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| Brexit: Leadsom criticised for saying PM could use 'unlawful' two-letter plan to sabotage Benn act - live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Two MPs are taking the government to court to demand an independent inquiry into the UK’s complicity in torture after “years of dither and delay”, the Press Association reports. Labour’s Dan Jarvis and Conservative David Davis are bringing legal action alongside the campaigning justice charity Reprieve, seeking a full judge-led inquiry into “the truth of the UK’s role in post 9/11 abuses”. It is alleged the refusal to hold a hearing is contrary to article three of the European convention on human rights, which requires governments to fully investigate credible torture allegations, and also violates the common law prohibition of torture. | |
| Britain’s economy contracted by 0.1% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics’ latest growth report. My colleague Graeme Wearden has full coverage in his business live blog. | |
| UK economy to avoid Brexit recession despite shrinking in August - business live | |
| In an interview on ITV’s Peston last night Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, suggested that, if Boris Johnson has to write a letter to the EU requesting a Brexit extension - which is what the Benn Act says he will have to do, if there is no deal - he might also send a second letter, making points intended to persuade EU leaders against granting an extension. There has been speculation for some time that this might be the loophole Johnson intends to use to ensure the UK leaves the EU on 31 October, as he has promised, and that he obeys the Benn Act, as he has also promised. | |
| Asked about this possible tactic, Leadsom said that it would be “perfectly reasonable” to act in this way. | |
| .@andrealeadsom tells @peston it’s “absolutely” reasonable for Boris Johnson to send a second letter to the EU saying he doesn’t want an extension. Watch the full interview at 10.45pm on #Peston pic.twitter.com/Xyc7afoiSs | |
| But there is a problem; lawyers say that doing this would be not only not reasonable, but unlawful too. This is what Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, tweeted last night. He’s a QC. | |
| Andrea Leadsom’s comments are neither the spirit nor the letter of the law. If there is no deal by the end of next week, the Prime Minister must ask for, and accept, an extension. One letter. No equivocation. https://t.co/Uuyjbf3BiY | |
| This is from Joanna Cherry, the SNP’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman, who is also a QC. | |
| No it’s not because @BorisJohnson promised Scotland’s highest court to comply with the #BennAct AND not to frustrate its purpose so these silly childish tricks are out. Just as well we have the option to go back to court on 21 Oct #Brexit #ScottishBackstop https://t.co/w0bu7J1FQC | |
| In a blog yesterday for the UK Constitutional Law Association, Jeff King, a law professor, specifically said that the plan floated by Leadsom would be “patently unlawful”. | |
| An option mooted in the Daily Telegraph suggests that the PM might send two letters, the second asking the European council to disregard the one required by the Benn Act. It would be absurd as well as patently unlawful. The European council would seek clarification and the matter would end up before a UK judge, who would make short work of it. The statutory request is required by a law whose aim is clear, and the second letter would seek to frustrate the operation of that law. The correct authority for that proposition is Miller v SS for Exiting the EU [2017] UKSC 5 (Miller No.1): there exists no foreign affairs prerogative power that would operate to frustrate the purpose of a statute. A court would be required to declare that the second letter was issued without lawful authority. The European council would be instructed that that there is only one valid letter. | |
| The FT’s legal commentator David Allen Green says it’s the Padfield case that explains why the Leadsom gambit would be illegal. | |
| General purpose tweetTo any piece of the form "Has [x] discovered a way round the Benn Act?"The initial answer is "No, Padfield"Only if the piece explains how the 1968 case of Padfield is also sidestepped, then the piece is legally worthless briefed by the legally amateur | |
| And it is worth quoting what the advocate general for Scotland, Lord Keen, told the Scottish court in the case referred to by Cherry. Keen said the PM accepted that he “cannot frustrate” the purpose of the Benn Act. The full quotes are in the judgment (pdf). | |
| On the Today programme this morning Kwasi Kwarteng, a business minister, ducked a question about whether a two-letters strategy would be an option. He said that he was not a lawyer, and so could not comment on the rights or wrongs of this issue, but he did say the government would obey the law. | |
| As the Liverpool Echo reports, there is speculation that the Boris Johnson/Leo Varadkar meeting will take place in the city. | As the Liverpool Echo reports, there is speculation that the Boris Johnson/Leo Varadkar meeting will take place in the city. |
| This would be another reason why No 10 might want to keep the location of the talks secret, because Johnson is still unpopular in the city because of an editorial he published when he was editor of the Spectator 15 years ago that was offensive to Liverpudlians. | This would be another reason why No 10 might want to keep the location of the talks secret, because Johnson is still unpopular in the city because of an editorial he published when he was editor of the Spectator 15 years ago that was offensive to Liverpudlians. |
| Yesterday Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor for the Liverpool city region, posted these on Twitter. | Yesterday Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor for the Liverpool city region, posted these on Twitter. |
| If Boris Johnson is in Liverpool this week – he should put time aside to, at long last, acknowledge the pain he caused as Editor of the Spectator, in publishing an article that smeared our city and the lives of 96 football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough. https://t.co/s3LbHLSs1n | If Boris Johnson is in Liverpool this week – he should put time aside to, at long last, acknowledge the pain he caused as Editor of the Spectator, in publishing an article that smeared our city and the lives of 96 football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough. https://t.co/s3LbHLSs1n |
