This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/jan/16/brexit-vote-theresa-may-faces-no-confidence-vote-after-crushing-defeat
The article has changed 27 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 13 | Version 14 |
|---|---|
| Brexit: MPs debate no-confidence motion after May's deal defeat – Politics live | Brexit: MPs debate no-confidence motion after May's deal defeat – Politics live |
| (41 minutes later) | |
| Any one who thought that the first no confidence debate in the Commons for almost a quarter of a decade was going to a vintage occasion will have been disappointed - at least by the opening statements. Jeremy Corbyn’s speech was a bit rambling and definitely not one of his best. Theresa May’s was not hugely better, although she did seem to be enjoying herself a bit more than the opposition leader (bizarrely, in the circumstances, but who knows how the May psyche works). It did not generate big news, but there were some interesting lines. Here they are | |
| May signalled that she is not willing to consider keeping the UK in a customs union for good (which is a Labour party demand) when she opens cross-party talks on a new approach to Brexit. When asked about this explicitly by Labour’s Yvette Cooper, May replied: | |
| What I want to see is what the British people voted for. They voted for an end to free movement, they voted for an independent trade policy, they voted to end the jurisdiction of the European court of justice. And it is incumbent on this parliament to ensure that we deliver on that. | |
| Being in the customs union would be incompatible with an independent trade policy, because the UK would not be free to strike its own trade deals. When the pro-European Tory Ken Clarke tackled her on the same issue, saying he had not met anyone who said they voted leave because they wanted to leave the customs union, May made a similar point. She said: | |
| When there were [voting in the EU referendum] I believe they did vote to ensure we continue to have a good trading relationship with our nearest neighbours in the EU but also to improve our trading relationships with others around the world. | |
| May was accused of being in denial about the extent of her difficulties over Brexit. Corbyn said the government was “not recognising the scale of the defeat they suffered last night”. Cooper said: “The problem is, the prime minister seems to be talking as if she lost by 30 votes yesterday, not 230.” Labour’s Angela Eagle criticised May for “just repeating the lines to take that we have heard for the last five months ad nauseam” instead of accepting the need to change tack. And the SNP’s Pete Wishart said: | |
| She’s lost a quarter of her cabinet, 170 members of her backbench want her gone, she’s experienced the biggest defeat in parliamentary history - what shred of credibility has her government got left? For goodness’ sake, prime minister, won’t you just go? | |
| Corbyn revealed that, despite May saying she wants to hold cross-party talks with senior parliamentarians, she had not been in touch with him. He said: | |
| There has been no offer of all-party talks, there has been no communication on all-party talks - all the prime minister said was she might talk to some members of the House. That isn’t reaching out. | |
| Corbyn accused May of heading a “zombie government” and said any previous government would have resigned if they it had lost as badly as May’s did last night. He said: | |
| Last week they lost a vote on the finance bill, that’s what called supply. Yesterday they lost by the biggest margin ever, that’s what’s regarded as confidence. By any convention of this House, by any precedence, loss of both confidence and supply should mean they do the right thing and resign ... | |
| This government cannot govern and cannot command the support of parliament on the most important issue facing our country. Every previous prime minister in this situation would have resigned and called an election and it is the duty of this House to lead where the government has failed. | |
| May said holding an election now was “not in the national interest”. She said: | |
| It would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty, and it would bring delay when we need to move forward, so I believe this House should reject this motion. | |
| At this crucial moment in our nation’s history, a general election is simply not in the national interest. | |
| May criticised Corbyn’s record on security and said he would bring “national calamity” to the country if he became PM. She said: | |
| This is the leader of the party of Attlee who called for the dismantling of Nato, the leader of the party of Bevan who says Britain should unilaterally disarm herself and cross our fingers that others follow suit, the leader of the party that helped deliver the Belfast agreement invited IRA terrorists into this Parliament just weeks after their colleagues had murdered a member of this House. | |
| His leadership of the Labour party has been a betrayal of everything that party has stood for, a betrayal of the vast majority of its MPs and a betrayal of millions of decent and patriotic Labour voters. | |
| I look across the House and see backbench members who spent years serving their country in office in a Labour government, but I fear that today this is simply not a party that many of its own MPs joined. | |
