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Brexit: Boris Johnson to chair cabinet this afternoon - as general election speculation intensifies – live news
Boris Johnson to give statement outside No 10 – live news
(about 4 hours later)
Earlier today Jeremy Corbyn suggested that Labour would back an early election any circumstances (see 12.04pm and 12.06pm) - even though Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, told the Andrew Marr Show yesterday that the party had been thinking “long and hard” about the risk of Boris Johnson calling a general election for after a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
From my colleague Severin Carrell
On the World at One Jenny Chapman, a shadow Brexit minister (ie, a member of Starmer’s team), said that if a general election were scheduled to take place after a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, Labour would not support it. She explained:
BREAKING: The Lord Advocate, Scotland's chief prosecutor and Scottish govt law officer, has announced he is backing both the @joannaccherry and Gina Miller legal actions in Edinburgh and London against suspending parliament #stopBoris
Our mission here is to to prevent no deal. We do want a general election ... Our mission is very clear, and it is about preventing no deal. If that means that a general election cannot happen at that particular point, then stopping no deal must come first ... This isn’t for the benefit of the Labour party. This is about preventing mass unemployment.
This is from ITV’s Robert Peston.
Asked if this meant Labour could vote against an early election, Chapman replied:
BREAKING: @BorisJohnson will say If MPs vote tomorrow for another delay, then Wednesday there will be vote on general election. MPs gone, no 14 days, no legislation on extension. Election on 14 October. Government source: “who does country want to sort it out on 18 Oct at EU?”
Theoretically. But more likely having a general election becomes one of the few ways that we are able to prevent no deal.
An election on 14 October would be on a Monday. Elections are normally held on Thursday, but there is no rule saying that has to be the case and there have been general elections on non-Thursdays in the past. The last one not on a Thursday was in 1931.
Labour says it is confident there is a majority for the planned bill designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. Assuming that the bill passes, and assuming that it is robust enough to do what it is meant to do, in those circumstances the Labour objection to an election after 31 October might no longer apply.
Here is a summary of the main points from the bill designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October - or the EU (withdrawal( No 6) bill, to give it its proper title. (See 5.29pm.)
Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the easiest way to get around the rule saying the next election should not take place until 2022 (five years after the last one) would be for two thirds of MPs to vote for an early election. Alternatively, the government could lost a confidence vote, and an election would take place if no alternative government won a confidence vote within 14 days.
It sets two new deadlines.
Alternatively, the government could pass a new bill to amend the FTPA to allow an early election.
19 October 2019
But, given that Boris Johnson only has a majority of one, and some Tories oppose a no-deal Brexit, he would not be able to use any of these mechanisms to call an early election without assistance from Labour.
Under the bill, by this date the prime minister would have to either:
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, says the SNP would back an early election - provided it took place before 31 October.
Get MPs to pass a withdrawal agreement
As talk of a General Election mounts, I say ‘bring it on’...but it must be before Oct 31. MPs must not allow Johnson to game the date as a ploy to push through a no deal Brexit.
Get MPs to pass a motion agreeing to a no-deal Brexit
Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister), has said that he expects to have a meeting with Boris Johnson next week. He told RTE that he was always willing to listen to any proposal from the British PM, but that he had yet to hear of a convincing alternative to the backstop. He explained:
Write to the EU requesting an extension to article 50
The backstop is a means to an end. It is there to ensure that we continue to have frictionless trade north and south, that there is no physical infrastructure, no checks, no controls, no tariffs. We want that to continue to be the case. It has been the case since 1992, we want that to continue.
The text of the letter that would have to be sent to the president of the European council requesting an extension is set out in a schedule to the bill. It contains the second deadline.
Of course, I would listen to any proposals that the British prime minister may have to achieve that by an alternative means and we provide for alternative arrangements in the joint political declaration.
31 January 2020
The difficulty is that anything we have seen so far when it comes to alternative arrangements do something very different.
This would be the new date for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, if the extension proposed in the bill were granted by the EU.
They just manage a border, they facilitate tariffs, they facilitate checks, they facilitate controls but try to do it in a way that is invisible and unobtrusive, and that is better than nothing but it is not the outcome that we want to achieve.
The bill says, if both sides agree a deal after 19 October but before 31 January, Brexit could happen sooner.
Jean-Claude Piris, a former head of the European council’s legal service whose views are generally an accurate reflection of Brussels’ thinking, said last week that Britain was heading for “a really deep political and probably a deep constitutional crisis”.
But it does not say what would happen if there were still no agreement by the end of January.
Following Michael Gove’s refusal this weekend to rule out ignoring any law passed by parliament to stop no deal, Piris has now warned that the “divisive effect” of Brexit means democracy and the rule of law in Britain are slipping.
According to Sky’s Beth Rigby, Boris Johnson won’t be announcing a general election tonight in his statement at 6pm.
The situation on the U.K. on the point of view of democracy and Rule of Law has deteriorated. Who could have imagined that? The divisive effect of passions about Brexit have deep effects. No protection of minorities. No respect of institutions. Please come back to European values
Boris Johnson is going to make a statement outside Number 10 at 6pm, it has been announced.
The Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin reckons Boris Johnson’s controversial decision to prorogue parliament will make it harder for the EU27 to agree a Brexit deal, partly because they do not want to be seen to be rewarding that kind of behaviour.
Hilary Benn, the Labour chair of the Commons Brexit committee, has just released the text of the bill that Tory rebels and opposition MPs want to use to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
Suspending parliament makes it harder for EU leaders do strike a deal with Boris Johnson. 1. EU doesn’t want to be seen rewarding this kind of behaviour. 2. They have own public opinion to consider - see aghast or critical tone of press reaction. https://t.co/6kVexStHx1
1/8 The European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill 2019 pic.twitter.com/16cmhdRkOp
This is from a Number 10 source,
2/8 The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that the UK does not leave the European Union on the 31 October without an agreement, unless Parliaments consents.
The PM is hosting all Tory MPs at Number 10 this evening. He is taking the opportunity to see cabinet as well – the cabinet calling notice should have gone out – and they will discuss the government’s response to MPs seeking to take control of the legislative agenda away from the government and handing it to the opposition and Corbyn without the consent of the people. The view is that tomorrow’s possible vote is an expression of confidence in the government’s negotiating position to secure a deal and will be treated as such.
3/8 The Bill gives the Government time either to reach a new agreement with the European Union at the European Council meeting next month or to seek Parliament’s specific consent to leave the EU without a deal.
These are from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, has spoken out against Boris Johnson’s plan to remove the whip from any Tory MP who votes against the government tomorrow on the no-deal Brexit issue and to thus effectively deselect them ahead of the next general election. In an interview with the Spectator’s Katy Balls, Rudd said it would be unfair to punish remain-voting Tories like this when the same thing did not happen to MPs who repeatedly voted against Theresa May’s deal. Asked if Johnson’s plan worried her, Rudd replied said:
#PoliticsLive is back! Cabinet is being called for this afternoon and PM will be speaking to Tory MPs too
It does and I have made my views clear to the prime minister that we should not be a party that is trying to remove from our party two former chancellors, a number of ex-cabinet ministers, that the way to hold our party together and to get a deal is to bring them onside and explain to them what we’re trying to do and why.
Just what could they be discussing? I understand real possibility now Johnson might put a motion down to ask MPs to vote for an election this week BUT still no final decision - more on #PoliticsLive in a mo
I don’t think it’s fair either to consider removing the whip from a group of people who oppose no deal, which is not the government position, but as a legitimate Conservative position, and not to remove the whip from people who have consistently voted against the withdrawal agreement and may yet vote against the agreement that Boris Johnson brings back before 31 October. So I’m really urging the government to think very carefully about taking such a dramatic step.
This would happen if the rebels pass the law - not of course if they lose!
From ITV’s Robert Peston
The vice-president of the European parliament has said she thinks it is unlikely that there will be a new Brexit deal at the next European council summit on 17 October.
Rebel Tory source tells me 12 to 16 anti-no-deal-Brexit Tory MPs “holding firm” and still planning to vote against @BorisJohnson tomorrow, in spite of PM’s threat to call election if he loses. Mostly the older rebels not cowed. “It will be touch and go, but depending on...
Mairead McGuinness said the EU would not succumb to threats from the UK and that Boris Johnson’s approach “to take back control in a more boisterous way” than Theresa May was not the way to “yield results”.
Here is a question from below the line attracting some interest.
In an interview with RTE Radio’s Sean O’Rourke programme the Irish MEP confirmed talks were intensifying in Brussels, but she said they should not mischaracterised as renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement.
