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Brexit live: 'sad' Cameron says EU must deal with immigration concerns Brexit live: 'sad' Cameron says EU must deal with immigration concerns
(35 minutes later)
11.45am BST
11:45
And Emma Lewell-Buck has announced she is resigning as a shadow communities minister.
Today I'm stepping down as Shadow Minister heartbroken at state of Party & recent events so sorry things have came to this, statement later
11.41am BST
11:41
Harman says Corbyn should resign
Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, has joined those calling on Jeremy Corbyn to resign. These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuennsberg.
Harriet Harman urges Corbyn to go
Harman - 'Jeremy has no right or mandate to stay in office despite his failure and take the party down with him'
Significant particularly because as former dep and acting leader Harman has always stayed neutral on leadership
11.36am BST
11:36
Pat Glass resigns after just 48 hours as shadow education secretary
In these peculiar times it would not be a normal day if we got to lunchtime and had not had a Labour resignation. Today’s has arrived. Pat Glass is resigning from her post as shadow education secretary – a job she only took up on Monday.
It is with a heavy heart that I have today resigned as Shadow SoS Education. My dream job but the situation is untenable
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Q: Do you think you could seriously go to 2020 without having an election? You would need a mandate, wouldn’t you?
Crabb says the government got a mandate last year. The answer to instability is not more instability. There is plenty of work to be done to take the government through to the end of the parliament.
Q: Won’t people look at you and think you are too young and inexperienced?
Crabb says he has been an MP for 11 years, and a member of the government since 2010. He is running the largest spending department in government, although he admits he has only been doing it “for 10 minutes”.
Q: Do you regret backing remain in the referendum?
No, says Crabb.
Q: You are the underdog, and you come from a different background to the average Tory grandee, like Margaret Thatcher in 1975. Are there any lessons from her campaign?
Crabb says he was only two in 1975. But he thinks there is room for distinctive voices in this debate.
And that’s it. Crabb’s press conference is over.
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11:18
Crabb's Q&A
Crabb is now taking questions.
Q: Would you trigger article 50 as soon as you became prime minister and hold an early general election?
Crabb says it is important to bring the country together first.
He would set up an advisory committee to consider the withdrawal strategy, with a majority of government ministers.
Q: And an early general election?
Crabb says the answer to instability is not more instability.
Q: How can you lead the party when you voted remain?
Crabb says he wants to confine the remain/leave labels to the past.
Q: You want close relations with the EU, but also controls on immigration. You can’t have both, can you?
Crabb says the referendum showed that what mattered most to people was getting back control of borders.
It will be “very challenging” to reconcile that with full access to the single market.
Q: On social media a lot of people say you are prejudiced against gay people?
Absolutely not, says Crabb. He voted against gay marriage, but he accepts the result.
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Crabb says the UK must always become the best country in the world at doing global trade.Crabb says the UK must always become the best country in the world at doing global trade.
He says there can be no continuity remain campaign to subvert the result of the referendum.He says there can be no continuity remain campaign to subvert the result of the referendum.
He says he is worried too many Conservatives do not understand the lives of people in Britain.He says he is worried too many Conservatives do not understand the lives of people in Britain.
It should not matter where you come from in life, he says. He says he joined the Conservative party when John Major was leader because that it was it represented. It should not matter where you come from in life, he says. He says he joined the Conservative party when John Major was leader because that is what it represented.
The Conservative party should be a one nation party, he says. This is the moment for “modern, compassionate, reforming Conservatives.” The Conservative party should be a one nation party, he says. This is the moment for “modern, compassionate, reforming Conservatives”.
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11.09am BST11.09am BST
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Crabb says he is opposed to a second referendumCrabb says he is opposed to a second referendum
Crabb is now addressing what to do about Brexit.Crabb is now addressing what to do about Brexit.
He says he is opposed to a second referendum. The answer to uncertainty is not more uncertainty, he says.He says he is opposed to a second referendum. The answer to uncertainty is not more uncertainty, he says.
He says it is vital to get control of immigration. This is a message that came through from the referendum.He says it is vital to get control of immigration. This is a message that came through from the referendum.
He says he wants the UK to remain close to Europe.He says he wants the UK to remain close to Europe.
But he also wants to end the supremacy of EU law.But he also wants to end the supremacy of EU law.
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Crabb says he is running with Sajid Javid, who would be his chancellor.Crabb says he is running with Sajid Javid, who would be his chancellor.
And he says Jeremy Wright, his attorney general, is is campaign manager. And he says Jeremy Wright, his attorney general, is his campaign manager.
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Stephen Crabb's press conferenceStephen Crabb's press conference
Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, is now announcing his leadership bid at a news conference.Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, is now announcing his leadership bid at a news conference.
He says he is standing because he wants to unite the country. He was struck by how much division the referendum revealed, he says.He says he is standing because he wants to unite the country. He was struck by how much division the referendum revealed, he says.
The poorer areas are, the more likely they were to vote against Westminster, he says.The poorer areas are, the more likely they were to vote against Westminster, he says.
And he says he is also worried about the insults and the bad blood in the Conservative party. When you are a governing party, disunity has consequences, he says.And he says he is also worried about the insults and the bad blood in the Conservative party. When you are a governing party, disunity has consequences, he says.
He says he cannot see anyone else who can unite the party.He says he cannot see anyone else who can unite the party.
He says he thinks he has the qualities to do this.He says he thinks he has the qualities to do this.
He was born in Scotland, but grew up in Wales. He was brought up in a council house and went to a comprehensive school. He was brought up by his mother, who was wonderful. From the age of 12 he worked every weekend, at first in a corner shop. He was blessed by his childhood. He was brought up to believe that no one was better than him, and that he was not better than others. He was not brought up to expect that anything would be handed to him on a plate. In north Wales you did not wait for the ball to come out of the back of the scrum, he says. If you wanted the ball, you had to go and get it.He was born in Scotland, but grew up in Wales. He was brought up in a council house and went to a comprehensive school. He was brought up by his mother, who was wonderful. From the age of 12 he worked every weekend, at first in a corner shop. He was blessed by his childhood. He was brought up to believe that no one was better than him, and that he was not better than others. He was not brought up to expect that anything would be handed to him on a plate. In north Wales you did not wait for the ball to come out of the back of the scrum, he says. If you wanted the ball, you had to go and get it.
(This is a reference to Boris Johnson’s comment, when asked if he wanted the leadership, that he would go for it if the ball came loose from the back of the scrum.)(This is a reference to Boris Johnson’s comment, when asked if he wanted the leadership, that he would go for it if the ball came loose from the back of the scrum.)
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Eighty Labour party members in Scotland have signed an open letter criticising Ian Murray for resigning as shadow Scottish secretary. Murray is one of the numerous Labour MPs who has quit the frontbench because he no longer has confidence in Jeremy Corbyn.Eighty Labour party members in Scotland have signed an open letter criticising Ian Murray for resigning as shadow Scottish secretary. Murray is one of the numerous Labour MPs who has quit the frontbench because he no longer has confidence in Jeremy Corbyn.
The letter says:The letter says:
We are absolutely astonished that you have chosen this moment to put factional party politics over getting the best outcome for the people of Scotland …We are absolutely astonished that you have chosen this moment to put factional party politics over getting the best outcome for the people of Scotland …
With the Conservative party in chaos this was the moment for Labour to grasp hold of the political agenda, and to reach out to those who voted for Brexit out of desperation, with a positive vision of an anti-austerity socialist government committed to solving the housing problem, reindustrialising, funding the NHS and supporting trade unions, migrants and the whole working class.With the Conservative party in chaos this was the moment for Labour to grasp hold of the political agenda, and to reach out to those who voted for Brexit out of desperation, with a positive vision of an anti-austerity socialist government committed to solving the housing problem, reindustrialising, funding the NHS and supporting trade unions, migrants and the whole working class.
For these reasons in particular we are horrified by your disloyalty, do not support your decision, and wish you to make clear that you have acted without the support of us as Scottish Labour members.For these reasons in particular we are horrified by your disloyalty, do not support your decision, and wish you to make clear that you have acted without the support of us as Scottish Labour members.
The signatories include Elaine Smith MSP and the whole executive committee of Scottish Young Labour.The signatories include Elaine Smith MSP and the whole executive committee of Scottish Young Labour.
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at 11.04am BSTat 11.04am BST
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Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, is holding a press conference this morning - presumably to announce his leadership bid (although the op note sent out in advance did not say that.) Stephen Crabb, the work and pensions secretary, is holding a press conference this morning – presumably to announce his leadership bid (although the op note sent out in advance did not say that.)
But he is running late, which is never a good start.But he is running late, which is never a good start.
Waiting for Stephen Crabb to launch his Tory leadership bid. Small room for man with big ambition. pic.twitter.com/CyMQ5S8IrQWaiting for Stephen Crabb to launch his Tory leadership bid. Small room for man with big ambition. pic.twitter.com/CyMQ5S8IrQ
Stephen Crabb now 35 mins late. Concern growing that he's done a George FreemanStephen Crabb now 35 mins late. Concern growing that he's done a George Freeman
Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb 30 minutes late for own launch. Perhaps he should be sanctionedWork and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb 30 minutes late for own launch. Perhaps he should be sanctioned
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Jeremy Corbyn is expecting a leadership challenge, but who the challenger will be remains unresolved.Jeremy Corbyn is expecting a leadership challenge, but who the challenger will be remains unresolved.
These are from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh.These are from Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh.
Labour coup important update: I'm told Watson and Eagle in an uneasy standoff, each wanting the other to back down.Labour coup important update: I'm told Watson and Eagle in an uneasy standoff, each wanting the other to back down.
Expect some MPs to come out backing Tom Watson if impasse not resolvedExpect some MPs to come out backing Tom Watson if impasse not resolved
The more MPs look at the logic of the coup the more Tom Watson is seen by some as the only choice. (And he beat Eagle to 4th in dep elxn)The more MPs look at the logic of the coup the more Tom Watson is seen by some as the only choice. (And he beat Eagle to 4th in dep elxn)
And these are from the Observer’s Daniel Boffey.And these are from the Observer’s Daniel Boffey.
Understand are tensions between Angela Eagle + Tom Watson camps over former's allies doing too much open canvassing for support yesterdayUnderstand are tensions between Angela Eagle + Tom Watson camps over former's allies doing too much open canvassing for support yesterday
But today is the day when Watson or Eagle emerges as the unity candidate to either take over or challenge Jeremy Corbyn.But today is the day when Watson or Eagle emerges as the unity candidate to either take over or challenge Jeremy Corbyn.
Sources tell me that Tom Watson with Jeremy Corbyn now, although that's not confirmed.Sources tell me that Tom Watson with Jeremy Corbyn now, although that's not confirmed.
And this is from Sky’s Darren McCaffrey.And this is from Sky’s Darren McCaffrey.
Corbyn camp source ramming up the rhetoric: Angela Eagle is the lesser of two Eagles and will get decimated in any leadership race.Corbyn camp source ramming up the rhetoric: Angela Eagle is the lesser of two Eagles and will get decimated in any leadership race.
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On Monday Chi Onwurah was being tipped by Labour sources as the next shadow business secretary. She has now written a blog saying that she voted against Jeremy Corbyn in the no confidence ballot and explaining why.On Monday Chi Onwurah was being tipped by Labour sources as the next shadow business secretary. She has now written a blog saying that she voted against Jeremy Corbyn in the no confidence ballot and explaining why.
Here’s an extract.Here’s an extract.
I am not going to set out a detailed critique of Jeremy’s leadership. Whilst Jeremy has some important qualities – honesty and integrity – I could not in good conscience say I had confidence in him as our leader. I therefore voted No to today’s motion.I am not going to set out a detailed critique of Jeremy’s leadership. Whilst Jeremy has some important qualities – honesty and integrity – I could not in good conscience say I had confidence in him as our leader. I therefore voted No to today’s motion.
Since Monday, 86 constituents (including members) have emailed me asking me to back Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership whilst 60 constituents have emailed me asking me to vote against a motion of confidence in his leadership. I have considered all their comments. Of the activists who worked the EU referendum – doorknocked, leafletted etc – who contacted me the majority did not back Jeremy. On the doorstep, the majority of constituents who mentioned Jeremy did so negatively. I nominated Jeremy to widen the leadership debate and have backed him since he became leader. I hope that constituents and party members alike in Newcastle recognise that I have always supported him in public and have undertaken to serve him in whatever capacity he asked of me.Since Monday, 86 constituents (including members) have emailed me asking me to back Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership whilst 60 constituents have emailed me asking me to vote against a motion of confidence in his leadership. I have considered all their comments. Of the activists who worked the EU referendum – doorknocked, leafletted etc – who contacted me the majority did not back Jeremy. On the doorstep, the majority of constituents who mentioned Jeremy did so negatively. I nominated Jeremy to widen the leadership debate and have backed him since he became leader. I hope that constituents and party members alike in Newcastle recognise that I have always supported him in public and have undertaken to serve him in whatever capacity he asked of me.
But I hope they also recognise that I cannot serve my constituents – which is my primary purpose – without effective leadership at the top of the Labour party. Having worked in business and the public sector across three continents and many different cultures, I have experience of many types of effective leadership. Jeremy’s leadership is not effective. The lack of leadership following the Brexit vote was emblematic of this.But I hope they also recognise that I cannot serve my constituents – which is my primary purpose – without effective leadership at the top of the Labour party. Having worked in business and the public sector across three continents and many different cultures, I have experience of many types of effective leadership. Jeremy’s leadership is not effective. The lack of leadership following the Brexit vote was emblematic of this.
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Jeremy Corbyn may have lost the support of his parliamentary party but, according to a press notice from his supporters, he still holds Facebook and Twitter. As of last night, there had been 48,000 “likes” on his Facebook status, and a graphic supporting him had been shared by 26,000 people and viewed by 5 million. Marshajane Thompson, who helps to run the Jeremy Corbyn for PM social media operation (JC4PM), said:
The huge increase in activity on the accounts we run shows the breadth of support for Jeremy in Labour and in Britain. With messages of support flooding in, we’ve had enough engagement to win a leadership contest several times over. We know you can’t win an election with social media power alone, but you can’t win without it either, and our leader has it in spades.
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10:38
On Facebook campaigners are organising a march against Brexit in London on Saturday.
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10:23
Sarah Vine, the journalist who is married to Michael Gove, has used her column in the Daily Mail to write about what it was like in the Gove household as the result of the EU referendum came in.
She admits that she was shocked when David Cameron resigned. (She and her husband are – or, at least, were – close family friends of the Camerons.)
I felt as though I had fallen through a rabbit hole – lost in a strange land where nothing made sense any more. This was absolutely, categorically not meant to happen.
David Cameron was not supposed to go. This was not what this referendum was about; that was not why Michael backed leave.
This was a debate about Britain’s membership of the EU, not a vote for or against the prime minister.
More than ever before, I felt the agony of what the business of politics had done to the people at the heart of all of this: how old friends had been wrenched apart in the most brutal of ways.
Vine also writes about the hostility that leave supporters were now attracting.
Almost overnight, those of us on the winning side suddenly found ourselves re-cast as knuckle-dragging thugs, small-minded Little Englanders whose short-sighted bigotry had brought the nation to its knees, while making sweet Italian waitresses cry and stopping small Polish children from going to school.
Because of the immense power of the internet and social media, once a Twitterstorm reaches critical mass – which now happens at an alarming speed – it starts to become as real as thunder and lightning.
In a matter of hours, everything sunny about human nature seems to have been sucked out of the atmosphere and you are drenched in little 140-character balls of bitterness.
It’s hard to explain quite what it feels like, but imagine walking into a room in a lovely new dress and having every single person turn, point, throw back their heads with laughter and tell you it looks hideous.
You’d never wear it again, would you? In fact, chances are you’d rip it up and throw it straight in the bin. There have been moments over the past few days when I’ve felt like that dress.
I have seen it happen to others – celebrities, sportspeople, household names – but I’d never imagined it happening to me.
Such is the personal price of my husband standing up for his principles.
No doubt the Goves have received some unpleasant abuse on social media since Friday, but the self-pitying tone is rather odd. If you read the piece casually, you might get the impression that it was Gove who lost and was resigning, not Cameron.
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Piketty resigns as a Labour adviser
According to Sky’s Ed Conway, Thomas Piketty, the superstar leftwing economist and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, has quit as a Labour party adviser.
