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| Boris Johnson to back May's Brexit deal after resignation pledge - live news | Boris Johnson to back May's Brexit deal after resignation pledge - live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Conservative MP Tom Pursglove is another Brexiter who has been persuaded to back Theresa May’s deal after previously voting against it, the Sun’s Matt Dathan reports. | |
| Tory MP Tom Pursglove is another switcher tonight. He told the ERG tonight he's now backing the deal | |
| An ERG source has sent out some lines from the speech that Steve Baker, the ERG deputy chairman, gave at the ERG meeting this evening. It turns out he really did talk about bulldozing parliament. (See 7.43pm.) Baker said: | |
| I’m consumed with a ferocious rage after that pantomime [May in the ‘22] ... | |
| What is our liberty for if not to govern ourselves? | |
| Like all of you I have wrestled with my conscience about what to do. | |
| I could tear this place down and bulldoze it into the river. | |
| These fools and knaves and cowards are voting on things they don’t even understand. | |
| We’ve been put in this place by people whose addiction to power without responsibility has led them to put the choice of no Brexit or this deal. | |
| I may yet resign the whip rather than be part of this. | |
| The source said that Baker received an enormous standing ovation at the end of the speech and that he was hugged by Jacob Rees-Mogg and others afterwards. “We are not a hugging group,” the source said. | |
| He also said he thought there was “no way” that enough ERG members were going to switch for Theresa May’s deal to pass. | |
| There was a time when the Brexiters wanted to restore the constitutional supremacy of parliament. Now, according to Bloomberg’s Robert Hutton, some of them have other plans for the place. | There was a time when the Brexiters wanted to restore the constitutional supremacy of parliament. Now, according to Bloomberg’s Robert Hutton, some of them have other plans for the place. |
| Steve Baker is NOT, repeat NOT, voting for May's deal. But he DOES want to bulldoze Parliament into the Thames. https://t.co/B2i2hS65Xb via @business | Steve Baker is NOT, repeat NOT, voting for May's deal. But he DOES want to bulldoze Parliament into the Thames. https://t.co/B2i2hS65Xb via @business |
| The Tory Brexiter Sheryll Murray voted against Theresa May’s deal earlier this month. According to the BBC’s Martyn Oates, she has now been persuaded to back it. | The Tory Brexiter Sheryll Murray voted against Theresa May’s deal earlier this month. According to the BBC’s Martyn Oates, she has now been persuaded to back it. |
| BREAKING: ERG rebel @sheryllmurray says @theresa_may has now "done enough" to win her support if the PM's Brexit deal is brought back to the Commons for Meaningful Vote 3 on Friday. | BREAKING: ERG rebel @sheryllmurray says @theresa_may has now "done enough" to win her support if the PM's Brexit deal is brought back to the Commons for Meaningful Vote 3 on Friday. |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chair of the European Research Group, has just told Sky News that he thinks the chances of Theresa May’s deal being passed are now “much higher than they were”. | Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chair of the European Research Group, has just told Sky News that he thinks the chances of Theresa May’s deal being passed are now “much higher than they were”. |
| Here is a column from my colleague Polly Toynbee on Theresa May’s decision to announce that she will resign before the next phase of the Brexit talks. | Here is a column from my colleague Polly Toynbee on Theresa May’s decision to announce that she will resign before the next phase of the Brexit talks. |
| Farewell to the worst prime minister bar none – until the next one | Polly Toynbee | Farewell to the worst prime minister bar none – until the next one | Polly Toynbee |
| And this is how it starts. | And this is how it starts. |
| Theresa May will leave office in an “orderly handover” whenever an EU withdrawal deal is done. No one is weeping. The oddity is: we may yet come to miss her, though she has been the worst prime minister of our political lifetimes – bar none. Yet there was one great good purpose in her premiership: by occupying the space, however vacuously, she kept out the barbarian hordes of Brexiteers barging one another out of the way to seize her throne. | Theresa May will leave office in an “orderly handover” whenever an EU withdrawal deal is done. No one is weeping. The oddity is: we may yet come to miss her, though she has been the worst prime minister of our political lifetimes – bar none. Yet there was one great good purpose in her premiership: by occupying the space, however vacuously, she kept out the barbarian hordes of Brexiteers barging one another out of the way to seize her throne. |
| Now she has surrendered that one useful role, leaving the country to the untender mercies of those competing in Europhobia for the votes of some 120,000 dwindling Tory party members. To use her deathless phrase, nothing will be changed by her departure. Parliament will be as gridlocked as ever, the combat deadlier with an avowed Brextremist at the helm. | Now she has surrendered that one useful role, leaving the country to the untender mercies of those competing in Europhobia for the votes of some 120,000 dwindling Tory party members. To use her deathless phrase, nothing will be changed by her departure. Parliament will be as gridlocked as ever, the combat deadlier with an avowed Brextremist at the helm. |
| According to my colleague Dan Sabbagh, talks of Steve Baker being open to backing Theresa May’s deal (see 7.10pm) sound premature. | According to my colleague Dan Sabbagh, talks of Steve Baker being open to backing Theresa May’s deal (see 7.10pm) sound premature. |
| Boris switched to back the deal at ERG but a source adds "No way that deal is getting out the room". Baker spoke against the deal, received a standing ovation, and was hugged by colleagues. Early estimates 30 still against the deal | Boris switched to back the deal at ERG but a source adds "No way that deal is getting out the room". Baker spoke against the deal, received a standing ovation, and was hugged by colleagues. Early estimates 30 still against the deal |
