Boris Johnson news: Tories on brink of losing majority as top Brexiteer attacks Farage for splitting by-election vote
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson has suffered a blow to his authority after the Liberal Democrats overturned the Tory majority in Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, powered by a "Remain alliance".
Jo Swinson, the new Lib Dem leader, suggested future electoral pacts between pro-EU parties after Plaid Cymru and the Greens threw their weight behind her party for the ballot, which reduced the Tory majority to only one.
"It is still eminently possible to stop Brexit," she said, at an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
"Delivering a People's Vote is still an option - the way in which in March we took control of the order paper - that is something which could be done again.
"We are going to explore different strategies."
She added: "What happened in March was that a motion was used to take control of the order paper, so that it was not only the Prime Minister or the leader of the House on a given day that was able to initiate what the business would be.
"So there are ways around it. And then you get into - is that better achieved by a vote of no confidence to bring the government down, or is it about bringing forward a Bill to secure a People's Vote."
Ms Swinson's comments come as a leaked Whitehall document laid bare widespread fears of consumer panic, rising crime and economic chaos in the aftermath a no-deal Brexit.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said the party's fourth place position in the by-election was "disappointing".
If you would like to see how events in Westminster unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
George Galloway has asked Pope Francis to “intervene” over a tweet by Alan Sugar in which he compared Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet to the skulls inside a Roman Catholic chapel.
The former Labour politician said the post by the businessman and host of The Apprentice was “intolerable”, blasphemous and “an offence against the Church”.
Addressing his message to the Pope, Mr Galloway said: “Please Father intervene.”
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The Brexit Party fielding candidates against the Conservatives would be a "massive own goal", a former Tory minister has warned.
Steve Baker, a vocal Eurosceptic who served as a Brexit minister under Theresa May, suggested that Nigel Farage's party should agree not to stand against the Tories.
More here:
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, is among those congratulating the Liberal Democrats, after the party won the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election.
"Congratulations to [Jo Swinson] & the [Liberal Democrats], Britain's pro- European party, on their success," he said on Twitter.
"The party goes from strength to strength & it really could change everything."
"It’s really time to get ready for Brexit. Yes, things are slightly more urgent if you’re a government minister or a farmer or you have an interest in just-in-time supply chains," writes Felicity Hannah.
"But even if you’re a normal person then there’s not much time to get your finances braced for a possible no deal."
Read her guide to financially surviving a no-deal Brexit here:
Chris Philip, MP for Croydon South, has been appointed as Sajid Javid's PPS.
"A lot to do in order to prepare for leaving the EU on 31st October, and making sure the UK’s record high employment and 45-year record low unemployment continues," he said.
The Scottish government is ramping up preparations for a no-deal Brexit, as Nicola Sturgeon warned the country's economy would be "seriously damaged".
The First Minister said leaving the EU without a deal would "inevitably cause disruption" whatever the government does to prepare.
Scottish Government ministers agreed to step up preparations at a Cabinet meeting on Friday, claiming Boris Johnson's apparent refusal to negotiate with the EU has made a no-deal Brexit more likely.
"In its first week, the UK Government has shown it is willing to risk a no-deal Brexit," Ms Sturgeon said.
"Taking Scotland out of the EU in any way is deeply undemocratic but the Prime Minister's refusal to engage with the EU has dramatically increased the prospect that we will face a deeply damaging no-deal Brexit.
"If the Prime Minister continues with this approach Scottish jobs will be lost and our economy seriously damaged and it will be entirely the UK Government's responsibility.
"Having assessed the actions of the new UK Government our work to prepare for no-deal will intensify in the coming weeks and months.
"But even with the best possible preparations, leaving the EU without a deal will hurt Scotland's businesses, disrupt trade and impact on all aspects of society.
"There is simply no way to mitigate every impact that no deal will have, no matter how hard we try."
Steve Baker, Conservative MP for Wycombe, said the Brexit Party standing against Conservative candidates was a "massive own goal".
The Brexit Party have now responded, telling Benjamin Kentish, our political correspondent, that Mr Baker's tweet was a "a ridiculous thing to say".
"While we have a government led by somebody nobody has ever trusted in his entire career, why should we trust the Tories? Why should anyone in the country trust the Tories?
"Unless [Tory Brexiteers] ensure the Conservative Party delivers, they will no longer be the party of government....if they think we’re going to take our foot off the accelerator or off the Tories' necks, they’ve got another thing coming."
Earlier Westminster reeled from the revelation that up to 10 so-called free ports will be established in the UK after Brexit under new plans unveiled by the government.
"Shipping ports and airports across the UK will be invited to bid for “free port” status after Britain leaves the EU, in line with a pledge made by Boris Johnson during the Tory leadership contest," writes Benjamin Kentish.
"Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, claimed the move would create thousands of jobs and boost economic growth.
"But Labour warned that it would be the beginning of a “race to the bottom”.
Read more here:
The Liberal Democrats' victory in the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election has prompted fresh pressure on Labour's leadership over the party's Brexit stance.
"The middle ground on brexit,once verdant & promising, is now a desolate & dangerous political no-man’s land," said Clive Lewis, MP for Norwich South.
"[Labour] must abandon it, take cover, get its collective asses into a trench and lay down some serious heavy artillery on Farage, Johnson & the hard Tory right."
"Oh to be Dominic Raab. No, really. Just imagine what it must be like to have a job that allows you to sod off somewhere a long way away when things are getting hot in your backyard," writes our columnist James Moore.
"If only we could persuade him to stay put in Bangkok, where he’s busy dribbling about trade opportunities as his friends press on with their plans to put up walls between us and our biggest market as part of a no-deal Brexit for which there is no democratic mandate.
"The foreign secretary has, of course, got caught with his pants down and on fire after claiming that he and his friends have that because they warned about the possibility at every opportunity during the EU referendum.
"Except they didn’t."
Read his piece here:
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