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| Stephen Barclay gives evidence to Commons Brexit committee – live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| From my colleague Daniel Boffey | |
| The deal is there but the DUP may yet pull the rug from under it. This is so 4th December 2017: the day that Arlene trashed Theresa May's first go at this. https://t.co/6qLx71FoeP | |
| The Tory Brexiter Andrea Jenkyns is asking questions now. She says she was critical of Theresa May’s handling of Brexit (she is one of the 28 “Spartans”, who voted against May’s deal three times) but she says she supports what Boris Johnson is doing. | |
| Q: Do you think the Benn Act has weakened the government’s negotiating stance? | |
| Barclay says it has been “unhelpful”. | |
| Benn is now asking questions about the plan for an alternative to the backstop published by Boris Johnson earlier this month. The government’s explanation of those plans is here (pdf). | |
| Q: The plan says, if Northern Ireland withdraws consent, the customs rules default to existing rules. What are they? | |
| Barclay says they would be the rules that would be in place if there were no deal. | |
| Benn says that means there would be a hard border in Ireland. | |
| Q: How can the government propose something that would lead to a hard border, if Northern Ireland withdrew consent, when the UK government is opposed to a hard border? | |
| Barclay says the UK government is opposed to a hard border. It would not put up infrastructure at the border. | |
| Two Tory Brexiters on the committee, Craig Mackinlay and Andrea Jenkyns, complain about Benn’s questioning, saying he is taking up too much time and could be seen as biased, because he put through the Benn Act. | |
| Benn asks Barclay how long it would take the government to pass the withdrawal agreement legislation if there is a deal. | |
| Barclay tells him that his own bill (the Benn Act - the law requiring the PM to request an extension if there is no deal) showed that it is possible for the Commons to pass legislation very quickly. | |
| Q: If there is no agreement reached, will the PM write the letter he has to send by the end of Saturday requesting a Brexit extension? | |
| Barclay says the PM will comply with the Benn Act, and with the undertakings given to the court in Scotland. | |
| Q: Why did the PM spend so long saying he wouldn’t? | |
| Barclay says the government is committed to leaving by 31 October. | |
| Q: How will the UK leave the EU on 31 October if the PM sends the extension letter. The two things are incompatible. | |
| Barclay says there are a number of variables. | |
| The best way to leave on 31 October is to get a deal, he says. The government is “absolutely committed” to this. He says he had 11 bilateral meetings with counterparts in Luxembourg yesterday. | |
| Q: If the PM sends the letter, and the EU grants an extension until 31 January, we cannot leave on 31 October, can we? | |
| Barclay says Benn is getting “several steps ahead”. | |
| Barclay refuses to tell MPs how the government could meet its commitment to leave the EU by 31 October if it has to comply with the Benn Act. | |
| Q: Are you negotiating a revised political declaration with the EU? | |
| Yes, says Barclay. He says the UK and the EU are discussing revised text. | |
| Q: Would that be published at the same time as the revised text of the withdrawal agreement? | |
| Barclay says the government would want to give as much information to MPs as possible. | |
| Q: But MPs would be voting on both? | |
| Barclay says that is not necessarily the case. The third “meaningful vote” was only on the withdrawal agreement (WA). The first two were on the WA and the political declaration. | |
| Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Commons Brexit committee. | |
| Hilary Benn, the committee chairs, asks if the Commons will meet on Saturday if there is no deal. Barclay says that will be something for Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, to announce. | |
| ComRes has released some Brexit polling this morning, which was commissioned for a Channel 5 programme going out tonight, Live Brexit Referendum. It was an unusually large poll, featuring 26,000 respondents. Most polls involve 1,000 or 2,000 people taking part. | |
| Here are the key findings. | |
| More than half of voters want the UK to abide by the referendum result and leave the EU, when don’t knows are excluded, the poll suggests. Some 50% want the UK to leave the EU against 42% who want it to remain in. But, when don’t knows are excluded, those figures amount to 54% for leave and 46% for remain. | |
| The Irish agriculture minister, Michael Creed, said this morning there was some room for optimism in relation to Brexit. He said: | The Irish agriculture minister, Michael Creed, said this morning there was some room for optimism in relation to Brexit. He said: |
| This time last week we were probably engulfed in darkness and depression in the context of Brexit. | This time last week we were probably engulfed in darkness and depression in the context of Brexit. |
