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Brexit: Boris Johnson to address MPs as minister brands parliament 'dead' with 'no moral right to sit' – live news
Brexit: Boris Johnson to address MPs as minister brands parliament 'dead' with 'no moral right to sit' – live news
(32 minutes later)
Responding to a private notice question in the Lords on the extension of article 50, Lord Callanan, minister of state for exiting the European Union, repeated again and again that the government would always “abide by the law”, but refused to be drawn on whether they would seek to find a loophole in the Benn Act.
He was asked repeatedly about quotes from a Number 10 spokesperson that the government could send a second letter – along with the letter requesting an extension as mandated in the Benn Act – which sought to dissuade the EU from granting a delay.
“The government will of course abide by the law,” he said, in response to a question by Labour’s Lady Hayter of Kentish Town.Lord Cormack, a Conservative, followed up: “Can I ask my noble friend to confirm that in the unhappy event, and for me it would be an unhappy event, that no deal is reached by 31 October, that the prime minister will abide by the law that parliament has passed?”
“I am happy to confirm to the noble Lord the answer that I gave earlier: the government will abide by the law,” said Callanan.
Labour’s Lord Harris of Haringey said Callanan hadn’t answered the question. He went on:
We of course assume that the government will abide by the law. But the question was about [whether] a second letter would be sent saying to the EU ‘please don’t accept our request’. Can he give a categorical assurance that the government will not do that and will not seek to go around the wording of the law which was passed by this house.
Callanan replied:
I can give the noble lord a categorical assurance that the government will abide by the law. We write all sorts of letters to all sorts of people, all of the time. I’m sure letter-writing will continue even in no deal. And I can go no further that to repeat what I’ve said which is of course we are a law-abiding government.
Earlier Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, told the Commons that the automative industry was ready for a no-deal Brexit.
As the BBC’s Faisal Islam points out that, that is not what the industry’s trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said this week.
Automotive sector is ready, the retail sector is ready, (for No Deal) says Gove to Starmer after his meetings with them
TWO days ago automotive lobby chief Hawes said in a press release: "A ‘no deal’ Brexit would have an immediate and devastating impact on the industry, undermining competitiveness and causing irreversible and severe damage... risks destroying this vital pillar of our economies.”
Gove quote - "The automotive sector who I met this week confirmed that they were ready, the retail sector said they were ready"...SMMT release from Monday ???? pic.twitter.com/2OgNHCykab
Labour’s Owen Smith asks Gove if he can assure police officers in Northern Ireland will not be asked to patrol the Irish border, putting their lives at risk.
Labour’s Owen Smith asks Gove if he can assure police officers in Northern Ireland will not be asked to patrol the Irish border, putting their lives at risk.
Gove says the government has “absolutely no intention” of putting infrastructure at or near the border that might have to be policed.
Gove says the government has “absolutely no intention” of putting infrastructure at or near the border that might have to be policed.
Dominic Grieve, the former Tory attorney general, asks when the phrase “base case” in the Operation Yellowhammer document was changed to “worst case”. And he says, as chair of the intelligence and security committee, he wants to know what the mitigations are that will replace having access to the Schengen database.
Dominic Grieve, the former Tory attorney general, asks when the phrase “base case” in the Operation Yellowhammer document was changed to “worst case”. And he says, as chair of the intelligence and security committee, he wants to know what the mitigations are that will replace having access to the Schengen database.
Gove explains the difference between base case (agreed outcomes) and worst case, but he does not say when the wording was changed. And he refuses to say what the alternatives to the Schengen database will be.
Gove explains the difference between base case (agreed outcomes) and worst case, but he does not say when the wording was changed. And he refuses to say what the alternatives to the Schengen database will be.
Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, says even if Border Force officers get new powers, they will not have the information they need to check people in the event of a no-deal Brexit. She asks Gove why he is claiming the UK would be safer.
Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, says even if Border Force officers get new powers, they will not have the information they need to check people in the event of a no-deal Brexit. She asks Gove why he is claiming the UK would be safer.
Gove says she has questioned people involved in national security and the Border Force. “Appropriate mitigations are in place,” he says, and new powers are available.
Gove says she has questioned people involved in national security and the Border Force. “Appropriate mitigations are in place,” he says, and new powers are available.
Sir David Lidington, the former Cabinet Office minister, asks what will happen in Northern Ireland if there is a no-deal Brexit. How will the civil service be able to manage if there is no functioning executive.
Sir David Lidington, the former Cabinet Office minister, asks what will happen in Northern Ireland if there is a no-deal Brexit. How will the civil service be able to manage if there is no functioning executive.
Gove says if there is still no power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland, the government would have to consider giving new powers to Northern Ireland civil service. That is because, under no deal, the civil servants running Northern Ireland would need to take decisions (in relation to matters like customs) going beyond the powers they currently have.
