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Brexit: May holds press conference as Rees-Mogg calls for vote of no confidence – Politics live
Brexit: May determined to 'see this through' amid growing criticism of deal – Politics live
(35 minutes later)
May says difficult decisions have had to be made.
Q: You are a cricket fan. How many wickets need to fall in your cabinet before your walk?
But the deal delivers what people have voted for.
May says one of her cricket heroes was Geoffrey Boycott.
We can only secure it if we unite behind what the cabinet backed.
And what do you know about Geoffrey Boycott? Geoffrey Boycott stuck to it. And he got the runs in the end.
The British people “just want us to get on with it”. They want the Conservative party to deliver, she says.
Q: Do you regret calling the general election?
May says she is sorry colleagues have left the government.
May says she does not regret calling the election. She will do her job, she says. MPs will then be held to account on what they do.
But she believes what she is doing is right.
For the second time May has called a balding reporter “George” by mistake.
She knows what she wants to do; give the UK control of its laws, money and borders.
(The FT’s George Parker is shiny up top.)
She wants to get the UK out of the CAP and the CFP for good.
Q: Is this crisis a failure of your own making? Shouldn’t you have done more to bring the DUP on board?
This agreement will achieve these things, she says.
May says she has been working on the deal for some time. She says she wants to ensure the deal delivers on the vote of the British people.
This is a Brexit that delivers on the priorities of the British people.
Q: You have always been adamant the country will leave the EU. You have talked about the risk of no Brexit recently. Do you think that is a definite threat?
But she also wants to protect what matters, like jobs. The deal will protect supply chains, and security, and the integrity of the UK.
May says that is what some MPs argued for today. She disagrees. She thinks MPs must deliver on the referendum result.
Theresa May is here.
Q: You have talked about how you have had to take tough decisions. Can you talk us through that?
She starts by saying serving in high office is an honour and a privilege, but also a heavy responsibility.
May says agreeing the backstop was not easy. But, overall, looking at the national interest, this deal is the right one to proceed with.
She says negotiating Brexit has been a matter of the highest consequence.
Q: What will you do if there is a vote of no confidence in the coming days?
It touches every area of our national life.
May says leadership is about taking difficult decisions.
Her approach has been to put the national interest first, she says.
As I said earlier, am I going to see this through? Yes.
May is running late. Perhaps she’s playing the Guardian’s “Can you get May’s Brexit deal through parliament?” game. (See 5.19pm.)
Q: There are reports that Michael Gove has been asked to become the new Brexit secretary, but that he will only take the job if he can renegotiate the deal. Will you allow that? And why have you not filled ministerial vacancies yet?
Fancy your skills as a government chief whip? Try the Guardian’s “Can you get May’s Brexit deal through parliament?” game.
May says she has been busy today. She was in the Commons for three hours.
Bloomberg’s Kitty Donaldson says the 48 letters needed for a no confidence vote have not gone in.
Gove is doing an excellent job, especially on fishing.
EXC: As @theresa_may starts to speak @10DowningStreet I understand Graham Brady HASN'T received enough letters yet. He needs to receive 48 to spark a leadership challenge.
She will make appointments in due course.
And the Spectator’s James Forsyth says Theresa May’s critics may fail to reach the threshold. In a blog he writes:
Q: Your party is deeply divided. Are you prepared to risk a split?
There is now an open effort to get the 48 letters required to force a vote of no confidence in Theresa May. Personally, I don’t think it is a racing certainty that this succeeds. The ERG WhatsApp group has had some influential people urging caution, and telling people not to put their letters in.
May says MPs have been debating Brexit since the referendum. She thinks, when it comes to the vote, MPs will focus on what is best for the UK.
Why I don’t think the 48 letters are a racing certainty https://t.co/TZSjYYH2Kb
Q: What do you say to Britain’s friends abroad who look at this and see a government in denial?
Theresa May will be starting her press conference shortly.
May says this is a government working with the EU to deliver a good deal for both sides.
The BBC’s Nick Robinson suggests some possible scripts for the PM.
Q: Why don’t you say what you think - that the Brexit campaign offered something not possible? Why won’t you say that?
What PM could say (in order of likelihood)A. I fight on. My deal is in national interest B. Parliament must decide but I’ll give MPs a free vote (& hope that saves my deal)C. Michael Gove, my new Brexit Sec, will re-negotiate my deal as it can’t command a majority D. I quit https://t.co/H4Ti1QAgTX
May says most people recognise this is not an easy negotiation.
And his colleague Iain Watson says it will be A.
The public want the government to get on with it, she says.
I am told PM isnt calling the 5pm press conference because of a confidence vote has been triggered - she will be arguing for her deal
This is from Bloomberg’s Brussels bureau chief, Nikos Chrysoloras.
It appears EU27 *consider* holding the Nov. 25 #euco no matter what. If things get really messy in the U.K, this will be a contingency/no-deal #Brexit summit. Holding the summit anyway is also a way to raise pressure on the U.K, one official says. More on @TheTerminal
These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Source tells me Michael Gove has been offered Brexit Secretary and as @Steven_Swinford 's been suggesting, he is thinking about it, but wants to be able to pursue a different deal... no decision yet - this might be May's way out.. or.......
