Uk politics

The EU side regularly points out that the UK government hasn’t presented any detailed proposals on what it wants to replace the backstop with. At a Cabinet committee meeting this week, the Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay set about explaining to ministerial colleagues why this was. As I report in The Sun this morning, He told the Committee that the EU had set three tests for any new proposal. First, it must avoid any infrastructure on the border that would be incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement. Second, it must protect the integrity of the EU’s single market. Third, it mustn’t involve any checks on the island of Ireland. Barclay said

Oh dear. Boris Johnson’s decision to withdraw the whip from the Tory Brexit rebels continues to send ripples through Westminster. While Chief Whip Mark Spencer has laid out the appeals process to the rebels, many of their colleagues remain unhappy about the decision to remove them from the party. Now things have taken a turn for the worse in the Tory Women in Parliament WhatsApp group. Originally, the group was used to share events and ideas amongst Tory women in the vote100 year, it was set up at the height of the Westminster bullying scandal and has since been used on occasion for Conservative women’s policy updates. However, on Thursday

Whatever happens in this evening’s election vote, John Bercow will not be the House of Commons Speaker come 1 November. The Speaker announced his plans to quit in the Chamber this afternoon to a mixed reception from MPs. Bercow said he had promised his family he would not stand for re-election and planned to stick by the promise: ‘At the 2017 election, I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. This is a pledge that I intend to keep. If the House votes tonight for an early general election, my tenure as Speaker and MP will end when this Parliament ends. If the House does not

Amber Rudd has quit the Cabinet and resigned the Tory whip. Rudd’s departure deepens the split in the Tory party and will be a particular blow to Boris Johnson; the pair have always got on well personally despite their very different views on Brexit. What will worry Number 10 is that Rudd might start something of a domino effect. There are, as I said in the Sun this morning, several Cabinet Ministers who are worried about the government’s direction and irritated at not being more involved in Number 10’s decision making. I hear that others might follow her out of the door in the next 48 hours, as we discuss

Although Downing Street heralded Thursday the ‘first day of the election campaign’, Boris Johnson is yet to be able to call an election. Today Labour and other UK opposition parties have agreed not to back the Prime Minister’s call for general election before the October EU summit. Explaining the decision, the SNP’s Ian Blackford said they wanted to make sure the UK did not crash out in a no-deal Brexit. Ahead of the meeting, Corbyn had been under pressure from figures including Keir Starmer to hold off on an early election until after an extension has been requested on 19 October. Johnson had hoped to have an election October 15

Boris Johnson has suffered his first resignation from around the Cabinet table – and it’s from his brother Jo. Jo Johnson has announced via social media that he will be stepping down both as a minister and an MP. The Minister of State for universities and science said that in recent weeks, he had felt ‘torn between family loyalty and the national interest’. ‘It’s been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs. In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest – it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as

Boris Johnson has lost his third government vote – and his first bid for an early election. MPs voted against his call for an early election under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, with Johnson failing to get two thirds of the Commons to vote for it – 298 MPs voted in favour with 56 against. On hearing the news, the Prime Minister said that Jeremy Corbyn was the first opposition leader in history to refuse a general election. Ahead of the vote, Johnson had vented that it was ‘completely impossible’ for government to function when MPs won’t back any government legislation. He said the choice the public needs to make is who

The Tory rebels on tonight’s motion are in the process of losing the party whip. There were many more than the whips had expected, but this may well be seen by those around Boris Johnson as being a way of getting rid of the sort of MPs who would always be a thorn in the Prime Minister’s flesh. There is little point in having an election to get a majority if that majority turns out to be hollow, with a large group of backbenchers who won’t actually back the government on the key issue of the day. All this might be true, but the Conservative party tonight is in a

There will be a general election on 14 October if MPs defeat the government tomorrow on no-deal Brexit legislation. Number 10 will publish a motion tomorrow which says that if MPs do take control of the Order Paper and pass legislation for an extension to the Brexit deadline, there will be a general election. Senior government sources have just briefed that they do not want an election, but that this motion will show MPs that they are voting for one if they back the legislation. The sentiments offered at this bullish briefing were much stronger than the ones given by Johnson. The official said: ‘If you’re an MP, you don’t