Halloween D-Day: another six months to resolve Brexit impasse

Prime Minister Theresa May’s statement on the Brexit process extention:

“I have just met with Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, where I agreed an extension to the Brexit process to the end of October at the latest.

I continue to believe we need to leave the EU, with a deal, as soon as possible.

And vitally, the EU have agreed that the extension can be terminated when the Withdrawal Agreement has been ratified — which was my key request of my fellow leaders.

For example, this means that, if we are able to pass a deal in the first three weeks of May, we will not have to take part in European Elections and will officially leave the EU on Saturday, 1st June.

During the course of the extension, the European Council is clear that the UK will continue to hold full membership rights, as well as its obligations.

As I said in the room tonight, there is only a single tier of EU membership, with no conditionality attached beyond existing treaty obligations.

Let me conclude by saying this.

I know that there is huge frustration from many people that I had to request this extension. The UK should have left the EU by now and I sincerely regret the fact that I have not yet been able to persuade Parliament to approve a deal which would allow the UK to leave in a smooth and orderly way.

But the choices we now face are stark and the timetable is clear.

So we must now press on at pace with our efforts to reach a consensus on a deal that is in the national interest.

Tomorrow I will be making a statement to the House of Commons.

Further talks will also take place between the Government and the Opposition to seek a way forward.

I do not pretend the next few weeks will be easy or that there is a simple way to break the deadlock in Parliament.

But we have a duty as politicians to find a way to fulfil the democratic decision of the Referendum, deliver Brexit and move our country forward.

Nothing is more pressing or more vital.”

Confirmation_of_UK_Government_Agreement_to_Article_50_Extension.April

Council_Decision

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has today written to the Prime Minister, following the extension of Article 50 until the end of October. The First Minister said it is essential now that this time is used constructively and not wasted.

Ms Sturgeon has called for ongoing talks over EU exit to include the devolved administrations, and for any deal agreed by the UK Parliament to be put to a second referendum.

Full text of the letter:

Dear Theresa

I am writing to you today following the agreement reached at the European Council last night to extend the Article 50 period to the end of October 2019, with a review in June.

It is welcome that the European Union has acted in this way to give the UK more time. However, it is essential now that this time is used constructively and not wasted.

People in Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU but have been ignored by the UK Government throughout the Brexit process. That must now change.

Notwithstanding the clear remain result in Scotland, the Scottish Government has sought to engage meaningfully on the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU and has called consistently for genuine efforts to reach consensus across party lines and with the devolved administrations. However, it is still not clear that even at this late stage and following the repeated defeat of your proposals that you are willing to drop your red lines which have restricted what can be achieved in the future relationship.

We now have the gift of more time from the EU, and that must be used constructively to re-set the UK Government approach. Your ongoing talks with the Leader of the Opposition should now broaden to include other parties, the devolved administrations, business and civic society, and open up the range of options on the table in an effort to reach a genuine consensus. If such talks are to stand any chance of success you must be prepared to recognise in particular that it is essential for Scotland, at the very least, to stay inside the Single Market and continue to benefit from freedom of movement.

Further, and more fundamentally, the Scottish Government considers that any deal agreed by the UK Parliament should be put to another referendum, with the alternative proposition on the ballot paper being to remain in the EU. The extension to 31 October provides enough time to do this, and it is essential that no time is lost in making the necessary preparations.

I urge you to convene an urgent cross-party and cross-administration discussion to agree how to use the time we have been given.

I am copying this letter to the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

Theresa May: deal or no deal?

Prime Minister Theresa May issued the following statement on Brexit negotiations last night:

Delivering Brexit has been my priority ever since I became Prime Minister and it remains so today. I want the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way as soon as possible and that means leaving in a way that does not disrupt people’s lives. Continue reading Theresa May: deal or no deal?

Prime Minister’s statement on Brexit

Prime Minister Theresa May made a statement in Downing Street on Brexit:

I have just come from chairing seven hours of Cabinet meetings focused on finding a route out of the current impasse – one that will deliver the Brexit the British people voted for, and allow us to move on and begin bringing our divided country back together.

I know there are some who are so fed up with delay and endless arguments that they would like to leave with No Deal next week.

I have always been clear that we could make a success of No Deal in the long-term.

But leaving with a deal is the best solution.

So we will need a further extension of Article 50 – one that is as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal.

And we need to be clear what such an extension is for – to ensure we leave in a timely and orderly way.

This debate, this division, cannot drag on much longer.

It is putting Members of Parliament and everyone else under immense pressure – and it is doing damage to our politics.

