Brexit news - live: Theresa May to fly to Brussels tomorrow for crucial talks with EU, as Juncker says breakthrough 'in God's hands'
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May is to travel to Brussels on Wednesday for crunch talks with the European Commission, as Jean-Claude Juncker said a breakthrough is in “God’s hands’.
It came after the prime minister met with her cabinet amid reports ministers told Ms May to stop using a no-deal scenario as a threat in the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
And it followed the decision by seven MPs to quit Labour on Monday – the biggest schism in the party since the formation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1980s.
On Tuesday members of the European Research Group (ERG) also met with the PM to discuss the future of the so-called Malthouse compromise arrangement amid speculation it had been killed off.
The plan, named for MP Kit Malthouse, would see the backstop dropped and the transition period extended in exchange for the UK paying some of the financial settlement it owes Brussels.
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker, of the ERG, said in a joint statement that the compromise was “alive and kicking”. They added: “We look forward to further developments.”
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay had previously briefed the cabinet on his talks with Michel Barnier in Brussels on Monday, at which the EU chief negotiator voiced concerns about the viability of the Malthouse plan.
Mr Barclay is also expected to make another visit to Brussels later in the week as Britain seeks the bloc’s approval for changes to the backstop – the insurance arrangement designed to avoid a hard Irish border after Brexit by keeping the UK in a customs union until a wider trade deal is agreed.
Late on Tuesday, Mr Barnier tweeted that there was a “clear and strong unity of EU27 to preserve the withdrawal agreement in all its dimensions, including on Ireland”.
See below how we reported the events live
Westminster is abuzz with gossip about the resignation of 7 Labour MPs to form a breakaway party called The Independent Group.
Here are the names in the frame:
About 100,000 Scots could lose their job in the event of a no-deal Brexit, MSPs have been told.
In a statement at Holyrood, Mike Russell, the Scottish constitutional relations secretary, warned: "A no-deal Brexit could, we estimate, result in an increase in unemployment in Scotland of around 100,000 people, more than doubling the unemployment rate.
"We would go from a record low to a level not far off that at the depths of the last recession, with all the human costs which that would entail."
One of the Labour break away MPs Angela Smith - speaking on Sky News - says her former party "is no longer redeemable".
Pressed on whether she will hold a by-election, Ms Smith says "we are not a political party".
"The demand out their for a new politics is very real," she adds.
Ms Smith says by the next election, she hopes the independents will have built a new political party.
Speaking about controversy over her "funny tinge" comment on Monday - shortly after the launch of the new group - she insisted it was because she was "very, very tired" and "had six hours of press engagement".
Here is the story on her remarks from yesterday
Power blackouts are not expected in Ireland or Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a Republic minister has said.
Richard Bruton, the minister for communication, climate action and environment, said legislation in an omnibus Brexit Bill would give new powers to the utility regulator to chance licences if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.
The minister added that coal, oil and gas systems should operate normally without fear of any significant disruption.
Sir John Major will plead for a return to the centre ground (Getty)
Both the Conservatives and Labour are being manipulated by "fringe" elements, former prime minister Sir John Major is to say.
The Tory dog is being wagged by the tail of "zealots" in the hardline Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG), he is to tell a meeting at the University of Glasgow.
And Labour is at "the mercy of a passionate, active, far-Left base".
Sir John is expected to tell the John Smith Centre for Public Service: ""Currently, both the Conservative and Labour parties are being manipulated by fringe opinion.
"The rationale for extremists joining mainstream parties is logical: from within them, they can influence policy; from without, they very rarely can.
"At the moment, there are people who - for now - may have their boots within the Conservative or Labour parties - but not in their minds, nor their hearts."
Of the ERG, he is to add: "Some - who can fairly be called zealots - seem incapable of looking beyond the one issue of Europe. It's not just that it dominates their thinking, it seems to obsess them."
Meanwhile, "Labour needs moderate MPs, and the country needs a moderate Labour Party", he will say.
Brexit has "unleashed a poison" into British society and damaged trust in politicians, Sir John is expected to say in a call for a return to the centre ground of politics.
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