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| Farage claims Brexit will be 'beginning of end' for EU before MEPs vote on withdrawal agreement - live news | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen | Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen |
| Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, has been holding a press conference in Brussels. Here are some of the highlights, from my colleague Jennifer Rankin, the Telegraph’s James Crisp, LBC’s Christian Mitchell and Sky’s Adam Parsons. | |
| Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, will attend his last debate in the European parliament as an MEP this afternoon. He has been a member of the parliament since 1999. In an interview on the Today programme this morning he made two valedictory claims - both of which are highly questionable. | |
| Farage claimed that Brexit would mark the “beginning of the end” for the EU. He said: | |
| This claim is dubious because polling evidence suggests that support for EU membership remains very high - it’s over 80% in most member states - and that pro-EU sentiment on the continent has actually gone since the UK voted to leave in 2016. In a recent speech in London Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, said Brexit had strengthened unity amongst the EU27. She said: | |
| When Farage was asked in his interview about polling showing that support for EU membership had risen across Europe since Brexit, he said that was just because people had seen the UK “make such a Horlicks” of leaving. | |
| Farage claimed the UK would get a good trade deal from the UK because it was in “an enormously powerful position”. He said: | |
| This is just the latest iteration of the long-running claim that pressure from German BMW manufacturers and Italian Prosecco producers will ensure the EU offers the UK easy access to the single market after Brexit. So far it has turned out to be a poor guide to EU negotiating behaviour because EU leaders have been more interested in protecting the integrity of the single market than in featherbedding BMW. In an interview broadcast on Monday Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) said he thought the UK was in a relatively weak position in the trade talks in comparison with the EU. | |
| Brexit is getting closer and closer, and now the instrument of ratification - the document that legally formalises the UK’s withdrawal - has been signed and deposited with the EU. Here is Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, signing it. | Brexit is getting closer and closer, and now the instrument of ratification - the document that legally formalises the UK’s withdrawal - has been signed and deposited with the EU. Here is Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, signing it. |
| And here is Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s ambassador to the EU, handing it in. | And here is Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s ambassador to the EU, handing it in. |
| Boris Johnson is now facing the threat of his first Commons rebellion since the general election, over his decision to let the Chinese firm Huawei play a role in building the UK’s 5G infrastructure. Conservative MPs expressed their concerns in the Commons yesterday and, although they were not quite as outspoken as some were when the same topic was discussed on Monday, talk of a revolt is firming up. The government announced yesterday that it plans to legislate to ensure that “high risk vendors” (ie, Huawei) can only run 35% of the 5G network. Legislation means votes, and voting means backbenchers have leverage (because the main opposition parties, Labour and the SNP, are also very critical of this decision on national security grounds). On Newsnight last night Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative party leader, said that there would have to be “modification” to the government’s plans and that the 35% threshold was too high. | Boris Johnson is now facing the threat of his first Commons rebellion since the general election, over his decision to let the Chinese firm Huawei play a role in building the UK’s 5G infrastructure. Conservative MPs expressed their concerns in the Commons yesterday and, although they were not quite as outspoken as some were when the same topic was discussed on Monday, talk of a revolt is firming up. The government announced yesterday that it plans to legislate to ensure that “high risk vendors” (ie, Huawei) can only run 35% of the 5G network. Legislation means votes, and voting means backbenchers have leverage (because the main opposition parties, Labour and the SNP, are also very critical of this decision on national security grounds). On Newsnight last night Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative party leader, said that there would have to be “modification” to the government’s plans and that the 35% threshold was too high. |
| And on the Today programme this morning Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, also said that he wanted to see the 35% figure driven down in a future vote. Asked how much support the rebels might have from Tory backbenchers for such a plan, he said: | And on the Today programme this morning Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, also said that he wanted to see the 35% figure driven down in a future vote. Asked how much support the rebels might have from Tory backbenchers for such a plan, he said: |
| The government has a majority of 80, and Green conceded that that meant roughly 40 MPs would need to rebel for the government to be at risk of defeat. But he did not rule this out. | The government has a majority of 80, and Green conceded that that meant roughly 40 MPs would need to rebel for the government to be at risk of defeat. But he did not rule this out. |
| Green’s intervention confirmed the very point he was making. While Duncan Smith is on the right of the party, Green himself is firmly on the Tory left. New MPs may be more reluctant to rebel than old ones, of course, and the government could make concessions over the 35% target to appease its critics, but it can’t go too far without driving Huawei out of the 5G market, which would defeat the point of the announcement made yesterday. This is definitely one for the chief whip’s “problems” folder. | Green’s intervention confirmed the very point he was making. While Duncan Smith is on the right of the party, Green himself is firmly on the Tory left. New MPs may be more reluctant to rebel than old ones, of course, and the government could make concessions over the 35% target to appease its critics, but it can’t go too far without driving Huawei out of the 5G market, which would defeat the point of the announcement made yesterday. This is definitely one for the chief whip’s “problems” folder. |
| Here is the agenda for the day. | Here is the agenda for the day. |
| 10am: Lisa Nandy, a candidate for the Labour leadership, holds a phone-in on LBC. | 10am: Lisa Nandy, a candidate for the Labour leadership, holds a phone-in on LBC. |
| 10am: MPs start voting in elections for select committee chairs. The ballot closes at 4pm, and the results will be announced at some point after that. | 10am: MPs start voting in elections for select committee chairs. The ballot closes at 4pm, and the results will be announced at some point after that. |
| 12pm: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs. | 12pm: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs. |
| 2pm (UK time): MEPs debate the EU withdrawal agreement. The vote will come at 5pm. | 2pm (UK time): MEPs debate the EU withdrawal agreement. The vote will come at 5pm. |
| 2pm: The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation hold an event in parliament to lobby MPs. | 2pm: The National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation hold an event in parliament to lobby MPs. |
| Around 5pm: Johnson is expected to hold a “People’s PMQs” on Facebook. | Around 5pm: Johnson is expected to hold a “People’s PMQs” on Facebook. |
| Afternoon: Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, arrives in London for talks with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, today, and with Johnson tomorrow. | Afternoon: Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, arrives in London for talks with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, today, and with Johnson tomorrow. |
| As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up. | As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up. |
| You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. | You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. |
| If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. | If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. |
| I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. | I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. |
| If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. | If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. |