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David Davis: 'I wouldn't have done a good job' of delivering May's Brexit plan – politics live David Davis: 'I wouldn't have done a good job' of delivering May's Brexit plan – politics live
(35 minutes later)
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative backbencher and chair of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, has just told Sky news that the fact that No 10 is briefing Labour MPs on Theresa May’s Brexit policy (see 9.29am) suggests that May thinks she will have to rely on “socialist votes” to get her plan through parliament.
This is from the Sun’s Brussels correspondent Nick Gutteridge.
EU diplomat jokes DD delayed his resignation because he didn't want to take a taxi back from Chequers. Then brutally adds: 'We're already used to negotiating with Olly Robbins, so this resignation doesn't really affect the negotiations.' Ouch 🔥
Simon Hart, a remain-voting Conservative MP, says David Davis did not achieve much as Brexit secretary. He says the situation is now a “shit show”.
Whilst everybody calls for Theresa May’s head its worth remembering that it’s David Davis who has actually failed here. Over 2 years as Brexit Sec and what’s to show for it?
It also seems that Davis resigning (2 days after signing up to way forward) has hugely increased chances of brexit never happening. Remainers could now support vote on customs union....? Ironic pat on back for architects of this shit show..
David Henig, a trade policy expert and director of the UK Trade Policy Project, has posted a good Twitter thread on what the David Davis resignation means. It starts here.
Let's break the usual rules here and think about the EU might respond to the events of Friday to Monday in Brexitlandia... 1/
On the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show the Conservative MP Marcus Fysh described Theresa May’s Brexit policy as “an absolute stinker” and refused to say he had confidence in her as prime minister.
"Govt policy is an absolute stinker" on #Brexit - Tory MP Marcus Fysh."If @Theresa_May wants to break her manifesto pledges that is up to her ... these things have consequences" pic.twitter.com/pH2DMGstO0
Sky’s Tom Rayner has some footage of Suella Braverman, the Brexit minister, with Robbie Gibb, the Number 10 communications director, this morning.
Far from resigning, seems @SuellaBraverman is standing by number 10, literally... pic.twitter.com/y7luiOgemc
This is from my colleague Jessica Elgot, referring to the meeting mentioned earlier. (See 9.29am.)
Labour source tells me Keir Starmer plans to go to Gavin Barwell Brexit briefing and encouraging all MPs to go. "It's an opportunity to tell the PM's chief of staff why the government has got it so wrong."
This is from Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP first minister of Scotland.
The #chequers unity didn’t last long. This UK government is in utter chaos and ebbing authority by the day. What a shambles. #DavidDavis https://t.co/rLn9txYykI
And this is from Carwyn Jones, the Labour first minister of Wales.
The resignation of David Davis shows that the UK Government is in complete disarray over #Brexit and action urgently needs to be taken to resolve this chaos - businesses need certainty and the country needs leadership and direction
This is from HuffPost’s Owen Bennett.
Suella Braverman has just walked through Portcullis House with Downing Street media chief Robbie Gibb. Doesn't look like she's resigned to me.
Here are the main points from David Davis’s Today interview.
Davis, the former Brexit secretary, told Theresa May’s claim that her deal would return power to the House of Commons was “illusory”. That was because, in practice, the Commons would have little option but to accept EU regulations on goods, he said. (See 8.22am.)
This is painting something as returning sovereignty, returning control, to the House of Commons, when in practice it actually isn’t doing so.
He said, under May’s plan, if the UK did diverge from EU regulations on goods, the Northern Ireland backstop would be triggered. That would amount to a “sword of Damocles” hanging over the government, he said. (See 8.22am.)
He said he resigned because it would not have been “plausible” for him to defend a Brexit policy he did not believe in. He said:
In my view, this policy has got a number of weaknesses. I would be front and centre in delivering this policy, explaining it to the House, persuading the House it is right, and then going out and delivering it with the EU.
Frankly, just as it was known what the policy was, it was also known I had concerns about it. It would not have been a plausible thing to do and I wouldn’t have done a good job at it.
He said he did not resign at the cabinet meeting on Friday because he wanted to consult his local Conservative association and others first. “I was very clear on Friday and I took two days to think through some, for me, very important decisions,” he said.
