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Brexit live: Osborne tries to calm markets as Labour coup continues Brexit live: Osborne tries to calm markets as Labour coup continues
(35 minutes later)
8.25am BST 9.04am BST
08:25 09:04
Back to Osborne. Here’s the full text of his response to questions about whether there will an emergency Brexit budget as he had threatened. Libby Brooks
There will have be action to deal with the impact on the public finances, but of course it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have a new prime minister. Of course the economy is going to adjust, and there will be an impact on the public finances, that’s what I said before the referendum, I don’t resile from anything I said before the referendum. And I said there would have to be action, actually as it happens in the autumn, to address that. I think it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have new prime minister before we address that. Scottish secretary David Mundell repeatedly sidestepped the question about the transfer of powers from Westminster to Holyrood necessary to hold a second independence referendum on BBC Radio Scotland’s GMS.
And asked whether he could serve in a government committed to leaving the EU, Osborne said: “It is my country right or wrong. And intend to fulfil my responsibilities to the country.” I believe that the arguments for Scotland being part of the UK are as compelling now as in 2014.
8.12am BST Mundell suggested that, despite Scotland voting unanimously to remain, the mandate to leave was UK-wide. He added that is was “unhelpful” that the first thing Nicola Sturgeon mentioned after the leave result was independence, warning that the Scottish people would not respond well to “opportunism”.
08:12 9.01am BST
The shadow housing housing minister, Roberta Blackman-Woods, is threatening to resign if Corbyn doesn’t step down. 09:01
“It is time for another leadership election. It is time for him to go”, she told BBC Newcastle. Steven Morris
3/3 The City of Durham MP added that she will resign from the frontbench today if Mr Corbyn does not step down as leader. The Welsh government’s cabinet is meeting this morning to discuss the implications of the EU referendum vote for Wales.
Ahead of the meeting, first minister and Labour leader in Wales Carwyn Jones said it was one of the most important since devolution. He said:
We will look at an initial evaluation of the potential consequences of this result for Wales, and agree how we will take the priorities forward in the national interest.
On Friday, I set out my priorities for action, including even closer working with Welsh business to protect jobs, renewed intergovernmental engagement and a commitment to protect and maintain EU funding for Wales for as long as possible.
The full implications of this vote are still far from clear and will not be so for some time. However, one thing is certain. We as the Welsh government are utterly determined to stay internationally engaged, outward-looking and pro-business in our approach. That is what will maintain business confidence, and that is what will help inward investors take the right decisions in this new, uncertain environment.
Let us not forget the steel crisis, that we are working so hard to resolve, remains ongoing. We will continue to work with Tata and support steelworkers as we look to meet the immense challenges thrown up by the referendum result.
Jones has made it clear that he has not considered resigning though Labour failed to get out its vote in traditional heartland areas like the south Wales valleys. Seventeen of the 22 local government areas in Wales voted to leave the EU.
8.57am BST
08:57
Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader, is due to meet Jeremy Corbyn for talks later today. Watson hinted yesterday that he will tell Corbyn it is time to go, but Corbyn’s allies are saying that Corbyn will say he is carrying on. This is from Sky’s Tamara Cohen.
Corbyn source: Jeremy Corbyn will tell Tom Watson he's appointed a new shadow cabinet and will continue to appoint them throughout the day
8.55am BST
08:55
Labour MP Jess Phillips has resigned as a parliamentary private secretary to the shadow education team.
Seems slightly highfalutin to resign as I was just the PPS in the Education Team but it was Lucy who asked me, she is gone. So am I.
Phillips was PPS to Lucy Powell. Given that Powell resigned as shadow education secretary yesterday, Phillips was probably out of a job anyway, but clearly she wants to make a point.
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08:08 08:52
Ian Murray, until yesterday the shadow Scottish secretary, has been explaining his resignation from Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme. Heseltine calls for second referendum once EU renegotiation deal clear
Insisting that there was “no choreography” to Sunday’s slew of resignations – a delegation was planning to see Corbyn this morning but that was superseded by Hilary Benn’s sacking – Murray said that “I don’t think that Jeremy had his heart and soul in the campaign. Andrew Sparrow
“We haven’t reached out to traditional Labour voters, we haven’t taken on some of the concerns that people had about immigration that were wrong, the campaign was lacklustre and the response since has not been robust enough.” Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire and Matthew.
He asked Labour party members who supported Corbyn in the last leadership election to understand the current political crisis was “bigger than one person, bigger than the Labour party”. Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, is on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme now. He says that before the referendum, Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said a close result could justify a second referendum. Farage was talking about a narrow remain win, but Heseltine says he thinks the same argument applies in the light of the narrow leave win. He says he will be signing the petition for a second referendum.
“We’re talking to too narrow a group of people in a comfort zone that means we are not a credible party of government.” Asked to clarify what he wants, Heseltine says that during the referendum it was not explained what life outside the EU would look like. Once we know the answer to those questions, the public are entitled to have another say.
He says the House of Commons is broadly supportive of staying in the EU. Before it voted to leave the EU, he says there would need to be a second referendum, or an election.
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8.06am BST 8.44am BST
08:06 08:44
Another few minutes goes by and Corbyn is hit by another resignation in his junior ranks. This time it’s Stephen Kinnock as parliamentary private secretary to Angela Eagle. Labour continues to haemorrhage frontbench spokesmen and women.
It is with regret that this morning I have resigned as a PPS pic.twitter.com/0KFG1bhRaD Yvonne Fovargue, the Shadow Business Minister, has resigned. Steve Reed, Trickett's deputy at DCLG, has gone too.
And there’s still a vacancy at the top for the shadow Scottish secretary, shadow lord chancellor and shadow attorney general.
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7.57am BST 8.37am BST
07:57 08:37
Corbyn hit by more resignations We’re struggling to keep up with the resignations from the junior ranks of Labour’s team. At least two more parliamentary private secretaries resigned as Corbyn announced a new shadow cabinet.
There have further resignations in the junior levels of Labour’s frontbench team. Neil Coyle resigns as Labour PPS on Sky News https://t.co/5xUCH7iIVh
Toby Perkins has resigned as shadow armed forces minister, saying that the Labour party “needs a change at the top”. Resignation of Labour justice PPS Chris Matheson MP significant: On the left of the party and former Unite official.
Diana Johnson has resigned as a shadow foreign minister and Anna Turley as shadow minister for civil society. 8.34am BST
#Breaking Toby Perkins resigns as shadow armed forces minister, saying Labour "needs a change at the top" pic.twitter.com/D7LBys35pX 08:34
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7.53am BST
07:53
Osborne closed his statement by signalling that he intends to play an “active part” in the debate about Britain’s role in Europe after the referendum. He also suggested he’ll make a statement on whether he plans to run for PM in the coming days.
He said:
The third and final challenge I spoke of, was that of ensuring, that Britain was able to agree a long-term economic relationship with the rest of the Europe, that provided the best possible terms of trade in goods and services. Together my colleagues in the government in the Conservative party and in parliament, will have to determine what those terms should be, and will have to negotiate with our European friends and allies to agree them. I intend to play an active part in that debate, for I want this great trading nation of ours to put in place the strongest possible economic links with our European neighbours ...
I do not want Britain to turn its back on Europe or on the rest of the world. We must bring unity of spirit and purpose and condemn hatred and division wherever we see it. Britain is an open and tolerant country and I will fight with everything have to keep it so. Today I am completely focused on the task in hand as chancellor of the exchequer to bring stability and reassurance. There have been questions about the future of the Conservative party and I will address my role within that in the coming days. The British people have given us their instructions, there is much to do to make it work. We start from a position of hard-won strength, and whatever the undoubted challenges my colleagues and I are determined to do the best for Britain.
7.40am BST
07:40
The general message from Osborne’s statement was that he warned there would be problems, but by playing for time we can cope.
Here’s a key passage from the statement:
As a result of Thursday’s decision, some firms are continuing to pause their decision to invest or to hire people. As I said before the referendum this will have an impact on the economy and the public finances, and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering article 50 and the prime minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible, that decisions on what that action should consist of, wait for the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] to assess the economy in the autumn, and for the new prime minister to be in place. But no one should doubt our resolve to maintain the fiscal stability we have delivered for this country. The British economy is fundamentally strong, we are highly competitive and we are open for business.
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7.36am BST
07:36
Graeme WeardenGraeme Wearden
The pound has recovered some of its early losses following Osborne’s statement, but is still down against the US dollar. It is now trading around $1.345, a fall of 1.7% this morning. It looks like Osborne has managed to calm the markets, a bit. The FTSE 100 is down just 20 points right now (-0.37%).
Sterling had fallen to $1.339 before the chancellor spoke, down from $1.36 on Friday night. There’s more here on our business live blog.
8.32am BST
08:32
New shadow cabinet
Jeremy Corbyn has replaced 10 of the shadow ministers who resigned (or were sacked in Hilary Benn’s case).
The reshuffle involves moving Emily Thornberry from shadow defence minister to shadow foreign secretary, and replacing her with the new MP for Norwich South, Clive Lewis.
Diane Abbott is also promoted to shadow health secretary.
Here’s the full list:
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7.30am BST 8.25am BST
07:30 08:25
Here’s some instant reaction to Osborne’s statement: Back to Osborne. Here’s the full text of his response to questions about whether there will an emergency Brexit budget as he had threatened.
Shorter Osborne: look I said this was going to hurt, I was right. Financial system is sound but this is still going to hurt. There will have to be action to deal with the impact on the public finances, but of course it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have a new prime minister. Of course, the economy is going to adjust, and there will be an impact on the public finances, that’s what I said before the referendum, I don’t resile from anything I said before the referendum. And I said there would have to be action, actually as it happens in the autumn, to address that. I think it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have new prime minister before we address that.
Osborne's upbeat 7am statement one of his better performances: first officer arrives on bridge of SS Titanic while Boris pleads with iceberg And asked whether he could serve in a government committed to leaving the EU, Osborne said: “It is my country right or wrong. And intend to fulfil my responsibilities to the country.”
My translation of Osborne's statement: "I'm off to be Foreign Secretary. One of my colleagues who backed Leave can have my job. Good luck."
7.27am BST
07:27
Osborne: the fundamentals are strong, we have dealt with the immediate impact because of the contingency plan. Britain is open for business. And with that he’s back off to work.
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7.25am BST
07:25
Osborne: I said there would have to be action to adjust, in the autumn as it happens.
Q: Are we at the start of a recession? I made predictions and warnings, but all will require adjustment. I will make very hard to mitigate the impact.
On his future. It is my country right and wrong and I intend to fulfil my duty to the country.