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Brexit: John Bercow to step down as Speaker by 31 October – live news Brexit: Bercow grants emergency debate on publication of no-deal documents – live news
(32 minutes later)
From now until 7.15pm: MPs debate the Grieve SO24 motion saying the government should publish its Operation Yellowhammer documents and correspondence about proroguing parliament. At 7.15pm there will be a vote taking about 15 minutes.
7.30pm: MPs will debate Jeremy Corbyn’s motion for 90 minutes. It may go through at the end without a division.
Around 9pm: MPs will debate a motion under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act and Lords amendments to the parliamentary buildings (restoration and renewal) bill. In theory, up to two and a half hours has been set aside for these matters, but they are likely to wrap up much sooner – perhaps in about an hour.
Around 10pm: MPs begin the 90-minute debate on Boris Johnson’s motion calling for an early election. When it finishes there will be a vote, which will take about 15 minutes. After that parliament will prorogue.
John Bercow says he will allow the Corbyn application for an emergency debate too.
He says the debate will start after the Grieve SO24 one. It will last for up to 90 minutes, he says.
Jeremy Corbyn says he wants an urgent debate on a matter of overriding importance on this motion:
That this house welcomes the completion of all parliamentary stages of the European Union (withdrawal) (No 6) bill and has considered the matter of the importance of the rule of law and ministers obligation to comply with the law.
He says MPs will be concerned by suggestions from No 10 that the prime minister may not obey this law.
Bercow says that debate will start now, and that it will last for two hours.
But first he is hearing Jeremy Corbyn’s application for another SO24 debate.
Dominic Grieve is now making his application for a standing order 24 debate. Here is the motion he is proposing.
Grieve says MPs will now have the chance to ask about Operation Yellowhammer because of the prorogation, and also have a chance to ask about the government’s motives for proroguing parliament for five weeks.
He says his motion would enable MPs to get these documents before Brexit. He says, if the motion is agreed, he will explain in the debate why these documents are required.
John Bercow allows the motion.
Some MPs shout now, but at least 40 MPs (the number required) stand up, meaning it will go ahead.
Parliament should be debating the “devastating” consequences of a no-deal Brexit that could put lives at risk, instead of being suspended, the former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has said. Speaking ahead of a “No to no deal” rally in Glasgow this evening. Brown said:
Boris Johnson and his ministers say that Britain is taking back control. But in reality, Britain is losing control – of our food supplies, of our medical supplies and of our manufacturing supplies …
Can the prime minister guarantee that medical supplies – the 1m medical packs that come every day into the country through ports such as Dover – arrive uninterrupted and without putting lives at risk?
Can he pledge that our food supplies – 30% of which come from mainland Europe and another 10% through countries where Europe has trade agreements – will arrive uninterrupted without putting nutritional standards at risk and pushing food prices up 10%?
Brown said without these assurance, Brexit would be “the biggest own goal in our peacetime economic history … no matter how much it is dressed up as a patriotic act”.
These are from the Institute for Government’s Hannah White.These are from the Institute for Government’s Hannah White.
Although this will be seen as a ‘political’ act, I think having the House elect its Speaker as the last act before an election rather than the first act of a new parliament is actually quite a sensible innovation https://t.co/KQbHJp50M6Although this will be seen as a ‘political’ act, I think having the House elect its Speaker as the last act before an election rather than the first act of a new parliament is actually quite a sensible innovation https://t.co/KQbHJp50M6
No one knows how the election will work out so reduces the chance of the role being (further) politicised, means electors are all MPs with views on what makes a good Speaker, and means choice is made when power of whips is low...No one knows how the election will work out so reduces the chance of the role being (further) politicised, means electors are all MPs with views on what makes a good Speaker, and means choice is made when power of whips is low...
... and chosen candidate can then stand as Speaker seeking re-election. Objection of course will be that Speaker should be chosen by the MPs in elected and sitting in the House in each new Parliament. And that is the tradition.... and chosen candidate can then stand as Speaker seeking re-election. Objection of course will be that Speaker should be chosen by the MPs in elected and sitting in the House in each new Parliament. And that is the tradition.
More on the backstop. This is from the Financial Times’s George Parker.More on the backstop. This is from the Financial Times’s George Parker.
Little noticed from @BorisJohnson press conference: "The landing zone is clear. We need to find a way to ensure the UK is not kept locked in the backstop arrangement and there's a way out for the UK." Not exactly "scrap the backstop". No 10 insists he still wants to axe the BSLittle noticed from @BorisJohnson press conference: "The landing zone is clear. We need to find a way to ensure the UK is not kept locked in the backstop arrangement and there's a way out for the UK." Not exactly "scrap the backstop". No 10 insists he still wants to axe the BS
Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, is pleased about John Bercow’s departure.Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, is pleased about John Bercow’s departure.