Gove says if there is still no power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland, the government would have to consider giving new powers to Northern Ireland civil service. That is because, under no deal, the civil servants running Northern Ireland would need to take decisions (in relation to matters like customs) going beyond the powers they currently have.
Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, asks how Britain will be safer than before when the police will not have access to EU crime and justice databases in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, asks how Britain will be safer than before when the police will not have access to EU crime and justice databases in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Because Border Force staff will have extra new powers, says Gove.
Because Border Force staff will have new powers, says Gove.
Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, asks if hauliers have doing what is necessary to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. Green represents Ashford in Kent.
Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, asks if hauliers have done what is necessary to prepare for a no-deal Brexit. Green represents Ashford in Kent.
Gove says the government is contacting hauliers. But further steps need to be taken.
Gove says the government is contacting hauliers. But further steps need to be taken.
Gove is responding to Starmer.
Gove is responding to Starmer.
He starts by welcoming Starmer back from Brighton, saying one thing about the House of Commons is that at least they record votes properly. That’s a reference to Labour deciding its new Breixt policy on a show of hands, despite calls for a card vote.
He starts by welcoming Starmer back from Brighton, saying one thing about the House of Commons is that at least they record votes properly. That’s a reference to Labour deciding its new Brexit policy on a show of hands, despite calls for a card vote.
Gove repeats his point about the withdrawal agreement now being “in play” in the negotiations. And he says business is preparing for Brexit.
Gove repeats his point about the withdrawal agreement now being “in play” in the negotiations. And he says business is preparing for Brexit.
But Gove spends most of his time criticising Labour, and he ends by saying Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy is ‘as solid as a blancmange in a hurricane”.
But Gove spends most of his time criticising Labour, and he ends by saying Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy is “as solid as a blancmange in a hurricane”.
Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, is responding to Gove now.
He asks Gove to confirm that the four papers submitted to the EU about alternatives to the backstop are “non-papers”. And is it right they have not been shared with the EU27.
Starmer says he does not accept that businesses are well prepared. He sat with business leaders last week, and their main concern was about how ill-prepared businesses are.
He ask about the Commons vote earlier this month requiring the publication of all the Operation Yellowhammer documents. He says the government just published a short document (pdf). Nothing else has been disclosed.
Gove claimed it was a document from the last government. But it was dated 2 August, when Boris Johnson was PM, Starmer says
Gove claimed on the Marr Show was that this was an old document, and the worst-case scenario. Gove also claimed it was being updated, Starmer says.
He asks Gove to explain why, when it was leaked to the Sunday Times, it said it was a base case scenario. But when it was published it was described as worst-case scenario.
Referring to Gove’s comment on LBC this morning about Boris Johnson being a “born winner” (see 11am), Starmer says he is glad that Gove has not lost his sense of humour.
He says to leave the country unprepared for a no-deal Brexit is unforgivable.
In the Commons Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal Brexit planning, is making a statement now.
He says there has been “significant movement in recent weeks” in the the Brexit talks with the EU.
He says the EU used to say the withdrawal agreement could not be changed. But now it is open to amending it. And it used to say the backstop was inviolable. But now it says it is not emotionally attached to it.
He says he wants to talk about no-deal plans.
The cabinet XO (EU exit operations) has met 48 times, he says.
He says under Operation Yellowhammer the government has prepared for worst-case scenarios.
From my colleague Daniel Boffey
New: the UK government has submitted a fourth so-called non paper to the European commission on its ideas for the Irish border. This one is on how east-west trade in agri goods will be checked if there is an all-Ireland SPS zone. But it all feels a bit like a place holder.
From the Spectator’s James Forsyth
Interesting straw in the wind: one Cabinet Minister is arguing that if the Commons won’t grant Boris Johnson an election, then the Prime Minister should go for a tactical resignation
One theory is that the PM could resign, oblige the Queen to make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister, defeat the government on a no confidence motion and then wait for the election a few weeks later.
But there are two obvious problems with this tactic.
1) As PM Corbyn would have the authority to request an extension to article 50. That means Boris Johnson would be leading the opposition Tory party into a general election having failed to deliver his key pledge – taking the UK out of the EU by 31 October.
2) Incumbent prime minister have considerable advantages in electoral politics. Even with a government majority, they can exercise power and patronage and spend government money. And for Johnson the danger would be that, after having Corbyn as PM for a few months, the public might decide they like him a lot more.
David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary who had the whip withdrawn earlier this month after rebelling over Brexit, has called for Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief of staff, to be sacked. Cummings is blamed for Boris Johnson’s decision to adopt a highly confrontational approach to parliament, including proroguing parliament for five weeks. “I think the prime minister needs a different strategy and a different strategist,” Gauke told the World at One.
