Category Archives: Conservatives

Trump urges May to ‘stick around’ to finalise ‘very, very substantial’ US-UK trade deal – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the second day of President Trump’s state visit to Britain and his press conference with Theresa May

Judging by the interview that President Trump gave to the Sun and the Sunday Times before he came to the UK, his view of people tends to be shaped to a considerable extent by whether or not they have praised him. (“I think [Boris Johnson would be excellent. I like him. I have always liked him ... He has been very positive about me and our country.”)

On that basis, Trump’s meeting with Michael Gove later (see 10.55am and 12.07pm) is likely to go well. I have been rereading Gove’s write-up of his interview with Trump in January 2017 (paywall) and it’s not exactly a hatchet job. Here’s an extract.

Ever since a Virginia farmer called George Washington launched his bid for glory, the British have had a tendency to underestimate American presidents. Especially Republicans. When Abraham Lincoln was in the White House, our government sympathised with the Confederacy. When Ronald Reagan was commander-in-chief, the British foreign policy establishment derided him as a trigger-happy cowboy who was in danger of pitching us into a third world war.

But no Republican, indeed no president, has come to office facing anything like the level of scorn and condescension from British politicians and commentators as Mr Trump. When we talked last Friday, however, he had nothing but kind words and generous sentiments for a nation he believes will be his strongest ally ...

More from my colleague Damien Gayle on why people are protesting against Trump.

"Today I am a [chlorinated] chicken."@GlobalJusticeUK activist Jelly Cleaver, from Brixton, on why protesters against the #TrumpUKVisit don't want US trade deals after #Brexit pic.twitter.com/rAmx3lhRZr

"Trump is a beacon for neoliberalism and racist policies. He's not standing up for the interests of working people."@RMTunion activist John Reid, 65, right, on why he's protesting the #TrumpUKVisit #TrumpProtest #Trump pic.twitter.com/FqjnmWkpvf

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41-gun salutes and a Twitter tirade: Donald Trump arrives in UK

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US president attends Buckingham Palace banquet after starting state visit with angry tweets

  • Follow all the latest on Trump’s visit with our live blog

Donald Trump breezed into Britain by launching an attack on London’s mayor and berating so-called fake news before being honoured with a glittering banquet hosted by the Queen.

Buckingham Palace provided the sumptuous backdrop for the US president, who had long desired the endorsement of an official state visit, and took the opportunity to bring four of his five children with him.

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Peterborough prepares for byelection that could elect first Brexit party MP

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A decade ago it was the UK’s fastest growing city, but hit by cuts and buy-to-let, support for Nigel Farage’s party is high

On Thursday, voters in Peterborough will take part in one of the most intriguing parliamentary byelections in recent memory. The constituency saw a knife-edge duel between Labour and the Conservatives at the 2017 general election and at last month’s European poll, 38% of voters in the city backed the Brexit party. A first seat in the House of Commons for Nigel Farage’s party is a distinct possibility. If that happens, it will send tremors through middle England, of which Peterborough is typical in many ways, not just geographically.

Economically, Peterborough performs averagely amid struggles with productivity. Wages are stagnant and it has been reshaped by migration, with foreigners arriving to work in the surrounding farmlands and distribution depots, contributing to a decade as the UK’s fastest growing city between 2001 and 2011.

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Donald Trump: send in Nigel Farage to negotiate with the EU

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US president makes second intervention in British politics, saying UK should ‘walk away’

Donald Trump has called on Britain to leave the European Union without a deal if Brussels refuses to meet its demands, as he urged the government to send Nigel Farage into the negotiations.

In his second extraordinary intervention into British politics ahead of this week’s state visit, the US president suggested the UK should “walk away” from talks and refuse to pay the £39bn divorce bill if its requests were not met.

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John Bercow defies Eurosceptics with vow to stay on as Speaker

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Exclusive: move likely to anger hardliners who fear Bercow wants to stop no-deal Brexit

John Bercow has said he plans to stay in his post as Speaker of the House of Commons despite previous expectations he was about to leave, risking the fury of hardline Eurosceptics who believe he wants to thwart a no-deal Brexit.

The Speaker told the Guardian it was not “sensible to vacate the chair” while there were major issues before parliament. And, amid growing indications that frontrunners for the Conservative leadership are willing to depart the EU without a deal, he warned candidates not to try to force such an outcome without the permission of MPs.