He said he did not want his resignation to lead to Theresa May facing a leadership challenge. Asked if his resignation would be a “rallying call” to those opposed to her, he said: “I hope not.” Asked if she could survive, he said she could.
I won’t be encouraging people to do that [challenge May]. I think it’s the wrong thing to do.
Davis said he would not stand against May herself. If he had wanted to challenge her, he would have done so just after the election, he said. But he did not; he supported her.
He claimed his resignation could strengthen May’s Brexit negotiating position.
She has got to have a Brexit secretary who will deliver on her strategy. That is not weakening, that is actually enhancing the effectiveness of the strategy.
He said the government was making too many concessions to the EU.
It seems to me we are giving too much away too easily and that’s a dangerous strategy at this time. Hopefully we will resist very strongly any attempt to get any further concessions from us on this, because I think this further than we should have gone already.
This is from the Times’ Sam Coates.This is from the Times’ Sam Coates.
Gosh pic.twitter.com/OC9u84dyNbGosh pic.twitter.com/OC9u84dyNb
This may be the first formal acknowledgement from Number 10 that Theresa May will eventually need Labour votes if she wants parliament to approve her Brexit deal.This may be the first formal acknowledgement from Number 10 that Theresa May will eventually need Labour votes if she wants parliament to approve her Brexit deal.
According to the Press Association, the Brexit department does not actually know whether Suella Braverman has resigned or not as a Brexit minister at the moment.According to the Press Association, the Brexit department does not actually know whether Suella Braverman has resigned or not as a Brexit minister at the moment.
Last night it was reported that she had quit with David Davis and Steve Baker, her fellow Brexit ministers. (See 00.51am.) Braverman (Suella Fernandes until she married) was Jacob Rees-Mogg’s predecessor as chair of the European Research Group, and is a very hardline Brexiter.Last night it was reported that she had quit with David Davis and Steve Baker, her fellow Brexit ministers. (See 00.51am.) Braverman (Suella Fernandes until she married) was Jacob Rees-Mogg’s predecessor as chair of the European Research Group, and is a very hardline Brexiter.
But this morning it is being said she is staying. This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby.But this morning it is being said she is staying. This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby.
Reports overnight that @SuellaBraverman has resigned. But told by a dexeu source that the former head of the ERG is still in post & it’s just @SteveBakerHW who has walked with @DavidDavisMPReports overnight that @SuellaBraverman has resigned. But told by a dexeu source that the former head of the ERG is still in post & it’s just @SteveBakerHW who has walked with @DavidDavisMP
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP who chairs the pro-Brexit European Reseach Group, is hosting his LBC phone-in this morning. He has just said he does not think a no confidence vote in Theresa May is “immediately” in the offing. He said:
I don’t think a no-confidence vote is immediately in the offing.
I think what the prime minister needs to do is give up on the Chequers proposals which, David Davis has pointed out in his resignation letter, don’t actually deliver Brexit.
You’ll note that hint of menace in the word “immediately”. He seems to be implying that, if Theresa May does not drop her Chequers plan, there could be a leadership challenge.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer told the Today programme earlier that David Davis’s resignation was a “huge blow” to the prime minister and made a no-deal Brexit more likely. He told Today:
The Brexit secretary has resigned, effectively voting no-confidence in the prime minister and that plunges her into further chaos ... It exposes what has been the heart of the problem all along which is a huge division in the cabinet between those that want to stay economically close to the EU and those that want to rip up the economic model we’ve been operating for decades.
Starmer rejected the suggestion that the Chequers agreement amounted to Labour policy on Brexit. He said:
Look at the differences: we have argued for a comprehensive customs union with the EU. The prime minister has come up with a facilitated customs agreement that works on the basis that you can distinguish at the border goods that are going to stay in the UK and those that are going to go beyond to the EU. Businesses and everybody knows that is unworkable. It is dual system is a bureaucratic nightmare.
Labour plans to force a vote on the customs bill next week, Starmer said.
We have amendments down saying that the negotiation should seek to keep us in a customs union with the EU.
Asked why Labour wasn’t calling for a second referendum, Starmer said:
At the moment we are still in the middle of a negotiation so there is nothing to actually have a second referendum about. We have focused on getting a vote in parliament in the autumn on the deal. That’s the first thing that needs to happen.
