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Theresa May – Brexit will be harder without me The Prime Minister joined Sophy Ridge this morning to discuss the result of the government’s draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which was released on Wednesday. The controversial 585 page document has already seen several resignations, with other ministers thought to be considering their positions.
It’s the question that’s on everyone’s lips in Westminster this week: how many letters of no confidence have been sent to the chairman of the 1922 committee, Graham Brady? Only Brady knows how many letters there are, and he’s committed to not revealing to anybody (including his wife) what the running total is. This morning
Theresa May’s problems have not let up over the weekend. With speculation mounting about an impending confidence vote, the Sunday papers are filled with reports of leadership rivals sounding out colleagues while Dominic Raab – the former Brexit Secretary – has used an interview to tell May to stand up to Brussels’ bullies (though he
Since he became leader in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn has not exactly cultivated a sense that he’s top of any political situation. But he reached new heights of incompetence when he was interviewed on Sky this morning. The Labour leader was asked by Sophy Ridge if he’d actually read the Prime Minister’s draft Withdrawal Agreement which was
Brexit is one of the most divisive issues in the UK – splitting friends, family and all the main political parties along Leave and Remain lines. But if you think you’ve had some bruising arguments about Brexit these past two years, spare a thought for one particularly political household. Chief Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns has been
Is a deal better than no deal? In a bid to answer that question, Mr Steerpike published a list of the 40 horrors buried in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Downing Street have since been in touch to put forward their own 40 rebuttals to those 40 horrors (we’ll respond on Monday). No.10’s
Right now, Theresa May’s Brexit deal isn’t passing the House of Commons. I argue in The Sun this morning, that Theresa May needs something to change the dynamic. What would do that? Well, if May said she would stand down once the withdrawal agreement was through, that would change things. It would separate off the
In between the small amount of other news this week there has been a certain amount of attention on the plight of the Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi and her family. Bibi has spent most of this decade on death-row in Pakistan. Her crime is that a bigoted Muslim neighbour of hers made up a crock
This week, Theresa May’s government teetered on the point of collapse over her proposed Brexit deal. The withdrawal agreement between the UK and Brussels led to Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resigning in protest. However, May’s remaining ministers have since attempted to rally around her at least in the short term. Speaking on Friday, Liam
‘Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,’ French president Emmanuel Macron said at last weekend’s Armistice Day ceremonies. ‘Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. In saying ‘our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be
The opening of McLaren’s new production facility in Rotherham may have been rich in pomp and ceremony – a 3,850 horsepower convoy of supercars racing to meet the more sedate Royal fleet of Bentleys, for example – but behind the showmanship there are vital lessons for UK manufacturing. There are also important lessons for a
Brexit is, as we know, the most important issue facing the government and the country. Except it isn’t. For the Conservatives there is an even more pressing matter: how to prevent a socialist government. Yesterday, the pound plunged after ministerial resignations following Theresa May’s deal with EU negotiators. But were investors spooked by the thought
Thirty-two hours after Dominic Raab resigned as Brexit Secretary, Theresa May has managed to find a Brexiteer who is willing to take on the troubled brief. Steve Barclay – the MP for North East Cambridgeshire – is the new Brexit Secretary. He has been promoted from minister of state at the Department of Health and
Amber Rudd has returned to cabinet as Work and Pensions Secretary. The former home secretary has been appointed to the brief after Esther McVey resigned on Thursday over the Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit deal. Rudd’s appointment should help to calm nerves and steady the ship as No.10 try and find some calm following Thursday’s turmoil.
After yesterday’s round of resignations, Theresa May has started announcing the replacements for her top team. Here are the PM’s choices so far: Amber Rudd is the new DWP secretary Steve Barclay, formerly health minister, is the new Brexit secretary Stephen Hammond appointed health minister Kwasi Kwarteng appointed new junior Brexit minister John Penrose appointed
I always shudder when I hear people say, ‘Let’s stop Brexit’. They say it so casually, so cavalierly. It rolls off the tongue as if it were no big deal. They seem utterly unmoved by what ‘stopping Brexit’ would entail and the consequences it would have. It would mean blocking the largest act of democracy
This podcast was recorded from the midst of the Brexit omni-shambles. Katy Balls talks to Tim Montgomerie, Sienna Rodgers, and James Forsyth on the latest. But first, something just as monumental is happening on the other side of the world. Watch this: That was the announcement that technology journalist James O’Malley heard when he travelling
Michael Gove is staying as DEFRA Secretary. Yesterday, Theresa May offered him the job of Brexit Secretary. Gove said that he could only do that job if he was given the opportunity to pursue his own course. May said that she wanted the Brexit Secretary to stay on the exact same course she had plotted.
Theresa May has just been doing her best to sell her Brexit plan to voters. But the Prime Minister’s pitch didn’t go down well with those calling into LBC. The PM’s first call came from a Tory councillor who urged her to stand down and let someone else negotiate with the European Union. And she
Theresa May spent three hours on her feet in the Commons defending her Brexit deal. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s perseverance did little to persuade her parliamentary colleagues to back her plan. It was an hour before any Tory MPs publicly supported the PM. A total of 135 MPs spoke during the debate – and only 15
Dear Sir Graham, A few weeks ago, in a conversation with the Chief Whip I expressed my concern that the Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, was losing the confidence of Conservative members of Parliament and that it would be in the interest of the party and the country if she were to stand aside. I
Dear Prime Minister, This is very difficult letter to write. One which I never expected to compose. It has been an immense honour to support you in delivering the historic opportunity of leaving the EU as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union. It has, in many ways,
Midway through coffee a soldier came running in. ‘Tzeva adom!’ ‘Red colour!’ Cups clattered, chairs shrieked across slate floor. There is a calm exodus to an improvised bomb shelter — the cafe’s concrete reinforced bathroom. Soldiers at the front, paramedics behind, civilians at the back. Two dozen faces are lit by the insistent flashes of
Serving in high office is an honour and privilege. It is also a heavy responsibility. That is true at any time – but especially when the stakes are so high. And negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU after 40 years, and building from the ground-up a new and enduring relationship for the good of our
Nigel Farage was back on the airwaves today, and somewhat unsurprisingly, he was not a fan of Theresa May’s Brexit proposal. So much does he hate it in fact, that he told viewers: ‘There’s only one thing to do, when this, the worst deal in history, and that is to put it in the bin.
Brexit has many theme tunes but the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is as good as any. If only the Brexiteers could understand this; if only they could grasp that compromise means exactly that. But, consumed by their own monomania, they cannot for they are blind to everything except their own
So, where are we? There is now an open effort to get the 48 letters required to force a vote of no confidence in Theresa May. Personally, I don’t think it is a racing certainty that this succeeds. The ERG WhatsApp group has had some influential people urging caution, and telling people not to put
Rory Stewart has already been caught out claiming wrongly that 80 per cent of the public back Theresa May’s Brexit plan. Now another of the Prime Minister’s defenders has come unstuck while trying to support May’s withdrawal deal. Alan Duncan was asked whether the government had a problem if the majority of the public don’t
One of the more surreal moments of Theresa May’s day so far has been the Prime Minister having to break off from the meltdown of her party to join Prince Charles’s birthday celebrations at Buckingham Palace. The Prime Minister can’t have felt particularly like waving a champagne flute around to salute the heir to the
Theresa May is on course to face a confidence vote according to the Conservative party’s arch-Brexiteers. Senior members of the European Research Group today publicly called for her departure. After Dominic Raab’s resignation this morning, members of the group of Eurosceptic backbenchers gathered in the committee room corridor to discuss their options. Brexiteers were seen
Theresa May’s supporters are resorting to some desperate measures to try and salvage the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal. Step forward, Rory Stewart. The prisons minister claimed just now on BBC 5 Live that 80 per cent of the British public support the deal. The only problem? He was making that number up. Stewart was quickly
My my. Tensions are flaring across this Conservative Party this morning, as the Tories tears themselves apart over Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the European Union. Scottish secretary David Mundell, who has come out in support of Theresa May’s deal, was being interviewed on ITV news this afternoon, and didn’t exactly pull his punches when
Only a handful of MPs have spoken up in support of Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the Commons. But the criticism from a certain Tory backbencher will worry her more than most. Jacob Rees-Mogg took to his feet in the Commons to ask why he shouldn’t now hand in a letter of no confidence in
Ahead of the crunch Cabinet meeting No. 10 aides privately admitted that the one minister they could not afford to lose was Dominic Raab. It wasn’t just that losing a second Brexit Secretary would send a very bad signal about the government’s Brexit policy. More importantly, Raab is regarded as a pragmatic Brexiteer and there