Category Archives: Conservatives

Furious Tory MPs will bid to oust May if UK fights Euro poll

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Prime minister says Brexit could ‘slip through our fingers’ as Tory party fears that taking part in EU election would boost far right

Theresa May is being warned by her mutinous MPs that they will move to oust her within weeks if the UK is forced to take part in European elections next month and extend its EU membership beyond the end of June.

Tory MPs are increasingly angry at the prospect of voters being asked to go to the polls to elect MEPs three years after the Brexit referendum, in an election they fear will be boycotted by many Conservatives and be a gift to the far right and Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party. Senior Tories said one silver lining of a long extension would be that it would allow them to move quickly to force May out, and hold a leadership election starting as soon as this month.

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UK must offer ‘credible and realistic way forward’ to justify new Brexit delay, says Irish PM – as it happened

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

That’s all from us for this evening. Thanks for reading and commenting. For a summary of the day’s major events, click here.

And, if you’d like to read more on the Brexit negotiations between the government and the opposition, my colleagues Rowena Mason and Heather Stewart have the story:

Related: Theresa May to make written Brexit offer to Jeremy Corbyn

The elements have not been kind to candidates and party activists in south Wales as voting in the Newport West by-election nears its conclusion.

These tweets from Labour supporters summed it up – monsoon rain, biblical hail. Union-branded raincoats and brollies.

We’ve campaigned through a Monsoon, Biblical hail and sunny Skies in Newport today on the #LabourDoorstep for @RuthNewportWest.

If you can spare an hour or two come join us and experience Newport’s a Wild weather ☀️ pic.twitter.com/ZgrEHqeYY9

Now out campaigning in #NewportWestByElection for our fantastic candidate @RuthNewportWest such a great response on the door for Ruth. Note my @unisontweets brolly and @GMBPolitics waterproof coat #StandingUpForNewportWest @WelshLabour @nptwestlab pic.twitter.com/1kLl7ZxgX9

Related: Newport West byelection: voters look away from main parties for renewal

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Brexit: MPs pass Cooper’s Brexit delay bill with majority of one – as it happened

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, where third reading of the Cooper bill seeking a Brexit delay passed 313 to 312

I’m going to wrap up now.

Here the latest key developments at a glance:

The Leave.EU campaign seems to be rather cross:

The "Conservatives" who voted to block Brexit this evening.

Are you a Conservative member in one of these constituencies? Sign up to our deselection campaign below and help us oust the Remainers!

‍♂️ Support us at https://t.co/iICfFb8qqg

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‘I fear for Brexit’: ERG dismayed by May plan to talk to Corbyn

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Tory Brexiters say they doubt they can support any deal struck between party leaders

Theresa May’s cabinet descended into rows and recriminations before it settled on the uneasy decision to invite Jeremy Corbyn to help solve the UK’s Brexit crisis.

During seven hours of meetings on Tuesday described as tense and gruelling, the prime minister struggled to keep order among colleagues who are vying to take her job.

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Brexit: Yvette Cooper unveils plan to let MPs vote for bill forcing May to extend article 50 – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s politics as they happen, including Theresa May chairing a five-hour cabinet meeting to decide what to do about Brexit

During Foreign Office questions in the Commons earlier, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, said that staying in the customs union would not be seen as a “true Brexit”. Responding to a question from Greg Hands, the former international trade minister, who asked what assessment the Foreign Office had made of the customs union option, Hunt said:

I think people would see it as very curious that a country that voted to take back control is choosing to cede control in a number of areas of vital national interest.

And I think they’d also be concerned that it would not resolve the national debate on Brexit because many of the people who voted for Brexit would not see this as delivering a true Brexit.

This is from my colleague Rowena Mason.

Jeremy Corbyn tackled at shadow cabinet over why Ian Lavery and Jon Trickett still in their frontbench jobs despite defying whip on second referendum indicative votes- answer came there none, according to shadow cabinet sources

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Brexit: Labour to back common market 2.0/Norway amendment for staying in single market – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including the second day of Commons votes on alternative Brexit options

The indicative votes debate is now over.

