Boris Johnson news: Government releases no-deal Brexit documents, as PM warned ‘it’s over’ if he misled the Queen
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Your support makes all the difference.A no-deal Brexit would trigger major hold-ups at channel ports, significant electricity price increases, shortages of some foods and delays to medicine imports, government documents reveal.
HGV delays of between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half days would occur at Dover and public disorder could increase, according to the Operation Yellowhammer “reasonable worst case planning assumptions” released in response to MPs voting for it to happen.
The six page document was made public after Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament has been ruled as unlawful by judges at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, prompting MPs to demand he “comes back and face the music”.
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The latest ComRes survey shows the Tory lead over Labour being cut to just one point. According to the ComRes chairman, it would mean the Conservatives losing seats in parliament.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has warned Boris Johnson that any attempt to solve the crisis by limiting the backstop to apply only to Northern Ireland would be “doomed to failure”.
Business secretary Andrea Leadsom has been asked about the prospect of a compromise deal that could see a common agriculture zone across Ireland – the so-called Northern Ireland-only backstop.
“Well we will not do anything that undermines the UK or indeed UK internal market,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“So we are looking at getting a deal, getting a good deal that works for the UK and for the EU that is different to the one that was negotiated previously because that couldn’t get through parliament.
“So our absolute focus is on getting a good deal on October 17th when the EU Council meets and so we’re looking at creative ways to ensure that there won’t need to be a backstop in that Withdrawal Agreement.”
Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson will call for the party to demand a second Brexit second referendum and it must take place before a general election, in a fresh clash with Jeremy Corbyn.
All the details here.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has said there was still “every chance” for a Brexit deal, although Berlin is ready if it doesn’t happen.
“We still have every chance of getting an orderly (Brexit) and the German government will do everything it can to make that possible - right up to the last day. But I also say we are prepared for a disorderly Brexit,” Merkel told the German parliament.
“But the fact remains that after the withdrawal of Britain, we have an economic competitor at our door, even if we want to keep close economic, foreign and security cooperation and friendly relations,” Merkel added.
Angela Merkel speaks to Germany's lower house (AFP)
Labour MP Owen Smith – the former leadership candidate – has said the party “should be clear that Labour doesn’t believe Brexit is a good thing”.
Asked about the argument for which Tom Watson was making the case, Smith told the Today programme:
“An argument in principle that there is no such thing as a good Brexit deal, that all versions of Brexit are going to leave Britain poorer and more isolated in the world, and that’s why there is no good reason why Labour should be supporting that.
“It’s at odds with our values, it’s at odds with the electoral interests of the Labour Party and it’s at odds with the prospects for a better future for our constituents.
“So we should be opposed to it and we should be clear that Labour doesn’t believe Brexit is a good thing and critically we shouldn’t be bamboozled or bullied by Boris Johnson into going into an election on his terms.”
International students will be able to stay in the UK for two years after graduating, to find work, under new proposals announced by Boris Johnson.
We have all the details here.
This morning’s ComRes poll showing a one-point lead for the Tories over Labour follows a Deltapoll survey which also suggested the gap between the big two parties is narrowing.
It found Jeremy Corbyn’s party gaining four points, and only three points behind Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. A separate ComRes poll found Labour would be ahead of the Tories – if an election is held after extending the Brexit deadline beyond 31 October.
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