| More from the European Research Group, the Tory MPs pushing for a harder Brexit who have been meeting following the PM’s statement. | More from the European Research Group, the Tory MPs pushing for a harder Brexit who have been meeting following the PM’s statement. |
| From the FT’s Laura Hughes | From the FT’s Laura Hughes |
| NEW: Tory MP says IDS just told ERG he is backing the deal. | NEW: Tory MP says IDS just told ERG he is backing the deal. |
| From the Mail on Sunday’s Harry Cole | From the Mail on Sunday’s Harry Cole |
| Rumour from ERGer: “Baker is in play” | Rumour from ERGer: “Baker is in play” |
| Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the ERG, has been one of its fiercest critics of May’s deal. This is what he said in a Telegraph article (paywall) last week. | Steve Baker, the deputy chairman of the ERG, has been one of its fiercest critics of May’s deal. This is what he said in a Telegraph article (paywall) last week. |
| I understand my Conservative colleagues want to say they have delivered Brexit for fear of voter backlash and I understand the nation is crying out for progress, but this deal would backfire terribly by the next election. | I understand my Conservative colleagues want to say they have delivered Brexit for fear of voter backlash and I understand the nation is crying out for progress, but this deal would backfire terribly by the next election. |
| Voting for this deal is not pragmatism. It is the reverse. It would be an understandable but counterproductive surrender for immediate respite ... | Voting for this deal is not pragmatism. It is the reverse. It would be an understandable but counterproductive surrender for immediate respite ... |
| If we vote for this deal, we will have locked ourselves in a prison with no voice and no exit. We will escape only with the permission of those whose authority we rejected. The PM won’t resign if the agreement goes through. She will stay and drag us miserably into deeper political disaster. | If we vote for this deal, we will have locked ourselves in a prison with no voice and no exit. We will escape only with the permission of those whose authority we rejected. The PM won’t resign if the agreement goes through. She will stay and drag us miserably into deeper political disaster. |
| In the Commons the Brexit indicative votes debate is over. MPs are now voting. | In the Commons the Brexit indicative votes debate is over. MPs are now voting. |
| Unusually, they are voting on paper. They have got half an hour to fill in a ballot paper looking like this. | Unusually, they are voting on paper. They have got half an hour to fill in a ballot paper looking like this. |
| Breaking: first images of tonight's #indicativevotes papers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XVTB0jJQKm | Breaking: first images of tonight's #indicativevotes papers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XVTB0jJQKm |
| But MPs are still using the division lobbies. They are expected to go there to hand over their ballot papers. To even things out, John Bercow, the Speaker, said MPs with surnames beginning with the letters A to K should use the aye lobby, and everyone else the no lobby. | But MPs are still using the division lobbies. They are expected to go there to hand over their ballot papers. To even things out, John Bercow, the Speaker, said MPs with surnames beginning with the letters A to K should use the aye lobby, and everyone else the no lobby. |
| Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, has told the Tory European Research Group, that he will now vote for Theresa May’s deal, HuffPost’s Arj Singh reports. | Boris Johnson, the Brexiter former foreign secretary, has told the Tory European Research Group, that he will now vote for Theresa May’s deal, HuffPost’s Arj Singh reports. |
| Boris Johnson backs May's Brexit deal despite once calling it a suicide vest https://t.co/3mMixfUgET | Boris Johnson backs May's Brexit deal despite once calling it a suicide vest https://t.co/3mMixfUgET |
| Johnson has been signalling that he is ready to drop his opposition to the deal for some days now, but only last night he said in a speech: “If we vote for the PM’s lamentable withdrawal agreement we are skewered.” (See 9.33am.) | Johnson has been signalling that he is ready to drop his opposition to the deal for some days now, but only last night he said in a speech: “If we vote for the PM’s lamentable withdrawal agreement we are skewered.” (See 9.33am.) |
| And here is Nicola Sturgeon, the Scotland first minister, on Theresa May’s announcement. | And here is Nicola Sturgeon, the Scotland first minister, on Theresa May’s announcement. |
| If Brexit ends up being forced through on the basis of a deal no one supports - indeed a deal so bad that the PM has to promise to resign to get it through - it will make an already bad project even worse. | If Brexit ends up being forced through on the basis of a deal no one supports - indeed a deal so bad that the PM has to promise to resign to get it through - it will make an already bad project even worse. |
| And this is from my colleague Dan Sabbagh. | And this is from my colleague Dan Sabbagh. |
| Shailesh Vara emerges from ERG meeting to say that most people present, including him, were coming round to supporting May's "bad deal" as the alternatives were worse. Meeting still going on. | Shailesh Vara emerges from ERG meeting to say that most people present, including him, were coming round to supporting May's "bad deal" as the alternatives were worse. Meeting still going on. |
| This is from my colleague Patrick Wintour. | This is from my colleague Patrick Wintour. |
| As usual, he is right ... | As usual, he is right ... |
| A consequence of May's likely resignation is that the unresolved question of Britain's future relations with Europe, to be negotiated in phase 2 of talks, will largely be decided on hustings in a Tory Party leadership contest. Fewer than 120,000 deciding on behalf of 46m. | A consequence of May's likely resignation is that the unresolved question of Britain's future relations with Europe, to be negotiated in phase 2 of talks, will largely be decided on hustings in a Tory Party leadership contest. Fewer than 120,000 deciding on behalf of 46m. |