| What he has done to his party is a national tragedy, why he would do to the country would be a national calamity. | |
| David Cameron, the former Conservative prime minister, has told the BBC he does not regret calling the EU referendum. He said: | David Cameron, the former Conservative prime minister, has told the BBC he does not regret calling the EU referendum. He said: |
| I do not regret calling the referendum. It was a promise I made two years before the 2015 general election, it was included in a manifesto, it was legislated for in parliament. | |
| Obviously I regret that we lost that referendum. I deeply regret that. I was leading the campaign to stay in the European Union and obviously I regret the difficulties and problems we have been having in trying to implement the result of that referendum. | |
| Cameron also said he backed Theresa May and he supported “her aim to have a partnership deal with Europe”. He continued: “That is what needs to be put in place. That is what parliament needs to try to deliver now.” | |
| David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, has told the Commons European scrutiny committee there would be “quite visible anger” among the public if the UK has not left the EU or begun a transition process to withdraw by April. He told the committee: | |
| I think we will see quite visible anger from the public at large, and not just those who might be counted as leavers. | I think we will see quite visible anger from the public at large, and not just those who might be counted as leavers. |
| I have met quite a lot of erstwhile remainers who have said to me ‘I have changed my mind and next time I will vote leave’ or ‘Why is this proving such a difficult process?’ | I have met quite a lot of erstwhile remainers who have said to me ‘I have changed my mind and next time I will vote leave’ or ‘Why is this proving such a difficult process?’ |
| If they don’t see a delivery on the vote of 2016, it will be really serious indeed. | If they don’t see a delivery on the vote of 2016, it will be really serious indeed. |
| Appearing before the Commons’ education committee this morning, Damian Hinds, the education secretary for England, said he might have to second civil servants to other departments for no-deal Brexit planning. | Appearing before the Commons’ education committee this morning, Damian Hinds, the education secretary for England, said he might have to second civil servants to other departments for no-deal Brexit planning. |
| Asked about no-deal planning, he said: | Asked about no-deal planning, he said: |
| There’s a broader cross-governmental question about making sure that if there were to be a no deal, that those functions that are truly mission-critical, in the very sharpest sense, that government is collectively able to deliver. And that does involve departments like ours being asked to see who if needed we could release on a temporary basis to support those other departments. | There’s a broader cross-governmental question about making sure that if there were to be a no deal, that those functions that are truly mission-critical, in the very sharpest sense, that government is collectively able to deliver. And that does involve departments like ours being asked to see who if needed we could release on a temporary basis to support those other departments. |
| Is there a risk of civil servants being taken out of the DfE to go to other departments? On a temporary basis, absolutely. That is the reality of no deal – across government we would have to find resources to be able to make sure that mission-critical things for people’s way of life, supply of food and medicines and so on, that those things are protected. | Is there a risk of civil servants being taken out of the DfE to go to other departments? On a temporary basis, absolutely. That is the reality of no deal – across government we would have to find resources to be able to make sure that mission-critical things for people’s way of life, supply of food and medicines and so on, that those things are protected. |
| Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, has said that it is not “automatic” that Labour would back a second referendum if it fails to trigger a general election. | Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, has said that it is not “automatic” that Labour would back a second referendum if it fails to trigger a general election. |
| Speaking at a conference in Westminster this morning held by Social Enterprise UK, she said “all options are on the table and that includes a peoples vote”, although only in the event the party cannot first force an election. | Speaking at a conference in Westminster this morning held by Social Enterprise UK, she said “all options are on the table and that includes a peoples vote”, although only in the event the party cannot first force an election. |
| Describing the party’s Brexit policy agreed at the party’s conference, she said | Describing the party’s Brexit policy agreed at the party’s conference, she said |
| Now, it wasn’t an automatic let’s go straight to a people’s vote. It was a determination to consider all of the options. There will be a lot of discussion after tonight about what happens next. | Now, it wasn’t an automatic let’s go straight to a people’s vote. It was a determination to consider all of the options. There will be a lot of discussion after tonight about what happens next. |
