Boris Johnson news: More than 50 Labour MPs ‘ready to back new Brexit deal’, amid fears PM ready to cut Northern Ireland loose
Follow along with how the day in Westminster unfolded
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Your support makes all the difference.More than 50 Labour MPs could be ready to rally behind a compromise Brexit agreement allowing Boris Johnson to avoid crashing out of the EU, according to a leading member of a cross-party group.
It comes as DUP leader Arlene Foster demanded a meeting with Mr Johnson amid growing unionist fears that he will cut Northern Ireland loose in his desperation for a deal.
Tory rebel Oliver Letwin, meanwhile, has backed a second Brexit referendum, while Jeremy Corbyn vowed Labour would fight a general election with the “biggest people-powered campaign we’ve ever seen”.
Follow along with how the day in Westminster unfolded
Using typically subtle rhetoric, Dominic Cummings has attacked the “rich Remainers” in London complaining about the suspension of parliament.
As many have already pointed out on social media, Cummings was leaving his expensive-looking townhouse in London.
Jeremy Corbyn has been speaking about Boris Johnson’s “melodrama” at the TUC conference in Brighton.
“The idea that Johnson and his wealthy friends and backers somehow represent “the people” is truly absurd. Johnson and his right-wing cabinet are not only on the side of the establishment – they are the establishment.”
Corbyn vowed that a Labour government would create a ministry for employment rights in the “biggest extension of workers’ rights” in history.
Jeremy Corbyn meets delegates in Brighton (PA)
Jeremy Corbyn has threatened Boris Johnson with the “biggest people-powered campaign we’ve ever seen” as he warned TUC delegates a general election “is coming”.
The Labour leader said: “No-one can trust the word of a prime minister who is threatening to break the law to force through no-deal.
“So a general election is coming. But we won’t allow Johnson to dictate the terms. And I can tell you this: we’re ready for that election. We're ready to unleash the biggest people-powered campaign we've ever seen.”
In remarks that will irritate some in his party, he also vowed to hold a second referendum on Brexit with a “credible Leave option” on the ballot. “In that election we will commit to a public vote with a credible option to leave and the option to remain.”
EU commissioner Phil Hogan, an arch-critic of Brexit and Boris Johnson, is to be put in charge of negotiating trade deals for the bloc, Brussels has announced.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has all the details.
The latest YouGov poll reveals that 52 per cent of Leave voters think Boris Johnson should break the law by refusing to ask the EU for a Brexit deadline extension.
Only 28 per cent of Leave voters put the law before the Brexit deadline.
And half (50 per cent) of those who voted Conservative in 2017 would want the Tory leader to refuse to ask for a Brexit deadline extension – only a third of Tory voters (34 per cent) see it as more important for the leader of the nation to operate within the law.
Statista have broken the figures down.
How people feel about breaking the law for Brexit (Statista)
Lizzy Buchan has more on Labour’s plan to create a new workers protection agency – and how unscrupulous bosses could face prosecutions.
Scottish Tory MP Bill Grant has announced that he will not stand at the next Westminster election.
The MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock won the seat in 2017, but will not seek re-election whenever the next election takes place.
The 68-year-old wrote to his local association informing them of the decision today.
Arlene Foster has demanded to meet Boris Johnson amid growing Unionist fears that he will cut Northern Ireland loose in his desperation for a Brexit deal.
Arriving in London – despite the suspension of parliament – Foster said: “I’m sure I will speak to the prime minister today.”
A cross-party group of MPs have claimed the idea of getting a Brexit deal agreed in parliament is “not a unicorn”.
MPs including Labour’s Caroline Flint and Stephen Kinnock plus Rory Stewart, Nick Boles and Norman Lamb launched “MPs for a deal” in Portcullis House – saying there is still time to get a withdrawal agreement across the line..
Kinnock said this was “not about reproducing a carbon copy” of the deal which failed in three meaningful votes.
He said: “This is not a unicorn,” adding: “We have something here which is the basic foundation of a perfectly pragmatic deal that we believe can command a majority in parliament and also begin to reunite our deeply-divided country, and even at this eleventh hour we think there is time to do it.”
On Boris Johnson, former Tory MP Boles added: “He does not care about anything other than power and glory for himself, and if he concludes that the way to stay in Number 10 Downing Street is to pass a deal, he will do it.”
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