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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/oct/14/brexit-latest-news-queens-speech-branded-farcical-as-talks-in-eu-still-fail-to-achieve-breakthrough-live-news
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| Brexit: Boost for Boris Johnson as hardline leave rebel signals he now wants to back PM's deal – as it happened | |
| (about 1 year later) | |
| Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the government’s planned legislative programme outlined in the Queen’s speech as “a farce”, as he signalled he would back a general election that could deliver a Labour government within weeks. | |
| Prison reform charities have condemned the government’s enthusiasm for extending minimum prison terms as “the politics of the lynch mob” and an unnecessary duplication of existing judicial powers. | |
| Boris Johnson received a boost when one of the most hardline Tory Brexiters signalled that he would back his revised plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop. (See 4.44pm.) | |
| Boris Johnson will not resign if his Queen’s speech is voted down by MPs, Downing Street has said. | |
| Scots are choosing to reject the “lies and division” of populists in favour of backing independence, John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister, has told the SNP conference. He said people across the country were “holding fast to the values of truth, integrity and honesty”. Delivering a rebuke to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, Swinney said the campaign for independence would walk a road of tolerance and persuasion in winning over ‘no’ voters. He went on: | |
| While we deride their behaviour, we must learn the lessons of the victories of Trump and Johnson. | |
| They chose - and still choose - the gutter and it will be their downfall. Winning on their terms is never worth it. | |
| Their road does not lead to a better nation. Their road leads to ruin and we will never walk that road. | |
| Instead, we will walk the road of tolerance, persuasion, debate and dialogue. | |
| We will set ourselves the goal of living every day as though we are in the first days of a new nation. | |
| We do so for two simple reasons - first, because it is the right thing to do, and second, because it will make our country anew. | |
| That’s all from me for today. | |
| Thanks for the comments. | |
| This is what a Downing Street source said when asked about why what the Queen said about the possibility of the UK leaving the EU on 31 October was less definitive than what Boris Johnson has been saying on this. (See 12.57pm.) The source rejected suggestions that the palace rejected No 10’s proposed wording, and went on: | |
| I appreciate there are differences in language but those differences in language are more reflective of the fact that’s how a Queen’s speech goes rather than any suggestion that there are any differences in policy. The prime minister was very clear that we are leaving on 31 October. | |
| Jon Worth from the College of Europe has been trying to work out how Boris Johnson could get the votes to pass a Brexit deal. He has posted a Twitter thread (what else?) starting here. | |
| We know from today's debate in House of Commons that Lee Rowley - who voted against May's Deal 3 times - will now back whatever Johnson brings back (if, of course, there is anything!)https://t.co/9h6ioWMMUiWhere does that leave us on chances of any Deal passing the Commons? | |
| And here is his conclusion. | |
| So - to conclude - to get a Deal through, Johnson needs:- ALL the Tories (inc. ALL the ERG)- The vast majority of the Tories that lost the whip- And about 10 Labour MPs(the latter could be replaced by the DUP)This is - to put it lightly - a major ask | |
| From my colleague Heather Stewart | |
| When I first arrived in Oxford as politics-mad undergraduate, I beetled along to the famous Union, found it full of plummy-voiced windbags who thought it was all a great game - and never went back.Can’t think what suddenly brought that memory flooding back 🤷♀️ | |
| Earlier I wrote a post saying that, if the government lost the vote on the Queen’s speech next week, the defeat would have no practical effect. But David Howarth, a Cambridge law professor and former Lib Dem MP, has been in touch to say that it is not as simple as that, and that defeat would tie Boris Johnson’s hands in at least one respect. See 10.36am for the update. You may need to refresh the page to get the update to appear. | |
| As I said earlier, the opening of the Queen’s speech debate wasn’t exactly a cornucopia of news stories, but here are the better lines, as far as they went. | |
| Boris Johnson received a boost when one of the most hardline Tory Brexiters signalled that he would back his revised plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop. (See 4.44pm.) | |
| Johnson said the government would protect military veterans from “unfair prosecution”. Asked why the Queen’s speech did not include a bill implementing this pledge, Johnson said legislation would be introduced in due course. He said: | |
| This government understands that no-one can escape justice for a crime that they have committed. But we also understand that there should be no unfair prosecution when no new evidence has been produced. | |
| Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the Queen’s speech as a “farce”. He explained: | |
| There has never been such a farce as a Government with a majority of -45 and a 100% record of defeat in the House of Commons setting out a legislative agenda they know cannot be delivered in this parliament. | |
| Johnson said the government would legislate to enshrine the rights of EU nationals in law. Asked by the Tory MP Alberto Costa if he would “unequivocally enshrine in primary legislation the rights of my mother and father, and three million other EU nationals”, Johnson replied: | |
| Yes, not only can I give him that absolutely and unequivocal guarantee but I’m delighted to say two million EU nationals in this country have already registered under the EU registration system. | |
| Corbyn accused the government of a “blatant attempt ... to rig the result” of the next election” through its plans for compulsory photographic ID at polling stations. He said: | |
| We will not allow this government to stifle democracy by making it harder for people to vote – there was only one instance of voter personation at the last election. | |
| Eleven million in this country don’t have a passport or driving licence. There are huge risks in such legislation, which will disproportionately affect working class, ethnic minority and young voters. | |
| Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, has also spoken out on this. | |
| Photo ID to vote without any evidence of a problem such an obvious US voter suppression move...plus in small print of briefing document making people re-apply for postal votes every three years....more bureaucracy to disenfranchise more people, particularly older voters. | |
| Corbyn accused the government of creating a “lost generation”. He said: | |
| We have, almost, a lost generation. Children going to school in under-staffed schools, very few teaching assistants, headteachers going out with a begging bowl to parents to try to match the school budget. And too many young people growing up in incredible levels of stress, of bad housing and of stress and worry about the future. That contributes to the mental health crisis that this country, as a whole, must address. | |
| Johnson refused to confirm that the government remains committed to the HS2 B line to Leeds. Asked about its future by Anna Soubry, the former Tory who now leads the Independent Group for Change, Johnson said that HS2 was being reviewed and that there would be more on this in the budget on 6 November. | |
| Johnson compared a shake-up in Corbyn’s office to “Soviet-era expulsions”. Referring to Corbyn, Johnson said: | |
| Frankly I fear for his political health. We can see the Soviet-era expulsions that are taking place in his circle. As one by one, his lieutenants are purged as Lenin purged the associates of poor-old Trotsky. | |
| Pointing to the shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Johnson went on: | |
| And there is Lenin, the veteran fabricator of GLC budgets, as the shadow chancellor tightens his icy-grip on the Labour party. | |
| My colleague Owen Jones thinks Johnson’s history is awry. | |
| Historically, this doesn’t work because Lenin and Trotsky had a very turbulent - often bitterly acrimonious - relationship before the October Revolution. After that they acted as a united duo until Lenin’s 1924 death, with Trotsky leading the Red Army in the Russian Civil War 🤷♂️ https://t.co/eE6IkDQBO7 | |
| Boris Johnson received a boost when one of the most hardline Tory Brexiters signalled that he would back his revised plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop. Lee Rowley, one of the 28 so-called Brexiter “Spartans” who voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times, opened the Queen’s speech debate, in his role as the proposer of the loyal address. It is the first time the Commons has sat since it emerged on Thursday that a compromise customs plan could be the basis for a UK-EU Brexit deal. Rowley signalled that he was now minded to back what the government was planning. In his speech he said: | Boris Johnson received a boost when one of the most hardline Tory Brexiters signalled that he would back his revised plan for an alternative to the Irish backstop. Lee Rowley, one of the 28 so-called Brexiter “Spartans” who voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times, opened the Queen’s speech debate, in his role as the proposer of the loyal address. It is the first time the Commons has sat since it emerged on Thursday that a compromise customs plan could be the basis for a UK-EU Brexit deal. Rowley signalled that he was now minded to back what the government was planning. In his speech he said: |
| In the last few days there is at least hope that this toxic and crippling fog, which we have created, might just be lifting as the prime minister sketches the outline of a way forward – and I speak as someone who has been robust in my review of previous proposals – but the house must surely see, as I do, that we have debated long enough. | |
| This is a moment for decision and we were elected to make decisions. | This is a moment for decision and we were elected to make decisions. |
| If there is light at the end of the tunnel later this week, and heaven knows I hope there will be, we have a fundamental responsibility in this place to try and resolve this most vexed of problems and allow our despairing country to move on. | If there is light at the end of the tunnel later this week, and heaven knows I hope there will be, we have a fundamental responsibility in this place to try and resolve this most vexed of problems and allow our despairing country to move on. |
| For the health of our democracy and to restore faith in this most venerable of institutions, in my view we simply must get Brexit done. | For the health of our democracy and to restore faith in this most venerable of institutions, in my view we simply must get Brexit done. |
| The House of Commons library has become the latest Brexit-monitoring body to try its hand at a ‘What happens next?’ flowchart. It’s from this briefing note. | The House of Commons library has become the latest Brexit-monitoring body to try its hand at a ‘What happens next?’ flowchart. It’s from this briefing note. |
| Normally at this point in the proceedings I would post some sort of verdict. But there is no point. | Normally at this point in the proceedings I would post some sort of verdict. But there is no point. |
| Partly that’s because that was almost a news-free occasion. Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson both gave serviceable speeches, but neither of them said anything much that they have not said before. (There were a few very minor lines, that I will post in a moment.) | Partly that’s because that was almost a news-free occasion. Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson both gave serviceable speeches, but neither of them said anything much that they have not said before. (There were a few very minor lines, that I will post in a moment.) |
| But mainly it’s because ITV’s Robert Peston has summed up the problem with the debate so well it is hard to improve on it. | But mainly it’s because ITV’s Robert Peston has summed up the problem with the debate so well it is hard to improve on it. |
| This the maddest, most pointless Queen's Speech debate anyone alive has watched - because it is all displacement activity from the only two questions that matter, namely whether the UK is leaving the EU on 31 October (and if so how) and whether there will be a general... | This the maddest, most pointless Queen's Speech debate anyone alive has watched - because it is all displacement activity from the only two questions that matter, namely whether the UK is leaving the EU on 31 October (and if so how) and whether there will be a general... |
| election before Christmas. As a result it has all the significance and weight of an undergraduate debate on a wet autumn afternoon | election before Christmas. As a result it has all the significance and weight of an undergraduate debate on a wet autumn afternoon |
| Johnson ends saying he believes in a “generous, tolerant, outward-looking and humane society”. | Johnson ends saying he believes in a “generous, tolerant, outward-looking and humane society”. |
| And that’s it. | And that’s it. |
| Johnson says he wants a Britain where “fairness and balance” are at the heart of what we do. | Johnson says he wants a Britain where “fairness and balance” are at the heart of what we do. |
| He says the government should be fighting crime. But he says he agrees with Jeremy Corbyn on the importance of rehabilitation. | He says the government should be fighting crime. But he says he agrees with Jeremy Corbyn on the importance of rehabilitation. |
| Johnson says, after Brexit, the UK will be able to ban the export of live animals. | Johnson says, after Brexit, the UK will be able to ban the export of live animals. |
| That is something the public will welcome, he says. | That is something the public will welcome, he says. |
| Ken Clarke, the veteran Tory (now independent) MP and leader of the Commons, asks Johnson for an assurance that the HS2 review will consider the impact of cancelling the plan on the East Midlands, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. | Ken Clarke, the veteran Tory (now independent) MP and leader of the Commons, asks Johnson for an assurance that the HS2 review will consider the impact of cancelling the plan on the East Midlands, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. |
| Johnson says he can give that assurance. | Johnson says he can give that assurance. |