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Javid says new migration salary rules could vary region by region as May's £30k threshold shelved – live news
Jeremy Corbyn tells May any Brexit deal should be put to public – live news
(32 minutes later)
In the Commons Tom Brake, the Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, asked May if she agreed that the new prime minister should come to the Commons before the summer recess to explain his Brexit plan, and to show that he had the confidence of the house. But May said this would be a matter for the next PM.
Labour’s Chris Bryant asks if the new prime minister will address the Commons about Brexit within a week of taking office. It would be a disgrace if he waited until September, he says.
May says this is not a matter for her.
May suggests new prime minister may not face questions from MPs until September.
Under a draft timetable for the announcement of the Tory leadership election winner, May’s final PMQs and the start of recess, the new prime minister would take office the night before recess, meaning he probably would not face MPs for the first time until September.
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Wesminster, also invited Theresa May to criticise Boris Johnson for suggesting that the UK would be able to negotiate changes to the backstop during the transition period.
May did not really respond to this point when Jeremy Corbyn raised it, but she did second time round. Responding to Blackford, she said David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, refuted this claim in a tweet at the weekend.
Erm, the Implementation Period is actually part of the Withdrawal Agreement. It's in Part 4 of the Agreement, articles 126 to 132. No Deal exit = no Withdrawal Agreement = no Implementation Period. https://t.co/dAr3pJXQ4E
This is what Jeremy Corbyn said in his response to Theresa May about no deal:
The two Tory leadership candidates are still saying that if they can’t renegotiate the backstop – which the EU leaders said was not possible last week – then they would pursue a no-deal exit.
Will the prime minister tell us, whether she believes no deal should be on the table as a viable option?
And, in her view, what would be worse: crashing out with no deal in October, or putting this issue back to the people for a final say?
And this is what Corbyn said Boris Johnson, and about a second referendum:
Neither of the Tory leadership candidates have a credible plan. One even claims we can crash out on WTO terms and still trade without tariffs ...
The former foreign secretary also told us that under his no-deal plan he could, and I quote, ‘solve the problem of free movement of goods in the context of the free trade agreement … that we’ll negotiate in the implementation period’.
Mr Speaker, can the prime minister confirm that if there is no deal there will not be an implementation period?
It is deeply worrying that those who seek to lead this country have no grip on reality.
The prime minister said the council reiterated its wish to avoid a ‘disorderly Brexit’. I’m not sure they will have been reassured by the statements of her potential successors.
Labour put forward a plan that could bring this country back together, but the prime minister refused to compromise.
Whoever the next prime minister is, they will barely hold the support of this House, so they certainly have no mandate to force a disastrous hard-right Brexit on this country.
And I make it clear that Labour will work across the House to block no deal.
But whatever Brexit plan the new Tory leader comes up with, after three long years of failure, they should have the confidence to go back to the people on a deal agreed by parliament.
May is responding to Corbyn.
She says he asked about Brexit and the Tory leadership election, which were subjects that did not come up at the EU summit.
But she says no deal is “the default option”.
She says she wanted to leave the EU on 29 March. If Labour had voted for it, “we would already be out.”
She says she had voted for a deal three times, while Corbyn had voted against the deal, increasing the chance of no deal.
She says the Tories are not divorced from reality; the person most divorced from reality is Corbyn himself, who wants to follow the Venezuelan economic model, she claims.
Corbyn asks May if she agrees with Boris Johnson that it would be possible to negotiate a solution to the backstop during the transition.
He says Labour will work with other MPs to block no deal.
And he ends by saying the government should let the public decide on Brexit.
Whatever Brexit plan the new Tory leader comes up with, after three long years of failure they should have the confidence to go back to the people on a deal agreed by parliament.
Turning to Brexit, Corbyn says there have been three wasted years since the vote to leave the EU. And we will soon be on our third prime minister, he says.
He says Theresa May wasted time appealing to the wilder extremes in her party, instead of reaching out across the Commons.
Does she accept it was a mistake to legitimise the idea of no deal?
Does May believe no deal should be on the table as a viable option?
What would be worse? Crashing out in October? Or putting it back to the people for a final say?
Corbyn implies a second referendum would be preferable to a no-deal Brexit.
He asks May to confirm the UK would not be ready to crash out in October.
Back in the Commons, Jeremy Corbyn is responding to Theresa May.
Back in the Commons, Jeremy Corbyn is responding to Theresa May.
