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/mar/15/brexit-may-scrambles-to-get-support-for-her-deal-ahead-of-vote-next-week-politics-live

The article has changed 17 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 12 Version 13
Brexit: DUP takes part in 'significant discussions' - Politics live Brexit: DUP takes part in 'significant discussions' - Politics live
(32 minutes later)
The Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Jo Swinson, has been tipped as the frontrunner to replace the party’s outgoing leader Vince Cable, who announced plans to step down from the party in May.
Cable, the former business secretary in the coalition government, announced that he would set a timetable for his departure at the party’s spring conference this weekend.
Three MPs were expected to be in the running – Swinson, the former cabinet minister Ed Davey and the party’s education spokeswoman, Layla Moran.
Swinson, a coalition business minister, was highly likely to announce her candidacy, according to multiple sources.
One, who is close to Swinson, said: “Jo loves the party and is passionate about wanting it to succeed. She hears the calls for her to stand very clearly, and I would put money on her going for it.”
We’re hearing suggestions that Nigel Dodds, the DUP’s deputy leader, is going to be saying something in a while about his party’s talks with the Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox,
Dodds and colleagues are locked in intensive talks with Cox and the chancellor, Philip Hammond, try to reach an agreement to allow them to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal.
When he’s going to appear, or what he’ll say.. ‘Ulster says Yes?’ .. ‘we’ll keep talking?’ .. we don’t know yet.
The Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, has been explaining that extraordinary decision he took last night to vote last night AGAINST the government’s motion extending article 50, after he wound up the debate by making the case FOR it.The Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, has been explaining that extraordinary decision he took last night to vote last night AGAINST the government’s motion extending article 50, after he wound up the debate by making the case FOR it.
Doorstepped by the BBC’s Tom Barton, Barclay said that it had to do with the motion having two parts:Doorstepped by the BBC’s Tom Barton, Barclay said that it had to do with the motion having two parts:
EXCLUSIVE: Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay tells me why he voted against a motion he'd spoken in favour of."There were two parts of the motion ... a short technical extension .. that's separate from whether you just have a long extension rather than no deal." pic.twitter.com/vuVvXGvN33EXCLUSIVE: Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay tells me why he voted against a motion he'd spoken in favour of."There were two parts of the motion ... a short technical extension .. that's separate from whether you just have a long extension rather than no deal." pic.twitter.com/vuVvXGvN33
Barclay wound up last night’s debate by telling MPs: “It is time for this house to act in the national interest, it’s time to put forward an extension that is realistic”Barclay wound up last night’s debate by telling MPs: “It is time for this house to act in the national interest, it’s time to put forward an extension that is realistic”
The Guardian’s Chief Political Correspondent suggests that a fourth Brexit Secretary may be on the cards.The Guardian’s Chief Political Correspondent suggests that a fourth Brexit Secretary may be on the cards.
These comments from the Brexit secretary suggest VERY heavily he will not be prepared to negotiate a longer extension if deal does not pass."If we can get the deal through...we will now need a short technical extension, but if not we shouldn't be afraid to leave with no deal." https://t.co/bs6Y96SToLThese comments from the Brexit secretary suggest VERY heavily he will not be prepared to negotiate a longer extension if deal does not pass."If we can get the deal through...we will now need a short technical extension, but if not we shouldn't be afraid to leave with no deal." https://t.co/bs6Y96SToL
He might be taking it easy on the hard stuff in preparation for the beginning of his big March to Leave tomorrow but Nigel Farage will surely find some use for some politically-charged beer mats that have been left on his desk at the European Parliament.He might be taking it easy on the hard stuff in preparation for the beginning of his big March to Leave tomorrow but Nigel Farage will surely find some use for some politically-charged beer mats that have been left on his desk at the European Parliament.