| There is some room for optimism now but we’re not there yet. However I would countenance if we do get a deal in Brussels on Brexit we have been here before with the withdrawal agreement which didn’t get through the House of Commons so there are some hurdles to be cleared yet and I’m not underestimating those in any way. | There is some room for optimism now but we’re not there yet. However I would countenance if we do get a deal in Brussels on Brexit we have been here before with the withdrawal agreement which didn’t get through the House of Commons so there are some hurdles to be cleared yet and I’m not underestimating those in any way. |
| They are significant and reflective of the magnitude of the challenge but we remain hopeful. | They are significant and reflective of the magnitude of the challenge but we remain hopeful. |
| From Bloomberg’s Nikos Chrysoloras | From Bloomberg’s Nikos Chrysoloras |
| Boris Johnson’s government is pessimistic about the chances of securing a #Brexit deal after his Northern Irish allies raised objections to the plans that have been drawn up in talks in Brussels, according to a British official, @TimRoss_1 reports. https://t.co/TWY3PGvbVt | Boris Johnson’s government is pessimistic about the chances of securing a #Brexit deal after his Northern Irish allies raised objections to the plans that have been drawn up in talks in Brussels, according to a British official, @TimRoss_1 reports. https://t.co/TWY3PGvbVt |
| The DUP is denying multiple reports this morning that it had been offered “billions” in Downing St talks in the past two days. A DUP spokesman said: “This is categorically untrue and utter nonsense.“The DUP secured £1bn in investment for Northern Ireland as part of the confidence and supply deal with Theresa May after the 2017 election returned a hung parliament. Reports in Ireland suggest what might be on the table is a package involving the EU, Ireland and the UK.The EU has already promised it will continue, whatever the outcome of Brexit talks, the Peace IV programme which has invested millions in cross-community initiatives. Northern Ireland also benefits from the Interreg regional programme for bordering countries, which also includes Scotland. | The DUP is denying multiple reports this morning that it had been offered “billions” in Downing St talks in the past two days. A DUP spokesman said: “This is categorically untrue and utter nonsense.“The DUP secured £1bn in investment for Northern Ireland as part of the confidence and supply deal with Theresa May after the 2017 election returned a hung parliament. Reports in Ireland suggest what might be on the table is a package involving the EU, Ireland and the UK.The EU has already promised it will continue, whatever the outcome of Brexit talks, the Peace IV programme which has invested millions in cross-community initiatives. Northern Ireland also benefits from the Interreg regional programme for bordering countries, which also includes Scotland. |
| Those reports prompted this tweet last night from Nick Macpherson, a former permanent secretary to the Treasury. | Those reports prompted this tweet last night from Nick Macpherson, a former permanent secretary to the Treasury. |
| Another difficult night in prospect for HM Treasury. Every PM I worked under sought to answer the Irish question. And, whether or not they succeeded, the prospective deal required up front many millions, sometimes billions, of cash. #dotheyeverlearn | Another difficult night in prospect for HM Treasury. Every PM I worked under sought to answer the Irish question. And, whether or not they succeeded, the prospective deal required up front many millions, sometimes billions, of cash. #dotheyeverlearn |
| Mark Francois, the deputy chair of the European Research Group, which represents Tories pushing for a harder Brexit, has just told Sky’s All Out Politics that he and his ERG colleagues have “a number of concerns” about what is being proposed by Boris Johnson. But he refused to give details. | Mark Francois, the deputy chair of the European Research Group, which represents Tories pushing for a harder Brexit, has just told Sky’s All Out Politics that he and his ERG colleagues have “a number of concerns” about what is being proposed by Boris Johnson. But he refused to give details. |
| He also said that he would give “very strong weight” to the views of the DUP when deciding whether or not to back any deal negotiated by Johnson (backing up what David Davis told the Today programme – see 9.03am.) | He also said that he would give “very strong weight” to the views of the DUP when deciding whether or not to back any deal negotiated by Johnson (backing up what David Davis told the Today programme – see 9.03am.) |
| He also said that, if no deal is agreed in Brussels this week, he would not expect the emergency sitting of the House of Commons planned for Saturday to go ahead. | He also said that, if no deal is agreed in Brussels this week, he would not expect the emergency sitting of the House of Commons planned for Saturday to go ahead. |
