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As it happenedended

Brexit news: Labour votes against backing Remain in new referendum, as Boris Johnson denies misusing public funds

The latest developments as they happened

Adam Forrest
In Brighton
,Ben Kentish,Lizzy Buchan
Monday 23 September 2019 21:26 BST
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Questions over Boris Johnson’s relationship with ex-model ‘awarded £126,000 of public funds’

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Labour‘s annual conference has rejected a motion calling for the party to oppose Brexit in all circumstances.

Delegates at the gathering in Brighton voted down a plan that would have seen the party support Remain in any future referendum. They instead backed a proposal from the party leadership that will see Labour delay deciding its position until after a general election.

The decision – which was based on a show of hands – proved highly controversial, with some observers suggesting it was a “stitch up”.

However others were pleased with the approval of the leader’s stance on Brexit, and around half of the delegates began chanting “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn”.

Elsewhere, Boris Johnson is facing a probe into allegations he failed to declare potential conflicts of interest as London mayor over the allocation of public money to an American businesswoman.

Officials at City Hall and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are looking into Mr Johnson’s ties with Jennifer Arcuri, with MPs calling for the PM to quit if claims are substantiated.

Mr Johnson initially refused to answer questions about the allegations before eventually insisting that “everything was done with complete propriety”.

The prime minister went on to meet European Council president Donald Tusk at the UN General Assembly in New York. Mr Tusk later tweeted that there had been “no breakthrough”.

It came as Mr Johnson awaited Tuesday’s ruling by the Supreme Court on whether his decision to shut down parliament was unlawful or not.

See below for our coverage of events as they happened

NEC member Yasmine Dar has said Labour will hold a "one-day special conference" to give members a say on how the party campaigns in any future Brexit referendum.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Brighton, she said: "Labour is the only major UK party willing to give our people the final say.

"The Conservatives want a no-deal Brexit with no mandate, delivering us into the tiny hands of Donald Trump."

She said the Liberal Democrats want to "override democracy" in a "parliamentary stitch-up".

She said: "To give members the maximum say in how Labour will campaign in any future referendum, we will hold a one-day special conference to decide."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 13:16

Another trade union has come out against Labour's Brexit policy - and vowed to back a motion to campaign for Remain.

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 13:37

Boris Johnson is facing an investigation by City Hall and the government amid allegations he handed a privileged place on a trade trip to a businesswoman when he was London mayor.

Read the original piece here.

A spokeswoman for Sadiq Khan said: “All the events in question occurred when the previous mayor was in office and any questions about decisions made at that time are for him.

“Sadiq has asked City Hall officials to look into what processes were followed during that time to ensure that any lessons are learned for the future.”

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 13:56

Tens of thousands of people living in the Republic of Ireland who use a UK driving licence could be driving illegally in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish government has warned.

Some 40,000 people who live and work in the Republic and drive with a UK licence have been urged to change to an Irish licence before the end of October.

Ireland's European Minister Helen McEntee said: "While a significant number of people have changed their UK or Northern Ireland driving licences to Irish licences - around 30,000 so far this year - there is still an estimated about 40,000 people driving and living in Ireland who, by October 31 in the event of a no-deal, will be driving illegally.

"We would encourage people to change over. It's a process that takes no longer than five to 10 days. It's 55 euro.

"If the UK were to become a third country they will no longer be recognised under EU legislation.

"Drivers will then have to take theory tests, driving lessons and also driving tests again to have an Irish licence."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:13

Emily Thornberry says she will be "out there campaigning to Remain" in her speech to delegates.

She said: "Boris Johnson in charge, attempting to drive our country off a cliff, just as soon as he can work out which pedal is the accelerator. But we will not let it happen. 

"As Brighton’s Peter Kyle has said, we must fight with every fibre of our beings to say between now and October 31, and afterwards if there is a General Election, that any terms of departure, from any government, must go back to the British public for the final say.

"They should have the option to Remain, and I for one will be out there campaigning to Remain."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:23

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:27

Emily Thornberry says the UK must provide leadership in a world that is "consumed by the resurgence of so-called ‘strongman politics’."

She said: "Putin killing with impunity from Syria to Salisbury. Maduro plunging Venezuela into ever-deeper division and misery. Bolsonaro hailing Brazil’s military junta as a golden age.

"Duterte boasting about killing Filipino street children. Netanyahu trying to turn Israel into an apartheid state.

"Khamenei jailing innocent women in Iran as diplomatic bargaining chips. Assad, Erodgan, Orban, Sisi – the list goes on and on.

"And wherever we see these ‘strongman’ politicians, we see the same patterns coming up: a nationalism that trades in lies, hatred and fear; a nationalism not defined by love of their country and all its people, but by the demonisation of outsiders, and an attempt to divide their country’s population into ‘us’ and ‘them’, where ‘them’ can be anyone - immigrants, minorities, the LGBT+ community - or the politicians and journalists who stand up for them."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:30

Emily Thornberry absolutely tears into Donald Trump, saying "How can you lead a free world when you are locking toddlers in cages?

"How can you lead a free world when you’re trying to take away the freedom of women to control their own bodies?

"And how can you lead a free world when you are actively supporting the suppression and annexation of Palestine?"

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:33

Emily Thornberry opened by criticising Boris Johnson, who she shadowed when he was foreign secretary.

She joked: "I've seen Boris Johnson up close - not close up like a lot of other women, thank goodness."

Ms Thornberry added: "In my entire time in parliament, I have never shadowed anyone so lazy, so incompetent, so deceitful and reckless, so utterly unsuited to the job of prime minister."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:35

There are two eye-catching policy announcements in Emily Thornberry's speech, as well as the fiery rhetoric against Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.

Labour will commit to ensuring that surviving Black African, Asian and Caribbean soldiers who fought to free the world from fascism get the same demob payments  given to their white counterparts.

She said: "They put their lives on the line for our freedom, they watched their comrades die, but then faced the insult, the indignity of being paid a different rate when they went home, simply because of the colour of their skin. In government, we will correct that injustice."

Ms Thornberry also vowed to give £50,000 lump sum payments to military veterans who were exposed to radiation while overseeing nuclear tests.

She said: "The men who from the 1950s onwards were exposed to terrible levels of radiation when overseeing Britain’s nuclear tests, and who have not just seen their own health damaged as a result, but most painfully, their children and grand-children too."

Lizzy Buchan23 September 2019 14:41

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