Richard Corbett, the leader of their Labour group in the European Parliament, tweeted a picture of the mats produced by the pro-remain guerrilla marketing activists, ByDonkeys.Richard Corbett, the leader of their Labour group in the European Parliament, tweeted a picture of the mats produced by the pro-remain guerrilla marketing activists, ByDonkeys.
The excellent beer mats made by Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) being placed on #NigelFarage’s seat in the European Parliament... pic.twitter.com/MV3QMDQtp9The excellent beer mats made by Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) being placed on #NigelFarage’s seat in the European Parliament... pic.twitter.com/MV3QMDQtp9
The Democratic Unionist party is locked in intensive talks to try to reach an agreement to allow it to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, including with the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond.The Democratic Unionist party is locked in intensive talks to try to reach an agreement to allow it to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, including with the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, and the chancellor, Philip Hammond.
Downing Street is convinced the support of the DUP is key to unlocking the backing of many Conservative Brexiters when May brings her deal to the House of Commons on Tuesday for the third time.Downing Street is convinced the support of the DUP is key to unlocking the backing of many Conservative Brexiters when May brings her deal to the House of Commons on Tuesday for the third time.
The discussions, which are taking place on Friday and expected to continue into the weekend, are likely to cover the role of any future Northern Irelandassembly if the Irish backstop were used – one of the issues senior DUP leaders have asked for further clarification about.The discussions, which are taking place on Friday and expected to continue into the weekend, are likely to cover the role of any future Northern Irelandassembly if the Irish backstop were used – one of the issues senior DUP leaders have asked for further clarification about.
Hammond is also attending a meeting in Downing Street on Friday with the DUP, first reported by the Sun, and the government is said to also be looking at what domestic legal guarantees could be offered to the party.Hammond is also attending a meeting in Downing Street on Friday with the DUP, first reported by the Sun, and the government is said to also be looking at what domestic legal guarantees could be offered to the party.
While MPs bicker over the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU, British citizens in Brussels who have been worrying about the impact on their lives there have been taking out Belgian citizenship.While MPs bicker over the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU, British citizens in Brussels who have been worrying about the impact on their lives there have been taking out Belgian citizenship.
The Belgian government’s statistics service, StatBel, this week released figures this week showing a spike in Brits becoming Belgians after the 2016 Brexit referendum.The Belgian government’s statistics service, StatBel, this week released figures this week showing a spike in Brits becoming Belgians after the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The Associated Press has been speaking to a few of them, including lobbyist Brian O’Riordan, who described how he has been feeling: “It’s a kind of bizarre feeling, this sense of disempowerment, helplessness watching it all happen, not really understanding why.”The Associated Press has been speaking to a few of them, including lobbyist Brian O’Riordan, who described how he has been feeling: “It’s a kind of bizarre feeling, this sense of disempowerment, helplessness watching it all happen, not really understanding why.”
That uncertainty finally pushed him over the edge, according to the AP. He has lived in Belgium for two decades and speaks French to his two border collie dogs all the while being happy to be British. But with Brexit looming, he shifted his pension savings out of Britain and took Belgian citizenship.That uncertainty finally pushed him over the edge, according to the AP. He has lived in Belgium for two decades and speaks French to his two border collie dogs all the while being happy to be British. But with Brexit looming, he shifted his pension savings out of Britain and took Belgian citizenship.
In 2015, 127 Britons took Belgian citizenship. The following year the number soared to 506. In 2017, 1,375 of the 23,000 Brits living in Belgium a whopping 6 percent adopted Belgian nationality.In 2015, 127 Britons took Belgian citizenship. The following year the number soared to 506. In 2017, 1,375 of the 23,000 Brits living in Belgium a whopping 6 percent adopted Belgian nationality.
Much of the talks between the DUP and the government are revolving around the role of the Northern Ireland Assembly - which is currently suspended - in the event of the backstop being used.Much of the talks between the DUP and the government are revolving around the role of the Northern Ireland Assembly - which is currently suspended - in the event of the backstop being used.
That’s according to UTV’s Political Editor, Ken Reid.That’s according to UTV’s Political Editor, Ken Reid.
