Labour talks reopen as PM scrambles to delay Brexit
Prime Minister Theresa May is to make a whistle-stop trip to Berlin and Paris for talks with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron on the eve of a summit that will determine the future of Brexit.
The leaders of the 27 remaining EU nations have been summoned to Brussels for an emergency meeting of the European Council tomorrow, just two days before the UK is due to leave under current plans.
Last night the government and the Opposition reopened talks on a possible Brexit compromise based around membership of the customs union, just as Conservative MPS stepped up their pressure on the Prime Minister not to agree to a softer deal.
Theresa May will travel to Berlin and Paris today as she scrambles to secure a Brexit delay from the EU while negotiating “at pace” with Jeremy Corbyn to salvage a deal.
On her 1,001st day in office, the Prime Minister will hold talks with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron as European leaders prepare to issue the UK with a set of demands in exchange for an extension of Article 50, to avoid a no-deal Brexit on Friday.
Last night the government and the Opposition reopened talks on a possible compromise based around membership of the customs union, just as Conservative MPS stepped up their pressure on Mrs May not to agree to a softer deal.
Ministers and shadow ministers will today hold the first face-to-face talks since Friday, when Labour walked out of negotiations saying it was “disappointed” with a lack of compromise from the Tories.
A Downing Street spokesman said last night: “We are committed to finding a way through in order to ensure we can leave the EU and deliver on the referendum. That will require the parties to work at pace in order to address outstanding issues.”
Talks between the two parties are also focusing on a “lock” to prevent a future Conservative leader from abandoning any compromise.
A deputation of Tory MPS from the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee went to Number 10 yesterday to warn the Prime Minister not to compromise with Labour.
Asked last night if the government was being serious about the discussions, Mr Corbyn said: “Talks have to mean a movement and so far there has been no change in those red lines.” The Labour leader added: “We are looking for movement, because we do not want to see a crashing out of the EU with no deal.”
A deal on an extension is expected to be agreed when European leaders gather in Brussels tomorrow evening. Hosting the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Dublin yesterday, Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said it was “extremely unlikely” an extension would be refused.
But with Mr Macron leading a campaign of pressure on the UK, tough conditions are likely to be set to ensure the EU’S agenda is not disrupted if Brexit is delayed for several months. The UK is expected to be asked for guarantees it will not interfere in the EU’S budget setting process, as well as other plans for closer integration.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said EU leaders would need assurances of “sincere co-operation” from London before granting an extension.
Mrs May spoke with Mr Rutte, European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean Claude-juncker by phone on Monday, and was due to speak with other EU leaders before the summit. Mr Rutte said it would be “crucial” for the EU27 to know “when and on what basis” the UK will ratify its Withdrawal Agreement. Despite a UK request for the delay to be limited to 30 June, Mr Tusk has recommended a one-year extension to the Brexit process, with a break clause allowing an earlier departure if a withdrawal deal is ratified in Westminster.
Today’s weekly meeting of Cabinet has been cancelled due to Mrs May’s travels.
Meanwhile, a controversial bid to extend the Brexit process and avoid a no-deal scenario was expected to receive royal assent last night after rocketing through both Houses of Parliament in three days.
Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom told MPS the government would bring forward a motion for debate today on extending Article 50 if Yvette Cooper’s bill has been passed.
Poll finds both main UK parties have a mountain to climb on Brexit
A poll has shed light on the scale of the challenge facing both the Conservatives and Labour in Scotland as they try to make up ground on the SNP amid a deep crisis for both UK parties over Brexit.
The survey by polling agency Hanbury for the Politico website suggests both the government and the opposition lack credibility on Brexit in Scotland, and lag behind the Nationalists on key measurements of political values.
Pollsters questioned 776 adults in six marginal Westminster constituencies in the Central Belt of Scotland: Airdrie and Shotts, Motherwell and Wishaw, Dunfermline and West Fife, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Falkirk, Linlithgow and East Falkirk.
According to the poll – which also spoke to people in
Paris Gourtsoyannis
London, the East Midlands and north-west England – respondents in Scotland give the two biggest parties the lowest scores on handling Brexit, with the Tories on 2.67 and Labour on 2.8 out of ten. In comparison, Londoners gave a score of 3.71 to the Tories and 4.35 to Labour.
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn also get the lowest personal ratings in Scotland. Some 14 per cent are satisfied with the Prime Minister’s performance and 64 per cent dissatisfied, while 7 per cent are satisfied with the Labour leader, and 65 per cent dissatisfied.
On key policy issues, given marks out of ten, Ruth Davidson’s Scottish Tories get 3.26 on crime, 3.31 on health, 3.11 on immigration and asylum, and 3.46 on the economy. Richard Leonard’s Scottish Labour get 3.14 on crime, 3.63 on health, 2.90 on immigration and asylum, and 2.94 on the economy.
The poll includes the SNP in questions asking about values people associate with each party. Some 40 per cent of respondents said the Nationalists were “out of touch”, compared with 67 per cent for Labour and 76 per cent for the Tories.
And 9 per cent said the SNP were “only for the rich”, compared with 21 per cent for Labour and 72 per cent for the Tories. Some 37 per cent believe the SNP are “incompetent”, against 61 per cent who say the same for Labour, and 71 per cent for the Tories. And asked which party “backs hard-working people on an average wage”, 45 per cent said the SNP, while 34 per cent said Labour and 11 per cent the Tories. Responses were collected via smartphone apps, with the sample weighted to be representative by age, gender, region and past election results. However, because it focused on areas where the SNP and Labour are strongest, the poll doesn’t reflect support for the Tories across Scotland.
SNP depute leader Keith Brown said the poll “highlights a complete lack of trust in both the Tories and Labour”.
“Both parties have repeatedly proven they have nothing to offer Scotland but economic chaos, division and incompetence,” Mr Brown said.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “People in Scotland simply want an end to the constitutional wrangling.”
The police helicopter crash that killed the three people on board and seven people in the Clutha Bar in Glasgow should never have happened.
The Fatal Accident Inquiry which opened yesterday is an attempt to find out what went wrong to ensure the chances of a repeat are kept to an absolute minimum.
While the Crown Office has concluded that no criminal prosecution will take place, there are still serious questions to be asked and answered if at all possible.
The inquiry is expected to hear evidence from witnesses and experts
between now and August and also assess more than 1,400 Crown productions. Hopefully, this will ultimately lead to recommendations that will improve the safety of helicopters and other aircraft.
The idea of health and safety may have become a stock joke for comedians and a source of urban myths, but as we read moving accounts of the lives lost in the crash and express the hope “never again”, we should remember that many regulations were developed as a result of such sad inquiries as these. Lessons must be learned and not only about the safe operation of aircraft.