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Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn meet for further Brexit talks – live news
May to bring Brexit bill to parliament in week of 3 June, says No 10 – live
(32 minutes later)
Downing Street has confirmed that the government will bring forward key legislation to implement the Brexit withdrawal agreement in the week beginning June 3.
The introduction of the new Brexit legislation could coincide with Donald Trump’s visit to the UK an,d with a byelection on the Thursday, it is set to be an interesting week in politics.
Timings that week for the EU withdrawal agreement bill look very tight indeed.Mon - Tues: Trump in LondonWed: Trump and world leaders at D-Day commemorationsThurs: Peterborough by-election
Some reaction:
So a fourth vote for MPs on May's Brexit deal in the week of 3 June if Downing Street gets its way and the Speaker doesn't block it but still no second Europe vote for the people. PS Tory Brextremists resisting that second vote also demand their own third vote on May herself
.@theresa_may sets a deadline of 3rd June to agree a Brexit deal with Labour. In that sense the government is prepared to be held hostage by @jeremycorbyn till AFTER the EU elections - which is an odd look for @theresa_may to choose. But as I said... pic.twitter.com/hip8Afn33d
Earlier today, cabinet set the summer parliamentary recess as the deadline for passing the legislation that would spell the end of Britain’s membership of the EU. However, there were no further details provided on how the as yet elusive majority for the government’s Brexit deal would be secured. (2:30pm).
The prime minister’s Brexit deal has been rejected three times by MPs and tonight’s statement does little to cast any light on what changes to the deal, if any, May and Corbyn may have agreed. But the talks will at least continue.
The Number 10 statement in full:
This evening the prime minister met the leader of the opposition in the House of Commons to make clear our determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU.
We will therefore be bringing forward the withdrawal agreement bill in the week beginning June 3. It is imperative we do so then if the UK is to leave the EU before the summer parliamentary recess.
Talks this evening between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition were both useful and constructive. Tomorrow, talks will continue at an official level as we seek the stable majority in parliament that will ensure the safe passage of the withdrawal agreement bill and the UK’s swift exit from the EU.
No10: “Talks between the PM and the Leader of the Opposition were both useful and constructive. “Tomorrow talks will continue at an official level as we seek the stable majority in Parliament that will ensure the safe passage of the WAB and the UK’s swift exit from the EU.”
Downing Street has confirmed that the government will bring forward legislation to implement the Brexit withdrawal agreement in the week beginning 3 June.
⏰ I'm considering totting up how many hours of my life I have spent waiting for news to emerge from various Brexit talks. But if I do I think I might cry.
⏰ I'm considering totting up how many hours of my life I have spent waiting for news to emerge from various Brexit talks. But if I do I think I might cry.
Hearing that tonight’s meeting did not start on time.
Hearing that tonight’s meeting did not start on time.
The Financial Times is reporting that Labour is planning to nationalise Britain’s energy networks at below market value, and would do so shortly after winning a general election.
The Financial Times is reporting that Labour is planning to nationalise Britain’s energy networks at below market value, and would do so shortly after winning a general election.
A new Labour party paper said shareholders would be compensated, but not necessarily at market prices, and Corbyn will reportedly outline the plans on Thursday.
A new Labour party paper said shareholders would be compensated, but not necessarily at market prices, and Corbyn will reportedly outline the plans on Thursday.
Deductions would be made to take account of “asset stripping since privatisation”, state subsidies since the 1980s and pension fund deficits, according to the FT.
Deductions would be made to take account of “asset stripping since privatisation”, state subsidies since the 1980s and pension fund deficits, according to the FT.
BMG has released a new poll ahead of the EU elections which shows growing support for the Lib Dems.
BMG has released a new poll ahead of the EU elections which shows growing support for the Lib Dems.
Note: changes are drawn from comparisons with the 2014 results.
Note: changes are drawn from comparisons with the 2014 results.
