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| Brexit: Boris Johnson arrives at Tory conference for speech – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Johnson says he has been PM for only 70 days. | |
| But he has seen so many things that have given him hope. | |
| I have seen so many things that give cause for hope | |
| hospitals that are finally getting the investment to match the devotion of the staff | |
| schools where standards of reading are rising through the use of synthetic phonics | |
| police colleges where idealistic young men and women are enrolling in large numbers to fight crime across the country | |
| shipyards in Scotland that are building superb modern type 26 frigates for sale around the world – | |
| and every one of those high wage high skill jobs in shipbuilding is a testament to the benefits of belonging to the United Kingdom | |
| Boris Johnson starts. | |
| He says he thinks some members may have been “peppered with abuse” as they arrived. | |
| If they were, they should not worry. Conservatives are not abashed by that, he says. | |
| He starts with a tribute to his predecessor, Theresa May. The party will continue with her work tackling domestic violence and modern slavery. | |
| Boris Johnson is arriving in the hall, shaking hands as he heads towards the stage, including shaking hands with members of his cabinet. | |
| The lights are down, and a video is now being played. It has featured a baby and a puppy, among other things. There is a recording of Boris Johnson talking about taking first steps, in relation to Brexit. | |
| He says the Tories will restore trust in democracy, and get Brexit done. | |
| Here is an extract from Boris Johnson’s speech released overnight. | |
| Voters are desperate for us to focus on their other priorities - what people want, what leavers want, what remainers want, what the whole world wants – is to move on. | |
| That is why we are coming out of the EU on October 31. Let’s get Brexit done -- we can, we must and we will. | |
| Corbyn wants to turn the whole of 2020 – which should be a great year for this country – into the chaos and cacophony of two more referendums - a second referendum on Scottish independence, even though the people of Scotland were promised that the 2014 vote would be a once in a generation vote, and a second referendum on the EU, even though we were promised that the 2016 vote would be a once in a generation vote. | |
| Can you imagine another three years of this? That is the Corbyn agenda – stay in the EU beyond October 31, paying a billion pounds a month for the privilege, followed by years of uncertainty for business and everyone else. | |
| My friends, I am afraid that after three and a half years people are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools. They are beginning to suspect that there are forces in this country that simply don’t want Brexit delivered at all. And if they turn out to be right in that suspicion then I believe there will be grave consequences for trust in democracy. | |
| Let’s get Brexit done on October 31 so in 2020 our country can move on. | |
| Boris Johnson will be addressing the Tory conference shortly. | |
| Cabinet ministers have been coming into the hall to take their seats. | |
| In an interview with Emma Barnett on Radio 5 Live Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, said that if the UK did not agree a Brexit deal with the EU, it would leave on 31 October anyway. | |
| Asked how that would be possible given that the Benn Act requires the PM to request an extension in these circumstance, Truss admitted that she did now know. She said: | |
| I don’t know the precise details of exactly what we will do, and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you. | |
| Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has signalled that she is content with the Brexit plans drawn up by Boris Johnson. Speaking to the BBC, she declined to say if she had seen the proposals in detail. But she continued: | |
| What we are doing with his prime minister is working very closely with him and we will continue to work closely with him over the next couple of hours and days, and I hope we do get a deal that is acceptable to the European Union and one that is good for the whole of the United Kingdom. | |
| What people need to remember is after the withdrawal agreement and the backstop came out, what was happening was Northern Ireland was going to be in a different customs union, we were going to be in separate regulations without any democratic say. | |
| I think it is important that we now try and get a deal that is good for Northern Ireland as well as the rest of the UK. | |
| The backstop has always been identified as the huge stumbling block. Let’s fix it and let’s get a deal. | |
| At the Conservative party conference, Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, has described suggestions that a no-deal Brexit would lead to severe delays at cross-channel ports as “absolute nonsense”. Responding to a question during a Q&A session a few minutes ago, he said: | |
| I don’t subscribe to this theory that very much different is going to happen. I think the ports will all continue to flow much as they do now, to be honest. The idea that suddenly we’re not going to get medicines in, or all these other ridiculous scaremongering stories – I can’t see why. | |
| Hauliers have to finance their trucks and pay for them. That means the wheels have to keep turning. Ferry companies have to finance their ferries. The ferries keep flowing. The ports employ people. They need the income from traffic going through the ports. This idea everything is going to seize up, and there’s going to be a disaster, especially in the event of a no-deal Brexit, I think is absolute nonsense. Business will find a way through. | Hauliers have to finance their trucks and pay for them. That means the wheels have to keep turning. Ferry companies have to finance their ferries. The ferries keep flowing. The ports employ people. They need the income from traffic going through the ports. This idea everything is going to seize up, and there’s going to be a disaster, especially in the event of a no-deal Brexit, I think is absolute nonsense. Business will find a way through. |
