Category Archives: Article 50

ERG warns May not to ‘bounce’ parliament over new Brexit deal

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Tory Eurosceptic group says at least two days will be needed to scrutinise new compromise on Irish backstop

Tory Brexiters are to demand at least two days to scrutinise any new offer from Brussels on the Irish backstop mechanism, warning the prime minister not to “bounce” the group into an early vote on her Brexit deal.

May has pledged that a vote will take place on her proposal, including any changes agreed in Brussels, by 12 March, though it is possible that Downing Street will seek to bring the vote forward to this week if changes can be secured.

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Barnier ‘working on legal add-on’ to Brexit deal to help May

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EU negotiator frustrated at UK demands over Irish backstop but is considering adjunct to deal

Michel Barnier has told EU ambassadors that he is having to repeatedly rebut British demands for a time limit on the Irish backstop but that he is working on a legal add-on to the Brexit deal to help the prime minister.

During a meeting on Friday in Brussels, the EU’s chief negotiator expressed frustration with the British demands after the latest round of talks. “The UK side keeps on insisting on the same two things,” one EU diplomat said following Barnier’s briefing after the latest week of talks. “And we keep on explaining why it won’t happen.”

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Jeremy Corbyn: we’ll back a second referendum to stop Tory no-deal Brexit

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Labour leader tells MPs party will back another vote as last resort to stop Tory deal

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Jeremy Corbyn has finally thrown his party’s weight behind a second EU referendum, backing moves for a fresh poll with remain on the ballot paper if Labour should fail to get its own version of a Brexit deal passed this week.

The decision to give the party’s backing to a second referendum follows a concerted push by the shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, and deputy leader, Tom Watson, who fear any further delay could have led to more defections to the breakaway Independent Group (TIG), whose members all back a second referendum.

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UK faces chaotic Brexit or extension of article 50, says Donald Tusk

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European council president has walked through process of delaying Britain’s departure

Theresa May will not get her Brexit deal through the Commons, Donald Tusk has warned, leaving the UK with the option of “a chaotic Brexit” or an extension of its membership of the EU beyond 29 March.

The European council president, to quell “speculation”, disclosed that, during private talks with the prime minister at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, he had walked through the legal process that would need to be followed to delay Brexit.

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Theresa May dismisses pressure to step down as PM after Brexit

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May insists she will stay on after delaying ‘meaningful vote’ on revised exit deal

Theresa May has insisted that she will stay on in Downing Street beyond Brexit despite pressure from cabinet colleagues to step down, after she angered MPs by conceding that there would be no “meaningful vote” this week on a revised withdrawal deal.

The prime minister sparked a fierce backlash on Sunday by admitting that the vote may now not be held before 12 March because her team are still negotiating with EU officials on changes to the deal that she hopes will reassure MPs.

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Theresa May insists Brexit ‘must not, will not’ be blocked

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PM’s vow comes after three ministers signal they could back moves to delay withdrawal

Theresa May has vowed to Tory grassroots activists that she will not allow the referendum vote for Britain to leave the EU to be frustrated.

The prime minister is flying to Egypt for an EU-League of Arab States summit where she is expected to hold talks with key EU figures as she battles to break the deadlock in the Brexit talks.

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Theresa May must go in three months, cabinet ministers say

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Senior Tories to make clear PM should give way to new leader for next phase of Brexit

Cabinet ministers will make it clear they believe Theresa May should step down after the local elections in May and allow a new leader to deliver the next phase of the Brexit negotiations, the Guardian understands.

Senior figures in government have suggested they want the prime minister to leave shortly after the first phase of the Brexit negotiations finishes – or risk being defeated in a vote of no confidence at the end of the year.

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Labour must move faster on antisemitism, says McDonnell, as Austin quits – politics live

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As Ian Austin quits the party, John McDonnell says it has been to slow to tackle antisemitism

Some Corbyn supporters have argued that Austin’s views meant that he was no longer credible as a member of the Labour party. He is generally viewed as having been on the right of the party. Some have taken issue with him citing racism as a reason for leaving the party when he has urged Labour to bring in tougher laws on immigration.

The Mail reported in 2014 that Austin said “the Labour leadership should embrace tough policies including a ban on benefit payments to new migrants who have paid nothing into the system, fingerprinting at the Calais border, and up-front payments by foreigners for NHS care”.

One of the main reasons Ian Austin opposed Jeremy Corbyn so passionately from the start is because he thought Corbyn's pro-migrant, pro-welfare state politics was out of sync with electoral reality. How do I know this? Because he said so publicly over and over and over again.

Ian Austin MP tells Ed Miliband to get tough on immigration  https://t.co/1bAfzxEyOt One from the archives. This obvious anti-racism champion will be a loss.

