Boris Johnson news: PM confident 'our friends in the EU' will change Brexit position as No 10 refuses to recall parliament
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.No 10 has rejected Labour’s call for Boris Johnson to recall parliament to debate Brexit, as Jeremy Corbyn vowed to block a no-deal exit and called the prime minister “Britain’s Trump”.
The PM claimed he was “confident” that “our friends and partners” in the EU would change their stance on the backstop and come up with a negotiated deal.
It comes as Downing Street reacts with fury to the publication of the “Operation Yellowhammer” dossier setting out the negative impacts of a crash-out departure. The Home Office, meanwhile, plans to end the free movement of EU citizens on day one of no deal.
This liveblog has now closed
Jeremy Corbyn was asked about a second referendum at today’s post-speech Q&A session with journalists.
“We’ve made it clear that in a general election we’ll put forward the opportunity for the people of this country to have the final say – this isn’t a re-run of the 2016. This is simply saying the people of this country should make the final decision.
“If it’s no-deal versus Remain, then obviously John McDonnell and others have made it clear we’ll support Remain.”
“If there is an opportunity for some other option to be put then that will be put.”
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell talked about that distinction in more detail on the Today programme earlier today.
He spoke about Labour wanting to give the electorate a “credible option” to leave the EU – not a no-deal Brexit, in order words.
He said you could offer the electorate terms of a withdrawal deal from the EU that a Labour government could “go off and negotiate” if people voted for it.
But that’s just one option the party would still have to decide on. McDonnell said Labour was now “narrowing down the discussion”.
Got that? Good.
Our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan has had a look at what Boris Johnson had to say about the Operation Yellowhammer dossier – including his description of potential no-deal impacts as merely “bumps in the road”.
Former chancellor Philip Hammond has denied leaking the Operation Yellowhammer dossier after No 10 claimed it was “deliberately leaked by a former minister”.
A spokesman for Hammond told the Telegraph: “It was absolutely not him.”
The Conservative Party has ramped up its spending on Facebook advertising.
Data from the social media giant shows the Tories spent £86,020 on targeted advertising on Facebook in the 30 days to August 17 – more than they spent over the previous 60 days (£54,603).
The 30-day total is more than three times the amount spent by the Labour Party (£23,135) during the same period.
The Liberal Democrats were the top spenders over the past 90 days with £151,137, but forked out just £4,027 in the 30 days to August 17. The Brexit Party also appeared to reduce its spending – paying £11,461 in the past 30 days, compared with £83,155 over 90 days.
Many of the Conservative-funded Facebook adverts targeted political opponents, including one in the past week specifically aimed at constituents of former Tory MP Sarah Wollaston.
One of several similar versions of the advert aimed at residents of Totnes, Devon, read: “Should your MP, Sarah Wollaston, be ignoring YOUR vote to leave the EU? Tell her YES or NO now.”
Wollaston, an outspoken opponent of Brexit, left the Conservatives in February to form Change UK, before switching to the Liberal Democrats.
The adverts echo tactics by pro-Brexit campaigns such as Leave.EU and Britain’s Future, which targeted constituents of Remain-supporting MPs, urging the public to email them or even deselect them.
Boris Johnson has insisted that he remains "confident" of securing a Brexit deal, despite the EU having said it will not reopen negotiations
Our chief political commentator John Rentoul has taken a look at the squabbling over who should lead a caretaker government to stop Britain leaving the EU without agreement.
Ministers have been warned that dramatically changing the immigration system on October 31 could leave the UK facing “another Windrush” – a reference to the scandal which led to Amber Rudd’s downfall as home secretary.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said “freedom of movement as it currently stands will end on October 31 when the UK leaves the EU”.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said there was a “question mark” over whether the government’s plans to end freedom of movement on October 31 would be legal and whether the ports and the borders "could actually cope logistically".
He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “This is increasing uncertainty for all employers and I think could be highly damaging for people using the NHS or depend on the services of a business that has EU workers."
The government he said “hasn’t even said what they’d put in its place”, adding: “This is chaos gone mad. Priti Patel is almost setting fire to the British economy and British public services.”
Boris Johnson has criticised "mumbo jumbo" on the internet about the alleged risk of vaccinations.
Speaking during his visit to a hospital in Cornwall, the prime minister said:
"I think there's complacency on the part of parents about the need to get that second vaccine but also, I'm afraid, people have been listening to that superstitious mumbo jumbo on the internet, all that anti-vax stuff and thinking that the MMR vaccine is a bad idea.
"That's wrong.
"Please get your kids vaccinated because it's not just the right thing for them, but also of course it is the right thing for the whole population because it might not be your kid that gets it, it could be somebody else's."
The National Union of Farmers has warned that a no-deal Brexit would "massively reduce" the competitiveness of UK goods in the EU.
The organisation's director of EU exit and international trade. Nick von Westenholz, said:
"It is clear that in a no-deal Brexit UK companies will face high tariffs on agricultural exports to the EU.
"If this additional cost is passed on to British farmers, many of whom already operate on very tight margins, it could massively reduce the competitiveness of British goods on the EU market and potentially lead to a surplus in the UK market.
"This would be exacerbated further by the low, and in some cases non-existent, tariffs the Government has said it will charge on imports in a no-deal scenario.
"The NFU has consistently called for a deal with the EU that maintains free and frictionless trade and provides the right trading, regulatory and economic environment in which farming can thrive.
"We strongly advocate leaving the EU in an orderly manner in order to achieve a positive outcome for British farming."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments