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PMQs: May faces Corbyn after agreeing to Brexit talks – live news PMQs: May faces Corbyn after agreeing to Brexit talks – live news
(32 minutes later)
Theresa May starts by saying April marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the UK’s longest-running military operation - Operation Relentlessness, the nuclear submarine deployment at sea. The SNP’s Stewart Hosie says, after two years of deadlock and a seven hour cabinet meeting, the best she can do is invite Corbyn to become co-owner of her failure. If she were leader of the opposition, would she fall into a trap like this.
But “relentless” could apply to Brexit too ... May says all MPs should be working on a Brexit solution.
PMQs is about to start. Lee Rowley, a Tory Brexiter, says May said last week Corbyn was the biggest threat to the UK. What qualifies him to be involved in Brexit?
I will post my snap summary when it is over. May says every member of the house is involved in Brexit. She wants it to happen in an orderly way, as soon as possible, and without the need for the UK to fight European elections.
Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, is also meeting Theresa May today. He has been tweeting about what he will say to her. Labour’s Preet Kaur Gill asks May if she will speed up the diagnosis time for children with autism.
Heading to London to discuss next steps for #Brexit with the PM.I’ve long said a cross-party majority is needed to get a deal that works for whole of UK. May says some parents find it very difficult to get help for their children if they have autism. She says the government is reviewing its autism strategy.
I’ll be making the case again today for a closer long-term economic relationship with the EU that I believe is the best way to protect our economy & jobs. Philip Lee, a Conservative pro-European, says over 58% of the public want a final say on Brexit. Are they right?
Presumably Drakeford has been invited because Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, is seeing May too. But they are not equivalent. Although they both run devolved administrations, Sturgeon is leader of the SNP, a party with 35 MPs in the Commons. Drakeford is a Labour politician, but May has already arranged to see the leader who decides how Labour MPs vote, Jeremy Corbyn. May says the government should be delivering on the result of the first referendum.
This is from the Mail on Sunday’s Harry Cole. David Jones, a Conservative, asks if May still thinks Corbyn is “not fit to govern”.
Never known usually loyal ministers so angry. Here is a non Brexiteer: “We say parliament made us do this, not Corbyn. They’re idiots. We kept her there and now she stabs us in the back and fucks off. Thanks a lot. All that crap about serving the party. Bollocks.” May says she said earlier what Labour would do to the economy. She does not think Labour should be in government. After the Salisbury novichok attack, she stood up to Russia. But Corbyn said he would prefer to believe the Russian government than the intelligence services.
My colleague Jonathan Freedland has written a column on Theresa May’s decision to hold Brexit talks with Jeremy Corbyn. Here’s an extract. Labour’s Afzal Khan says there is a reception in the Commons today to commemorate teh 51 Muslims killed in Christchurch. There is a problem in the Tory party with Islamophobia. But the party won’t acknowledge that. When will May deal with it and accept the MCB definition of Islamophobia?
The question now is: will this move work? Will May and Corbyn strike a grand bargain, agreeing a national unity Brexit? To which the answer is: don’t hold your breath. For some in Labour, that’s because they assume the worst of May and suspect this is no more than a cynical ruse to land the blame for Brexit’s failure on them. And yet one senior shadow cabinet minister told me this morning that May is acting in “good faith” and that the prime minister is “genuinely looking for a concessionary strategy”, albeit one born of necessity. May says her party takes these incidents very seriously. On attacks against mosques, she says the home secretary has announced extra funding to protect them.
Still, even that shadow minister doesn’t think this will lead to a May-Corbyn deal, not least because, in their view: “Jeremy is not capable of it.” Even without taking a position on the Labour leader’s skill set, there are good reasons to be sceptical. For one thing, just because May has opted for a change in strategy, it doesn’t mean Corbyn has done the same. His goal has always been for Brexit to happen, but not to be blamed for it. May has just invited him to become co-author of Brexit, with his fingerprints all over it. There is no reason why that should appeal to him. He is, after all, the leader of an overwhelmingly pro-remain party: its members will not look kindly on him acting as the midwife of Brexit. Labour’s Owen Smith says, when May sits down with Corbyn, she will hear that Labour’s policy is for a people’s vote on her deal. If she agrees, it will pass. Will she?
And here is his full article. (It is not obvious that she will hear that from Corbyn.)
Look past the May-Corbyn Brexit talks. There’s another solution | Jonathan Freedland May sidesteps the question, and she and Corbyn both want to deliver on the result of the referendum.
Hilary Benn, the committee chair, goes next. Nigel Adams, who resigned as a minister earlier over Brexit (see 9.46am), urges May to back a campaign for step-free access for Selby railway station. This is important for his constituents, he says. The people of Selby demand action, he says.
Q: If the PM agrees a new approach with Jeremy Corbyn, will the government try to amend the political declaration to include that? May thanks Adams for his work as a minister and says she is sorry he has resigned.
Barclay says that will be part of the discussion between May and Corbyn today. The EU would need to agree any change to the political declaration, he says, although he would expect them to do that. She says Adams’ “considerable weight” has been behind this campaign for a long time. His weight “as a campaigner”, she clarifies. She says there will be an announcement about new funding for stations tomorrow.
But he says the government can also decide unilaterally to put extra material into the EU withdrawal agreement bill. Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says although the SNP wants a people’s vote, it has sought compromise. Why has it been ignored? Why is May just inviting Corbyn in? Why are the voices of Scotland being ignored?
Q: Why would the government not want a new political declaration? May says she is meeting Nicola Sturgeon later today.
Barclay says the two options are not mutually exclusive. She says she and Corbyn want to leave the EU with a deal. But the SNP wants to revoke article 50, she says.
And that’s it. The hearing is over. Blackford say he knew Sturgeon was meeting May. But he was talking about the SNP being excluded from formal talks. Scotland will not accept a Tory or Labour Brexit, he says. It voted to remain in the EU and it will not be dragged out against its will.
In the committee the Tory MP Richard Graham is asking the question now May says she is always happy to meet party leaders. She wants to find a way forward that delivers Brexit as soon as possible.
Q: What do you think the UK will be able to take to the European council next Wednesday? An agreement, and legislation already passed? Or just an agreement? Dame Cheryl Gillan, a Conservative, asks May to encourage more government departments to introduce autism awareness measures. And she urges more MPs to undertake autism training.
Stephen Barclay says the UK will need to be able to show “clear purpose”. He does not expect the withdrawal legislation, the EU withdrawal agreement bill, to be passed by then. But the government would want to be able to say what it is doing. May praises the achievement of the Autism Act, introduced by Gillan 10 years ago. The government will continue to look at this, she says.
This is what Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister and foreign minister, is saying about Ireland backing a UK request for a further, short article 50 extension. (See 10.20am.) Coveney said: Corbyn says Waspi women (Women Against State Pension Inequality) will be alarmed by what May said. He asks if the government will guarantee free TV licences for the over-75s.
They will look for a short extension next week, and I think Ireland will support that. It is very unlikely that there will be any crash out at the end of next week with the prime minister looking for an extension with a plan to go with that. May says the BBC is in a position to do that with the money it gets.
Sir Christopher Chope, the Tory Brexiter, goes next. Corbyn says the last Labour government promised this. May is now outsourcing this to the BBC. It should be government policy, he says. He contrasts the record of the last Labour government with the record of this government. This government has made a political choice. There is nothing inevitable about rising poverty. Unless this government tackles rising poverty and low pay, her government will be a failure.
Q: Were you one of the 14 cabinet ministers yesterday who voted for a no-deal? May says she did not realise Corbyn was such a fan of the last Labour government. He spent his time voting against it. This government has introduced the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights for 20 years. Councils are free to build more homes. There are world-class public services. The Tories are delivering on things that matter.
Chope is referring to the Telegraph splash. Corbyn says May should think about what she says. The last Labour government halved child poverty, and brought in Sure Start centres. The Trussell Trust says food bank use has increased by more than 50% where universal credit has been introduced. Why is the government pushing ahead with cuts to pension credit for couples where one person is below pension age.
TELEGRAPH: Cabinet Backs no deal Brexit - but May turns to Corbyn instead #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/spTsqlGyOg May says under Labour we saw a 75p pension rise.
Barclay says he will not discuss what happened at cabinet. Corbyn says the last Labour government lifted 2 million pensioners out of poverty. He says the Tories promised to scrap the triple-lock at the last election. Will May rules this out as government policy, and rule it out for the next manifesto?
The Telegraph has been accused of misrepresenting the cabinet discussion by implying that all 14 wanted a no-deal. Here is the Guardian’s account, which of course is more reliable. May says the government has made its commitments to pensioners. Pensions have gone up, he says.
Several of those present said that 14 ministers, including Leadsom, Liz Truss and Gavin Williamson, opposed a long extension to leaving the EU and 10 were in favour, including the chancellor, Philip Hammond, who made the case for keeping a second referendum on the table. But others claimed only four cabinet ministers were actually arguing for no deal and the rest of the 14 simply made a case against a long delay while accepting the probable need for another shorter one. Jeremy Corbyn welcomes May’s offer of talks and her “willingness to compromise”, and says he looks forward to seeing her later.
Q: Do you agree with what Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, said in a letter to ministers about the disastrous effects of a no-deal Brexit? Why has poverty risen under May’s administration?
Barclay says he will not comment on leaked documents. But he has always accepted that a no deal poses risks, he says. May says no one wants to see poverty rise. But the only way to stop this is with strong employment, with welfare, and by making sure work pays. In 2010 someone on the minimum wage working full time would have taken home £9,200. Now it is £13,700.
Corbyn says the Tories strongly opposed the introduction of the minimum wage. But people on these wages are on poverty wages. Universal credit is failing. Will May halt its roll-out and agree to a thorough review of it.
May says the government has changed it. The taper rate has changed, and the seven-day waiting list has been abolished.
She says the only sustainable way to deal with poverty is to have a strong economy delivering better jobs for people. She says a Labour government would spend £1,000bn more than the Tories. It would put up taxes. Labour has opposed tax cuts. Tax cuts keep people in work.
Sir David Amess, a Tory Brexiter, says party loyalty is being stretched. He says Brexit should mean Brexit. And then, with a reference to Southend-on-Sea wanting city status, he calls for a meaningful vote (on Brexit, presumably, not the status of Southend).
May says when Brexit gets delivered, places like Southend will have a better future.
Southend will be a leading part of that better future, she says.