He starts by saying it is 10 years since John Bercow became Speaker. “Congratulations on the first 10 years,” he says.
He starts by saying it is 10 years since John Bercow became Speaker. “Congratulations on the first 10 years,” he says.
He also sends his best wishes to John Prescott.
He also sends his best wishes to John Prescott.
And then he turns to Iran. Last week the world was only minutes away from a US-Iran war, he says. He says the Iran nuclear deal should be defended.
And then he turns to Iran. Last week the world was only minutes away from a US-Iran war, he says. He says the Iran nuclear deal should be defended.
Turning back to migration for a moment, Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury who is currently seems to be spending much of her time acting as Boris Johnson’s chief media spokesperson, has warmly welcomed Sajid Javid’s decision to review income thresholds for immigrants after Brexit.
Turning back to migration for a moment, Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury who currently seems to be spending much of her time acting as Boris Johnson’s chief media spokesperson, has warmly welcomed Sajid Javid’s decision to review income thresholds for immigrants after Brexit.
This is right from @sajidjavid. We need proper control at our borders and an immigration system that allows those who will contribute to our country to come to the UK. https://t.co/8hq5gjztWR
This is right from @sajidjavid. We need proper control at our borders and an immigration system that allows those who will contribute to our country to come to the UK. https://t.co/8hq5gjztWR
Theresa May starts by wishing John Prescott a full recovery.
Theresa May starts by wishing John Prescott a full recovery.
She says the EU summit focused on climate change, disinformation, the EU’s external relations, and what the EU calls its “top jobs”.
She says the EU summit focused on climate change, disinformation, the EU’s external relations, and what the EU calls its “top jobs”.
She says was there because the UK has agreed to continue contributing fully to EU discussions while it remains a member.
She says she was there because the UK has agreed to continue contributing fully to EU discussions while it remains a member.
Theresa May is about to make a Commons statement on last week’s EU summit.
Theresa May is about to make a Commons statement on last week’s EU summit.
She may get quite a lot of questions about Brexit but, unless she decides to comment on the Brexit plans being floated by her two potential successors (which seems unlikely), it is hard to see what she might say that will qualify as news.
She may get quite a lot of questions about Brexit but, unless she decides to comment on the Brexit plans being floated by her two potential successors (which seems unlikely), it is hard to see what she might say that will qualify as news.
Here are two questions from below the line on a topic that is the subject of much chatter at Westminster at the moment - how the timing of a no confidence vote might interact with the article 50 process.
@Andrew - if the Johnson Government takes the UK to the precipice of no-deal a few days before Oct 31st and the British parliament votes them out in a no-confidence motion, what is the legal position with respect to an extension of Article 50? In these circumstances, can the EU extend Article 50 based on a vote in parliament or will the UK Prime Minister (in this case Boris Johnson) have to explicitly request the extension themselves? In these circumstances, can the Queen intervene by appointing a new PM or does the Queen have the power to request the extension herself if the Government has lost a no-confidence vote?
So a question for Andrew.
If some hard core Tory Remainers try to bring down the government voting with the opposition on a no confidence motion to stop no deal, will they have to do so before the minimum time allowed for a GE stays before the 31st October?
Can you see the point I'm making as if it is under the time allowed a GE means no active government to stop the UK leaving without signing the WA. We would leave by default if they brought the government down. Should add that even if the EU offer another extension wouldn't that be worthless as it would still have to go through Parliament.
It is not easy to answer these questions, because the article 50 process is unprecedented - no other country has every used article 50 to leave the EU - and the UK has never seen a no confidence vote lead to a general election under the procedure set out in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
But it is possible that a no confidence vote in September, followed by a 14-day wait to see if a new government could win a vote of confidence, followed by the calling of an election, which would have to take place 25 working days after the dissolution of parliament, would leave little or no time for the UK to request an article 50 extension before the 31 October deadline.
There is no provision for parliament to request an article 50 extension. The request to the EU would have to come from the PM. A responsible PM might make such a request in the event of a pending general election, to keep options for whoever won, but if Boris Johnson were in this position in September, he would probably argue that he was elected party leader and prime minister on a mandate to deliver Brexit by 31 October come what may.
I’m afraid the monarch has not had the power to sack the prime minister, and appoint another one, for at least a century, and probably longer. And she does not have the power to request an article 50 extension, even if she wanted one.