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Ireland steps up effort to shelter economy from no-deal Brexit

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Bill readied amid concerns over impact on agriculture, food processing and transport

Ireland is accelerating preparations for a no-deal Brexit amid growing alarm that parts of the Irish economy could face severe disruption and even collapse – and that the UK hopes to leverage that prospect to wring concessions from the European Union.

Leo Varadkar’s government is due on Friday to publish a mammoth omnibus bill incorporating 16 pieces of legislation to try to shelter Ireland from the doomsday scenario of the UK crashing out of the EU.

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Theresa May faces ministerial revolt over no-deal Brexit

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Up to 25 government members could vote for delay rather than allow UK to crash out

Theresa May is facing the most serious cabinet revolt of her premiership next week, with as many as 25 members of the government ready to vote for a Brexit delay unless she rules out “no deal” – in a move that will challenge her to sack them.

Rebel Conservatives believe there are now enough MPs across the House of Commons to pass an amendment that would require May to extend article 50 rather than allow the UK to leave without a deal.

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Brexit backstop: Theresa May to put new proposals to EU

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PM heads to Brussels as Philip Hammond declares ‘Malthouse compromise’ unviable

Theresa May will present the EU with new legal proposals to solve the Irish backstop issue on Wednesday, which Downing Street hopes will be enough to convince Eurosceptics to back her Brexit deal.

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, confirmed late on Tuesday that the government no longer intended to pursue alternative arrangements for the backstop in the withdrawal agreement, which had been championed by cross-factional MPs including Eurosceptic Steve Baker and soft Brexiter Nicky Morgan.

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Cabinet ministers tell May: stop using no-deal threat to negotiate

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MPs tell PM to rule option out, as Brexit secretary and attorney general hold talks with EU

Four cabinet ministers have demanded the prime minister stop using the threat of a no-deal Brexit as a negotiating tactic, telling Theresa May that businesses and manufacturers now needed to be given certainty.

The demand was made in a meeting with the prime minister on Monday by the justice secretary, David Gauke, the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, the business secretary, Greg Clark, and the Scottish secretary, David Mundell.

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Brexit: May risks fresh confrontation with ERG over backstop

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Eurosceptics react angrily to culture secretary’s suggestion backstop may not be removed

Theresa May is facing a fresh showdown with Eurosceptic Conservative MPs after a cabinet minister suggested she may put her Brexit deal to parliament again without having secured a change to the withdrawal text.

Before talks between May and EU leaders, the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, said the prime minister’s aim was to solve the Northern Ireland backstop issue but the “mechanism” of the change did not matter.

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David Gauke expresses ‘grave concerns’ about no-deal Brexit

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Justice secretary says leaving EU without deal would have ‘very adverse effect’

The justice secretary has said he has grave concerns about the prospect of leaving the European Union without a deal, saying it would have a “very adverse effect” on the UK’s economy, security and union with Northern Ireland.

David Gauke said the government was planning for the contingency of no deal, but suggested he would support extending article 50 if a deal between the UK and EU was not reached, since a no-deal Brexit was not in the national interest. He added that he expected the government to act responsibly if the current deadlock prevailed.

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Brexit is national crisis, former diplomats tell Theresa May

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Ex-ambassadors and high commissioners say UK is weakened by ‘fiasco’

More than 40 former British ambassadors and high commissioners have written to Theresa May warning her that Brexit has turned into a “national crisis” and urging her to delay proceedings until the government has greater clarity about Britain’s likely future relationship with Europe.

The letter, signed by many of the most senior diplomats of the last 20 years, underlines concerns that British influence in the world will wane if the country leaves Europe’s trading and foreign policy bloc.

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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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The surprising truth about Brexit Britain – we’re a country full of moderates| Adrian Chiles

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There are plenty of thoughtful, pragmatic remainers and leavers. They’re just not getting any airtime

Brexit has divided Britain – everyone says so. Families have been fractured, friendships blighted. Fury – yes, fury – hangs heavy in the air. Well, maybe. Perhaps it’s just the furious – the politicians, the punters, the pundits – who are getting all the airtime.

Just after the referendum I made a Panorama documentary in the West Midlands asking people why they had voted the way they had. The leavers, the majority, thumped their tubs in triumph. The remainers hung their heads in despair at the simple-mindedness of the leavers. Standard stuff.

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Theresa May’s Brexit tactic: my way or a long delay

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Chief negotiator Olly Robbins was overheard in a Brussels bar, discussing strategy

Theresa May’s high-stakes Brexit strategy may have been accidentally revealed after her chief negotiator Olly Robbins was overheard in a Brussels bar saying MPs will be given a last-minute choice between her deal and a lengthy delay.

The prime minister has repeatedly insisted that the government intends to leave the EU as planned on 29 March, and urged MPs to “hold our nerve”, while she tries to renegotiate changes to the Irish backstop.

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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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