Some light relief from the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer John Crace as we wait for details from the meeting to emerge:
Some light relief from the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer John Crace as we wait for details from the meeting to emerge:
Jeremy Hunt finds day job annoyingly interferes with leadership bid | John Crace
Jeremy Hunt finds day job annoyingly interferes with leadership bid | John Crace
A Labour party source has told the BBC that tonight’s meeting is about “keeping in touch”, following cabinet and shadow cabinet discussions today.
A Labour party source has told the BBC that tonight’s meeting is about “keeping in touch”, following cabinet and shadow cabinet discussions today.
The talks have been ongoing for weeks, with no sign of the deadlock being broken.
The talks have been ongoing for weeks, with no sign of the deadlock being broken.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said earlier that there had been no “significant shift” in the government position, while foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said compromise was not impossible but negotiations could not continue “indefinitely”.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said earlier that there had been no “significant shift” in the government position, while foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said compromise was not impossible but negotiations could not continue “indefinitely”.
May and Corbyn to take stock of Brexit talks at crunch meeting
May and Corbyn to take stock of Brexit talks at crunch meeting
Our chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot has been told by cabinet sources that there will be no new withdrawal agreement bill until June.
Our chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot has been told by cabinet sources that there will be no new withdrawal agreement bill until June.
Cabinet sources say no withdrawal agreement bill before EU elections, vote being pencilled in for week of June 4 (though that is also “Trump Week” so could be week after)
Cabinet sources say no withdrawal agreement bill before EU elections, vote being pencilled in for week of June 4 (though that is also “Trump Week” so could be week after)
Meanwhile, Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby says she has been told tonight’s meeting between May and Corbyn will be more catching up than decision-making.
Meanwhile, Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby says she has been told tonight’s meeting between May and Corbyn will be more catching up than decision-making.
We sit and wait.... - May Corbyn talks to commence in half an hour but told this more a ‘catch up’ than a decision point. - And plans to bring back the WAB before summer recess, but MPs don’t expect to see it ahead of the #EUelections
We sit and wait.... - May Corbyn talks to commence in half an hour but told this more a ‘catch up’ than a decision point. - And plans to bring back the WAB before summer recess, but MPs don’t expect to see it ahead of the #EUelections
Lobby journalists have been tweeting ahead of the meeting tonight.
Shadow Cabinet minister ahead of meeting tonight: "If these talks were a dog it would be on the way to the vet - there isn't much life left in it". Says Labour very concerned about Tory leadership hopefuls writing off whatever deal May and Corbyn can agree.
Sources say Jeremy Corbyn told shadow cabinet he expects PM to offer:- customs agreement that it is basically a union- Olly Robbins will try to negotiate a say on trade deals w Brussels- wld only last to next gen election & then up to parties to decide manifestos...
So @theresa_may requested tonight's meeting with @jeremycorbyn. I expect her to say that she and her cabinet would like to set a hard stop for these Brexit talks, to focus minds. I do not expect @jeremycorbyn to pull the rug tonight. But I can find no one at the top of Labour...
I understand Theresa May will tell Jeremy Corbyn at their meeting tonight that she intends to hold a showdown 2nd reading vote on the WAB in the week of June 4 after the Whitsun recess, deal or no deal (1/2)
Good evening, I’m Mattha Busby, taking over the blog from my colleague Andrew Sparrow.
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are set to meet at 7.15pm in the Houses of Parliament this evening for further Brexit talks.
Earlier today, the cabinet agreed that the talks should continue and set a new deadline of the summer recess to pass the legislation which would take Britain out of the EU.
It follows criticism from within the Conservative party this morning, after 13 former ministers or cabinet attendees – as well as Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee – urged Theresa May not to sign up to Labour’s plan for a customs union with the EU. (09:43)
Theresa May’s divided cabinet has agreed that Brexit talks with Labourshould continue, but set a fresh deadline of the summer recess for parliament to pass the necessary legislation to take Britain out of the EU.
The former MP Bridget Prentice, who served as a minister in Tony Blair’s government, has resigned from the Labour party, branding it a “cult venerating the messiah” Jeremy Corbyn.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has said that today’s letter signed by Boris Johnson and others attacking the customs union plan (see 9.43am) has made it harder for Labour to believe that any Brexit deal it agrees with May will stick. (See 3.14pm.)
