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| Brexit: Merkel tells May deal cannot be renegotiated – Politics live | Brexit: Merkel tells May deal cannot be renegotiated – Politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn’s, and one of the senior Labour figures most sceptical about a second referendum, has said that Corbyn should not be bounced into holding an early no confidence vote in the government. | |
| Jeremy Corbyn should not be bounced by those with little or no interest in seeing Labour elected. They would be better placed using a censure motion and waiting for the right time to issue vote of no confidence. | |
| Ian Lavery, the Labour chair, has posted this on Twitter saying much the same. | |
| Labour won't trigger a no confidence vote when we know it will fail. It'll serve only to strengthen Theresa May and unite the Tories.We're fully prepared to bring a no confidence vote when we know we can win and topple this rotten Government. pic.twitter.com/sspLDeAdL3 | |
| Jenny Chapman, a shadow Brexit minister, does not seem to have got the message. She told LBC there would be a vote before Christmas. But this has been dismissed by party sources, and so it was either an honest mistake by Chapman, wishful thinking, or an attempt to push the policy in this direction. | |
| Labour will hold confidence vote before Christmas. Jenny Chapman just told me on @LBC | |
| Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Brexiter and former party leader, has told ITV that he detects “a mood shift” in the party and that he knows of MPs who have decided within the last 24 hours to submit letters calling for a no confidence vote in Theresa May as party leader. | |
| "I detect in the last 24hrs people have decided this isn't going to work out...and people who wouldn't have put letters in are openly saying my letter is going in."Iain Duncan Smith senses a "mood shift" against Theresa May, though he's yet to submit a letter of no confidence. pic.twitter.com/HqBVJBSC5W | |
| And this is from ITV’s Paul Brand. | |
| One MP who's already written a letter just told me he 'knows' of four more that have gone in today. But keep an eye on who's doing the talking and what their motives might be. Will believe the 48 letters when Sir Graham Brady says he has them. https://t.co/osoQDDJfHn | |
| Here is the Reuters story about Angela Merkel’s talks with Theresa May. And here is an extract. | |
| German leader Angela Merkel ruled out further negotiations on Brexit on Tuesday but said efforts were being made to give Britain reassurances after Prime Minister Theresa May abruptly pulled a parliamentary vote at home because she faced defeat ... | |
| According to two sources, Merkel told her conservative parliamentary group on Tuesday that there would be no further negotiations on Brexit though she also said efforts were being made to give Britain reassurances. | |
| According to the sources, Merkel said May had admitted to her that she would not have got a majority in the Commons and it was not in anyone’s interests for Britain to leave the EU without a deal. | |
| There is a flurry of excitement at Westminster about the possibility that 48 letters calling for a no confidence vote in Theresa May - the number needed for a vote to go ahead - may have been submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee. | |
| Rumours 48 names been reached. But May out of the country. And talk of push for early adjournment of the House. Could be bizarre race to get names in before House rises. | |
| But Brady seems to be denying this. | |
| I'm told Graham Brady has NOT got an announcement to make about the 48 letters. #standdownbritain | |
| Reminder: this is the Tory leadership confidence vote, which is not to be confused with the possible vote of no confidence in the government. (See 10.42am.) | |
| Theresa May will travel to Dublin following cabinet on Wednesday afternoon for talks on Brexit with Ireland’s taioseach, Leo Varadkar, Downing Street has announced. According to the Press Association, May will fly on to Brussels later that evening before the European council meeting on Thursday, but no further meetings in the Belgian capital have yet been announced. | |
| She is also planning to speak by phone with the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, on this afternoon while she is in Brussels for meetings with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, the Press Association reports. | |
| Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has just used a speech to a City audience in London to voice his support for Theresa May’s Brexit plan, even though the prime minister was forced to drop the parliamentary vote on her EU withdrawal agreement. | Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has just used a speech to a City audience in London to voice his support for Theresa May’s Brexit plan, even though the prime minister was forced to drop the parliamentary vote on her EU withdrawal agreement. |
| Speaking at the headquarters of the financial media giant Bloomberg, he said: | Speaking at the headquarters of the financial media giant Bloomberg, he said: |
| It’s the best deal available for the British economy that delivers on the result of the referendum and it’s a deal that can bring this country back together again and allow us all to move on. | It’s the best deal available for the British economy that delivers on the result of the referendum and it’s a deal that can bring this country back together again and allow us all to move on. |
| He also said May’s deal would also protect the City of London’s position as a global financial hub, while arguing that the government would not debase its regulatory standards to attract finance firms after Brexit. | He also said May’s deal would also protect the City of London’s position as a global financial hub, while arguing that the government would not debase its regulatory standards to attract finance firms after Brexit. |
| He said: “I reject the idea that laxer regulation makes a jurisdiction more attractive.” | He said: “I reject the idea that laxer regulation makes a jurisdiction more attractive.” |
| On the World at One the justice minister Rory Stewart revealed that he has a fantasy solution to the Brexit problem facing the country. He told the programme: | On the World at One the justice minister Rory Stewart revealed that he has a fantasy solution to the Brexit problem facing the country. He told the programme: |
| In a fantasy dream scenario I would be using the Speaker to lock all the members of parliament up in the chamber for as long as it takes for a papal vote until we come to some sort of agreement on this. | |
| Angela Merkel told Theresa May that there would be no renegotiation of the Brexit deal when they met today, the BBC’s Jenny Hill reports. | Angela Merkel told Theresa May that there would be no renegotiation of the Brexit deal when they met today, the BBC’s Jenny Hill reports. |
| Angela Merkel told Theresa May there’d be no renegotiation of the Brexit deal during talks between two leaders this lunchtime. Mrs Merkel - who’s been briefing senior CDU MPs on the talks - said she’s still optimistic a solution can be found | Angela Merkel told Theresa May there’d be no renegotiation of the Brexit deal during talks between two leaders this lunchtime. Mrs Merkel - who’s been briefing senior CDU MPs on the talks - said she’s still optimistic a solution can be found |
| Speaking in the Irish parliament, Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, also said that the UK could remove the threat of a no-deal Brexit by halting or delaying the process. He said: | Speaking in the Irish parliament, Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, also said that the UK could remove the threat of a no-deal Brexit by halting or delaying the process. He said: |
| It remains in the hands of the UK to decide that we don’t end up in a no-deal scenario. | It remains in the hands of the UK to decide that we don’t end up in a no-deal scenario. |
| The option is there to revoke article 50, the option is there to extend article 50, and while there may not be a majority for anything or at least any deal at the moment in the House of Commons, I do believe that there is a majority that the UK should not be plunged into a no-deal scenario. | The option is there to revoke article 50, the option is there to extend article 50, and while there may not be a majority for anything or at least any deal at the moment in the House of Commons, I do believe that there is a majority that the UK should not be plunged into a no-deal scenario. |
| It is in their hands at any point in time to take the threat of no deal off the table, either by revoking article 50 or, if that is a step too far, by extending it. | It is in their hands at any point in time to take the threat of no deal off the table, either by revoking article 50 or, if that is a step too far, by extending it. |
| Turning back to the no confidence motion issue, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is accusing Labour of delaying tabling one because the party doesn’t want to then have to commit to backing a second referendum if Theresa May wins. | Turning back to the no confidence motion issue, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is accusing Labour of delaying tabling one because the party doesn’t want to then have to commit to backing a second referendum if Theresa May wins. |
| Indeed. And getting them to a point where they can take this decision is one of the reasons for not hanging about on the no confidence motion. Time is running out and the PM’s tactic is clearly to run down the clock. The opposition must not allow that to happen. https://t.co/St7bocpB5o | Indeed. And getting them to a point where they can take this decision is one of the reasons for not hanging about on the no confidence motion. Time is running out and the PM’s tactic is clearly to run down the clock. The opposition must not allow that to happen. https://t.co/St7bocpB5o |
| And the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges says there is a case for thinking Jeremy Corbyn would rather wait for May to win her Brexit vote before tabling a no confidence motion. This is plausible, because the DUP have signalled that they would vote against the government in a confidence motion if the Brexit deal gets passed. (They view the backstop as a greater threat to the union than a Corbyn government.) That is why some Tories like Mark Harper, the former chief whip, have said that if May does get her deal through, she will be unable to govern, because the confidence and supply agreement with the DUP will be over. | And the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges says there is a case for thinking Jeremy Corbyn would rather wait for May to win her Brexit vote before tabling a no confidence motion. This is plausible, because the DUP have signalled that they would vote against the government in a confidence motion if the Brexit deal gets passed. (They view the backstop as a greater threat to the union than a Corbyn government.) That is why some Tories like Mark Harper, the former chief whip, have said that if May does get her deal through, she will be unable to govern, because the confidence and supply agreement with the DUP will be over. |
| Interestingly, the guys over at @novaramedia are currently telling me Corbyn won't push a No Confidence motion unless May's deal actually passes. At which point, the theory goes, the DUP will back Labour. | Interestingly, the guys over at @novaramedia are currently telling me Corbyn won't push a No Confidence motion unless May's deal actually passes. At which point, the theory goes, the DUP will back Labour. |
| A disorderly hard Brexit could mean the loss of 100,000 jobs in Scotland, the country’s main economics thinktank, the Fraser of Allander Institute, has forecast. | |
| Citing the Bank of England’s worst-case scenario that the economy would shrink by 8.9% after Brexit, the institute, based at the University of Strathclyde, said that would reverse recent steady growth in Scotland’s economy, now growing at a faster rate than the UK as a whole. | |
| It would have twice the impact on the Scottish economy than the 2008 financial crash, which saw tens of thousands of jobs cut in the finance sector and other industries. | It would have twice the impact on the Scottish economy than the 2008 financial crash, which saw tens of thousands of jobs cut in the finance sector and other industries. |
| Data published today showed Scotland’s unemployment rate is now at a record low of 3.7%, versus a UK rate of 4.1%, although its economic inactivity rate is worse, at 22.1% versus 21% for the UK. | Data published today showed Scotland’s unemployment rate is now at a record low of 3.7%, versus a UK rate of 4.1%, although its economic inactivity rate is worse, at 22.1% versus 21% for the UK. |
| The FAI’s forecast was released in advance of tomorrow’s publication of next year’s draft Scottish budget at Holyrood. The biggest political question facing Derek Mackay, the finance secretary, is whether to increase taxes on the highest earners and if so, by how much. | The FAI’s forecast was released in advance of tomorrow’s publication of next year’s draft Scottish budget at Holyrood. The biggest political question facing Derek Mackay, the finance secretary, is whether to increase taxes on the highest earners and if so, by how much. |
| Higher and top rate tax payers in Scotland already pay 41% on earnings, pensions and rent over £43,431 and 46% on income over £150,000. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has raised the 40% higher rate threshold for the rest of the UK to £50,000 from April. | Higher and top rate tax payers in Scotland already pay 41% on earnings, pensions and rent over £43,431 and 46% on income over £150,000. Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has raised the 40% higher rate threshold for the rest of the UK to £50,000 from April. |
| Mackay has already ruled out increasing the 40% threshold to match Hammond’s promise, He could freeze both thresholds, effectively increasing his tax take because of earnings growth, or increase it by inflation. If he did that, Scottish higher rate taxpayers earning £50,000 would pay £1,350 more a year than their neighbours elsewhere in the UK. | |
| Graeme Roy, the institute’s director, said: | Graeme Roy, the institute’s director, said: |
| Whilst we don’t share the extremely negative view of some, we can say with some confidence that ‘no deal’ would be a substantial economic shock. Many businesses in Scotland are ill-prepared for such a disruptive change. | Whilst we don’t share the extremely negative view of some, we can say with some confidence that ‘no deal’ would be a substantial economic shock. Many businesses in Scotland are ill-prepared for such a disruptive change. |
| In the Commons debate Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Wesminster, is speaking now. He says pulling the vote yesterday was an act of “pathetic cowardice” by Theresa May. | In the Commons debate Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader at Wesminster, is speaking now. He says pulling the vote yesterday was an act of “pathetic cowardice” by Theresa May. |
| The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard intervenes. He says May is engaged in a “sordid exercise to placate the ultra rightwing of her own party”. Blackford agrees. | The SNP’s Tommy Sheppard intervenes. He says May is engaged in a “sordid exercise to placate the ultra rightwing of her own party”. Blackford agrees. |
| Brussels will “finalise” their plans on no-deal planning in the next few weeks, Ireland’s taoiseach has said during leaders’ questions in the Dáil. | |
| Leo Varadkar indicated he could not flick the switch on Ireland’s contingency planning until the EU’s plans were complete and they “won’t be finalised until the middle of January”. | Leo Varadkar indicated he could not flick the switch on Ireland’s contingency planning until the EU’s plans were complete and they “won’t be finalised until the middle of January”. |
| He rejected calls from the Sinn Féin president, Mary Lou McDonald, to press the button on a referendum on the future place of Northern Ireland. | |
| Under the Good Friday agreement a poll in Ireland and Northern Ireland can be called at anytime to determine the future place of the state, whether in the UK or part of united Ireland. | Under the Good Friday agreement a poll in Ireland and Northern Ireland can be called at anytime to determine the future place of the state, whether in the UK or part of united Ireland. |