Labour is to examine the readiness of City firms to cut carbon emissions and invest responsibly to tackle the climate emergency, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said this morning. As my colleague Philip Inman reports, a review into City practices and how investments can be directed to promote technologies that cut carbon emissions will report by October as part of the party’s support for policies tied to the green industrial revolution. Speaking to City executives in central London, McDonnell said he also wanted the Bank of England to help monitor the City’s progress towards lower carbon emissions. This new responsibility would be on top of Labour’s plan to make the central bank also adopt policies that will boost the productivity of British firms.
Labour to launch review of City's progress on emissions
Theresa May still has a month left to serve as prime minister, but already her policy agenda is being shredded. A relative hardliner in Tory terms on immigration, she pushed hard for a high salary threshold for skilled workers coming to the UK after Brexit and, when the government’s white paper on immigration was published in December, it proposed a rule saying migrants would have to be earning £30,000 a year to qualify as a skilled worker for a five-year visa. As a concession to the Treasury and the business department, which wanted a more open regime, it was agreed that this threshold would be subject to consultation.
Sajid Javid, the home secretary, has now published details of that consultation – and his announcement strongly applies that the salary thresholds in the white paper are going to be abandoned. He is also floating the idea of having different salary thresholds for different areas of the country. This is from the Home Office news release.
The home secretary Sajid Javid has today asked the migration advisory committee to review and advise on salary thresholds for the future immigration system, which will start to take effect from 2021.
The migration advisory committee previously recommended that we should retain the existing minimum salary thresholds in the future immigration system, which includes paying experienced workers at least £30,000, and new entrants (including recent graduates) at least £20,800.
The home secretary has asked the migration advisory committee to consider how future salary thresholds should be calculated, the levels of salary thresholds, whether there is a case for regional salary thresholds for different parts of the UK, and whether there should be exceptions to salary thresholds, for example because they’ve newly started the occupation or because they work in an occupation in shortage.
A final decision would be taken by the next Tory MP (assuming the Conservatives stay in power). But Javid will be making this announcement knowing that both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt are much more relaxed about immigration than May.
Variable salary thresholds for different parts of the UK would be a policy with particular significance for Scotland, which is much more dependent on immigration than other parts of the UK. The SNP-led Scottish government has for years been saying that it should have control over immigration policy in Scotland. At an event last week Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said that getting more power over immigration would be her top demand in terms of extending devolution. She also revealed that, at the recent D-day commemoration event, Johnson was joking with her about what might be needed to “buy you guys off” (ie to quash the demand for independence).
Jeremy Hunt has stepped up his criticism of Boris Johnson for avoiding media scrutiny in the Tory leadership campaign, calling it “disrespectful”, as another minister said Johnson could be brought down by his own MPs if he pushed for a no-deal Brexit.
Boris Johnson’s refusal to face public scrutiny as he runs for the Conservative party leadership has prompted Sky News to cancel a televised debate this week.
John Griffin, one of the Conservative party’s most generous donors, has joined a growing chorus of demands for Boris Johnson to explain why police were called to his home after an altercation with his partner.
The People’s Vote campaign has criticised plans published by the Alternative Arrangements Commission for an alternative to the backstop as unworkable. In a statement responding to the report (see 12.27pm) issued by People’s Vote, the Labour MP Owen Smith said:
The idea of trying to replace the Northern Ireland backstop with so-called ‘alternative arrangements’ has already been tested to destruction. There is no political will to do so from either Ireland, the rest of the EU or most importantly the people of Northern Ireland, particularly those living on or near the border. This new report does nothing to address that crucial underlying point.
Talk of vague ‘technological solutions’, special economic zones or checks away from the border still fail to meet the basic test for a durable solution to this intractable problem. It needs to have the consent of both the people of Northern Ireland and of the Republic of Ireland – those who it will affect the most. And it’s clear it doesn’t have that consent on either side of the border.
The Alternative Arrangements Commission is nothing more or less than a desperate attempt to make a square peg fit into a round hole in order to try and hold the warring factions of the Conservative party together. The future of Northern Ireland is too important to be treated like this. The only way to a deliver a lasting and stable solution to this problem is to give the public the final say.
The Brexit party is to launch a formal legal challenge against the result of this month’s Peterborough byelection, where it was narrowly beaten by Labour, claiming that allegations of corruption connected to postal votes need to be investigated.
Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has put forward the prospect of a coalition with the Conservative party to ensure the UK leaves the EU without a deal, and offered Johnson his support following his row with his partner.
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of communications, has dismissed allegations that misuse of the social network influenced the EU referendum result.
The former deputy prime minister John Prescott has been admitted to hospital after having a stroke, prompting messages of support from current and former Labour leaders. This is from Jeremy Corbyn.
My thoughts are with my good friend @JohnPrescott and his family and friends at this difficult time. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery. I'd like to thank the paramedics and hard-working staff at Hull Royal Infirmary. We know John loves our NHS and today the NHS loves him pic.twitter.com/hYw0POD0u3
Ken Clarke, the Tory pro-European, has reaffirmed his willingness to vote against the government in a no-confidence debate to stop a no-deal Brexit. Asked about this possible scenario on The World at One, he said:
It depends on the circumstances at the time and what whoever is prime minister is putting forward as the policy he is going to pursue.
But I am not going to vote in favour of a government that says it is going to pursue policies which are totally incompatible with everything the Conservative party has stood for under all those prime ministers for the decades that I have been in parliament.
Here is a source from the Jeremy Hunt camp responding to the news that Sky has cancelled the leaders’ debate planned for tomorrow because Boris Johnson has refused to attend. (See 11.07am.) The source said:
Bottler Boris and his complacent campaign have shown they can’t trust their candidate to turn up and perform.
David Henig, the former civil servant who now heads the UK Trade Policy Project, has written a Twitter thread with a good commentary on the Alternative Arrangements Commission conference. (See 12.27pm and 12.35pm.) It starts here.
Today I'll attend a conference arranged by the 'Alternative Arrangements Commission' - even though I've been critical of the work of some of those involved in the past. They invited me though, and we need proper dialogue to solve our Brexit issues. pic.twitter.com/97uDZDrtI5
Today’s Evening Standard, which is backing Boris Johnson for the Conservative party leadership, is splashing on a story based on a picture apparently showing Johnson making up with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.
Today’s @EveningStandard as a picture of the happy couple emerges pic.twitter.com/Yjxa99Ng9B
My colleague Owen Jones thinks that, in the light of the way the Johnsonites have been complaining about “Corbynista curtain-twitchers” and the like (see 10.35am), this is an example of hypocrisy.
Hold on, isn’t this entirely spontaneous and non planned photograph Stasi interference into people’s private lives? https://t.co/LrVMffuQ7r
These are from my colleague Lisa O’Carroll, who has been attending the Alternative Arrangements Commission conference this morning.
Northern Ireland Retail Consortium director, Aodhán Connolly said the Alt Arrangements economic freezones would create borders within borders. This wd not comply with the Dec 2017 joint report to avoid "hard border, including any infrastructure or related checks and controls"
Shankar Singham: Says the UK and the EU were wrong to interpret the December 2017 report as saying there shd not be infrastructure anywhere in NI. "we don’t think that’s a valid interpretation - we don’t think that’s a valid interpretation. "
Shanker Singham is a member of the commission, and a pro-Brexit trade expert.
Shankar Singham asked about how alternative arrangements will tackle smuggling. Points out there is "considerable amount of smuggling on the EU’s external borders now and in their internal borders".
Alternative Arrangements Commission point out that Ireland is no stranger to special economic zones - Shannon Free Zone near Shannon Airport is the biggest such zone in EU
Irish delegate Cathal Lee, former Fianna Fail staffer tells AAC conference that this conversation about alternative arrangements should have been held in "March, April 2016" to explain to voters Irish border was complicated
As my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports, the Alternative Arrangements Commission, which was set up to look at ways of managing the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit to avoid the need for the backstop (which would effectively keep the UK in the customs union), has published an interim report today. There is a 35-page summary here (pdf), and the full 203-page interim report is here (pdf).
On the Today programme this morning Greg Hands, the former international trade minister and one of the co-chairs of the commission, said the ideas in the report were a viable alternative to the backstop. He said he thought it would be possible to negotiate this with the EU before 31 October, although he said it would take up to two to three years to introduce these alternative arrangements. He went on:
We think it is possible to have this. We will be publishing next month an alternative arrangements protocol that could be inserted either into the withdrawal agreement or into any new form of Brexit that might be negotiated by the next UK prime minister.
Hands accepted that, for traders in Ireland, his plans would not amount to “no change” from the status quo. But the proposals would avoid a hard border, he said.