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, has said that both main parties will be “crucified” by the voters if they do not implement Brexit. That is why he thought it was in both their interests to agree a deal, he said. He told the Wall Street Journal CEO Council:
There is potential because when you look at the fundamentals it is actually in both parties’ interests to resolve Brexit.
Because both of us will be crucified by our base if we went into a general election having promised that we would respect the referendum result, not having respected it.
And I think the lesson of the local elections is that the downside for Labour is as big as the downside for us.
I don’t think it’s impossible that there could be a deal there.
MI5 has committed “serious” breaches of surveillance safeguards in the way it handles information obtained under interception warrants, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, has admitted.
The former Liberal leader Lord Steel said he was “relieved” that an investigation launched after he gave evidence about child abuse allegations against the former MP Sir Cyril Smith concluded there were no grounds for action.
Wage growth has slowed in the UK to put a squeeze on living standards despite unemployment falling to its lowest level for more than 40 years.
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, was also speaking at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in London. Judging by tweets from my colleague Rowena Mason, Bloomberg’s Robert Hutton, Sky’s Tom Rayner and LBC’s Theo Usherwood, it wasn’t one of his finest performances.
Jeremy Hunt says no deal has to be put back in the table - blames current impasse on the EU never believing that we were prepared to walk away
Or maybe even on the table!
Hunt then qualifies it, saying parliament won’t countenance no deal.... so that’s as clear as mud
At the Dow Jones CEO summit, Jeremy Hunt is explaining that No Deal isn't an option, but should be on the table, but is a bad idea.
Jeremy Hunt can’t really answer how to break the Brexit deadlock. But he says “imagine the anger” if politicians allow a second referendum
Jeremy Hunt says when you have paralysis then people retreat to the extremes - so MPs need to think very hard and come up with a solution
Jeremy Hunt says if Brexit Party do really well in the European elections then it will be a message to MPs to vote for deal... but Farage running on a no deal platform!
Asked to finish the sentence "You should vote Conservative because...", Hunt offers: "Because you believe in Conservative polices."Pauses. "I'll have another stab at it."
Hunt is asked to explain his comment that if he had his time again, he'd campaign for Brexit. Huge excitement in press room to find out if he can answer without saying "I want to be prime minister".
Hunt challenged on his conversion from remain to leave: "the way you bring the country together is not to try and unpick the decision but deliver the decision in a way that deals the concerns of those who are worried about it"
Hunt is asked directly if he'd like to be prime minister. He promises an excited nation "lots of time to have those debates."
Jeremy Hunt finding out the hard way that supporting Brexit and convincing the country’s most important businessmen and women that you’re on their side is just as difficult for him as it was for Theresa May. https://t.co/I5u99ABf6Q
In her letter explaining why she has resigned from Labour, the former MP and minister Bridget Prentice says one of her objections to Jeremy Corbyn (there are quite a few) is that he has failed to live up to the promises he made when he was running for leader to run the party in a more democratic, less top-down way. (See 11.01am.) She explains:
The talk was of giving the party back to the membership. In fact it is run by a familial clique with the members’ views being wilfully ignored because they do not align with the blinkered view of those at the top of the organisation.
A major new book about the rise of Corbyn, Protest and Power: The Battle for the Labour Party by David Kogan, makes the same point. In his conclusion Kogan writes:
Although Tony Benn and Vladimir Derer both died in 2014, they would have recognised patterns in a lot of what has happened since from earlier years of the battle for the Labour party. New Labour’s control freakery on NEC membership and candidate selection has been at least equalled by the left since it has taken power. Just as attacks on the leadership by the left in the 1980s and 1990s were ruthlessly quashed, so attacks on the leadership by the centre and centre right of the Labour party in 2016 to 2019 have been condemned, usually as ‘Blairite plots’. In neither era could either side accept the need for unity; power has always meant domination. This has been exercised in exactly the same way by each generation through the leaders’ office, at conference and in the NEC.