Does anyone know which would take precedence if back-benchers want to set about the process of their vote to stop No Deal tomorrow and the PM wants to call for a vote on a GE under the FTPA?
Under the process, Michel Barnier would need to get a new mandate from 27 EU leaders, and in the present febrile atmosphere there was no prospect of change, she told RTE. She said:
Is it up to the Speaker to decide or does the PM get preference under established procedures?
I don’t see why [the EU would compromise] because, if you look at what that would involve, it would be mean that the democratically elected leaders of Europe would yield to a very unhelpful pressure that the British prime minister is heaping upon them, almost threatening that: ‘Look, we are going either way and you are going to have to deal with us.’
As far as we know, the rebels plan to use standing order 24 tomorrow to trigger a debate on a motion that would allow them to take charge of the order paper to free up time to pass the bill intended to rule out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
McGuinness said she believed Johnson’s preferred option was no deal.
The Commons sits at 2.30pm tomorrow. But first there will be Foreign Office questions, and then we are expecting at least two statements, from Boris Johnson on the G7 and from Michael Gove on no-deal planning. The application for an SO24 debate would come after the statements, and then MPs would debate it the SO24 motion for up to three hours.
Boris Johnson has called a unexpected meeting of the cabinet today at 5pm, multiple Whitehall sources have confirmed. The prime minister is then expected to address Conservative MPs at a summer garden party in Downing Street.
According to Alex Wickham at BuzzFeed, the rebels and their opposition colleagues are divided as to whether to try to the pass the legislation on Tuesday night, or whether to do it on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The scheduling of the meeting has sent the rumour mill in Westminster into overdrive about the possibility that the government will set out plans for an snap general election this week.
An SO24 debate has precedence over other business. And the motion that would be put to a vote at the end of the debate, the one allowing the rebels to take charge of the order paper, would prioritise the bill to rule out a no-deal Brexit.
Though no plans have been confirmed, senior rebel sources believe that Johnson could move as early as Wednesday this week, with a motion tabled the following day which would require the support of two-thirds of MPs.
So the no-deal debate should happen before any debate on a general election.
A vote on the snap poll would come with a commitment that polling day would be before October 31 - though the date would ultimately be in the control of the government.
Rumours of a snap general election have sent the pound tumbling on the international currency markets, as investors brace for further political turmoil as the Brexit deadline edges closer.
A Scottish court has refused leave to appeal against a judge’s decision last week to reject an application for an emergency ban on Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament last week.
Sterling has slumped by almost a cent against the US dollar and sold-off sharply against the euro, sliding below $1.21 and €1.10 as election speculation spreads through the City.
On Friday Lord Doherty, sitting in the court of session in Edinburgh, refused a request by lawyers for 75 anti-Brexit MPs and peers for an interim suspension and interim interdict, or injunction, of the prime minister’s decision to prorogue parliament.
Analysts said the pound could drop further as the uncertainty unleashed by an election might further damage the economy or make no-deal Brexit increasingly likely, but said any surge in support for remain parties could cause sterling to rally.
In a compromise move, Doherty instead brought forward a full hearing on the main legal case against prorogation from Friday this week to tomorrow.
However, some analysts remained sceptical an election could make matters any clearer. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at the financial trading group IG, said:
Joanna Cherry, the Scottish National party MP leading the group drawn from most of Westminster’s opposition parties and coordinated by the Good Law Project, said on Friday that was a victory.
Anyone who thinks that an election will solve the UK’s political crisis has not been paying attention over the past three years.
Despite that, the group’s legal team applied earlier this morning for leave to appeal Doherty’s refusal to grant that emergency ban.
Sterling is close to the lowest levels on record, having slumped whenever the chance of Britain leaving without a deal mounts. The pound is down by about 5% on the US dollar this year and is still worth about 19% less than on the eve of the EU referendum in 2016.
Cherry’s lawyers wanted to greatly speed up the appeal process because they expect Doherty will support the UK government’s case that Johnson’s move is legal tomorrow, which will require an urgent appeal at the court of session on Thursday. They worry they could lose time to get the case heard by the supreme court before next Monday, when prorogation could take effect.
The pound today. pic.twitter.com/Kdw2MwSTtK
The Scottish judiciary tweeted that their application had been denied, and the case will go to a full hearing tomorrow as scheduled.
