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Brexit: Dover could lose £1bn worth of trade a week under no deal, Tory fringe told - live news Brexit: Dover could lose £1bn worth of trade a week under no deal, Tory fringe told - live news
(about 1 hour later)
In an interview with Sky News, Boris Johnson has refused three times to deny having an affair with Jennifer Arcuri, the businesswoman whose company received sponsorship from a mayoral fund when Johnson was in City Hall.
Opposition parties might have won their battle to keep the Commons in session while the Conservative conference is taking place, but they can’t as yet agree on everything – particularly on the idea of a possible government of national unity.
All the parties believe that if Boris Johnson tried to force a no-deal Brexit then their tactic of last resort would be a no-confidence vote, replacing him with an interim PM. However, while the Liberal Democrats insist it cannot be Corbyn, Labour say he is the only choice.
Speaking to reporters at parliament, Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said he hoped Jo Swinson could change her mind:
I was brought up a Catholic and I am a great believer in the powers of conversion.
But the Lib Dem leader argues that the Corbyn option is simply impossible, as he would not win the support of rebel former Conservative MPs and others whose votes would be needed.
A spokesman for Swinson said:
Jo is a great believer in the power of mathematics. Jeremy Corbyn does not have the numbers and needs to make clear who he would support if we need an emergency government.
There is wider disagreement – while the Lib Dems are seeking a cross-party temporary government led by a backbench grandee such as Ken Clarke or Harriet Harman, Corbyn’s office have called for a “strictly time-limited caretaker administration” – a Labour only government in office for a matter of days, purely to extend the Brexit deadline and call an election.
The assumption is that if the alternative was no deal, one side would blink, but it remains to be seen who, and when.
That was the third most important speech at this conference. Technically Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, outranks Priti Patel, the home secretary, in cabinet, but Raab was given a low-profile slot on Sunday and his speech was under-powered. Patel’s speech was probably the most rightwing by a Tory home secretary at least since Michael Howard’s “prison works” one in 1993.
In policy terms, it was relatively light. There were three main announcements, but they all have so little money attached they are virtually cost free: a fund to allow up to 60% of officers to be equipped with tasers (£10m); more activity to tackle country line drugs gangs (£20m); and a safer streets fund (£10m).
But what it lacked in policy heft, it made up for in rhetorical overkill. It may not seem necessary to say that the Tories are against “gang leaders, drug barons, thugs and terrorists”, but Boris Johnson reportedly decided to make Patel home secretary because her no-nonsense authoritarianism makes her very popular with party members. It remains to be seen if the public at large will react in the same way. More interesting were her constant references to the need to obey the will of the people. (See 4.01pm.) She sounded like someone who would be happy to see parliamentary democracy replaced with a more direct form of democracy, bypassing the need for parliamentarians exercising their judgement. If the Brexit party ever takes power, their ministers will give speeches like this.
Patel got her loudest applause when she invoked Margaret Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass, if you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.
This suited Patel’s “will of the people” agenda, but in historical terms it was totally wrong. Thatcher would probably have loved this speech. But she was a conviction politician who knew that, if you just use British people as your compass, you will be all over the place because people keep changing their minds. Patel’s vision - almost government-by-plebiscite - was certainly not hers.
And here is the peroration.And here is the peroration.
This party, our Conservative party, is backing those who put their lives on the line for our national security.This party, our Conservative party, is backing those who put their lives on the line for our national security.
So as we renew our place as the party of law and order in Britain, let the message go out from this hall today:So as we renew our place as the party of law and order in Britain, let the message go out from this hall today:
To the British people - we hear you.To the British people - we hear you.
To the police service - we back you.To the police service - we back you.
And to the criminals, I simply say this:And to the criminals, I simply say this:
We are coming after you.We are coming after you.
Patel praises Margaret Thacher.Patel praises Margaret Thacher.
Only the Conservative party is driven by the people’s priorities and that means backing our police, our communities and our great country.Only the Conservative party is driven by the people’s priorities and that means backing our police, our communities and our great country.
That pragmatic approach, grounded in the good sense of the British people, keeps us focused on what truly matters today.That pragmatic approach, grounded in the good sense of the British people, keeps us focused on what truly matters today.
That’s the lesson I took from the person who inspired me to join our Party.That’s the lesson I took from the person who inspired me to join our Party.
A Conservative prime minister first elected forty years ago, this year.A Conservative prime minister first elected forty years ago, this year.
Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass. If you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.Margaret Thatcher knew that if you made the British people your compass. If you took time to understand their lives and their priorities, then your direction would always be true.
“My policies”, she said, “are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; pay your bills on time; and support the police”“My policies”, she said, “are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; pay your bills on time; and support the police”
That advice is as sound today as it was forty years ago.That advice is as sound today as it was forty years ago.
Patel criticises Labour.Patel criticises Labour.
This daughter of immigrants, needs no lectures from the North London metropolitan liberal elite.This daughter of immigrants, needs no lectures from the North London metropolitan liberal elite.
That’s what you get with a government that is driven by the people’s priorities.That’s what you get with a government that is driven by the people’s priorities.
Of course, there will be only two dissenting voices.Of course, there will be only two dissenting voices.
Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn.Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn.
Because the choice isn’t just who the people want to be our next prime minister.Because the choice isn’t just who the people want to be our next prime minister.
It’s also about who the people want to be their next Home Secretary.It’s also about who the people want to be their next Home Secretary.
Do we really want a Labour home secretary who would leave our communities and our country less safe?Do we really want a Labour home secretary who would leave our communities and our country less safe?
Patel says the Brexit referendum result must be offered.Patel says the Brexit referendum result must be offered.
She praises Boris Johnson’s role in the campaign.She praises Boris Johnson’s role in the campaign.
And she turns to immigration.And she turns to immigration.
As home secretary at this defining moment in our country’s history, I have a particular responsibility when it comes to taking back control.As home secretary at this defining moment in our country’s history, I have a particular responsibility when it comes to taking back control.
It is to end the free movement of people once and for all.It is to end the free movement of people once and for all.
Instead we will introduce an Australian style points-based immigration system.Instead we will introduce an Australian style points-based immigration system.
One that works in the best interests of Britain.One that works in the best interests of Britain.
One that attracts and welcomes the brightest and the best.One that attracts and welcomes the brightest and the best.
One that supports brilliant scientists, the finest academics and leading people in their fields.One that supports brilliant scientists, the finest academics and leading people in their fields.
And one that is under the control of the British government.And one that is under the control of the British government.
Patel says the third reason for backing the police is because that is what people want.Patel says the third reason for backing the police is because that is what people want.
This is a government driven by the people’s priorities.This is a government driven by the people’s priorities.
Hardworking, honest, law-abiding people whose needs are humble, whose expectations are modest and whose demands of their government are simple.Hardworking, honest, law-abiding people whose needs are humble, whose expectations are modest and whose demands of their government are simple.
They want us to listen.They want us to listen.
They ask us to respond.They ask us to respond.
And they expect us to do what we say.And they expect us to do what we say.
From crime, to immigration, to leaving the European Union, we are ready to listen and to do what they want.From crime, to immigration, to leaving the European Union, we are ready to listen and to do what they want.
It’s called democracy.It’s called democracy.
That shouldn’t really be a controversial statement.That shouldn’t really be a controversial statement.
They are the masters and we are their servants.They are the masters and we are their servants.
Patel says she is announcing a £20m fund to roll up county lines drug gans and a £25m safer streets fund.Patel says she is announcing a £20m fund to roll up county lines drug gans and a £25m safer streets fund.
She says she will set up a fund to allow police chiefs to equip their officers with tasers.She says she will set up a fund to allow police chiefs to equip their officers with tasers.
She also says she is establishing a police covenant.She also says she is establishing a police covenant.
I have been humbled by the officers I have met and the experiences they have shared with me.I have been humbled by the officers I have met and the experiences they have shared with me.
This is why I have personally accelerated work to establish the Police Covenant.This is why I have personally accelerated work to establish the Police Covenant.
This is a pledge to do more as a nation to help those who serve our country.This is a pledge to do more as a nation to help those who serve our country.
To recognise the bravery, the commitment and the sacrifices of serving and former officers.To recognise the bravery, the commitment and the sacrifices of serving and former officers.
And we will enshrine this into law..And we will enshrine this into law..
Second, says Patel, the police need support “to remove the grip gangs and organised criminals have on our communities”. She goes on:Second, says Patel, the police need support “to remove the grip gangs and organised criminals have on our communities”. She goes on:
They just don’t care who they hurt or abuse.They just don’t care who they hurt or abuse.
The kingpins of these criminal gangs are exploiting children.The kingpins of these criminal gangs are exploiting children.