Protest and Power is a very good book, probably the most even-handed of all the accounts of Corbyn’s rise to power (the paragraph I’ve just quoted is negative, but much of it isn’t), and definitely the book that best explains Corbyn in the context of the 40-year battle by the left in Labour to seize control of the party. William Davies reviewed it favourably for the Guardian here.
In a speech last night that was widely interpreted as a contribution to his campaign for the Conservative party leadership, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, called for defence spending to double over the next decade.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, asked if the prime minister agreed, Theresa May’s spokesman delivered what sounded like a mild rebuke to Hunt, saying that defence spending was already high by international standards. He said:
UK defence spending is the largest in Europe, we are one of only a handful of Nato countries currently spending 2% of GDP on defence.
We have a £39bn core defence budget which will rise to almost £40bn by 2020-21 and we will spend more than £186bn on equipment and support between 2018 and 2028.
Last year we allocated an extra £1.8bn for defence spending.
At the next defence and security review we will consider the spending level required to continue to meet the threats to our national security, as we did at the last one in 2015.
Here is a more detailed summary of what was said at the Downing Street lobby briefing about Brexit. I posted a snap summary at 2.30pm.
The prime minister’s spokesman said cabinet had set the summer recess as a deadline for passing the EU withdrawal agreement bill. But he also implied the cabinet has yet to identify a clear strategy for getting the legislation through parliament. (See 2.30pm.)
The spokesman implied ministers are becoming more resigned to the idea of having to try to pass the EU withdrawal agreement bill (WAB) without Labour support. He did not say the government would have to wait until it had Labour agreement before bringing the bill to the Commons (although obviously it would like this). Asked if it could try passing the bill without Labour agreement, he said:
I have spoken in the past about the need to secure a stable majority for the WAB. That’s obviously still important. At the same time I would emphasis the importance of sending a clear message to the public that parliament is getting on with delivering the results of the referendum.
The spokesman said the prospect of May resigning once the bill has been passed was not a feature of today’s discussion. Asked if getting the deal through by the summer recess would also make that May’s exit date, the spokesman said:
What she wants to do is get a deal through by the summer recess. She has at the same time said she would step aside once she has completed phase one. But the conversation at cabinet wasn’t about that.
The spokesman played down claims that the WAB might be brought to the Commons for a vote this Thursday. He said that this week’s Commons business had already been announced and that he was not aware of any changes to it.
The spokesman said the cabinet agreed to carry on the Brexit talks with Labour. But he said nothing to suggest ministers are confident that talks will result in an agreement being reached. (See 2.30pm.)
The spokesman implied there was some disagreement about whether the government should carry on cross-party talks with Labour. Asked if the agreement to continue the talks was unanimous, the spokesman just said it was an agreement by cabinet. And, when asked if the cabinet had been united, the spokesman just said there was “a very clear determination to find a way to resolve this”.
The spokesman said that Olly Robbins, the PM’s chief Brexit adviser, would not be discussing possible changes to the political declaration (the part of the Brexit deal covering the future trading relationship) in his talks with EU officials tomorrow. The discussion would be “not that specific”, the spokesman said. Instead, he said, the meeting was part of Robbins’ ongoing engagement with his EU counterparts.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been speaking this afternoon at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in London. Here are the main points he’s been making. The tweets are from my colleague Rowena Mason.
McDonnell said that the government had still not offered the “significant shift” needed to make the cross-party Brexit talks lead to an agreement. He said:
We have been at this five weeks, we haven’t seen the significant shift yet that we require to be able to support a deal ...
We are not near what we want.
He said today’s letter signed by Boris Johnson and others attacking the customs union plan (see 9.43am) had made it harder for Labour to agree a deal with the government. He explained:
Let’s be absolutely straight, today hasn’t helped ...
Our big problem now is, if we are going to march our troops in parliament to the top of the hill to vote for a deal and then that’s overturned within weeks, I think that would be a cataclysmic act of bad faith ...
We get a letter signed by a number of senior Conservatives, published this morning, by Boris Johnson ... who is certainly going to be in contention for the leadership. Very likely to be the next leader. Could well be prime minister in, literally, months, and in a situation where he in his letter today says he is not going to accept a customs union, and, actually, he will overturn the deal that we ... negotiate.
It gives us no security on that. And we expect a responsible government on that.
John McDonnell says Boris and Raab intervention on customs union “hasn’t helped” - and that any cross-party deal agreed could be unpicked by new leader within weeks. “It gives us no security and we expect a response from the government”
He said the government might have to offer a referendum of some sort to get a deal through parliament. He said:
Because we are in negotiations, we have been saying to our Conservative colleagues that to get something through parliament you may well have to concede that there is a public vote of some sort ...
The point Keir Starmer made at the weekend ... is that there are a large number of MPs who will not sign up to anything unless there is a public vote.
If there were a referendum, the options should be the deal or remain, he said.
John McDonnell says a second referendum should be Brexit deal v remain status quo if it happens
He said it was right for Labour to be considering a compromise with the government even though this stance was costing it votes.
John McDonnell says Labour is taking a hit because it could be prepared to compromise on Brexit - but it’s the right place to be
He said Jeremy Corbyn was still a remainer at heart. McDonnell said: “Deep in my heart I’m still a remainer.” Asked if Corbyn was also still a remainer in his heart, the shadow chancellor said: “Yes.”
He said the rise of the Brexit party was symptomatic of the rise in alt-rise politics. he said:
I think behind the Brexit Party there is quite a dangerous politics that’s lurking.
I’m really worried about it.
I think it’s a rise of an alt-right politics that could damage our whole political system for the long term if we don’t deal with it.
He said he defined himself as a socialist.
John McDonnell tells a suspicious CEO audience he defines himself as socialist, adds: “I do believe Marx has a critical analysis of capitalism that we have to take into account.”
I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing, and it sounds as if today’s longer-than-usual cabinet did not resolve a great deal.
This is how the prime minister’s spokesman summed up the cabinet discussion on Brexit.
Cabinet held an extensive discussion on the Brexit talks which are taking place with Labour and on the pressing need to get on with delivering the result of the referendum. Ministers involved in the negotiations set out details of the compromises which the government was prepared to consider in order to secure an agreement which would allow the UK to leave the EU with a deal as soon as possible.
Cabinet agreed to continue discussions with Labour to see what was possible. However, it was agreed that it is imperative to bring forward the withdrawal agreement bill in time for it to receive royal assent by the summer parliamentary recess.
And this is what it means.
Cabinet has set the summer recess as a deadline for passing the EU withdrawal agreement bill - without agreeing a strategy for getting it through parliament. The summer recess normally starts mid/late July, but the exact date has not been set yet. Arguably you could describe this as the deadline being set back again, because David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, said last week the government would like the legislation passed before the new European parliament meets for the first time on 2 July (although Lidington also said the summer recess would be the deadline if the 2 July one was not achievable.) In theory the Commons could sit through August, although the prime minister’s spokesman played down the prospect of MPs being asked to give up their holidays.
Cabinet has agreed to continue the talks with Labour - although nothing said at the briefing implied that ministers are confident an agreement will actually be reached. It also sounded as though ministers were divided about what compromises the government should be offering to the opposition.
I will post a more detailed summary soon.
Speaking at the Lib Dem election poster launch this morning (see 11.28am), Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem deputy leader, accused Labour of being “all over the place” on a second referendum. She said:
Labour are refusing to take the chances to stop Brexit. They’re in the room negotiating but negotiating to try to make Brexit happen.
A vote for Labour is a vote for Brexit in these elections. If you want to stop Brexit, the Liberal Democrats are the strongest, biggest, most consistent force for remain.
Labour have been all over the place on whether or not they support a people’s vote.
Some Labour MPs who I’ve worked with absolutely do, but unfortunately they haven’t convinced their leadership to come out unequivocally backing a people’s vote.
I’m off to the Number 10 lobby briefing about cabinet now. I will post again after 2pm.
