David Cameron attacks ‘appalling’ successor after PM heckled and accosted in street during northern debacle

Jon Trickett, one of Jeremy Corbyn's close allies, has said Labour should not turn its back on Leave voters by becoming a party of 'purely Remain'

He told Nick Robinson’s Political Thinking podcast that the party should not heed calls from Tom Watson and others to ‘become purely Remain’.

Mr Trickett said: "I’ve been in all the key discussions of the Labour party leadership on Brexit and other matters too.

"What you cannot have is a majoritarian politics which turns its back on 48 or 52 per cent of the population. You cannot do that.

"Now there are some people who are saying “well, you must become purely Remain. Many of our more voluble spokespersons have said that.

[Nick: Tom Watson?]  

"Well let’s not name names, but you’ve got one.

"That, it seems to me, turns the back on precisely the community and the family I came from and the people I represent and therefore I haven’t been prepared to advocate that position."

No further action will be taken against Leave.EU over technical breaches of electoral law over its referendum spending return, the police have said.

Scotland Yard said there is "insufficient evidence" to justify further investigation into the Brexit campaign group, founded by businessman Arron Banks and spearheaded by Nigel Farage.

The force made the decision after receiving advice from the Crown Prosecution Service following a referral on August 5.

Leave.EU was fined £70,000 by the Electoral Commission in May last year for offences committed under electoral law, following the regulator's investigation into the campaigner's funding and spend during the EU referendum.

The watchdog, which referred the case to police, said the group incorrectly reported what it spent at the EU referendum, including failing to include at least £77,380 in its spending return, meaning the group exceeded the spending limit for non-party registered campaigners by at least 10%.

In a statement on Friday, the Met said: "It is clear that whilst some technical breaches of electoral law were committed by Leave.EU in respect of the spending return submitted for their campaign, there is insufficient evidence to justify any further criminal investigation.

"Leave.EU's responsible person has been has been told that they will face no further police action."

Leave.EU chairman Arron Banks has called for the resignation of the head of the Electoral Commission following the decision by the police to take no further action against his Brexit campaign group.

He said: "The disgraceful political collusion between the Electoral Commission and the Damian Collins 'Remain-biased' DCMS committee and a number of leading Remain MPs, demonstrates a serious abuse of public office and we will be demanding a full public inquiry investigation into their actions.

"We will be writing to the prime minster today demanding a public inquiry into the actions of the Electoral Commission.

"I am today calling for the resignation of Damian Collins and the CEO of Electoral Commission as a result of today's news.

"The Electoral Commission have serious questions to answer about political bias and whether it is fit for purpose as a regulator."

He said the investigation had taken a "huge personal toll" on Liz Bilney, the chief executive of Leave.EU, and called on MPs to apologise to her.

Deputy Irish premier Simon Coveney has said the European Union has concerns about Stormont being given any veto over how the border or single market will operate after Brexit.

"I think the key thing here is that if there is going to be an alternative arrangement that replaces the backstop and the withdrawal agreement it's got to do the same job.

"That's got to be legally sound.

"It's got to be negotiated in Brussels between the team for the UK and Michel Barnier's task force," said Mr Coveney.

"I think there is certainly a concern at an EU level that a devolved institution in Northern Ireland could have a veto over how the single market operates or a border on the single market operates so it's not as straightforward as some people are suggesting," he said.

YouGov has crunched its voting intention polls since July 2017, offering a fascinating snapshot of how public opinion has changed over the past two years.

Tories and Labour have seen a drop in support as the Lib Dems and the Brexit Party surged - but look how wiggly the lines are. No one is safe...

The public no longer believes it is necessary to leave the EU to control immigration in an extraordinary turnaround since the Brexit referendum, a survey has found,

Voters – including Leave supporters – said they now judge that existing EU rules provide “enough control” on incomers from the continent, without the need for the UK to pull out.

Far from demanding an immigration crackdown, no less than 71 per cent support allowing EU migrants to come to the UK either to work or study – including 62 per cent of Leave voters from 2016.

Update - BBC presenter Steph McGovern has now apologised for making a joke about being a "girly swot" after Boris Johnson's speech (see here).

Boris Johnson's desire to build a bridge across the Irish sea, linking Scotland to Northern Ireland shouldn't necessarily be dismissed out of hand, argues Jon Stone.

In his monthly transport column, Stone explains how he tweeted in January 2018 semi-seriously suggesting a bridge or tunnel to link Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin by high-speed rail.

It went viral, got picked up by the Scottish newspaper The National as a campaign the next day, and then snowballed until Boris Johnson adopted it as a policy

Read his piece here:

'Excrutiating' footage has emerged of Sajid Javid, the chancellor, left with no one to talk to at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Helsinki.

The SNP claims that while there have been 28 Brexit planning meetings at Downing Street, devolved administrations have been invited to only four of them.