| Long-Bailey, who said Labour was still working for a “successful outcome” in tonight’s vote, said she could “completely understand” why supporters of a second referendum were angry after two years of “chaos” from the government. | Long-Bailey, who said Labour was still working for a “successful outcome” in tonight’s vote, said she could “completely understand” why supporters of a second referendum were angry after two years of “chaos” from the government. |
| However, she insisted Labour still needed to look at other options before throwing its weight behind the people’s vote campaign. | However, she insisted Labour still needed to look at other options before throwing its weight behind the people’s vote campaign. |
| I think our position certainly hasn’t moved dramatically from respecting the referendum and wanting to exhaust all of the possibilities that are available to us. But equally I think we’ve got a duty to make sure that we don’t hurtle towards a no-deal Brexit. We’ve got to do everything in our power to stop that as well. | I think our position certainly hasn’t moved dramatically from respecting the referendum and wanting to exhaust all of the possibilities that are available to us. But equally I think we’ve got a duty to make sure that we don’t hurtle towards a no-deal Brexit. We’ve got to do everything in our power to stop that as well. |
| What we want to see is a general election. Because it’s not just Brexit that’s an issue, and managing to have a government that’s in power who can negotiate productively with the EU and get a deal that would provide consensus. It’s also about dealing with all the other issues – the economic flaws that we currently see in our economy. | What we want to see is a general election. Because it’s not just Brexit that’s an issue, and managing to have a government that’s in power who can negotiate productively with the EU and get a deal that would provide consensus. It’s also about dealing with all the other issues – the economic flaws that we currently see in our economy. |
| Here is a Guardian graphic showing the timetable if Theresa May wins her confidence vote tonight (as everyone expects she will): | Here is a Guardian graphic showing the timetable if Theresa May wins her confidence vote tonight (as everyone expects she will): |
| And here is the timetable in the unlikely event of her losing: | And here is the timetable in the unlikely event of her losing: |
| Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, has denied having secret plans to introduce checks at the border with Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports. | Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, has denied having secret plans to introduce checks at the border with Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports. |
| Irish PM denies having secret no-deal Brexit plan for border checks | Irish PM denies having secret no-deal Brexit plan for border checks |
| The Scottish government is stepping up its preparations for a hard, no-deal Brexit, including a public information campaign and contingency plans to ensure medicines, food supplies and transport are protected, its Brexit minister has said. | The Scottish government is stepping up its preparations for a hard, no-deal Brexit, including a public information campaign and contingency plans to ensure medicines, food supplies and transport are protected, its Brexit minister has said. |
| Mike Russell, the Scottish constitutional affairs secretary, told MSPs in an emergency statement at Holyrood his devolved government was poised to expand its rapid response team of civil servants preparing for a hard Brexit. A public information campaign was in the final stages of development, he added. | Mike Russell, the Scottish constitutional affairs secretary, told MSPs in an emergency statement at Holyrood his devolved government was poised to expand its rapid response team of civil servants preparing for a hard Brexit. A public information campaign was in the final stages of development, he added. |
| He continued: | He continued: |
| We’re making initial decisions on issues such as medicine, medical devices and clinical consumables stockpiling, emergency transportation, support for supply chains, diversion of local produce and a host of other issues. | We’re making initial decisions on issues such as medicine, medical devices and clinical consumables stockpiling, emergency transportation, support for supply chains, diversion of local produce and a host of other issues. |
| All of this activity has become a significant focus of our resources and efforts, as it has to be for a responsible government. However, it remains something that the UK could and should choose to remove as a risk, and as a cost, today. | All of this activity has become a significant focus of our resources and efforts, as it has to be for a responsible government. However, it remains something that the UK could and should choose to remove as a risk, and as a cost, today. |
| I will post a summary from the opening of the debate shortly. After that I won’t be covering all the speeches, but I will post any highlights, as well as keeping up with all the other Brexit developments. | I will post a summary from the opening of the debate shortly. After that I won’t be covering all the speeches, but I will post any highlights, as well as keeping up with all the other Brexit developments. |