Application for leave to appeal refused. The substantive hearing will take place at 10am on Tuesday 3 September in court 9 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Labour sources are playing down the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn backing an early general election without the legislation blocking a no-deal Brexit on the statute book, saying they are “convinced” that there is a majority for this bill.
From Sky’s Sam Coates
Cabinet meeting this afternoon say Whitehall sources
Labour sources are not contesting the Sky report saying Jeremy Corbyn would back an early election in all circumstances (see 12.06pm) - which would include MPs failing to pass the bill ruling out a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, and which could also include a general election scheduled for after 31 October. “We are the opposition and we always want a general election,” a source said.
Here is the full text of Jeremy Corbyn’s speech.
And this is what he said about the sequencing of the anti no-deal Brexit legislation and then a general election.
So, first we must come together to stop no deal. This week could be our last chance.
We are working with other parties to do everything necessary to pull our country back from the brink.
Then we need a general election.
When a government finds itself without a majority the solution is not to undermine democracy. The solution is to let the people decide, and call a general election.
This implies that the no-deal legislation would have to be passed before Labour could support an early election.
But, when pressed on this point at his Q&A (see 12.04pm) and after (see 12.06pm), Corbyn did not rule out backing an early general election with no deal still on the table.
This is from Sky’s Kate McCann, who was listening to the Jeremy Corbyn speech in Salford.
Just grabbed Mr Corbyn at the end of the press conference and he said Labour WILL back a general election under ANY circumstances if Boris Johnson were to call one: “Of course, we are the opposition party, we want a general election” he said... sadly not on camera!
We may or may not get some clarification from Corbyn’s office later as to whether or not this is the party’s official position. In the past, officials have sometimes had to “clarify” remarks that Corbyn has made unscripted to journalists.
Corbyn has now finished his Q&A. Here is the main line.
Corbyn rejected Tony Blair’s call for Labour to avoid backing an early general election in favour of pushing for a referendum instead. In a speech this morning Blair said an early election could favour Boris Johnson, because of Corbyn’s unpopularity. (See 10.51am.) Corbyn said Labour wanted MPs to pass legislation designed to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October, and that he wanted a general election to follow. But he would not say what he would do if the legislation failed, or if Johnson tried to call a general election before the bill became law, or if Johnson proposed an election before 31 October. For an election to take place under the Fixed-Terms Parliaments Act, Labour would almost certainly have to vote in favour, or at least abstain. In the past No 10 sources have hinted that Johnson might try to trigger a general election to take place after the UK leaves the EU on 31 October – a proposal that Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, indicated yesterday Labour would find impossible to support. But Labour would find it much harder to oppose any election scheduled for before 31 October.
Q: What would you say to Labour leave supporters?
Corbyn says there were leave voters and remain voters at the weekend protests. People are alarmed at the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. He says there were many reasons for people voting leave. But no one voted leave to lose their jobs, or to secure a sweetheart deal favouring the US. So he will fight the next election on his transformative agenda, he says.
He says if the PM continues with his dictatorial approach, Labour will oppose him all the way.
If the PM has lost the support of parliament, it is time for that government to go.
Q: Will Labour back Tory rebels if they propose legislation to prevent no deal?
Corbyn says he has met the leaders of other opposition parties, apart from the Democratic Unionist party. He will work with them to stop a no-deal Brexit. He wrote to all MPs opposed to no deal asking them to back him. He says in another “28 hours or so” we will see what Labour is backing (ie, the text of the rebel bill).
Q: Would you back a general election if it meant the UK might leave the EU without a deal on 31 October?
Corbyn, who took all three questions in one go (as he usually does at press conferences), did not specifically address this question when he answered.
Corbyn is now taking questions.
Q: If there were a second referendum, would Labour back a Labour leave option?
Q: Tony Blair says you should block a general election. But it sounds like you want one. Would you back one at any time?
Corbyn says he will do everything possible to stop a no-deal Brexit.
A vote of no confidence is still on the table.
It is not an either/or, he says.
He says he wants a general election. Labour would propose a referendum, with remain one option, and another decided by parliament.
Corbyn says MPs must come together to stop a no-deal Brexit. He says Labour is working with other parties to achieve that.
After that, there must be a general election, he says.
He says a general election is the democratic way forward.
Corbyn says he wants general election after legislation blocking no-deal gets passed.
Corbyn says Labour will end austerity and invest in all regions of the country.
