labour and Tories disagree on customs union
The government is unlikely to try to force through the Brexit deal using the withdrawal agreement bill and will instead try to devise a way to forge a compromise through new indicative votes if talks with Labour break down.
Theresa May’s spokesman said cross-party talks would continue as long as there was “still a prospect of reaching a single position to put to parliament”, but added that the prime minister would then look to bring forward “a small number of votes to try and find a way through parliament”.
Continue reading...Tories should expect to lose 800 seats in local elections, says analyst
Voters are predicted to punish the party for its failure to pass a Brexit deal
The Conservatives can expect to lose 800 or more seats at the local elections this week, as voters punish Theresa May’s administration for failing to pass a Brexit deal, a leading Conservative analyst has said.
In his latest projection for Thursday’s polls, in which more than 8,000 council seats in England are being contested, the Tory peer Robert Hayward suggested his party could lose about 500 to the Liberal Democrats, and 300 to Labour.
Continue reading...Labour hints at backing Brexit deal without promise of referendum
Shadow minister says if party’s demands are met she would not expect a second public vote
Labour is prepared to sign up to a Brexit deal with the government without the promise of a referendum attached if cross-party talks make significant progress in the coming days, one of the party’s negotiators has said.
With talks set to resume on Monday, Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, made clear that if Labour’s Brexit demands were met, she would not expect the party to insist it be put to a public vote.
Continue reading...Angry Labour activists threaten European election campaign boycott
Local parties angry over Corbyn’s perceived lack of support for second referendum
Leading Labour activists are warning Jeremy Corbyn that they could boycott the party’s campaign for the European elections unless it backs a confirmatory referendum on Brexit, as pressure mounts on the leadership to support a fresh public vote.
The warnings come before a crucial meeting on Tuesday of Labour’s deeply split national executive committee (NEC) at which the wording of the party’s European election manifesto is due to be decided.
Continue reading...Farage: Brexit party will use EU poll to oust ‘remain parliament’
Former Ukip leader outlines ambition to take control of Brexit process at rally in Clacton
Nigel Farage has returned to the seaside town where Ukip had its first MP elected five years ago, promising at a rally in Clacton that his new Brexit party will use the momentum of European elections to oust a “remain parliament”.
Railing against a “political class” who he said had betrayed the people of Britain, Farage claimed to hundreds of supporters on Clacton pier that what was at stake was not just Brexit, but whether or not Britain was a democratic country.
Continue reading...Greek PM’s criticism takes shine off Weber’s push for EU’s top job
German MEP begins campaign in Athens after Alexis Tsipras claims he is ‘anti-Greek’
Manfred Weber has launched his campaign to become president of the European commission in Athens, but faced excoriating criticism from the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, before he had even arrived in the Greek capital.
In a tweet intended to cause maximum embarrassment for the German leader of the conservative European People’s party group in the European parliament, Tsipras insinuated that Weber harboured racist and authoritarian tendencies. He said that at the height of Athens’ debt crisis, Weber had pushed for “Grexit” and thus proved himself to be “anti-Greek”.
Continue reading...Libya: EU officials hoping Trump will pull support for warlord
President has backed Khalifa Haftar, seen by UK and UN as aggressor in Libya conflict
European officials are hoping Donald Trump’s surprise expression of support for the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar can be reversed amid division in Washington over US policy on the north African country.
A clarification of US policy is considered necessary in order to build an international consensus condemning the attack on Tripoli that has claimed nearly 300 lives and injured more than 1,000, including migrants trapped in detention centres, since it began this month.
Continue reading...MPs may vote on key Brexit legislation next week
Theresa May considers tabling withdrawal and implementation bill in next 10 days
Theresa May is preparing to give MPs a vote on the key piece of legislation enacting Britain’s exit from the European Union next week, as negotiations with Labour continue.
The prime minister will discuss Brexit with her cabinet colleagues, with government sources suggesting one likely way forward is to table the withdrawal and implementation bill (WAB) in the next 10 days.
Continue reading...Brexit: cross-party talks to restart as Tories step up efforts to oust May
Chair of 1922 Committee is reportedly planning to tell PM to leave by the end of June
Brexit talks between government ministers and Labour are due to resume on Tuesday amid distinctly limited expectations of a breakthrough, with the political focus likely instead to shift on to renewed Conservative efforts to oust Theresa May from Downing Street.
The executive of the 1922 Committee, which represents Conservative backbenchers, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, with its chair, Graham Brady, reportedly planning to tell the prime minister she must depart before the end of June.
Continue reading...Brunei defends death by stoning for gay sex in letter to EU
Kingdom’s mission to bloc calls for tolerance and understanding over penal code
Brunei has written to the European parliament defending its decision to start imposing death by stoning as a punishment for gay sex, claiming convictions will be rare as it requires two men of “high moral standing piety” to be witnesses.
In a four-page letter to MEPs, the kingdom’s mission to the EU called for “tolerance, respect and understanding” with regard to the country’s desire to preserve its traditional values and “family lineage”.
Continue reading...Romanian hospitals in crisis as emigration takes its toll
Thousands of doctors and nurses have left Romania in past decade, leading to dire staff shortages
Gabriela Dumitru was supposed to retire years ago, but instead, she’s working longer hours than ever before. The 65-year-old is one half of a team of two doctors at the neonatology ward in Slobozia, a depressed town about two hours’ drive from Romania’s capital, Bucharest.
Dumitru works three or four 24-hour shifts a week, catching an hour of sleep where possible on a sofa in a small box room decorated with pictures of kittens. Her colleague is 75, and he officially retired 15 years ago. Between them, they do the work of four or five doctors, delivering approximately 1,200 babies a year and caring for those born with difficulties or disabilities.
Continue reading...Second referendum is only way to beat Nigel Farage, warns Tom Watson
Labour deputy leader in shock intervention that threatens to ignite row at party’s highest levels
Labour will never defeat Nigel Farage if it continues to “sit on the fence” over Brexit and offers only “mealy-mouthed” support for a second referendum, the party’s deputy leader says today.
In an extraordinary intervention that exposes the tensions at the top of the party over Brexit strategy, Tom Watson warns that Labour will lose to Farage’s new “far right” Brexit party in May’s European elections if it continues to give the impression that “we half agree with him”.
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