| Asked if he would be willing to accept another extension, keeping the UK in the EU beyond 31 October (which many EU figures believe would be essential, even if a deal is agreed this week, to allow time for the details to be finalised), Francois did not firmly rule it out. But he said that most people in the country, particularly outside London, just wanted to see this matter sorted out. | Asked if he would be willing to accept another extension, keeping the UK in the EU beyond 31 October (which many EU figures believe would be essential, even if a deal is agreed this week, to allow time for the details to be finalised), Francois did not firmly rule it out. But he said that most people in the country, particularly outside London, just wanted to see this matter sorted out. |
| Francois is one of the so-called “Spartans” – the 28 ERG Tories who voted against Theresa May’s deal on all three occasions. | Francois is one of the so-called “Spartans” – the 28 ERG Tories who voted against Theresa May’s deal on all three occasions. |
| From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg | From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg |
| Govt sources are indicating this morning chances of a deal this week are now shrinking - this is of course, partly because room for manouvre limited by DUP and Brexiteers, even tho many of them are reluctantly on board | Govt sources are indicating this morning chances of a deal this week are now shrinking - this is of course, partly because room for manouvre limited by DUP and Brexiteers, even tho many of them are reluctantly on board |
| David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, told the Today programme this morning that some Tory Brexiters would be strongly influenced by the DUP in deciding whether or not to back Boris Johnson’s deal. In an interview this morning the presenter Nick Robinson pointed out that the DUP have 10 votes in the Commons. Davis said that understated their influence. | David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, told the Today programme this morning that some Tory Brexiters would be strongly influenced by the DUP in deciding whether or not to back Boris Johnson’s deal. In an interview this morning the presenter Nick Robinson pointed out that the DUP have 10 votes in the Commons. Davis said that understated their influence. |
| You said 10 votes, by the way earlier. Just as an aside on that, there will be quite a lot of Tory MPs who will take their line from what the DUP do. | You said 10 votes, by the way earlier. Just as an aside on that, there will be quite a lot of Tory MPs who will take their line from what the DUP do. |
| Davis said he would not decide himself whether or not to back any deal negotiated by Johnson until he had read the detail. But he would take note of the DUP position, he said: | Davis said he would not decide himself whether or not to back any deal negotiated by Johnson until he had read the detail. But he would take note of the DUP position, he said: |
| I will look at what they say. If the DUP says this is intolerable to us, that will be quite important. | I will look at what they say. If the DUP says this is intolerable to us, that will be quite important. |
| When it was put to him that, when he was Brexit secretary, he said he would not accept any part of the UK being treated differently, and that the Johnson deal will treat Northern Ireland differently (because for practical purposes it would be in the EU customs union), Davis replied: | When it was put to him that, when he was Brexit secretary, he said he would not accept any part of the UK being treated differently, and that the Johnson deal will treat Northern Ireland differently (because for practical purposes it would be in the EU customs union), Davis replied: |
| If we believe what we read, there is going to be complete openness between the British market, the rest of the UK market, and the Northern Ireland market for British goods sold in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland goods sold in Britain. There would be a red channel, as it were, for outside goods. That’s what we are told. So that preserves that bit of it. | If we believe what we read, there is going to be complete openness between the British market, the rest of the UK market, and the Northern Ireland market for British goods sold in Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland goods sold in Britain. There would be a red channel, as it were, for outside goods. That’s what we are told. So that preserves that bit of it. |
| In terms of the union, we are not seeing a break-up of the union in those terms. | In terms of the union, we are not seeing a break-up of the union in those terms. |
| Davis voted against Theresa May’s deal in the first Commons “meaningful vote”. But in the two subsequent votes, he backed the deal. | Davis voted against Theresa May’s deal in the first Commons “meaningful vote”. But in the two subsequent votes, he backed the deal. |