Forcing them to carry crack cocaine and heroin across rural and coastal communities.Forcing them to carry crack cocaine and heroin across rural and coastal communities.
Threatening them into carrying guns and knives as “protection”.Threatening them into carrying guns and knives as “protection”.
Manipulating them into killing innocent people.Manipulating them into killing innocent people.
Faced with this new and growing danger, our police will know that I will back them to get this under control.Faced with this new and growing danger, our police will know that I will back them to get this under control.
Patel says more officers are being recruited, and she has given the police more powers over stop and search.Patel says more officers are being recruited, and she has given the police more powers over stop and search.
There are three reasons:There are three reasons:
Firstly, because backing the forces of law and order is central to our DNA as Conservatives.Firstly, because backing the forces of law and order is central to our DNA as Conservatives.
Giving people the security they need to live their lives as they choose is an essential part of our freedom.Giving people the security they need to live their lives as they choose is an essential part of our freedom.
We recognise that freedom and security are not opposites, but equals.We recognise that freedom and security are not opposites, but equals.
And that ensuring people can live their lives free from fear is the essential foundation for a life of liberty.And that ensuring people can live their lives free from fear is the essential foundation for a life of liberty.
Here is the opening quote.
Today, here in Manchester, the Conservative party takes its rightful place as the party of law and order in Britain once again.
We stand with the brave men and women of our police and security services.
And we stand against the criminals.
The gang leaders, drug barons, thugs and terrorists who seek to do us harm.
We say that proudly and without apology.
As the party that has always backed the forces of law and order, and we always will.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, is speaking now.
She starts by saying the Conservatives have restored their reputation as the party of law and order.
The Conservatives have said that Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has been asked to leave the conference after the incident earlier. (See 2.58pm.) The party said he had tried to take someone into the international lounge who did not have the relevant pass. That person was stopped by a member of staff. Clifton-Brown then “remonstrated” with the staff member, leading to security being called.
A party spokesman said:
The incident was totally unacceptable. Geoffrey has been asked to leave conference and we are establishing all of the facts to see if further action is necessary. We will always adopt a zero tolerance approach to any inappropriate behaviour towards our hardworking staff.
In 2105 Michael Gove was justice secretary and, in his speech to the Tory conference, he questioned the need to keep some prisoners locked in jail and stressed the importance of rehabilitation. The Daily Express hated the speech (always a good sign, if you’re a progressive), but my colleague Martin Kettle wrote a column saying liberals should be cheering Gove on.
Four years on, and the wheel has turned full circle. Robert Buckland is now justice secretary and, although he has never been seen as an arch-authoritarian, Boris Johnson has an election to win and the Tories are back in favour of locking more people up. As my colleague Jamie Grierson reports in his preview, Buckland announced plans to stop violent and sex offenders in England and Wales being automatically released halfway through their jail sentence
Here is Jamie’s story.
Conservatives to scrap automatic early release of some prisoners
And here is an extract from Buckland’s speech.
Some form of earlier release has its place in the criminal justice system.
It can be used to incentivise good behaviour.
But this is not the system we have, Conference.
There used to be a tougher system.
But in 2005, Labour replaced it with automatic release at the half-way point.
It didn’t matter to Labour if prisoners pose a risk to the public.
It didn’t matter to Labour if prisoners misbehaved in prison.
It didn’t matter to Labour if criminals didn’t show remorse.
This is madness.
From my colleague Peter Walker
There were expectations of a Lib Dem-led SO24 motion tomorrow to create time to force publication of various government Brexit reports. However, this isn't apparently going to happen - it seems the Speaker, John Bercow, won't allow any SO24ing while Tory conference is still on.
During leaders’ questions in the Dáil, Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, was asked about RTÉ’s leak of the UK’s government’s plan (or non-plan - see 1.23pm) for customs clearance sites away from the border on the island of Ireland. He said he had not seen the “non-paper” from the UK, but he was glad Boris Johnson had rejected it.
I’m conscious when answering your question that I am talking about non-papers that I haven’t seen. I was aware of their existence, and it was public knowledge in the last week or two, that the UK provided non-papers to the EU taskforce on the basis of confidentiality and not to be shared with member states.
I very much welcome Boris Johnson’s words today when he disowned the non-papers. Had he not, in my view, it would be hard evidence of bad faith by the UK government.
Varadkar said he expected the UK government to honour promises to avoid border checks.
