Brexit news: Farage hit by milkshake in Newcastle as Tories jockey for position in race to replace May
Conservative leadership race continues as health secretary refuses to rule out bid
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Nigel Farage has been attacked with a milkshake during a campaign stop in Newcastle. The Brexit Party leader was furious with his security team and later said that "normal campaigning is becoming impossible".
It came as Theresa May was set to make a last-ditch offer to MPs in a fourth attempt to win support for her Brexit deal, even as the race to replace her as Conservative leader continues. She will enter discussions with senior ministers after cross-party talks with Labour broke down last week.
Her plan has yet to be finalised, but it is understood to include additional protection on workers’ rights and the environment, as well as clarification of how the UK will seek to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There is scepticism throughout Westminster about its chances of passing.
But the PM suffered a blow when the EU Commission said it would not revisit the withdrawal agreement.
It came as the Liberal Democrats warned that British consumers could face a greater risk of exploitation after Brexit if the UK loses the EU's clout to fine multinational companies.
New analysis by the party shows 44 companies have been fined a total of €13.8bn (£12.1bn) by the European Commission since May 2017, for offences that increase prices and reduce choice for consumers, such as operating cartels, abusing market dominance and misleading competition authorities.
And away from Brexit, the new defence secretary, Penny Mordaunt, was forced to order an urgent review of a secret policy under fire for allowing ministers to share intelligence with allies even if there is a risk of torture.
See below how we covered the day's events live
The energy minister Claire Perry is to take a leave of absence to care for a member of her family who is unwell, Downing Street has said.
Chris Skidmore, the current minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation, will cover for her and attend cabinet meetings.
A number of his areas of responsibility will be shared out among other serving ministers.
Following his campaign stop in Newcastle where he was attacked with a milkshake, Nigel Farage has visited Wakefield, in west Yorkshire.
However, he did not leave the safety of his campaign bus this time, instead choosing to give a short address from the open-topped vehicle as police looked on.
He was shouted at by a small group of anti-racism campaigners but cheered by his supporters.
After speaking with reporters, he left for another rally in Bolton.
Additional reporting by PA
British consumers could face a greater risk of exploitation after Brexit, if it loses the EU's clout to fine multinational companies, according to the Liberal Democrats, writes Lizzy Buchan.
New analysis by the party shows 44 companies have been fined a total of €13.8bn (£12.1bn) by the European Commission since May 2017, for offences that increase prices and reduce choice for consumers, such as operating cartels, abusing market dominance and misleading competition authorities.
Tech giant Google has been fined some €8.26bn for several antitrust violations, including preventing rivals from advertising on third-party websites, pushing its shopping service on search engine users, and imposing restrictions on Android devices to cement the dominance of its search engine.
A secret policy under fire for allowing ministers to share intelligence with allies even if there is a risk of torture will be reviewed urgently, the defence secretary has promised, writes deputy political editor Rob Merrick.
Under pressure in the Commons, Penny Mordaunt pledged to call in the Investigatory Powers Commissioner's Office watchdog to examine the Ministry of Defence document.
“I have undertaken to review this policy,” Ms Mordaunt told MPs – some of whom urged her to go further by scrapping the policy immediately.
The defence secretary insisted the armed forces were “upholding international humanitarian law”, but added: “I can understand the concerns that have been expressed about the policy.”
Need to know about the European parliament elections? Our Brussels reporter Jon Stone has you covered with this explainer.
Dan Snow is now backing away from his earlier claims that Brexit Party literature was inserted into his postal voting forms.
He was now "happy to assume it was a prank or incompetence on my part", he said in a tweet.
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