John Bercow, the Speaker, is telling MPs that they have half an hour to cast their vote, on paper in the division lobbies.

MPs are now voting on four propositions for #IndicativeVotes2 on light blue coloured between 8pm-8.30pm:

(C) Customs Union - Clarke
(D) Common Market 2.0 - Boles
(E) Confirmatory Public Vote - Kyle/Wilson
(G) Parliamentary Supremacy - Cherry pic.twitter.com/550xBpSAMk

Vicky Ford, a Conservative, says she will back the custom union amendment. Being in a customs union is not the same as being in the customs union, she says. She says the UK would be out of the common agricultural policy and out of the common fisheries policy.

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Ministers try to force May’s hand over Brexit as cabinet rift widens

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Remainers and Brexiters alike threaten to resign as MPs prepare for second round of indicative votes

Theresa May’s government is on the verge of meltdown as cabinet ministers prepare to clash over whether to support plans for a softer Brexit and a possible lengthy delay before leaving the European Union.

In a decisive intervention, David Gauke, the justice secretary, said on Sunday that the prime minister would have to accept the possibility of backing a customs union if the measure is supported by parliament this week.

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Grieve accuses ex-Ukip opponent of insurgency after confidence vote loss

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MP says Jon Conway only joined Beaconsfield Tories to defeat confidence motion

Dominic Grieve has blamed a former Ukip opponent for orchestrating an insurgency of his local association which has plunged his future into doubt after he lost a confidence vote.

The remain-supporting Tory MP is facing de-selection from his party after the Conservative association in his Beaconsfield constituency said it no longer had confidence in him at a “rowdy” meeting on Friday.

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May hints at possible need for election, saying MPs ‘reaching limits’ of Brexit process – as it happened

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Rolling updates on the fate of the withdrawal agreement on the day UK was supposed to be leaving EU

That’s all from us this evening – thanks for reading. Here’s a summary of the day’s events:

Related: May hopes to hold fourth vote on Brexit deal

Scotland Yard has now updated the arrest figures for today’s rallies:

As of 21:00hrs five arrests have been made at the demonstrations in central #London today: x2 for assault, x1 drunk & disorderly, x1 for assaulting a
police officer & x1 male arrested after being identified as wanted for an
offence in Herts. All are in custody.

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Brexit: MPs to only vote on withdrawal agreement tomorrow – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the latest Commons Brexit votes and to Theresa May’s announcement that she will quit before next stage of negotiations with EU

Theresa May is now embarked on a new strategy to get her Brexit deal through the Commons. Her new strategy seems largely driven by the decision of John Bercow, the Speaker, to declare that he will rule out repeat votes on the same proposition (a ruling that he firmed up yesterday, and again today). The details of the new approach are complicated, and at this stage not all 100% clear, and some MPs are already questioning the legality of what she is trying to do. But this is what we know.

DUP to vote against government on withdrawal agreement

For avoidance of doubt, DUP will vote against agreement tomorrow, party source says

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Brexit: May suffers fresh setback as DUP says it will vote against deal for third time – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including the indicative votes debate as MPs choose from eight options

The Commons sitting has been suspended but, as my colleague Dan Sabbagh and others report, there is a bit of a row going on about the fact that the mace is still there.

Speaker has walked out suspending proceedings until the indicative votes are counted. But Tories are furiously pointing to the mace, still in its place, and trying to encourage deputy speaker Eleanor Laing to take the chair. Which would be a parliamentary take over...

The mace is still in place which I think is the cause of the uproar. It’s not meant to be there if we’re not sitting, but I don’t know if a brief suspension counts. It’s not normal for the Chamber to be occupied without anyone in the chair.

Speaker suspends sitting & vacates chair while we wait for results of this evening’s votes - as he had said he would do.
Tory MPs object that the mace is still there.
They object by trying to raise points of order to an empty chair.
What a total shambles of a parliament.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says he is not able to announce the results of the indicative votes ballot yet because they have not all been counted. But he says he hopes to be able to announce them soon.