Despite the best efforts of MPs, the process that the House of Commons has tried to lead has not come up with an answer.

So today I am taking action to break the logjam: I am offering to sit down with the Leader of the Opposition and to try to agree a plan – that we would both stick to – to ensure that we leave the European Union and that we do so with a deal.

Any plan would have to agree the current Withdrawal Agreement – it has already been negotiated with the 27 other members, and the EU has repeatedly said that it cannot and will not be reopened.

What we need to focus on is our Future Relationship with the EU.

The ideal outcome of this process would be to agree an approach on a Future Relationship that delivers on the result of the Referendum, that both the Leader of the Opposition and I could put to the House for approval, and which I could then take to next week’s European Council.

However, if we cannot agree on a single unified approach, then we would instead agree a number of options for the Future Relationship that we could put to the House in a series of votes to determine which course to pursue.

Crucially, the Government stands ready to abide by the decision of the House.

But to make this process work, the Opposition would need to agree to this too.

The Government would then bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. We would want to agree a timetable for this Bill to ensure it is passed before 22nd May so that the United Kingdom need not take part in European Parliamentary Elections.

This is a difficult time for everyone.

Passions are running high on all sides of the argument.

But we can and must find the compromises that will deliver what the British people voted for.

This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands.

And it requires national unity to deliver the national interest.

Tory government survives vote of confidence

Theresa May’s government survived a vote of confidence at Westminster last night, winning by just 19 votes 325 – 306.

In a Downing Street statement following the vote late last night, Prime Minister Theresa May said: “This evening the Government has won the confidence of Parliament.

“This now gives us all the opportunity to focus on finding a way forward on Brexit.

“I understand that to people getting on with their lives, away from Westminster, the events of the past 24 hours will have been unsettling.

“Overwhelmingly, the British people want us to get on with delivering Brexit, and also address the other important issues they care about.

“But the deal which I have worked to agree with the European Union was rejected by MPs, and by a large margin.

“I believe it is my duty to deliver on the British people’s instruction to leave the European Union. And I intend to do so.

“So now MPs have made clear what they don’t want, we must all work constructively together to set out what Parliament does want.

“That’s why I am inviting MPs from all parties to come together to find a way forward. One that both delivers on the referendum and can command the support of Parliament.

“This is now the time to put self-interest aside.

“I have just held constructive meetings with the leader of the Liberal Democrats, and the Westminster leaders of the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

“From tomorrow, meetings will be taking place between senior Government representatives, including myself, and groups of MPs who represent the widest possible range of views from across Parliament – including our confidence and supply partners the Democratic Unionist Party.

“It will not be an easy task, but MPs know they have a duty to act in the national interest, reach a consensus and get this done.

“In a historic vote in 2016 the country decided to leave the EU.

In 2017 80% of people voted for Parties that stood on manifestos promising to respect that result.

“Now, over two and a half years later, it’s time for us to come together, put the national interest first – and deliver on the referendum.”

Come together? That appears very unlikely – Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn says Labour will not talk to the Tories unless a No Deal Brexit is taken off the table.

Earlier, Mr Corbyn moved the motion of no confidence in the government. He said:

Mr Speaker, I move the motion that this House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government.

Last night the Government was defeated by 230 votes. The largest defeat in the history of our democracy. The first Government to be defeated by more than 200 votes.

Last week they lost a vote on the Finance Bill. That what’s called supply. Yesterday they lost a vote by biggest margin ever. That what’s regarded as confidence.

By any convention of this House, by any precedent the loss of confidence and supply should mean they do the right thing and resign.

Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister has consistently claimed that her deal, which has now been decisively rejected was good for Britain, workers, and businesses.

If she is so confident of that, if she genuinely believes it, she should have nothing to fear from going to the people and letting them decide.

In this week, in 1910, the British electorate went to the polls. They did so because Herbert Asquith’s Liberal government had been unable to get Lloyd George’s People’s Budget through the other place.

They were confident in their arguments and went to the people and were returned.

It is still how our democracy works. When we have a government that cannot govern, in the absence of a written constitution, it is these conventions that guide us.

If a government cannot get its legislation through Parliament, it must go to the country for a new mandate and that must apply when it is on the key issue of the day.

We know the Prime Minister is not against snap elections on principle because she herself went to the people in 2017, saying “Give me the mandate I need”.

She bypassed the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which was, as my Rt Hon Friend, the Shadow Foreign Secretary pointed out, designed to give some stability to the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, to ensure that the Lib Dems couldn’t hold the Conservatives to ransom by constantly threatening to collapse the coalition. The Fixed Term Parliament Act was never intended to prop up a zombie government.