| May says a general election will not help the country find a solution to Brexit. And a Labour government would not help either, she says. | May says a general election will not help the country find a solution to Brexit. And a Labour government would not help either, she says. |
| She says the government is fighting injustices, And, as it leaves the EU, the country must raise its ambitions. | She says the government is fighting injustices, And, as it leaves the EU, the country must raise its ambitions. |
| She is proud of what the government has achieved. The government has the confidence of the country. Now it is asking for the confidence of MPs too, she says. | She is proud of what the government has achieved. The government has the confidence of the country. Now it is asking for the confidence of MPs too, she says. |
| And that is it. May has finished her speech. | And that is it. May has finished her speech. |
| Labour’s Liam Byrne says May has built “a cage of red lines” around her Brexit policy. That led to her deal being rejected last night. | Labour’s Liam Byrne says May has built “a cage of red lines” around her Brexit policy. That led to her deal being rejected last night. |
| May says she will talk to a range of MPs across the Commons to find what will secure their support. | May says she will talk to a range of MPs across the Commons to find what will secure their support. |
| She says Byrne intervened just as she was getting to the point in her speech where she was going to talk about the economy. Byrne was the Labour Treasury who left a note for the Tories saying there as no money left. | She says Byrne intervened just as she was getting to the point in her speech where she was going to talk about the economy. Byrne was the Labour Treasury who left a note for the Tories saying there as no money left. |
| Byrne says he was leaving a note for his successor in accordance with a tradition going back to Churchill. He was proud to be part of a Labour Treasury team that stopped a depression, he says. He says the Tories backed Labour’s spending plans. And now, under the Tories, the debate has double. | Byrne says he was leaving a note for his successor in accordance with a tradition going back to Churchill. He was proud to be part of a Labour Treasury team that stopped a depression, he says. He says the Tories backed Labour’s spending plans. And now, under the Tories, the debate has double. |
| May says, when Russia launched a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury, she said Russia should be held to account. Corbyn wanted the nerve agent to be sent to Russia so Moscow could say whether or not it was responsible. | May says, when Russia launched a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury, she said Russia should be held to account. Corbyn wanted the nerve agent to be sent to Russia so Moscow could say whether or not it was responsible. |
| On the issue of launching a strike against Syria, May says she was in favour. But Corbyn wanted Russia to have a veto. | On the issue of launching a strike against Syria, May says she was in favour. But Corbyn wanted Russia to have a veto. |
| She says, as a backbencher, Corbyn invited IRA terrorists into the Commons after they had bombed the prime minister. | She says, as a backbencher, Corbyn invited IRA terrorists into the Commons after they had bombed the prime minister. |
| And she says he has tolerated antisemitism in the Labour party. | And she says he has tolerated antisemitism in the Labour party. |
| Peter Kyle, the Labour MP, says May is talking about engagement with MPs, but she want to court to stop the Commons having a say on triggering article 50. | Peter Kyle, the Labour MP, says May is talking about engagement with MPs, but she want to court to stop the Commons having a say on triggering article 50. |
| May says she has frequently come to the Commons to answer questions about her Brexit policy. | May says she has frequently come to the Commons to answer questions about her Brexit policy. |
| May says the government is building a country that is fairer and that works for everyone. It will carry on doing that, acting in the national interest, she says. | May says the government is building a country that is fairer and that works for everyone. It will carry on doing that, acting in the national interest, she says. |
| She says she wants to engage with opposition MPs on Brexit. The question is, will the Labour leadership rise to the occasion. She fears that they won’t, she says. She says Jeremy Corbyn is not showing leadership. All he is offering is vague aspirations, she says. | She says she wants to engage with opposition MPs on Brexit. The question is, will the Labour leadership rise to the occasion. She fears that they won’t, she says. She says Jeremy Corbyn is not showing leadership. All he is offering is vague aspirations, she says. |
| She says last night Corbyn said it was important, not just to be against something, but to be for something too. But Corbyn did not say what. And on Sunday, when asked what he would campaign for in regard to Brexit at an election, Corbyn refused five times to say, she adds. | She says last night Corbyn said it was important, not just to be against something, but to be for something too. But Corbyn did not say what. And on Sunday, when asked what he would campaign for in regard to Brexit at an election, Corbyn refused five times to say, she adds. |