Good riddance. https://t.co/2u2H80wKxrGood riddance. https://t.co/2u2H80wKxr
This is what my colleague Rajeev Syal wrote earlier this year about the candidates to be next Speaker.This is what my colleague Rajeev Syal wrote earlier this year about the candidates to be next Speaker.
MPs prepare for race to replace John Bercow as Commons SpeakerMPs prepare for race to replace John Bercow as Commons Speaker
Here is video of John Bercow’s resignation statement.Here is video of John Bercow’s resignation statement.
The Labour MP Jim Cunningham has also announced he is standing down at the next election, the BBC’s Simon Gilbert reports.The Labour MP Jim Cunningham has also announced he is standing down at the next election, the BBC’s Simon Gilbert reports.
BREAKING: Long-serving Coventry MP @jimforcovsouth will not stand at the next General Election.See his statement below.He had previously signalled his intention to stay on, but has seemingly had a change of heart...Colleague @Geoffrey4CovNW has already announced his retirement pic.twitter.com/OafYP0PBaqBREAKING: Long-serving Coventry MP @jimforcovsouth will not stand at the next General Election.See his statement below.He had previously signalled his intention to stay on, but has seemingly had a change of heart...Colleague @Geoffrey4CovNW has already announced his retirement pic.twitter.com/OafYP0PBaq
In the Commons the Bercow leaving do tributes are still rolling on. For a different take, this from the Times’ Esther Webber.In the Commons the Bercow leaving do tributes are still rolling on. For a different take, this from the Times’ Esther Webber.
A Commons clerk texts re Bercow: "He has reigned over a culture of bullying & harassment in the HoC that not a single MP has been punished for" (Bercow denies this)A Commons clerk texts re Bercow: "He has reigned over a culture of bullying & harassment in the HoC that not a single MP has been punished for" (Bercow denies this)
This is from PA Media.
A new law designed to stop the government forcing through a no-deal has reached the statute book. The granting of royal assent for the legislation was announced by the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, ahead of the suspension or prorogation of parliament.
The new act requires a delay to Brexit beyond 31 October unless a divorce deal is approved or parliament agrees to leaving the EU without one by 19 October.
Boris Johnson has previously branded it the “surrender bill”, claiming it took away control of the UK’s negotiations with the EU by allowing parliament to block no deal.
Downing Street has said the government will obey the law, but repeated that the PM would not be seeking a further extension to the article 50 withdrawal process.
In the Commons chamber the tributes to John Bercow are still coming. But not everyone is joining in. This is from the BBC’s Vicki Young.
Most Conservative MPs have left the chamber unable to stomach ongoing tributes to Speaker Bercow
One theory doing the rounds in Dublin is that Boris Johnson may pull a Northern Ireland-only backstop out of the bag at the last minute as a means of forcing a Brexit deal through parliament in between 17 October and 31 October.
The idea was mooted early on in Brexit talks but famously dropped after opposition from the DUP, which accused Theresa May of trying to break up the union of the United Kingdom by creating regulatory checks down the Irish Sea.
But Johnson’s proposal for an all-island agriculture zone is one of the key elements of the backstop and now that the DUP no longer has the leverage it had because of the changed arithmetic, some believe this is where the landing zone is.
As Daniel Boffey reported on Friday, it is understood the UK has suggested there is a need for Stormont to be able to vote on the continuation of the proposed common regulatory area, which has been described by EU officials as a “backstop-lite”.
Boris Johnson’s Irish border plan stalls after 'disastrous' EU talks
The suggestion that Stormont could have a role in dynamic regulatory alignment has been rejected by the EU, but it is being seen as a sign of the thinking in Conservative quarters.
It may also explain why efforts are being redoubled to get Stormont back up and running by the deadline for direct rule in October.
One British source said the all-island agri-zone “is a very serious proposal” and should not be dismissed, with another reporting one senior cabinet minister dropping strong hints that a Northern Ireland-only backstop is not off the table, despite statements to the contrary by Boris Johnson.
So is it possible that Johnson comes back from Brussels on 17 October with no deal, and, faced with the law that will require him to seek an extension, reverts to the original Northern Ireland-only backstop in a very last die-in-a-ditch moment?
A few months ago we posted this video with some highlights from John Bercow’s time as Speaker.
These are from the House magazine’s Seb Whale.
So, who will be the next Speaker? @theHouse_mag has interviewed a few of the runners and riders. First up, Dame Eleanor Laing, who became the first to announce she would run https://t.co/sj5p6oIcCK
Next, Chris Bryant. He vowed not to "belittle" MPs if he succeeds John Bercow. https://t.co/hCvrdaKKXA
An unlikely bid from Sir Edward Leigh, the Tory backbencher, running on a more traditional platform. https://t.co/YlbwpzGkFa
The SNP's Pete Wishart released a manifesto setting out his objectives for the Speakership. He wants to tackle the "cultural misogyny that reverberates out of the very fabric of parliament” https://t.co/UtkYp01re9
We also have a likely bid from Harriet Harman. She told me she would "consider" whether to stand after Bercow stands down. https://t.co/GmzMWg5U3g
The frontrunner, however, is Lindsay Hoyle. He wanted to wait until Bercow stood aside to announce his candidacy.“When the Speaker decides to go, I may well enter that race. But I’ll certainly wait for the starting gun first.” https://t.co/9kqhfulzJh
From the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar
Odds for John Bercow’s replacement as Commons Speaker. pic.twitter.com/fpoOnrdQSJ
From my colleague Patrick Wintour
Everyone will have a view on Bercow's personality and neutrality, but this graph shows he made the executive answerable to MPs, often when Ministers refused to be so. By this alone, he revived a moribund parliamentary democracy in the UK. pic.twitter.com/aR8ZaQXAgA
The tributes to John Bercow are still coming in. They have included tributes from Dame Cheryl Gillan, who praised Bercow for the support he has given to those who have campaigned on behalf of those with autism, from Angela Eagle, who praised his campaigning on behalf of LGBT issues, and from Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiter, who said that even though he disagreed with some of Bercow’s rulings, he thought Bercow had been an “outstanding” Speaker.
Bercow told Bone it was big of him to say that in the light of their Brexit disagreements.
Here is the full text of John Bercow’s resignation statement.
Colleagues, I would like to make a personal statement to the house. At the 2017 election I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. This is a pledge that I intend to keep. If the house votes tonight for an early general election, my tenure as Speaker and MP will end when this parliament ends.
If the house does not so vote, I have concluded that the least disruptive and most democratic course of action would be for me stand down at the close of business on Thursday, 31 October. Least disruptive because that date will fall shortly after the votes on the Queen’s speech expected on 21 and 22 October.
The week also after that may be quite lively and it would be best to have an experienced figure in the chair for that short period.
Most democratic because it will mean that a ballot is held when all members have some knowledge of the candidates. This is far preferable to a contest at the beginning of a parliament when new MPs will not be similarly informed and may find themselves vulnerable to undue institutional influence.
We would not want anyone to be whipped senseless, would we? Throughout my time as Speaker I have sought to increase the relative authority of this legislature for which I will make absolutely no apology to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
To deploy a perhaps dangerous phrase, I have also sought to be the backbencher’s backstop.
I could not do so without the support of a small but superb team in Speaker’s House, the wider house staff, my Buckingham constituents, and above all my wife, Sally, and our three children, Oliver, Freddy and Jemima. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them all profusely.
I could also not have served without the repeated support of this house and its members past and present. This is a wonderful place filled overwhelmingly by people who are motivated by their notion of the national interest by their perception of the public good. And by their duty, not as delegates, but as representatives, to do what they believe is right for our country.
We degrade this parliament at our peril. I have served as a member of parliament for 22 years, and for the last 10 as Speaker. This has been, let me put it explicitly, the greatest privilege and honour of my professional life for which I will be eternally grateful.
I wish my successor in the chair the very best fortune in standing up for the rights of honourable and right honourable members individually and for parliament institutionally as the Speaker of the House of Commons.
It is important to remember, of course, that only yesterday the Conservatives announced that they were going to field a candidate against John Bercow at the next election, even though the Speaker is normally given a clear run, because they had concluded he was biased against them on Brexit. The story is here.
Tories plan to contest John Bercow's seat in breach of convention
A few minutes ago Michael Gove praised Bercow lavishly. (See 3.51pm.) Maybe he was being sincere if speaking in a personal capacity (Gove is an accomplished parliamentarian debater, and did not seem to mind Bercow giving backbenchers the chance to hold the executive to account), but for a Conservative party and government representative to be praising Bercow a day after launching a plan to unseat him, and on the day the government is closing parliament to stop ministers being held to account, was astonishingly hypocritical.