He was one of several heavyweight and renowned economists on the economic advisory committee set up by John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor. It seems that his decision was largely prompted by lack of time, but he has criticised Labour’s performance in the EU referendum.
Yet more misery for Jeremy Corbyn: I learn Thomas Piketty, perhaps the world’s top left-wing thinker today, has quit as a Labour adviser
Piketty actually resigned from Corbyn’s Economic Advisory Council a couple of weeks ago as he couldn’t find time for it
Piketty told me: “I am deeply concerned with the Brexit vote, and with the very weak campaign of Labour”.
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09:49
One of the biggest issues in British politics at the moment is when article 50 should be triggered. That is the process that starts the formal, two-year EU withdrawal process.
Here is a Guardian video explainer.
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On Sky News, Chloe Smith, the Conservative former Treasury minister, has declared that she is backing Stephen Crabb for the leadership. She says he is best placed to unite the country.
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09:44
ConservativeHome survey of Tory members puts May narrowly ahead of Johnson for leadership
ConservativeHome has published its latest regular survey of party members about who they want to see as the next leader. And Theresa May, the home secretary, is ahead of Boris Johnson – but only be a tiny margin. More than 1,300 members participated.
Here are the figures.
And here is an extract from Paul Goodman, the ConservativeHome editor’s, account of the findings.
There is no doubt on the basis of this survey which two candidates party members currently want to see put before them ...
Over half of those respondents favour either Boris Johnson or Theresa May. It’s neck and neck between them. Out of 1,315 replies from them, the home secretary leads the former mayor by a mere 10 votes. This isn’t a scientific poll, but the result is suggestive.
ConservativeHome readers are sometimes viewed as being well to the right of party members – and Brexit diehards to boot. As I point out from time to time, this may be true of comments below the line, but not of our readers as a whole. Today, we have another bit of evidence: they actually put May the remainer a sliver ahead of Boris the leaver.
Yesterday, a YouGov poll showed that May also had a tiny lead over Johnson among members of the public when they were asked who the next prime minister should be. But May had a more substantial lead among Conservative voters. (Johnson, though, is well ahead with Ukip voters.)
The ConservativeHome survey is more significant because it measures the opinion of party members, and of course they are the ones who get a vote in the contest.
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09:30
McDonnell accepts Corbyn will face a leadership challenge
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally, told reporters as he left his home this morning that he accepted there would be a leadership challenge:
It looks as though we will have a leadership election now. I hear in the press this morning that most probably a candidate will come forward. All we are saying to Labour MPs is play by the rules, play by the rules of our party, and if there is to be a democratic election, respect the wishes of our members.
But he also urged Labour MPs to “calm down”.
Our country is facing some real, serious risks at the moment. And we have got a job as MPs to come together to try and protect the people who might be affected by that.
Anyone wanting to challenge Jeremy Corbyn – and Angela Eagle is currently thought to be the candidate most likely to be put forward – would need to be nominated by 50 MPs or MEPs (at least 20% of the total number of MPs or MEPs).
Whether or not Jeremy Corbyn also needs the backing of 50 MPs or MEPs to get on the ballot paper is a moot point. His supporters have legal advice saying that, as a sitting leader, he would automatically be on the ballot, but his opponents have legal advice saying the opposite. Labour’s national executive committee would have to rule on this.
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09:14
More than 230,000 people have signed a 38 Degrees online petition expressing confidence in Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour MP Chris Williamson points out.
Over 230,000 sign a vote of confidence in Jeremy Corbyn compared to 172 Labour MPs who oppose him.https://t.co/B8VLsrqsCI
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09:08
Dame Tessa Jowell, the former Labour culture secretary, has appealed to Jeremy Corbyn to resign. This is what she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Jeremy, you love the Labour party like I do and the Labour party has given you every opportunity that you have been able to exercise to make life for your constituents better.
You and I are in the same position in relation to that but it is absolutely clear that your continued leadership is putting the Labour party’s future in jeopardy and denying millions of people in our country who so desperately need representation by a Labour government the chance of that Labour government.
So I ask you to follow the strongest possible view of the parliamentary party and stand down.