If the role of the assembly is being discussed, that’s quite new and potentially separate from the question of whether or not the backstop will need to be used, and whether it is time limited. Are they ready to jump?If the role of the assembly is being discussed, that’s quite new and potentially separate from the question of whether or not the backstop will need to be used, and whether it is time limited. Are they ready to jump?
Much of the discussion between the DUP and the Government is on the role of any future NI Assembly if the backstop was used.Much of the discussion between the DUP and the Government is on the role of any future NI Assembly if the backstop was used.
The DUP insists Northern Ireland must be treated like the rest of the UK. The party insists it wants a deal which is good for the whole of the UK and Ireland. Talks likely to continue through the coming days.The DUP insists Northern Ireland must be treated like the rest of the UK. The party insists it wants a deal which is good for the whole of the UK and Ireland. Talks likely to continue through the coming days.
Northern Ireland has had no functioning elected government since power sharing DUP and Sinn Féin collapsed in January 2017. Civil servants are left to run things but cannot make key decisions.Northern Ireland has had no functioning elected government since power sharing DUP and Sinn Féin collapsed in January 2017. Civil servants are left to run things but cannot make key decisions.
How that can change is an altogether different can of worms from the current Brexit impasse. Either way, if you want to know more you could do worse than read this piece from Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, about the simmering resentment in Northern Ireland as Stormont sits empty:How that can change is an altogether different can of worms from the current Brexit impasse. Either way, if you want to know more you could do worse than read this piece from Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, about the simmering resentment in Northern Ireland as Stormont sits empty:
In need of a wizard, Northern Ireland gets blundering BradleyIn need of a wizard, Northern Ireland gets blundering Bradley
A DUP MP, Jim Shannon, has said that the party will not be changing its minds on May’s deal unless there are legally binding changes to ensure that the backstop is limited.A DUP MP, Jim Shannon, has said that the party will not be changing its minds on May’s deal unless there are legally binding changes to ensure that the backstop is limited.
“That is what we have been asking for over the past two years to be honest with you and we can’t understand why the government has not been able to understand that,” he told the BBC’s World at One.“That is what we have been asking for over the past two years to be honest with you and we can’t understand why the government has not been able to understand that,” he told the BBC’s World at One.
He warned however: “If nothing has chaned then our opinoin has not changed.”He warned however: “If nothing has chaned then our opinoin has not changed.”
It looks like the government is putting its back into convincing the Democratic Unionists to come on board. This from Sky’s Beth Rigby:It looks like the government is putting its back into convincing the Democratic Unionists to come on board. This from Sky’s Beth Rigby:
NEW: Understand DUP and Cox remaining in London all weekend to work on possible agreement. Looking at what additional provisions they could add to domestic law to underline interpretations on backstop (in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill?) https://t.co/K85vauHKexNEW: Understand DUP and Cox remaining in London all weekend to work on possible agreement. Looking at what additional provisions they could add to domestic law to underline interpretations on backstop (in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill?) https://t.co/K85vauHKex
The DUP may or may not be on the move, but Theresa May has also received a boost after Esther McVey, who quit the cabinet over Brexit policy last year, indicated she could vote for the deal next week.The DUP may or may not be on the move, but Theresa May has also received a boost after Esther McVey, who quit the cabinet over Brexit policy last year, indicated she could vote for the deal next week.
McVey was speaking to the BBC’s Nick Robinson for his politics blog.McVey was speaking to the BBC’s Nick Robinson for his politics blog.
Asked if MPs would “hold their noses and vote” for Mrs May’s deal - which is expected to return to the Commons next week - the former minister said: “Yes. They will. I don’t know what the number is, but they will have to do that if they... want Brexit.”Asked if MPs would “hold their noses and vote” for Mrs May’s deal - which is expected to return to the Commons next week - the former minister said: “Yes. They will. I don’t know what the number is, but they will have to do that if they... want Brexit.”
