Category Archives: Oliver Letwin

Johnson could sacrifice majority by withdrawing whip from rebel MPs

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Rebel Tories face deselection over Brexit, as PM abruptly cancels meeting with group including ex-ministers

Boris Johnson is prepared to blow up his own parliamentary majority and withdraw the whip from dozens of Conservative MPs if they back plans to stop no-deal Brexit, Tory whips have warned potential rebels, in an extreme move by Downing Street that would pave the way for an imminent general election.

As hostilities escalated, Johnson also signalled how serious his intention is to follow through the threat of deselection by abruptly ripping up plans for a meeting with rebellious former ministers, including Philip Hammond and David Gauke, that had been billed as a last-ditch effort to limit support for the action in parliament.

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Jeremy Corbyn pleads with MPs: back me now before it’s too late

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Britain stands on precipice, warns Labour leader, as 100 MPs tell Boris Johnson to recall parliament

Jeremy Corbyn has issued an urgent plea to MPs to unite to stop no-deal Brexit “before it’s too late”, amid cross-party demands for an immediate recall of parliament to deal with the crisis.

In a show of defiance, a group of more than 100 MPs representing every Westminster party except the DUP has signed a letter stating it is “unacceptable” for parliament to wait until next month to sit again, with the Brexit deadline looming.

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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: 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: 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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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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