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Michael Gove to pledge free UK citizenship for 3m EU nationals

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Tory leadership candidate also plans to abolish need to prove settled status if he becomes PM

Michael Gove will pledge free British citizenship for 3 million EU nationals after Brexit if he becomes prime minister, as well as abolishing the burden of providing proof of settled status, the Guardian understands.

The environment secretary, one of the leading figures in Vote Leave, is understood to believe strongly that the pledge would honour the promises given to EU citizens by that campaign during the 2016 referendum.

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Sajid Javid joins race to replace Theresa May as Tory leader

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Home secretary announces bid as hopefuls weigh up whether to take part in TV debate

Sajid Javid has become the latest Conservative to declare he is standing for the party leadership, telling party members: “First and foremost, we must deliver Brexit.”

The home secretary made his announcement on Monday in a video posted on Twitter. He said: “As last night’s results made all too clear, we must get on and deliver Brexit,” adding it was important to “restore trust, bring unity, and create new opportunities across the UK”.

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Four takeaways from the European elections – video explainer

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In the UK, the Conservatives and Labour have been decimated over their stance on Brexit, with Nigel Farage's Brexit party and pro-remain parties emerging as the big winners.  With votes still being counted across Europe, voters have boosted Greens and far-right groups, leaving centrists diminished

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Brexit: top Tories would bring down any PM who backs no deal

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Philip Hammond and senior party figures warn that MPs are prepared to take drastic action

Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have been warned that Tory MPs would be prepared to bring down any prime minister backing a no-deal Brexit, triggering a general election, amid fears the leadership hopefuls will veer to the right in response to a surge in support for Nigel Farage at the European election.

A string of senior Conservatives, led by Philip Hammond, the chancellor, delivered a sobering message to candidates that many Tory MPs are prepared to take drastic action to stop a no-deal Brexit.

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Stop Boris campaign launched by Tory moderates opposed to no-deal Brexit

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Former foreign secretary attacked as dishonest by leadership candidate Rory Stewart

A campaign to stop Boris Johnson becoming prime minister and taking the country into a no-deal Brexit was launched by moderate cabinet ministers on Saturday as the first shots were fired in the Tory contest to succeed Theresa May in Downing Street.

After May bowed to pressure on Friday and announced she would resign as Tory leader within two weeks, justice secretary David Gauke and international development secretary Rory Stewart condemned Johnson’s readiness to embrace a no-deal, saying it would be hugely damaging to the national interest.

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Matt Hancock says he will stand for Tory leadership

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Health secretary throws his hat into ring as Rory Stewart rules out serving in a Boris Johnson cabinet

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has become the latest cabinet minister to declare he will stand for the Tory leadership after Theresa May’s resignation.

“Yes. I’m going to run to be the next prime minister,” Hancock told the BBC on Saturday morning. He said he would be “the servant of parliament” in delivering a Brexit deal – a conundrum that destroyed May’s leadership.

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Trump says he feels bad for Theresa May after her resignation – video

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Donald Trump, who is due to make a state visit to the UK in early June, praised Theresa May following her resignation as prime minister. Speaking to journalists at the White House, the US president said he felt bad for May, whom he described as a ‘good woman’. He added: ‘She worked very hard. She’s very strong. She decided to do something that some people were surprised at. Some people weren’t. It’s for the good of her country’

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May close to abandoning Brexit bill amid growing cabinet backlash – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political events as they happen as the UK votes in the European elections 2019 and pressure continues on Theresa May to resign

This is what Valerie Vaz, the shadow leader of the Commons, said in the chamber earlier about the government’s decision not to publish the EU withdrawal agreement bill tomorrow. (See 11.22am.) She said:

Yesterday the prime minister told the house that the second reading of the withdrawal agreement bill would be in the week commencing June 3rd, now we hear it’s not, so in less than 24 hours the prime minister has broken her word. This is yet another broken promise by the prime minister on Brexit.

The prime minister’s official spokesman told journalists at the morning lobby briefing that Theresa May would be meeting cabinet colleagues to discuss the EU withdrawal agreement bill today, the Press Association reports.

“The prime minister is listening to her colleagues about the bill and will be having further discussions,” he said.