| Tory members applauded him warmly. | Tory members applauded him warmly. |
| Jack’s comment did not take account of the fact that his own government has spent billions preparing for a no-deal Brexit, with the Department for Transport making plans to spend up to £300m on freight capacity to compensate for possible gridlock at cross-Channel ports. It also did not square with what the chief executive of the port of Dover told a conference fringe meeting yesterday about how, based on the government’s own assessment of how a no-deal Brexit would disrupt traffic at the port, Dover would lose trade worth £1bn a week for some months. | |
| Jack is MP for Dumfries and Galloway, which includes the port of Cairnryan. He said he hoped it would have more trade with Ireland going through it after Brexit. | |
| In his speech to the Tory conference, Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, announced some growth deal funding for Northern Ireland. He said: | In his speech to the Tory conference, Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, announced some growth deal funding for Northern Ireland. He said: |
| This morning I announced that the people and businesses of Mid-South West Northern Ireland and Causeway Coast and Glens will benefit from £163m of UK government funding, supporting economic growth, job creation and investment in local projects. This means that every part of Northern Ireland now benefits from growth deal funding. | This morning I announced that the people and businesses of Mid-South West Northern Ireland and Causeway Coast and Glens will benefit from £163m of UK government funding, supporting economic growth, job creation and investment in local projects. This means that every part of Northern Ireland now benefits from growth deal funding. |
| His speech hardly mentioned Brexit. | His speech hardly mentioned Brexit. |
| These are from RTE’s Europe editor, Tony Connelly. | These are from RTE’s Europe editor, Tony Connelly. |
| Here's the choreography of the day's events from Brussels: The European Commission is expecting to receive the UK proposals later this morning, around the time of Boris Johnson's speech. There may be confirmation during the Commission's daily midday briefing to journalists | Here's the choreography of the day's events from Brussels: The European Commission is expecting to receive the UK proposals later this morning, around the time of Boris Johnson's speech. There may be confirmation during the Commission's daily midday briefing to journalists |
| 2/ David Frost, the UK's chief negotiator, will meet members of the Commission's Article 50 Task Force this afternoon to formally present the text, and to have technical discussions. | 2/ David Frost, the UK's chief negotiator, will meet members of the Commission's Article 50 Task Force this afternoon to formally present the text, and to have technical discussions. |
| 3/ Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, will later then brief Brexit coordinators, ie diplomats from 27 EU member states, on the UK paper. He will also brief the European Parliament's Brexit Steering Group. EU27 Ambassadors will also assess the text. | 3/ Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, will later then brief Brexit coordinators, ie diplomats from 27 EU member states, on the UK paper. He will also brief the European Parliament's Brexit Steering Group. EU27 Ambassadors will also assess the text. |
| 4/ On the basis of the feedback and direction from member states and the European Parliament, Michel Barnier and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will make a call as to whether the paper is the basis for intense negotiations over the coming days... | 4/ On the basis of the feedback and direction from member states and the European Parliament, Michel Barnier and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will make a call as to whether the paper is the basis for intense negotiations over the coming days... |
| 5/ ...or if they fall too far short of the EU's demands that the paper meets the same objectives as the original backstop. "We're not going to sit in a room for nothing," says one EU source. "But both options are conceivable." | 5/ ...or if they fall too far short of the EU's demands that the paper meets the same objectives as the original backstop. "We're not going to sit in a room for nothing," says one EU source. "But both options are conceivable." |
| 6/ However, Brussels is urging caution. "We will wait to see what is in the actual text. We will listen to the UK side." | 6/ However, Brussels is urging caution. "We will wait to see what is in the actual text. We will listen to the UK side." |
| Section 10 of the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018 – which prohibits any “border arrangements” between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland – will cause a problem for the government’s latest Brexit plan, the businesswoman and legal campaigner Gina Miller has warned. | Section 10 of the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018 – which prohibits any “border arrangements” between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland – will cause a problem for the government’s latest Brexit plan, the businesswoman and legal campaigner Gina Miller has warned. |
| Speaking at a breakfast meeting at the London law firm Bird & Bird, Miller said there could be many more “legal twists and turns” before the Brexit crisis is resolved. | Speaking at a breakfast meeting at the London law firm Bird & Bird, Miller said there could be many more “legal twists and turns” before the Brexit crisis is resolved. |
| Quoting from section 10 of the act, Miller – who has won two landmark cases at the supreme court against the government – said it could prove a problem for the government. | Quoting from section 10 of the act, Miller – who has won two landmark cases at the supreme court against the government – said it could prove a problem for the government. |
| Section 10 outlaws anything that would “diminish any form of north-south cooperation provided for by the Belfast agreement (as defined by section 98 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998)”. | Section 10 outlaws anything that would “diminish any form of north-south cooperation provided for by the Belfast agreement (as defined by section 98 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998)”. |
| It also bans any move to “create or facilitate border arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after exit day which feature physical infrastructure, including border posts, or checks and controls, that did not exist before exit day and are not in accordance with an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU.” It has been raised in Northern Ireland Brexit court cases. | It also bans any move to “create or facilitate border arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after exit day which feature physical infrastructure, including border posts, or checks and controls, that did not exist before exit day and are not in accordance with an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU.” It has been raised in Northern Ireland Brexit court cases. |
| Miller also revealed she is frequently approached by EU citizens who thank her for her legal cases but tell her: ‘Goodbye. I’m leaving. We have been here for 20 years but because we don’t have the right papers for filling out a complicated process, [we’re off].’ Miller added: | Miller also revealed she is frequently approached by EU citizens who thank her for her legal cases but tell her: ‘Goodbye. I’m leaving. We have been here for 20 years but because we don’t have the right papers for filling out a complicated process, [we’re off].’ Miller added: |
| I’m absolutely disgusted that this is something that parliament, which I had fought so hard to come back, has not been talking about. We must stop these divisions. | I’m absolutely disgusted that this is something that parliament, which I had fought so hard to come back, has not been talking about. We must stop these divisions. |
| Boris Johnson’s final “take it or leave it” Brexit offer to Brussels is in danger of being dead on arrival after it was rounded on by government and opposition parties in Ireland, my colleagues Lisa O’Carroll and Daniel Boffey report. | Boris Johnson’s final “take it or leave it” Brexit offer to Brussels is in danger of being dead on arrival after it was rounded on by government and opposition parties in Ireland, my colleagues Lisa O’Carroll and Daniel Boffey report. |
| Irish officials dismiss Boris Johnson’s Brexit offer as 'unacceptable' | Irish officials dismiss Boris Johnson’s Brexit offer as 'unacceptable' |
| Philippe Lamberts, co-leader of the Greens-European Free Alliance in the European parliament and a member of the parliament’s Brexit steering group, told Sky News that the EU had yet to see what the UK was offering, but that he was worried by the government’s claim it was a “take it or leave it” offer. | Philippe Lamberts, co-leader of the Greens-European Free Alliance in the European parliament and a member of the parliament’s Brexit steering group, told Sky News that the EU had yet to see what the UK was offering, but that he was worried by the government’s claim it was a “take it or leave it” offer. |
| He said he saw “major problems” in the plans as leaked to the Telegraph. He said: | He said he saw “major problems” in the plans as leaked to the Telegraph. He said: |
| The British government cannot seriously expect us to basically destroy the single market. That is what would happen if for instance, as Stephen Barclay [the Brexit secretary] suggested, we should keep a 500km border open into the single market. | The British government cannot seriously expect us to basically destroy the single market. That is what would happen if for instance, as Stephen Barclay [the Brexit secretary] suggested, we should keep a 500km border open into the single market. |
| He also said he did not think Boris Johnson was committed to getting a deal anyway. He explained: | He also said he did not think Boris Johnson was committed to getting a deal anyway. He explained: |
| My sense, but it is only my guess, is that what he is seeking is a no-deal Brexit, but with the ability of putting the blame on the EU27. That is consistent with the way he has behaved, with his public statements, the way he has antagonised both the EU27 and his own parliament. He doesn’t seem like a person who genuinely seeks a deal. | My sense, but it is only my guess, is that what he is seeking is a no-deal Brexit, but with the ability of putting the blame on the EU27. That is consistent with the way he has behaved, with his public statements, the way he has antagonised both the EU27 and his own parliament. He doesn’t seem like a person who genuinely seeks a deal. |
| This is what Brandon Lewis, the Home Office minister, told Newsnight last night about this being the UK’s “final offer”. Lewis said: | This is what Brandon Lewis, the Home Office minister, told Newsnight last night about this being the UK’s “final offer”. Lewis said: |
| The offer the prime minister will make is the offer he is going to make to the European Union. We will publish it tomorrow. That is our final offer. | The offer the prime minister will make is the offer he is going to make to the European Union. We will publish it tomorrow. That is our final offer. |