Gove has just left his house - if they haven’t met before the press conference then does she have a Brexit secretary?
This is from Carwyn Jones, the Welsh first minister. He and Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, have written a joint letter to Theresa May demanding more involvement for the devolved administrations in the Brexit process.
I’ve issued a joint letter with @NicolaSturgeon to the Prime Minister calling for an urgent meeting of the Joint Ministerial committee Rydw i a @NicolaSturgeon wedi anfon llythyr ar y cyd at y Prif Weinidog yn galw am gyfarfod brys o'r Cyd-bwyllgor Gweinidogion pic.twitter.com/TyKWwCBKel
Sky Data have also released some polling.
The bad news for Theresa May is that, of the three options that she says are open to the country (at least, the three options she mentioned in her statement last night - in the Commons today she was claiming no Brexit was not an option), her deal is the last popular. Staying in the EU would be the most popular, suggesting it would win comfortably if the government were to hold a three-option referendum of the type favoured by Justine Greening.
But the good news is that, despite thinking her plan is rubbish, Britons still trust May to lead the country through Brexit more than any of the obvious alternatives, the poll suggests.
(An important point to remember about public opinion is that people are quite capable of believing things that are contradictory.)
New @skydata poll:Of the three Brexit outcomes Theresa May says are available, would you prefer a) her deal, b) no deal or c) no Brexit?No Brexit 54%No deal 32%Her deal 14%
Second @Skydata poll q: Would you support or oppose a referendum choosing between the draft Brexit deal proposed by Theresa May, Brexit without a deal, or remaining in the EU?Strongly support 44%Tend to support 11%Tend to oppose 7%Strongly oppose 28%Don’t know 10%
Third @skydata q: Who would you most trust to lead the country through Brexit? Theresa May 31%Jeremy Corbyn 25%Jacob Rees-Mogg 18%Boris Johnson 17%Dominic Raab 10%
Full results of today's @skydata Brexit poll. 1488 people polled today. https://t.co/f05T1DkKPi
YouGov has released some polling on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The details are here, but these tweets show the key results. By a margin of two to one, Britons oppose the deal, the poll suggests - although 39% of respondents said they did not know.
(During her Commons statement Theresa May seemed to question the validity of any polling at this point, given that the 500-page text of the deal was only released last night.)
The British public does not back Theresa May's Brexit dealSupport - 19%Oppose - 42%Don't know - 39% 42% of Leave voters oppose the deal, as do 47% of Remain votershttps://t.co/DLVwqFaB0x pic.twitter.com/Lch2F0ICgy
44% of Britons think a better Brexit deal is possible. Only 19% think that what Theresa May has achieved is the best that could have been negotiatedhttps://t.co/DLVwqFaB0x pic.twitter.com/bWwWjPKVjD
At a press conference in Brussels Donald Tusk, president of the European council, restated his desire for Brexit to be abandoned. He told journalists:
The EU is prepared for a final deal with the United Kingdom in November.
We are also prepared for a no-deal scenario but of course we are best prepared for a no-Brexit scenario.
Here is a graphic comparing cabinet resignations under David Cameron with resignations under Theresa May.
Of the seven Tories have have resigned today (see 4.05pm), only one, Shailesh Vara, voted remain in 2016. Friends of Vara said that while he may have voted to remain in the referendum, he is now a leave supporter. He has changed his mind because of the way that the EU has behaved since the EU referendum.
They say he resigned on principle and did so because of a loss of sovereignty and the inability to leave the customs union without EU permission.
“He had no choice. He loved the job in Northern Ireland but needed to be able to believe in this plan. He just couldn’t,” the source said.
Under first David Cameron, and then Theresa May, the so-called “payroll vote” - MPs who are not in the government, but who have official jobs that mean that are obliged to be loyal - has expanded. There are more parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) than there used to be. In January Theresa May appointed nine Conservative vice chairs, in addition to the four already in place. And the government has also a ludicrously large number of “trade envoys” - all of whom, presumably, get free travel to interesting places.
But the downside of appointing more people to spurious jobs is that the more people there are who can resign. This afternoon the Conservative MP Rehman Chishti has done just that. Chishti, a leave voter in 2016, was a Conservative vice chair and a trade envoy, but he has quit both roles, partly because he sees the Brexit plan as a betrayal of the Conservative manifesto pledge to leave the customs union. He also thinks the government should be doing more to help Asia Bibi.
That means seven Tory MPs have now resigned from government or party roles today. See 12.55pm.
My letter of resignation sent to PM @theresa_may stepping down as Vice Chairman @Conservatives & PM Trade Envoy to Pakistan. 1. Cannot support Draft EU Withdrawal Agreement. 2. Very disappointed by lack of leadership shown by UK Gov to do morally right thing in Asia Bibi Case. pic.twitter.com/hcaxba1hJr
Theresa May will hold a press conference at 5pm, Guido Fawkes’ Tom Harwood reports.
PM to give press conference at 1700.
May had been planning to give a press conference yesterday to discuss the deal, and so this is not unexpected. It does not (necessarily) mean that May is planning some shock announcement.