| NOTE: 96 – not “more than 50” – as the piece contemptuously put it. They were 96 innocent men, women and children who were unlawfully killed in Britain’s worst ever sporting disaster. | NOTE: 96 – not “more than 50” – as the piece contemptuously put it. They were 96 innocent men, women and children who were unlawfully killed in Britain’s worst ever sporting disaster. |
| On three separate occasions when I have raised this issue with him, and on the floor of House of Commons when pressed by @meaglemp, he has refused to apologise for the hurt those comments caused. | On three separate occasions when I have raised this issue with him, and on the floor of House of Commons when pressed by @meaglemp, he has refused to apologise for the hurt those comments caused. |
| If Boris Johnson wishes to be a Prime Minister for the whole United Kingdom – not merely parts of it – he must do the right thing and apologise unreservedly, once and for all. | If Boris Johnson wishes to be a Prime Minister for the whole United Kingdom – not merely parts of it – he must do the right thing and apologise unreservedly, once and for all. |
| In fact, Johnson has apologised for the Spectator article. | In fact, Johnson has apologised for the Spectator article. |
| The most important event today will almost certainly be Boris Johnson’s private meeting with Leo Varadkar, his Irish opposite number, where the two leaders will make one final attempt to reach agreement on an alternative to the backstop, which is the key that would unlock a Brexit deal. But it is also the event that may be hardest to report. Yesterday No 10 just said the meeting would place at lunchtime somewhere in the north west of England. “There are no media opportunities and this will not be open to the media or the pool,” the Downing Street operational note said. Obviously that won’t stop journalists trying to find out where the meeting is taking place, and doorstepping the two PMs, but they may not succeed. | The most important event today will almost certainly be Boris Johnson’s private meeting with Leo Varadkar, his Irish opposite number, where the two leaders will make one final attempt to reach agreement on an alternative to the backstop, which is the key that would unlock a Brexit deal. But it is also the event that may be hardest to report. Yesterday No 10 just said the meeting would place at lunchtime somewhere in the north west of England. “There are no media opportunities and this will not be open to the media or the pool,” the Downing Street operational note said. Obviously that won’t stop journalists trying to find out where the meeting is taking place, and doorstepping the two PMs, but they may not succeed. |
| In the meantime, we had a fresh warning about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit this morning. As the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has pointed out, in the Commons last month the Labour MP Tracy Brabin asked Michael Gove if he could give her an assurance that “no one in this country will suffer in their health because of a no-deal Brexit”. Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, replied with a single word: “Yes.” | In the meantime, we had a fresh warning about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit this morning. As the Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has pointed out, in the Commons last month the Labour MP Tracy Brabin asked Michael Gove if he could give her an assurance that “no one in this country will suffer in their health because of a no-deal Brexit”. Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of no-deal planning, replied with a single word: “Yes.” |
| This morning Prof Dame Sally Davies, who has only just stood down as chief medical officer, gave a very different assessment. Speaking on the Today programme, she said that if there were a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month, people could die as a result. | This morning Prof Dame Sally Davies, who has only just stood down as chief medical officer, gave a very different assessment. Speaking on the Today programme, she said that if there were a no-deal Brexit at the end of this month, people could die as a result. |
| The health service and everyone has worked very hard to prepare. But I say what I’ve said before - that we cannot guarantee that there will not be shortages, not only in medicines but technology and gadgets and things. And there may be deaths, we can’t guarantee there won’t. | The health service and everyone has worked very hard to prepare. But I say what I’ve said before - that we cannot guarantee that there will not be shortages, not only in medicines but technology and gadgets and things. And there may be deaths, we can’t guarantee there won’t. |
| Asked if lives were at risk, she replied firmly: “They are at risk.” | Asked if lives were at risk, she replied firmly: “They are at risk.” |
| Here is the agenda for the day. | Here is the agenda for the day. |
| 11am: Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech on Northampton on Labour’s radical agenda for transforming Britain. As Kate Proctor reports, he will criticise Boris Johnson for using the Queen’s speech next week as a “party political broadcast” before the expected general election. | 11am: Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech on Northampton on Labour’s radical agenda for transforming Britain. As Kate Proctor reports, he will criticise Boris Johnson for using the Queen’s speech next week as a “party political broadcast” before the expected general election. |
| Around lunchtime: Boris Johnson meets Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) for private talks on Brexit. | Around lunchtime: Boris Johnson meets Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) for private talks on Brexit. |
| 12.30pm: The Institute for Government hosts a hustings for candidates for the post of Commons Speaker. | 12.30pm: The Institute for Government hosts a hustings for candidates for the post of Commons Speaker. |
| 3.15pm: The joint ministerial council, which comprises ministers from the UK government and the devolved administration, meets in Edinburgh. | 3.15pm: The joint ministerial council, which comprises ministers from the UK government and the devolved administration, meets in Edinburgh. |
| As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit and on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up. | As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit and on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up. |
| You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. | You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. |
| I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. | I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. |
| If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. |