Boris Johnson news: Leo Varadkar says Brexit deal is ‘possible’ by end of October after crunch talks with PM
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar have met for private talks on The Wirral and have agreed there is a “pathway” to a possible Brexit agreement.
It comes as Andrea Leadsom suggested the PM could send a second letter to the EU explaining he does not want any Brexit delay, alongside the letter asking for an Article 50 extension required by the Benn Act.
England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies, meanwhile, has warned that people could die as a result of a no-deal Brexit.
“There may be deaths,” she said.
Jeremy Corbyn said that in office a Labour government would legislate immediately for a fresh referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
“That referendum won’t be a re-run of 2016,” he said. “This time the choice will be between leaving with a sensible deal or remaining in the European Union.”
He said “there’s nothing complicated” about Labour’s position.
Corbyn explained that the party won an election he would negotiate a “sensible” Brexit deal and put that up against Remain in new referendum.
Answering questions from journalists he would negotiate “intelligent arrangements” with the EU.
We were told it was Cheshire, rather than Liverpool, for the big Boris Johnson-Leo Varadkar meeting. It turns out it’s … the Wirral.
Jeremy Corbyn has reiterated his party's plans to introduce a "War Powers Act", curtailing the power of a prime minister from launching air strikes on foreign countries without the consent of MPs.
"Currently the prime minister has the power under the royal prerogative to launch military action without recourse to parliament," he said.
"Boris Johnson – a prime minister without a majority – has talked about sending troops to Saudi Arabia to confront Iran: another disaster in the making.
"I will be a very different kind of prime minister, one who is prepare to limit my own power in the public interest. So that's why a Labour government will introduce a War Powers Bill to ensure no prime minister can bypass parliament to take the country to war."
Speaking in Northampton, the Labour leader also accused the prime minister of "using the Queen" for a pre-election Conservative Party broadcast ahead of the state opening of parliament on Monday.
In his first major address since the party's annual conference in Brighton, Mr Corbyn added that he will back a general election once it is clear a no-deal Brexit has been avoided on 31 October.
He denied that his party was avoiding an election – a claim repeatedly made by Mr Johnson – the Labour leader said he did not trust the prime minister not to force through a no-deal during an election campaign.
"Prime minister, we can't trust you not to break the law because you've got form," he said.
"So it's simple: obey the law, take no-deal off the table and then let's have the election."
Mr Corbyn also reiterated his party's promise to hold a second referendum within six months of a Labour government, adding: "As prime minister I will carry out whatever the people decide".
He continued: "That referendum won't be a re-run of 2016 – this time the choice will be between leaving with a sensible deal or remaining in the European Union."
Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would look to "mount legal action in the United States" against the decision to grant diplomatic immunity to a suspect in the Harry Dunn hit-and-run case.
The Labour leader said the granting of immunity by the US had been "completely unacceptable".
In a Q&A session after a speech in Northampton, he said: "I'm alarmed about that.
"For somebody to be killed in our country and the person who did it to flee to the United States and then claim diplomatic immunity is completely unacceptable.
"I know the family went to see Dominic Raab yesterday. We would put every bit of possible pressure we could on the United states.
"If we could mount legal action in the United States, we would do so because it is simply not acceptable for someone to seek diplomatic immunity when somebody - a wholly innocent individual - has been killed by the behaviour of somebody else."
Mr Corbyn said president Trump's claim that driving on the wrong side
of the road "can happen" as "the most crass, insensitive comment anyone could ever make".
Downing Street’s threat to take the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October is mere “bravado” and Boris Johnson will be blocked by the courts if he tries to do it, former chancellor Philip Hammond has said.
The is “no way round” the legal requirement under the so-called Benn Act for the prime minister to seek an extension to Brexit negotiations if he fails to secure a deal by the end of next week, Mr Hammond insisted.
He was speaking as he set out proposals for a new “super-soft Brexit” customs arrangement with Europe which he believes could be agreed with Brussels and MPs in place of Johnson’s plan, which he said “will not fly”.
More here:
A Conservative minister sparked alarm among EU nationals after appearing to suggest thousands of people without settled status could be deported after Brexit.
Brandon Lewis, the security minister, said European citizens living in the UK risked being sent home if they fail to apply for permanent residence by the end of 2020.
"If EU citizens have not registered by then and are not adequately justified, the applicable immigration rules will apply," he told the German newspaper Die Welt.
More here:
A man with a loudspeaker is outside the Johnson-Varadkar summit, shouting. “Are you going to run away again Boris? Some people in Cheshire saying we do not want Brexit, mate – we do not want Brexit.”
Former president of YouGov Peter Kellner has taken a look at the four myths that are distorting the Brexit debate.
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