A plan is in place to restrict holiday leave for police officers in Northern Ireland following Brexit. As the Press Association reports, a total of 10% of officers will be able to take time off for the first six weeks after the United Kingdom is scheduled to leave the European Union on 31 October. Police Service of Northern Ireland assistant chief constable George Clarke described it in an interview with the PA news agency as a “sensible operational contingency”, adding it would be kept under review.
MPs returning to parliament on Wednesday are discussing plans to force Boris Johnson to request a Brexit extension earlier than the current 19 October deadline, to avoid no deal, my colleague Kate Proctor reports.
MPs trying to force Boris Johnson to seek Brexit extension earlier
In the Commons Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is making a statement about Thomas Cook. He said that bailing out the company would have involved “throwing good money after bad”, but he said the government would legislate to ensure that in future airlines can be wound down in a more orderly way. He told MPs:
[Firms] need to be able to look after their customers and we need to be able to ensure their planes can keep flying in order that we don’t have to set up a shadow airline. This is where we will focus our efforts in the next couple of weeks. We will require primary legislation, and, dare I say it, a new session of parliament.
While all eyes are on the newly reconvened Commons, the Labour party’s autumn conference is still under way. Members this morning voted overwhelmingly to give full voting rights to all UK residents, urging the party to extend the franchise to millions of migrants.
As well as extending voting rights, the motion tabled by the Labour for Free Movement campaign calls on a future Labour government to close all immigration detention centres, ending “no recourse to public funds” policies, and to seeking to extend free movement rights.
The motion also opposed immigration systems based on a person’s income or “utility to big business” and any caps or targets on the numbers of people moving to the UK.
The fact that a motion passes at the Labour party’s conference does not necessarily mean it will end up in a future general election manifesto, though it contributes to the policy-making process.
Only British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens are able to vote in general elections, while citizens of EU countries can vote in local elections and European elections. Extending the vote to the 3 million EU nationals living in the UK would have a significant impact on any second referendum on the UK’s EU membership.
Ana Oppenheim, from the Labour Campaign for Free Movement and the leftwing pro-EU group Another Europe is Possible, said it was “a source of shame for many activists” that the party’s 2017 manifesto pledged to end free movement. She said:
Now we can move forward not only committed to defending free movement, but to giving migrants the vote. If we win, the next election will be the last election in which people like me are shut out of the democratic process.
Celebrating the success of the motion the Labour Campaign for Free Movement tweeted a photograph of the controversial “Controls on Immigration” mug, which was produced by the Labour party during the 2015 general election campaign. “Now officially in the bin,” the tweet read.
Now officially in the bin: pic.twitter.com/zEvRiYdLRk
The motion said Labour should campaign for “free movement, equality and rights for migrants”. It also said:
Free movement, equality and rights for migrants, are socialist values and benefit us all.
Confronted with attacks on migrants – from the racist ‘hostile environment’ to the Conservatives’ immigration bill that plans to end free movement and strip the rights of working-class migrants – we stand for solidarity, equality and freedom.
Scapegoating, ending free movement and attacking migrants’ rights are attacks on all workers. They make migrant workers more precarious and vulnerable to hyperexploitation, pressing down wages and conditions for everyone.
They divide us, making it harder to unionise and push back.
At the 2017 election Labour’s manifesto said freedom of movement within the EU would end when the UK ceased to be a member. After Brexit Labour wants a close relationship with the single market, but it has not formally committed to keeping the UK in the single market – a move that would ensure EU free movement continued.
Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, told MPs earlier that the government would comply with the Benn Act that is intended to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. (See 12.34pm.) But ITV’s political editor Robert Peston has had a message from a government source implying that, although the PM would be willing to write a letter to the EU formally requesting an article 50 extension (in the event of there being no Brexit deal by 19 October), he would also send a second letter containing all sorts of arguments intended to ensure that the EU would say no.
Peston himself is not one of those people inclined to use capital letters in his tweets, and so I’m presuming that the angry, Trump-style capitalisation comes from an original message sent by his source.
BREAKING: Important clarification from senior government source of what Attorney General meant when he said @BorisJohnson would abide by Benn Act, that compels him in absence of a Brexit deal to write letter to EU requesting Brexit delay. Government source: “We will ‘comply’...
“with Benn Act IF and only if it is triggered (which it may not be, if there is a deal). That is NOT the same as ‘the PM will ask for a delay’! HOW we comply with the Benn Act is the real question, and also what would be in our SECOND letter”. In other words...
Johnson still believes he can lawfully render the Benn Act nul and void, presumably by sending a second letter that would dissuade the EU from granting a delay. Lady Hale and the Supreme Court look set to be back in action before the end of October...
adjudicating on another momentous dispute between PM and parliament. Unless that is MPs become persuaded that the only safe way to avoid no deal on 31 October would be to remove and replace Johnson as prime minister.