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It’s hard to imagine. But could this really be the end for the Tories? | Polly Toynbee

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In its Brexit delirium, the party is tearing itself apart on an election day, its voters rampaging off into the Farage wildwoods

Welcome to an extraordinarily bizarre election day. Pause on the way to the polling station to wonder at the astounding mayhem within our “ruling” party, soliciting votes even while wrenching its leader from Downing Street. We may be so used to the Tory party in meltdown that we forget to be amazed at what is unfolding before our eyes – on election day.

Even allowing for all Andrea Leadsom’s fantastical ambitious absurdities, ponder how astonishing it is to see the leader of the house, no less, resigning on election eve just to steal a march on all her improbable leadership competitors. Jeremy Hunt is marching in to see the prime minister in publicly threatening mode – on election day. Forget any sense of decorum towards their party or their country, or the electoral process.

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Andrea Leadsom resigns from the government as May refuses to quit – live news

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Tory ministers and backbenchers conspicuously absent as Theresa May makes statement about her proposed Brexit bill

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson criticised Andrea Leadsom’s decision to step down on the eve of the European elections, calling it a “slap in the face” for her colleagues.

He tweeted: “I accept that she may want to go but to do it the night before an election looks odd.

Commentators are pointing out the irony that it may be a resignation by Andrea Leadsom, who stood aside to let Theresa May take the Tory leadership in summer 2016, which may eventually lead to the prime minister’s downfall.

.@andrealeadsom will be seen by history to have delivered the coup de grace to @theresa_may - which is appropriate some would say because it was her withdrawal from leadership race that handed 10 Downing St to May on a plate. Revenge dish best served steaming hot perhaps

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Andrea Leadsom quits over Theresa May’s Brexit bill

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Leader of house known to be unhappy with some of 10 concessions set out by PM

Andrea Leadsom has resigned as the leader of the House of Commons, saying she no longer believed the government’s approach would deliver Brexit.

Leadsom, who has signalled she expects to launch a leadership bid, published her resignation letter after Theresa May resisted intense pressure to step aside.

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Boris Johnson woos centre-ground Tories in bid to widen appeal

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Leadership contender seeks backing of Amber Rudd’s One Nation group

Boris Johnson is launching a bid to court One Nation Conservative MPs in the group of centrist liberals run by Amber Rudd, as he tries to pitch himself as a candidate who can appeal beyond rightwing Brexit supporters.

The former foreign secretary, who is favourite to be the next Conservative leader, is backed by Brexit hardliner Jacob Rees-Mogg but infuriated many Tory colleagues by backing Theresa May’s deal after months of campaigning against it.

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Brexit: May to give speech at 4pm with details of ‘new’ deal for MPs – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, as Theresa May’s cabinet met to consider the contents of the Brexit EU withdrawal agreement bill

PM’s speech is called ‘A new Brexit deal - seeking common ground in Parliament’

In the urgent question in the Commons earlier on British Steel, which is on the brink of collapse putting 5,000 jobs at risk, Andrew Stephenson, the business minister, said the government “leave no stone unturned” in supporting the UK steel industry. He said:

I can reassure the house that, subject to strict legal bounds, the government will leave no stone unturned in its support for the steel industry ...

We can only act within the strict bounds of what is legally possible under domestic and European law.

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Tories scrabble for new Brexit vision in place of Theresa May’s ‘doomed’ plan

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Chancellor argues no-deal Brexit would betray leave vote, as chances of PM’s bill fade

The expected demise of Theresa May’s Brexit plan has sparked open lobbying over an alternative Tory vision, with the chancellor, Philip Hammond, arguing that proponents of a no-deal Brexit are betraying the referendum result.

The cabinet will on Tuesday discuss the final details of what Downing Street call a “new and improved deal” to be presented to MPs, expected to include reassurances on areas including the Irish backstop, workers’ rights and environmental protections.

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Theresa May prepares ‘bold’ last-ditch offer to MPs on Brexit bill

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Prime minister will ask her cabinet to sign off on concessions this week

Theresa May will ask her cabinet to sign off a package of Brexit concessions this week, as she gears up for one last bid to win over MPs and salvage something concrete from her troubled premiership.

With the Conservatives on course for a drubbing in Thursday’s European elections, the prime minister hopes the results will focus the minds of her own MPs and persuade them to support the long-awaited withdrawal agreement bill (WAB).

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