So he suspends the house.

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Theresa May to resign before next phase of Brexit

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Prime minister says she will not stand in way of desire for new approach, in bid to get Tories behind deal

Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will step down as prime minister within the next few months in a bid to get Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal.

The prime minister indicated she would resign only if her Brexit deal passes in order to allow a new leader to shape the UK’s future relationship with the EU.

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Tory Brexiters want May resignation date in order to back deal

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Prime minister under pressure to say publicly she will hand over next stage to new leader

Theresa May is under intense pressure to set out a timetable for her departure from Downing Street to seal the support of Brexit hardliners for her twice-rejected deal.

The prime minister will address Conservative MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers on Wednesday as the House of Commons prepares to vote on alternatives to her Brexit deal.

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Brexit: DUP says one-year delay better than May’s deal – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to the Commons voting to try to take control of the Brexit process

The government has responded to the “Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU” petition and has announced that it will debate it in Westminster on Monday.

The petition has so far garnered more than 5.7m signatures.

This government will not revoke article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.

It remains the government’s firm policy not to revoke article 50. We will honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum and work to deliver an exit which benefits everyone, whether they voted to leave or to remain.

A motion Conservative MP Nick Boles will table tomorrow has appeared. Here the full text from The Telegraph’s Anna Mikhailova, for those who fancy a headache:

Here it is:

The Nick Boles Common Market 2.0 motion for tomorrow pic.twitter.com/9UTgr9HcPc

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Tory rebels asked by No 10 if they would back Brexit deal if May quit

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Downing Street aides put question to hard Brexiters at Chequers summit last weekend

Downing Street aides directly asked hard-Brexit Conservatives at Chequers on Sunday whether Theresa May’s resignation as prime minister would be enough to get them to endorse finally the exit deal struck with the European Union, it has emerged.

The afternoon summit at the prime minister’s country retreat was carefully choreographed so that Boris Johnson, Iain Duncan Smith, Jacob Rees-Mogg and other Tory rebels present ended up in one-to-one chats with key No 10 staffers when the main meeting periodically broke up.

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Brexit: Three ministers resign to join 29-strong Tory revolt on indicative votes – as it happened

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MPs vote by 329 to 302 for Letwin amendment, despite Theresa May saying government would not be bound by result

As not much has happened in the past hour, I’m going to close the blog by republishing my colleague Andrew Sparrow’s excellent snap analysis for those who missed it an hour or so ago. Thanks and goodnight.

Sky’s Lewis Goodall seems chirpy:

I’m going to bed and finally having a day off tomorrow. But in conclusion: something actually happened tonight.

No, really. I can’t believe it either.

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The week ahead for Brexit: third time lucky for May?

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With more than 120 MPs backing an amendment in support of indicative voting, it’s going to be a fraught five days

Many weeks have so far been billed as crunch weeks for Brexit. But with the revised departure date looming, Theresa May’s proposal looking all-but doomed and the prime minister’s own position openly questioned, the next days really do appear crucial. Here is what could happen and when.

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Brexit: Theresa May says high time MPs vote for her deal – as it happened

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Rolling updates on the day’s political events, including PM’s statement at Downing Street and Labour leader leaving meeting

I am going to wrap this up now. Here a few of tonight’s highlights at a glance:

Theresa May tells the British People ‘I’m on your side” ...which side is that? Leave, Remain, or Resign?

The summary of Beth Rigby, deputy political editor of Sky News, is blistering:

May’s national address badly misjudged. She has further angered the very people she needs to win over, MPs. Never before has the power of persuasion and art of compromise been so sorely needed and so clearly missing

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Brexit delay decision unlikely this week, says Juncker

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Revolt by pro-Brexit cabinet ministers forces PM to request only three-month extension from EU

Theresa May will ask for only a short extension to article 50 delaying Brexit by less than three months, after a revolt among pro-leave cabinet ministers and MPs that threatened her premiership.

The prime minister had previously intended to agree a longer extension with the EU involving European parliamentary elections if her withdrawal agreement did not pass by Wednesday.

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