And there can be no doubt that this is a zombie government:

Defeated last night by the largest margin of any government ever.

In December it became the first government ever to be held in contempt by Parliament.

Last week it became the first government for more than 40 years to lose a vote on a Finance Bill.

And a shocking first for this government is forcing a heavily pregnant member of this House to delay a scheduled caesarean to come to vote and all because of their cynical breaking of the trusted pairing arrangements in this House which have endured for decades.

Nothing demonstrates the sheer incompetence of this government quite like the Brexit negotiations.

Yesterday’s historic and humiliating defeat was the result of two years of chaos and failure.

It is now clear this government is not capable of winning support for its core plan on the most vital issue facing this country.

The Prime Minister has lost control and the government has lost the ability to govern.

Within two years they have managed to turn a deal from what was supposed to be ”one of the easiest in human history” into a national embarrassment.

In that time we have seen the Prime Minister’s demands quickly turned into one humiliating climb-down after another.

Brexit ministers have come and gone but the shambles has remained unchanged, culminating in an agreement which was described by one former Cabinet minister as “the worst of all worlds”.

Let’s be clear, the deal the Prime Minister wanted this Parliament to support would have left the UK in a helpless position, facing a choice of either seeking and paying for an extended transition period or trapped in the backstop.

The Prime Minister may claim the backstop would never have come into force but who has confidence in this government’s ability to negotiate a future trade deal with the EU by December 2020 after the shambles we have all witnessed over the past two years?

This Frankenstein deal is now officially dead and the Prime Minister is trying to blame everybody else.

Mr Speaker let me be clear the blame for this mess lies firmly at the feet of the Prime Minister and her government, which time after time has made hollow demands and given false promises.

They say they want this Parliament to be sovereign yet whenever their plans have come up against scrutiny they have done all they can to obstruct and evade.

The Prime Minister’s original plan was to push through a deal without the appropriate approval of this Parliament only to be forced into holding a meaningful vote by the courts and by members of this House.

Mr Speaker, since losing its majority in the 2017 general election the Government has had numerous opportunities to engage with others and listen to their views, not just here in Westminster but across the country.

Yesterday’s decisive defeat is the result of the Prime Minister just not listening, ignoring businesses, trade unions and members of this House.

Instead she has wasted two years recklessly ploughing on with her doomed strategy.

And even at the last, when it was clear her botched and damaging deal could not remotely command support here or across the country, she decided to waste even more time by pulling the meaningful vote on the empty promise of obtaining legal assurances on the backstop.

Some on the government side have tried to portray the Prime Minister’s approach as stoical.

Mr Speaker, what we have seen over the past few months is not stoical. Instead we have witnessed is a Prime Minister acting in her narrow party interest, rather than the public interest.

Her party is fundamentally split on this issue, constraining the Prime Minister so much that she simply cannot command a majority in this House on the most important issue facing the country, without rupturing her party. And it is for this reason that this Government can no longer govern.

Yesterday the Prime Minister shook her head when I said that she had treated Brexit as a matter only for the Conservative Party. Yet within half an hour of the vote being announced the Hon member for Grantham & Stamford (Nick Boles) commented “She has conducted the argument as if this was a party political matter rather than a question of profound national importance”. I know many people across the country will be frustrated and deeply worried about the insecurity around Brexit but if this divided Government continues in office the uncertainty and risks can only grow.

And Mr Speaker it is not just over Brexit that the Government is failing dismally letting down the people of this country. There has been the Windrush scandal the shameful denial of rights the detention and even the deportation of our own citizens. The Government’s flagship welfare policy Universal Credit is causing real and worsening poverty. And just yesterday under the cover of the Brexit vote they sneaked out changes that will make some pensioner households thousands of pounds worse off.

Those changes build on the scourge of poverty-causing measures inflicted on people in this country: the bedroom tax, the two child limit and abominable rape clause, the outsourced and deeply flawed Work Capability Assessment, the punitive sanctions regime and the repugnant benefit freeze.

People across the country whether they voted Leave or Remain know that the system isn’t working for them.

Food bank use has increased almost exponentially and more people are sleeping on our streets the numbers have shamefully swelled every year. They used to be the party of home ownership now they’re the party of homelessness.

Care is being denied to our elderly with Age UK estimating at 1.2 million older people are not receiving the care they need. £7 billion has been cut from adult social care budgets since 2010.

Our NHS is in crisis, waiting time targets at A&E and for cancer patients have not been met since 2015. They have never been met under the government of this Prime Minister. The NHS has endured the longest funding squeeze in its history, leaving it short-staffed to the tune of 100,000 and NHS trusts and providers in over £1 billion deficit.