We are not calling for a referendum. There needs to be a meaningful vote in parliament. If the article 50 deal is voted down or worse, there is simply no deal, and today makes that more likely, then I’ve always said we need to have all options on the table as to what we do next. But parliament must decide what happens in those circumstances. We are not at that stage but we do need to realise how serious today’s developments are.
Here are some Labour figures responding to David Davis’s Today interview.
From Andrew Adonis, the former cabinet minister
DD sounding death knell of Mrs May because of constant line: ‘no further concessions.’ It isn’t possible to agree a customs & trade deal without further movement to the Norway model. So constant party crisis is the only way Mrs May can continue, if she can carry on at all
From Claude Moraes MEP
Listening to David Davis on #BBCR4today pretending he had a better plan than May. The reality is that the Brexit he promised is a figment, is undeliverable & he needed to get out now. The EU 27 believed he was not up to the job & he knew it.
From David Lammy, the former minister
David Davis on #r4today is a man who can't take responsibility. For two years he's been in charge of Brexit. No one in the world is as much to blame for this monumental mess as himself.
From Andy Slaughter MP
.@DavidDavisMP tells @BBCr4today that resignation not a matter of principle for other Cabinet members as it is for him as Brexit Sec and was for Robin Cook as Foreign Sec over Iraq. except Robin Cook wasn't Foreign Sec when he resigned. Not even trying to give Boris cover.
The Labour-led Welsh government has put out a statement saying David Davis’s resignation shows the government is “in complete disarray”.
The resignation of David Davis shows that the UK Government is in complete disarray over #Brexit and action urgently needs to be taken to resolve this chaos - businesses need certainty and the country needs leadership and direction
The FT’s Kate Allen says there is a quite a difference in how commentators are assessing the impact of David Davis’s resignation and how the markets are reading it.
Markets say David Davis resignation is no biggie / raises chances of a soft Brexit; Remainer Tories say it increases likelihood of no deal, party fragmentation, leadership challenge, chaos. Who’s right ? https://t.co/Cz2yT0fs9F
Allen was responding to this tweet.
The interview is over. In the post-match interview analysis on the Today programme, Nick Robinson says it is up to David Davis to decide if he wants to make a Geoffrey Howe-style resignation speech in the Commons. Robinson says Davis, who is still in the studio, is giving him “a look” which signals that he is not saying.
A David Davis resignation speech in the Commons would be quite dramatic, but it would not be like Howe’s, which was intended to provoke a leadership challenge. Davis has just said, very clearly, that that is not his intention. (See 8.28am.)
Q: Are you saying you don’t expect the policy to change as a result of your resignation?
Davis says, if nothing else, it will put pressure on May not to make further concession.
Q: Can May survive this?
Yes, says Davis.
He says he does not want to see her replaced.
I like [May]. She is a good prime minister.
Davis says, if May has a Brexit secretary who supports her strategy, that will strengthen her strategy.
He says he will not be encouraging people to challenge May’s leadership.
He says he would not stand against her.
If he had wanted to do that, he would have acted after the election. But he did not. He flew down from Yorkshire in the middle of the night to support her.
Davis says he wants May to stay as prime minister.
He rules out standing against her.
Davis says it is “very important” May appoints a new Brexit secretary who believes in May’s strategy.
Davis says May always made it clear to him when he took the job that she would be in charge of the Brexit negotiations ultimately.
He says the EU will now demand further concessions.
It seems to me we are giving too much away too easily.
Q: What will happen next?
Davis says he thinks there might not be a deal by October. There could be an emergency EU summit in November. That is what happens in EU negotiations, he says. He says they go to the wire.
Q: What did you disagree with?
Davis says the plan for a common rulebook with the EU on goods means that it will be very, very difficult for the UK not to agree with what the EU is doing. Final decisions will be taken by the European court of justice. And if the UK decides it does not want to along with EU rules, the Northern Ireland backstop could be triggered. That would be a “sword of Damacles”.
He says any power parliament will have will be “illusory”.
This is painted as returning power back to the House of Commons. In practice, it is not doing so.
Davis says the claim the PM’s plan will return power to parliament is “illusory”.
He says, if UK diverges from EU rules on goods, the Northern Ireland backstop would kick in. That would amount to a “sword of Damocles” hanging over the UK.