Brexit news - live: Tories fear 'absolute hammering' at EU election as party slumps to fifth place in new poll

Debunking claims a final say isn't possible with Femi Oluwole

Senior Labour figures have warned a cross-party Brexit deal will be "impossible" to get through the Commons unless it includes a fresh public vote.

In an escalation of pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, both shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Tom Watson said up to 150 of the party's MPs could oppose any deal without a Final Say vote attached.

It comes as cross-party talks enter their seventh week, with pressure on both Theresa May and Mr Corbyn to walk away from the negotiations.

The latest session of talks began on Monday evening, with patience wearing out in the Tory ranks about Ms May's leadership and the attempt to strike a deal with Mr Corbyn's party.

Downing Street said the talks, which began in early April, had been "serious" but "difficult".

Asked if Monday's meeting between the negotiating teams was the "last chance" to make progress, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Let's see how this evening plays out."

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said this week would be "crunch week" for the cross-party negotiations, adding that another public vote "would be a betrayal of what people voted for, and we want to implement the first referendum".

This liveblog has now closed, but you can see Monday's events below

Key Points

• Any Brexit deal unlikely to pass without a second referendum, Starmer says
• ... as Tom Watson tells Corbyn Labour's old leader would have backed Final Say
• ... and Tories slump to fifth place as Brexit Party tops EU election poll
• Tory MP predicts 'absolute hammering' in 23 May vote
• Three-quarters of voters think the government has spent too much time on Brexit

[13 May 2019 11:19 · Ashley Cowburn]

[13 May 2019 11:40 · Ashley Cowburn]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has urged Theresa May to resign to end the "complete vacuum of leadership" as he claimed the majority of Tory members he meets would vote for the Brexit Party, writes political correspondent Lizzy Buchan.

The staunch Brexiteer said he did not "see how a leader can go on" with so little support from party faithful, saying Ms May had lost the backing of Conservative associations across the country.

As a remarkable new poll put the Conservatives in fifth place in the upcoming European elections, Mr Rees-Mogg said the activists he was meeting were saying they would vote for Nigel Farage's insurgent outfit.

[13 May 2019 11:55 · Ashley Cowburn]

On the cross-party talks, a spokesperson for the prime minister has just been quizzed by journalists, but made it clear there has been no change in the current position. "Let's see where we get to this evening," the spokesman said - referring to the resumption of talks today at 5pm in Whitehall. 

Asked whether Theresa May was playing for time, he added that the PM had "tried all other avenues" and that "she is trying determinedly to find a way through". 

Pressed on whether firms should be stockpiling for the possibility of a no-deal outcome in October - the new Brexit deadline - the PM's spokesman would not be drawn, but said it was a matter of legal fact that a deal Brexit was still the default route, without a deal in place.

[13 May 2019 12:01 · Ashley Cowburn]

Nigel Evans - an executive member of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs - has said his party are "going to get an absolute hammering" in the European Union elections.

"Even the opinion polls for the next general election are woeful for the Conservative Party," he told The Emma Barnett Show on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"They're the worst I've seen in my political history and I've been a member of the party for 44 years.

"The fact is, what are we going to say? Please vote for our MEPs who we hope won't be able to take their seats because we will have done a deal? That's basically the message."

On the cross-party Brexit talks between Labour and the Conservatives, he added: "These talks that are resuming today between the Labour Party and the Conservatives are nothing more than a cosmetic exercise, which was displayed by Tom Watson this morning," he said.

"How can we possibly talk to a Labour Party that has its deputy leader of that party saying now they wish to remain and reform the European Union?"

[13 May 2019 12:35 · Ashley Cowburn]

Arlene Foster - the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - has claimed a second Brexit referendum would put democracy at risk.

Attending the launch of her party's European election manifesto in Belfast, she also criticised Theresa May for lacking the vision of a strong UK post-Brexit.

"What people want to see is democracy being respected. Unfortunately it hasn't been respected and we have a Remain parliament, therefore parliament has not been able to deliver on Brexit in the way it should have been delivered upon," she said.

"We have a prime minister frankly who doesn't have the vision for the United Kingdom post Brexit that we all want to see. We want to see a United Kingdom that is strong post-Brexit and has a close relationship with Europe."

[13 May 2019 13:05 · Ashley Cowburn]

[13 May 2019 13:31 · Ashley Cowburn]

Tom Watson will today claim that former party leader John Smith would have understood the need for a Final Say vote.

In a speech on Monday, the party’s deputy leader will admit that Labour supporters are “not happy” with its current Brexit policy and make an impassioned plea to them not to abandon the party in European parliament elections later this month.

In comments that will be widely interpreted as on attack on Mr Corbyn, he will hit out at left-wing critics of the EU and say that they are just as “wrong-headed” as right-wing Eurosceptics.

Mr Watson will use a lecture at the Fabian Society in memory of Smith, a popular figure in Labour, to pile pressure on Mr Corbyn to back a Final Say referendum.

[13 May 2019 13:59 · Ashley Cowburn]

On the cross-party Brexit talks, the Labour MP Stephen Kinnock told the BBC Radio 4's World At One:  "What would be a real shame is if the talks are failing because they are being torpedoed by an additional red line that Labour is bringing in around a second referendum."

"If you try to insert a second referendum into these talks they won't get through because the Conservatives will not whip their MPs to support it."

[13 May 2019 14:20 · Ashley Cowburn]

This is from Buzzfeed's Alex Wickham, which suggests a possible change to this week's parliamentary business... 

[13 May 2019 14:37 · Lizzy Buchan]

The Commons is now sitting, starting with work and pensions questions answered by Amber Rudd.

There are also two statements - on domestic abuse, and brain tumour research.