And the human consequences are clear. Life expectancy is now going backwards in the poorest parts of our country and stagnating overall. This is unprecedented. Another shameful first for this government.

Mr Speaker, I know some members of this House are sceptical and there are sceptical members of the public, but I truly believe that a general election would be the best outcome for this country. As the Prime Minister pointed out in her speech yesterday both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party stood on manifestos that accepted the result of the referendum. Surely any government would be strengthened in trying to renegotiate Brexit by being given a fresh mandate from the people for their chosen course?

I know many people at home will say we have had two general elections and a referendum in the last four years. For the people of Scotland it is two UK-wide elections, one Scottish Parliamentary election and two referendums in five years. So while Brenda from Bristol may gasp “not another one?” spare a thought for Bernie from Bute. But Mr Speaker the scale of the crisis means we need a government with a fresh mandate.

A general election can bring people together, focus on all the issues that unite us, the need to solve the crises in our NHS our children’s schools and the care of our elderly.

And we all have a responsibility to call out the abuse that has become too common whether that’s the abuse of members of this House going about their business or the racist abuse and attacks that too many of our constituents have faced since the toxic debate of the last referendum and this government’s hostile environment policies.

Many media pundits and members of this House say there is currently no majority in the House for a general election. This House will decide.

But Mr Speaker, it is clear there is no majority for the Government’s Brexit deal and there is no majority for No Deal.

Mr Speaker, I pay tribute to all members of this House who, like the Labour frontbench, are committed to both opposing the Prime Minister’s bad deal and ruling out the catastrophe of ‘No Deal’.

But I do believe that following the defeat of the Government’s plan, a General Election is the best outcome for the country, as the Labour Party Conference agreed last September.

A General Election would give new impetus to negotiations, a new Prime Minister with a new mandate, able not just to break the deadlock on Brexit but to bring fresh ideas to the many problems facing our constituents: low pay and insecure work, Universal Credit and rising poverty, the scandal of inadequate care for our elderly, the crisis of local councils, health services and schools starved of resources, the housing and homelessness crisis.

Mr Speaker, if the House backs this motion today then I welcome the wide-ranging debates we will have about the future of our country and the future of our relationship with the European Union.

As I said before, a Prime Minister confident of what she describes as “a good deal” and committed to tackling burning injustices should have nothing to fear from such an election.

But Mr Speaker, if the House does not back this motion today then it is incumbent on all of us to keep all options on the table that rule out a disastrous ‘No Deal’, and to offer a better solution than the Prime Minister’s deal which was so roundly defeated yesterday.

This Government cannot govern and cannot command the support of Parliament on the most important issue facing our country.

Every previous Prime Minister in this situation would have resigned and called an election and it is the duty of this House to lead where the Government has failed.

May tells Sturgeon: “Listen to the voices”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged Prime Minister Theresa May to change course to avoid an “utterly disastrous” no-deal Brexit if the Prime Minister’s plans are rejected by MPs in a crunch vote on 11 December – but Theresa May says the First Minister should listen to Scotland’s business leaders. Continue reading May tells Sturgeon: “Listen to the voices”

PM to confirm Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal during Festival visit

£600 million to boost jobs and economic growth in Scotland to be given green light by the Prime Minister and First Minister of a city deal worth over £1 billion.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for the South East of Scotland will be formally signed off by the Prime Minister and First Minister, during the Prime Minister’s visit to the Edinburgh festival today. Continue reading PM to confirm Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal during Festival visit

Theresa going green? PM to announce plans for cleaner, greener Britain

Prime Minister Theresa May will today pledge to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within a quarter of a century. Launching the 25 Year Environment Plan, the PM will set out the government’s determination to leave our environment in a better state than we found it. Continue reading Theresa going green? PM to announce plans for cleaner, greener Britain

‘We will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us’

Theresa May delivered her first statement as Prime Minister in Downing Street last night:

I have just been to Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty The Queen has asked me to form a new government, and I accepted.

In David Cameron, I follow in the footsteps of a great, modern Prime Minister. Under David’s leadership, the government stabilised the economy, reduced the budget deficit, and helped more people into work than ever before.

But David’s true legacy is not about the economy but about social justice. From the introduction of same-sex marriage, to taking people on low wages out of income tax altogether; David Cameron has led a one-nation government, and it is in that spirit that I also plan to lead.

Because not everybody knows this, but the full title of my party is the Conservative and Unionist Party, and that word ‘unionist’ is very important to me.

It means we believe in the Union: the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But it means something else that is just as important; it means we believe in a union not just between the nations of the United Kingdom but between all of our citizens, every one of us, whoever we are and wherever we’re from.

That means fighting against the burning injustice that, if you’re born poor, you will die on average 9 years earlier than others.

If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white.

If you’re a white, working-class boy, you’re less likely than anybody else in Britain to go to university.

If you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately.

If you’re a woman, you will earn less than a man. If you suffer from mental health problems, there’s not enough help to hand.

If you’re young, you’ll find it harder than ever before to own your own home.

But the mission to make Britain a country that works for everyone means more than fighting these injustices. If you’re from an ordinary working class family, life is much harder than many people in Westminster realise. You have a job but you don’t always have job security. You have your own home, but you worry about paying a mortgage. You can just about manage but you worry about the cost of living and getting your kids into a good school.

If you’re one of those families, if you’re just managing, I want to address you directly.

I know you’re working around the clock, I know you’re doing your best, and I know that sometimes life can be a struggle. The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours.

We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives. When we take the big calls, we’ll think not of the powerful, but you. When we pass new laws, we’ll listen not to the mighty but to you. When it comes to taxes, we’ll prioritise not the wealthy, but you. When it comes to opportunity, we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few. We will do everything we can to help anybody, whatever your background, to go as far as your talents will take you.

We are living through an important moment in our country’s history. Following the referendum, we face a time of great national change.

And I know because we’re Great Britain, that we will rise to the challenge. As we leave the European Union, we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us.

That will be the mission of the government I lead, and together we will build a better Britain.

Scotland and the UK: safer together?

Threats to Scotland and the UK from organised crime gangs, cyber criminals and global terrorism are best confronted with Scotland inside the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May claimed today. However ‘Yes’ campaigners have been quick to challenge the Home Secretary’s analysis and say that Scotland will continue to work closely with international partners on security issues.

The Home Secretary (pictured below) was in Edinburgh to launch ‘Scotland analysis: Security’, the seventh in a series of UK government papers to inform the debate ahead of next year’s independence referendum.

The paper examines how the UK and Scotland derive mutual benefit from an integrated approach to security, cyber, justice and policing, as well as from security exports and our international alliances and relationships.

The possible consequences for both Scotland and the continuing UK of a vote for independence are subject to analysis in the paper. It stresses that while the UK does work with other countries, such as the Republic of Ireland, to improve security and fight organised crime, there is a significant difference between these relationships and Scotland’s current position as a privileged and influential part of the UK.

The analysis concludes that independence could disturb the united protection provided to Scotland by the UK’s security and intelligence architecture. The report suggests:

Scotland facing a technically complex and expensive requirement to establish its security infrastructure. In the meantime, there would be a risk to both Scotland and the continuing UK of diminished security.
Scotland no longer being covered by the UK’s National Cyber Security Programme, which strengthens the services the public rely on and makes the UK a safer place for businesses to operate.
Co-operation between Police Scotland and other UK forces may not be as straightforward as it is now. Long established UK-wide laws make it easier to pursue justice across borders despite different legal systems and police jurisdictions.
A limit to the amount of information the continuing UK would be able to share with Scotland. Under the “Control Principle”, the UK could not share the kind of information used to fight and counter terrorism with Scotland, passed to it by another country, unless the UK had that country’s consent.

Home Secretary Theresa May said:

“This report sets out in plain terms the security consequences of independence, not just for Scotland but for the UK as a whole. Undoubtedly we are stronger and safer together.

“The national security risks the UK faces are complex and changing. Terrorists and organised criminals will seek new ways to exploit any weakness in our justice and policing capabilities, and the scale of emerging threats, such as cyber crime, demands a comprehensively resourced response.

Now is the time to work more closely together for the security of all citizens of the UK.”

The UK government believes that Scotland is better off as part of the UK, and that the UK is stronger, safer and more secure with Scotland as part of it.

In the event of a vote in favour of leaving the UK, Scotland would become an entirely new state and would have to establish its own security arrangements.

However, supporters of independence have been quick to refute the Home Secretary’s claims. The Scottish government said that, in the event of independence, Scotland would work closely with the rest of the UK and international partners on security and intelligence matters.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill (pictured above) told the BBC: “These claims are wrong – not least because Scotland is already an independent jurisdiction when it comes to policing and justice issues, and current cross-border cooperation shows how well that can work to combat terrorism and other threats.

“An independent Scotland will have first-rate security arrangements to counter any threats we may face. And we will continue to work in very close collaboration with the rest of the UK and international partners on security and intelligence matters, which is in everyone’s interests.”