Brexit: Theresa May vows to delay EU departure to secure a deal and reaches out to Jeremy Corbyn
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has reached out to Jeremy Corbyn to find a way through the Brexit deadlock as she vowed to delay the UK’s exit to secure a deal.
In a statement from Downing Street, Ms May said: “This is a decisive moment in the story of these islands and it will require national unity to deliver the national interest.’’
Mr Corbyn, the Labour leader, said he was “very happy” to meet the prime minister to discuss a way forward.
It comes after Ms May gathered her cabinet for seven-hour crisis talks after MPs once again failed to unite around any Brexit option during a late-night session of indicative votes.
Recap our coverage of the day's developments
Despite Ms May’s departure plan having been rejected by MPs three times in the House of Commons, it is believed she may try to put it to the house for a fourth time.
The meetings come amid growing speculation the prime minister could call a snap general election if a fourth attempt to pass her deal fails.
MPs have begun a fresh push to agree an alternative Brexit plan that would be put to a referendum in the autumn, despite throwing out all options last night.
Talks will begin to settle on a “composite motion”, combining soft Brexit proposals with a commitment to putting them to the people to confirm – with the alternative of staying in the EU.
Anna Soubry, who defected to The Independent Group from the Conservatives, insisted a compromise was still achievable and that supporters of a Final Say referendum were making “huge progress”.
Read the full piece here.
MPs will start the day with Foreign Office questions today at 11.30. It is very likely that the Speaker will call some urgent questions but no information on that yet.
Former Conservative leader William Hague has warned that an early election could leave the Tories in a far worse condition than after Tony Blair's landslide victory in 1997 - where the party was left with only 165 MPs.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Tory peer said: "The internal situation in the Conservative Party is much worse than it was in 1997.
"The ruin I moved in to as the new leader was, at least, intact.
"We had many differences, but we resolved them without talk of leaving altogether, opposing our own party on a vote of confidence, or deselecting tranches of MPs. We all joined together in the long task of rebuilding.
"By contrast, some of today's leadership candidates may find themselves sitting in a small ruin on their own."
Ex-Brexit secretary David Davis has said up to 20 Tories could vote against the government in a confidence vote - as they consider Brexit more important than Theresa May's administration.
He told the Today programme: "I'd only make one warning to the cabinet... don't be sure that every Conservative MP would vote for you if it was made a confidence vote.
"One or two of them have said already... and, I think, probably about 20 of them would say, this, actually, is so important, it's the future of our country.
"It's our destiny at stake. It's more important than the Tory party."
Asked about standing for the Tory leadership, Mr Davis said: "People have been coming to me for months on this... and I say I'm not going to think about it.
"Why? Because this issue is more important than the leadership."
Mr Davis added that the next leader would need to be strongly pro-Leave, stating: "I think it probably has to be a Brexiteer, but that doesn't mean it has to be a right winger."
Lovely bit of colour from Sam Coates at The Times on how boring cabinet conference calls can be sometimes.
Britain's most senior civil servant has privately warned cabinet ministers of the dire consequences of a no-deal Brexit.
Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, told ministers that leaving the EU without an agreement will result in food prices rising by ten per cent, the police being unable to protect people and the economy suffering the worst recession in a decade.
Direct rule would have to be restored in Northern Ireland for the first time since 2007 and the government would come under pressure to bail out companies that had gone bust, he warned.
Read our piece here.
Brexit committee chairman Hilary Benn said that if the PM did not announce she was seeking an Article 50 extension, MPs could try to force her to on Wednesday.
Referring to an extension request, he told the Today programme: "If she does not do so then there is an option available to the House of Commons to seek to legislate to require the Prime Minister to do that."
The Tories have upped their social media game, with a string of attack tweets on Jeremy Corbyn. A cynical person might say they are preparing for a general election - but who knows?
European Research Group (ERG) enforcer Steve Baker has been mocked for telling Sky News that he is "Brexit hardman Steve Baker". It seems like a tongue-in-cheek comment but also indicative of how tired MPs are starting to lose the plot.
MPs have launched a new committee to probe the threats caused by disinformation to democracy. Tory MP Damian Collins will chair it - continuing his work as chair of the DCMS committee, and thorn in the side of tech giants.
He said: “Since beginning our investigations, tech companies have only shifted superficially in their approach to privacy, and only for the benefit of their own PR.
"It’s unacceptable and we must keep up the pressure for them to shift their approach to ensure people and their rights are protected."
First on the agenda will be the government's white paper on online harms, which was due to be published by the end of March.
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