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.
Looks like the first cabinet meeting - a political one, meaning no civil servants were present and rather just Conservative officials - is now over.
It is expected the regular Tuesday cabinet will follow... once cabinet ministers have had a bite to eat, of course.
This is from ITV's Paul Brand
It is the idea that briefly seemed to unite leading voices on both sides of the political divide – a government of national unity to end the never-ending turmoil that is Brexit, writes Rob Merrick.
Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, who sits on the European Parliament's Brexit steering group, said MPs were "deluding themselves" if they thought the Malthouse Compromise would work.
He said: "They are deluding themselves - I have seen too much of that over the last two years in Westminster.
"I'm afraid the harsh reality is quite different and if people cannot come to terms with reality then the wake-up will be difficult."
On the Northern Irish border he said "quite obviously" it would need to be policed and "it is not the EU that has created the problem".
A new £50 note should feature someone from a more diverse background, an MP has said, amid fears of a disproportionate number of "historic white men" on banknotes.
Tory MP Helen Grant said it is "disappointing and very surprising" that the Bank of England has so far "failed to recognise the ethnic diversity of our population on our national currency".
She said 14 per cent of the UK's population are from a black, Asian, or minority-ethnic background, and that the national currency should do a better job of reflecting that diversity.
Speaking in the House of Commons, she said all but three of the notable individuals featured on banknotes had been "historic white men" and that there had so far been no-one from a minority background.
She added that choosing who to portray on a new £50 note is a "wonderful opportunity" to send a message about modern Britain.
The Banknote Diversity Bill will be brought back for a second reading on April 5.
Leo Varadkar, the taioseach, and French president Emmanuel Macron have given a joint press conference in Paris.
Mr Macron said that credible justifications for an Article 50 extension could include an election, second referendum or alternative proposals for the future relationship, such as a customs union.
The EU would be "open" to such proposals, but it was for London to put them forward, he said.
"A long extension involving the participation of the UK in European elections and European institutions is far from evident and certainly not (to be taken) for granted.
"Our priority shall be the good functioning of the EU and the single market. The EU cannot sustainably be the hostage to the solution to a political crisis in the UK."
He added: "We cannot spend the coming months sorting out yet again the terms of our divorce and dealing with the past."
Parliament needs tougher sanctions for people who fail to appear in front of its committees, says a senior MP, after the former Vote Leave chairman Dominic Cummings was simply "admonished" after being found in contempt of the parliament.
Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, said it should have the power to fine people or even send them to prison, as is the case in some other countries.
He was speaking in a debate on the report from the Committee of Privileges, which said Mr Cummings' repeated failure to answer his questions "constituted a significant interference" with his inquiry.
The former special adviser to Michael Gove was also found to have "committed a contempt" by the House, which "formally admonishes him for his conduct".
Mr Cummings was summoned to face a DCMS committee hearing into "fake news" last summer to answer questions about Vote Leave's campaign methods during the EU referendum in 2016, but refused after a long row over email about the terms of his appearance.
Mr Collins told the Commons: "We have to accept that if we don't take our own powers seriously other people will behave in the same way.
"Other people will look at this case and say you can simply ignore it, you can ignore their request, there is nothing they can do."
He added: "I don't believe he [Cummings] did ever accept the legitimacy of parliament to ask him to appear which I think is a matter we should take seriously in its own right and that I think from the very start it looks clear that he thought that he should give evidence on his own terms in his own way on his own date."
He added: "It's rare a summons is issued, most witnesses come willingly, but we should have that power and when that power is refused, when someone shows contempt for us there should be a sanction, we should have a power to act further."
The motion to "admonish" Mr Cummings was later approved by the Commons.
Interesting... looks like the Yvette Cooper/Letwin plan is for tomorrow.
Emmanuel Macron has said he is “open” to granting a long Brexit delay if the UK wants to use the time to hold a general election, second referendum, or work out new red lines.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar in Paris, the French president said the granting of another extension would be “far from evident and is certainly not for granted” if the UK requested one.
“Should the United Kingdom be unable, three years after the referendum, to propose a solution back by a majority, they de facto will have chosen by themselves to leave without a deal,” Mr Macron told reporters.
More here.
The cabinet meeting has now been going on for nearly 7 hours. Former sports minister Tracey Crouch is worried the cabinet will be climbing the walls and suggests sending emergency supplies
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