The UK government promised no hard border or associated controls or checks and we expect the British government to honour that promise made in the withdrawal agreement. People here don’t want a customs border between north and south and no British government should seek to impose customs posts against the will of the people on the island of Ireland.
I’m interested in what Northern Ireland businesses have to say, in what retailers say. The UK has not been listening to businesses: the Freight Trade Association say it contradicts all their advice to the government; Manufacturing NI rejected them out of hand.
I would ask anyone to listen to the voices of Northern Ireland, from businesses to farmers, to people, who are saying no to customs posts, and we are saying no too.
He also suggested Johnson did not appreciate the case for the backstop. Referring to his conversation with Johnson at a recent UN meeting in New York, Varakdar said Johnson has spoken about the need for no checks at the border, but had not explained where they would take place.
It is his [Johnson’s] view that the UK should leave the EU whole and entire, to use his language, to leave the customs union.
As I explained to him in New York, there is a reason we came up with the deal that we did after two years with Mrs May and what the backstop provides for is a single customs territory.
That satisfied our demand and desire that there not be customs checks north and south, or east and west, and that’s why we came up with the backstop, why it is the best solution.
We spent two years going up and down rabbit holes, because we needed a solution that avoided customs posts.
This is what the Press Association has filed about the incident at the conference earlier that led to security being called and part of the venue being cordoned off.
A senior Tory MP is understood to have clashed with security at the Conservative party conference, prompting a lockdown of part of the venue.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown was involved in what a doorman described as a “small misunderstanding” at the International Lounge in the conference centre.
Police said an attendee tried to enter the lounge without the relevant pass, leading security staff to intervene.
PA understands Clifton-Brown was trying to enter the room with a guest.
The “misunderstanding” led to a lockdown of some areas, including the press room, at the Manchester Central Convention Centre for around 20 minutes.
The Cotswolds MP told the PA news agency: “I’ve got nothing further to say about it. I don’t want to comment on it, really.”
A staff member guarding the door of the International Lounge said the incident was sparked by a disagreement.
“It was a small misunderstanding,” the man said.
Greater Manchester police said in statement: “At around 1.45pm on Tuesday 1 October 2019, an attendee to the Conservative party conference attempted to enter the International Lounge area of the conference without the relevant pass.
“Security staff intervened and resolved the situation without any breach of security occurring.”
Customs infrastructure even 5 miles from the Irish border risked breaking Brexit laws passed by the House of Commons this year, parliament has been told.
In oral questions in the House of Commons, the Labour MPs Pat McFadden and Angela Eagle raised section 10 (2) (b) of the Withdrawal Act 2019.
It states categorically that there can be no “border arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after exit day which feature physical infrastructure, including border posts, or checks and controls, that did not exist before exit day and are not in accordance with an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU”.
McFadden told James Durridge, who was taking questions for the government, that it had “obligations to abide by the law”. He asked:
Would he regard such physical infrastructure a few miles back from the border as incompatible with the legislation that this house has passed?
Durridge replied: “I will write to the honourable gentleman original - and confirm what I think is the bleeding obvious.”
The point made by Labour backbenchers is one that has also raises concerns with Peter Hain, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, who said it it would be “the achilles heel” of government plans to dodge commitments in Theresa May’s deal.
The incident that led to a part of the conference centre being closed and police being called involved the Conservative MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, my colleague Rowena Mason reports. Clifton-Brown is treasurer of the Conservative 1922 Committee.
We are still waiting for a full statement from the party.
Tory MP Geoffrey Clifton Brown clashed with a delegate leading to shut down of press area
The government cannot rely on European Union law to override the act of parliament forcing Boris Johnson to seek an extension to Brexit talks, a former EU senior legal adviser has said.
Jean-Claude Piris, a former head of the EU council legal service, said suggestions the government could rely on EU law to trump the Benn Act had no legal basis. In emailed comments to the Guardian he said:
EU law is far from always having direct effect. In the case of article 50, the decision of a member state to leave the EU must be taken in conformity with the constitutional requirements of that state. Thus no direct effect. The authorities to judge if British constitutional requirements are being respected are the British competent ones.
He was responding to suggestions from the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, that EU law could be used to override the Benn Act, which mandates the prime minister to seek an extension if no Brexit deal has been agreed by 19 October.
Raab, who served a four-month stint as Brexit secretary before resigning over Theresa May’s deal, hinted the government was looking at article 50 to override the Benn Act, in a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday.