Boris Johnson news – live: PM apologises for failing to deliver his ‘do or die’ Brexit, as Tory MP steps down amid groping claims
Conservative leader says failure to leave EU in October is matter of ‘deep regret’
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has apologised to voters for failing to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October and called the Brexit extension a matter of “deep regret”.
In an interview on Sky News this morning, the prime minister also refused to say what is the naughtiest thing he has ever done after he was asked the question that stumped Theresa May in 2017.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has announced that he will not be standing as an MP in the December election but said he would not be standing down Brexit Party candidates to help the Conservatives win a majority.
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Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has told Andrew Marr that his party wants to get rid of all NHS privatisation if they are able to form a government.
Mr McDonnell said the government should not allow businesses to “profiteer from the NHS”.
The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope has noted that Mr Marr did not ask one question about Brexit to the shadow chancellor, which could indicate how other issues may dominate during the election campaign.
Here’s another suggestion Mr Farage is not planning on going soft on the Conservatives in the general election campaign.
He has produced a double-page ad in the Leave-supporting Sunday Express today with the message “Boris’ deal is not Brexit” and a letter dismissing the prime minister's deal.
The Lib Dems complained to ITV last night about the exclusion of Jo Swinson from an election debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.
On Sky News this morning, Ms Swinson explained why she is angry at the prospect of a debate with only the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.
“Either it's sexist, or they're scared, or maybe it's a bit of both,” she told Sophie Ridge.
Here’s another detail from John McDonnell’s interview on Marr today.
The shadow chancellor has strongly suggested that a Labour government would cancel the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
He said Labour has set out criteria for policy on environmental, economic and social impacts and currently Heathrow expansion “does not qualify on the basis of the criteria”.
Scottish independence is set to be a major policy dispute during this election campaign, with the Labour Party potentially allowing a new referendum on the issue.
Despite Mr Johnson rejecting another independence vote, Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that “things have changed” since the last referendum five years ago.
Ms Sturgeon said she believes Jeremy Corbyn will allow a request to hold a legally-binding vote if he is voted into Downing Street.
Rebecca Long-Bailey appeared to confirm that view by saying Labour would not advocate for Scottish independence but it would not “stand in Scotland’s way” if its government wanted a new vote.
Another MP has announced they will not be standing in the general election.
Margot James was part of a group of Conservative MPs who were kicked out of the party for backing the Benn Act in September but she had the whip restored on 29 October.
However, Ms James has decided she will not be seeking re-election in December.
The former minister resigned from the government in July after she voted for an amendment to try to block a no-deal Brexit.
Here's an important point on the government’s announcement about the benefits freeze coming to an end next year.
A number of political journalists have pointed out that the 2016 benefits freeze was already set to end in 2020 and the announcement is not a new commitment – it is simply a confirmation of a pre-existing plan.
In Northern Ireland, opposition parties are hoping to break the DUP and Sinn Fein’s political dominance in the upcoming election.
Naomi Long, the leader of the centrist Alliance Party, has urged voters to change their minds over the “unicorn” Brexit they were promised.
Ms Long said:
“People were promised back in 2016 that we were going to get unicorn Brexit, that everything was going to be wonderful.
“What we are now getting is lame donkey Brexit and I think people have a right to say, in the context of seeing all of that, that they have changed their minds.”
Meanwhile, former Ulster Unionist Party MP Tom Elliott has refused to confirm if he will stand in the election.
Mr Elliott has found himself at the centre of speculation after the DUP’s Arlene Foster said her party would back him as an agreed-unionist candidate in the Fermanagh South Tyrone constituency.
Additional reporting by PA
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn has the full story on Nigel Farage’s decision to not stand as an MP in the December election.
If he did stand, it would be his eighth bid to become an MP after a run of failed attempts dating back to 1994.
You can read the story below:
Jo Swinson has been challenged about “misleading” campaign literature from the Liberal Democrats.
A poll commissioned by the Lib Dems was criticised this week for asking voters in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency how they would vote if the result was “expected to be very close between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidate”.
In 2017, the party was in a third place behind the Conservatives and Labour with just 8 per cent of the vote.
Ms Swinson has defended the poll by saying “politics has changed significantly since the 2017 election”.
In response, Sophie Ridge compared it to the “£350m for the NHS” pledge by the Leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum.
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