Austria would be in favour of granting Britain a “short extension” to Brexit, according to Karin Kneissl, Austria’s Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs.
However, it remains to be seen whether other EU states would also agree and it is very difficult to say where a longer one would be granted, she told BBC’s Politics Live.
“A Longer extensions of course coincides with the European Parliamentary elelctions and this cause a problem,” said Kneissl.
“It’s not just an issue of the British participating in elections. It’s about the presidency of the parliament and we could enter into a debate about parliamentary legitimacy and we could enter into a debate about parliamentary legitimacy.”
Do EU member states support an Article 50 extension? “That remains to be seen” says Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Knessil#politicslive #Brexit https://t.co/aFDcd0nCcy pic.twitter.com/Jh0wukCDIZ
Is the DUP about to budge from their opposition to May’s deal?
The party is holding “ongoing and significant discussions with Government” over Brexit, the Press Association reports.
The BBC’s Political Editor picked up on this last night too:
Are the DUP on the move? @DUPleader tells us they're in talks with govt, 'we want to make sure we get there' and 'when you come to end of a negotiation that's when you start to see the whites in people's eyes and you get down to point where you can make a deal'
The question of whether third vote on the withdrawal agreement should - or will - be ruled out by the Speaker, John Bercow, continues to be debated.
There are those who argue passionately that he has to do so for the sake of democracy:
Is Parliament really going to let itself be bullied into accepting May’s deal?Bercow must stand up for our democracy against the Executive coup and block the third Meaningful Vote.#NoMV3
Then there’s this view from Jo Maugham, a QC and Director of the Good Law Project, who tweets three reasons for why Bercow should not. Here’s the second and third:
Third, this isn’t a game. It would be wrong for some arcane technicality to thwart MPs if they want to approve the Withdrawal Agreement. If it did, trust in democracy would suffer. And if you really care about democracy you can’t duck this point just because it's inconvenient. /5
As Catherine Haddon of the Institute for Government told Sky News on Thursday however: “In the end, it’s the speaker’s discretion. Though he should follow the will of the House.”
Ireland will want to avoid a series of “rolling cliff edges” if the UK requests a delay to its exit from the EU, the country’s finance minister has said.
Paschal Donohoe said London would need to convince the EU27 that an extension to article 50 would not further risk economic disruption.
“I believe it is highly important that we do all we can to avoid being in a scenario of rolling cliff edges … particularly from a financial market stability perspective and economic stability [perspective], we need to be aware of that,” he said.
Theresa May is expected to ask the EU for an extension next week at the European Council summit after MPs voted overwhelming to delay Brexit until 30 June amid chaotic scenes in the House of Commons on Thursday evening.
Donohoe said the taoiseach Leo Varadkar had made it clear Ireland “would provide generous response” but that London needed to spell out what it wanted from any extension.
A delay of anything from a few months to as long as 21 months have been mooted in recent weeks with some EU leaders such as the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutter questioning the point of any extension if the UK was not clear about the Brexit it wanted.
MPs have gathered in the House of Commons for a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in the New Zealand terror attack.
Speaker John Bercow led tributes to the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings, telling the chamber the pause in proceedings at 11am was in “solidarity” with the people of New Zealand and Muslims around the world.
Labour MP Wes Streeting, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, said what had happened in Christchurch would be felt deeply by UK communities.
In the wake of “Islamophobia and anti-Muslim prejudice not just in this country but right across the world”, he said “on behalf of the whole House, you are not alone in confronting prejudice and hatred”.
The risk of the backstop being weaponised by European governments to force the UK to make concessions on unrelated issues is now much less, according to a new paper from the Policy Exchange thinktank.
Readers might recall that Macron said in November that the UK will be trapped in a customs union after Brexit unless Downing Street offers European fishermen full access to British waters during the coming trade negotiations.
Three lawyers who have penned ‘A Second Look at the UK’s Legal Position in Relation to the Backstop’ argue anumber of points made earlier in the week during Attorney General Geoffrey Cox’s fateful legal take on the backstop “may have been lost, overlooked, or not fully appreciated”.
They emphasise the force of “good faith” obligations in international law, while also adding:
While the AG’s assessment on legal risk for the UK in the event of EU compliance with its obligations (and absent a fundamental change of circumstances) is correct, the risk of the backstop being used as leverage for the next phase of the negotiations in order to lock the UK into a backstop-like arrangement indefinitely has receded significantly.
Frayed nerves? Wondering if you have the right number of tins of beans stashed away in the attic?
Spare a thought for the Guardian’s Westminster sketchwriter John Crace. Here’s a snippet from his digested week (online here):
Wednesday
A nightmare. A day when I basically had to rip up three-quarters of the sketch I’d already written and start again from scratch with barely 40 minutes to the latest deadline. My nerves can’t take much more of this. I’m a broken man.
I’d thought for once in the ongoing Brexit shitshow that we were in for a relatively quiet day. That May had surely now found a vote she couldn’t possibly lose.
After all, a government motion to take a no-deal Brexit off the table was something on which every MP, with the exception of a few delusional members of the ERG, who demanded the certainty of businesses in their constituencies going bust on 29 March, could agree.
Some folks have been asking below the line on the blog about whether the Speaker, John Bercow, will allow May to bring her rejected deal back to Parliament for another attempt to get it passed.
When, asks @Aphex on Twitter, will we know what his decision is on this matter?
The short answer is that we probably won’t know definitively until Tuesday next week
Those interested in the same question might also be intrigued by a recent exchange between a Westminster committee and the just-retired clerk of the House, who suggested it was not for the Speaker to apply “theological” rules in the face of political reality.
There is a general rule against being asked to decide again on the same question in the same Session, Sir David Natzler, told the Exiting the EU Committee in October.
He added:
If it was a different document, obviously there would be a different motion. I do not know; I would not want to speculate.
If it was exactly the same document and they came back three months later for another bite, I do not think the procedures of the House are designed to obstruct the necessary business of Government in that way in such a crucial thing. I hope that is helpful.
He went on:
I do not want to speculate on various things the chair might do, but the chair is there to facilitate the business of the House, not to operate a series of strange theological rules, with no disrespect to theology. They are there for a purpose, and it is the purpose that has to be looked at.
I suspect a re-run of the Geldof versus Farage ‘Battle of the Thames’ isn’t quite on the cards yet, but a group of fishing boats has set off on the River Tyne to protest against the Prime Minister’s Brexit plans.
The flotilla (if that’s quite the right word), which comes the day before Farage starts out on his March to Leave, from Sunderland to London, has been organised by a group call Fishing for Leave.
After setting off from North Shields the flotilla made its way towards Newcastle’s Quayside through the choppy waters of the Tyne. A battered trawler was driven on the back of a lorry by road, heading for a meeting point.
A Fishing For Leave spokesman said: “The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement are an existential threat to fishing and a total betrayal of Brexit and Britain.
“It means a second surrender of our industry and coastal communities and places a constitutional bomb under democracy.”
David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister and de facto deputy prime minister has insisted Theresa May’s cabinet will continue to work “very constructively” together, despite eight senior ministers, including the Brexit secretary, voting against an extension to article 50.
Steve Barclay voted against a motion tabled by the government, even though he had spoken in favour of it at the dispatch box just minutes earlier.
Others who rejected the idea of an extension included Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling.
Lidington, who is the Cabinet Office secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’ve been working very constructively with Steve Barclay since his appointment a couple of months ago despite the fact that he and I were vigorously on opposite sides of the debate during the referendum, and we are continuing to work very constructively together today and in the days to come.”
The motion called for a three-month delay to Brexit – or a potentially much longer one, if parliament does not back the prime minister’s deal next week. That will now become government policy.
(read on)