Boris Johnson news: PM discusses Brexit with Trump in phone call, after critical date for commons bid to block no-deal revealed
John Bolton arrives in UK as rebel MPs plot against prime minister
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Your support makes all the difference.Rebel MPs are plotting to rewrite the Commons rulebook and rip up parliament’s standing orders in a bid to prevent Boris Johnson from forcing through a no-deal Brexit, The Independent has learnt.
It comes as No 10 pinpoints Monday 9 September as the critical day for a legislative battle with the cross-party campaign to block a no-deal departure.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott suggested Labour was gearing up to table a no-confidence motion in the PM.
Green MP Caroline Lucas, meanwhile, apologised after not including any people of colour in her proposed all-female “emergency cabinet”.
The fractured British political scene also played host to John Bolton, the US’ National Security Adviser, who arrived in the UK to meet with British officials.
Speaking following a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on a visit to London, Mr Bolton said the US could focus on certain sectors like manufacturing and car-making where the two countries may agree, and work out more complicated areas later.
Mr Bolton said US trade negotiators think this is acceptable under World Trade Organisation rules.
Mr Bolton also said issues like security in Iran, and fears over Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G network could wait until after Brexit to be resolved.
A Downing Street statement said: “The Prime Minister joined a meeting at Downing Street today between senior officials and US National Security adviser John Bolton.
“They discussed the close UK-US trading relationship and our shared commitment to an ambitious free trade agreement once the UK leaves the EU.
“They also spoke about Brexit and a range of other issues – including Iran, Hong Kong and 5G.”
If you would like to see how the day’s events unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has said there is no “good Brexit” for Northern Ireland.
On her first visit to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, the new party leader said it is still possible to stop the UK leaving the European Union.
She said: “I felt it was important to come and listen to people and community groups about their experiences and about what the prospect of a hard border means to the communities. It's very powerful hearing from those individuals who live and work in this area.
“The Liberal Democrats have been very clear in our position, we think that Brexit is bad. There is no good Brexit for the UK and that includes Northern Ireland.
“We have been fighting for there to be no border here where I am standing and the way in which that has operated successfully for years now has been as members of the European Union and we are still members of the EU and it is still possible to stop Brexit.
“I recognise that for communities here the backstop is an important insurance policy but the best possible outcome is to have Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland both within the EU so that we can have a strong UK, in a strong EU so communities can live, work and go about their daily lives without the hassle of a hard border and without all of the downsides for our economic prosperity that will ensue if we do go ahead with Brexit.”
A legal challenge to prevent Boris Johnson forcing through a no-deal Brexit by suspending Parliament has been allowed to proceed by the Scottish courts.
The legal bid, backed by more than 70 MPs and peers, is seeking to get the Court of Session in Edinburgh to rule that suspending Parliament to make the UK leave the EU without a deal is “unlawful and unconstitutional”.
The petition has been filed at the Edinburgh court, which sits through the summer, and was granted permission to be heard by a judge. An initial hearing is due to take place before Lord Doherty at the Court of Session on Tuesday morning to determine how the legal challenge will proceed.
A cross-party group of politicians is backing the legal petition, supported by the Good Law Project, which won a victory at the European Court of Justice last year over whether the UK could unilaterally cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50.
Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project, said: “A man with no mandate seeks to cancel Parliament for fear it will stop him inflicting on an unwilling public an outcome they did not vote for and do not want. That’s certainly not democracy and I expect our courts to say it's not the law.”
If you’re wondering how September and October might play out in parliament, constitutional lawyer Asif Hameed has taken a look at whether Boris Johnson will manage to force through a no-deal Brexit.
Boris Johnson’s proposals to create more prison places, expand stop-and-search and enforce longer sentences have variously been branded “hot air”, “unevidenced electioneering” and “costly election baubles”.
The Howard League for Penal Reform’s chief executive Frances Crook said: “We have excessively long prison sentences already and it doesn’t seem to be keeping us safe.
“What’s coming out of No 10 is politics but not real life. It’s not going to deal with real-life crimes and victims. It’s a lot of hot air.
“[The idea] will create more crime and more victims but they may well get themselves elected. Community sentences reduce crime better than prison sentences.
“I have seen politicians trying to whip up a lynch mob mentality for their own benefit before and that does appear to be what’s happening now.”
The Prison Reform Trust’s Peter Dawson said previous reforms already allow the courts to lengthen the amount of time a criminal spends behind bars.
He added: “Stoking up public anxiety with unevidenced assertions is a poor way to start a review that needs to take a dispassionate approach to a complex issue.”
Reform branded Johnson’s proposals “unevidenced electioneering”.
Director Charlotte Pickles said: “Boris Johnson's criminal justice reforms are a monumental waste of money. Intelligent investment is clearly need, but these pledges are costly election baubles, not a serious attempt to make this country safer.”
Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of creating a “shameful spin machine” as it emerged the Cabinet Office will establish a rapid rebuttal unit to media reports about no-deal Brexit.
Michael Gove will launch the unit monitoring news stories as part of his role in leading the government’s preparations for no deal.
Here’s our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn with the details.
Our associate editor Sean O’Grady is not a fan of Caroline Lucas’ proposal for an emergency, all-female cabinet. And he thinks it’s symptomatic of the fuzzy, squabbling and divided opposition to a no-deal Brexit.
Boris Johnson has attacked Jeremy Corbyn on Twitter, claiming the Labour leader wants to “cancel the referendum and argue about Brexit for years”. A sign of a vaguely Trumpian approach to social media, perhaps?
More from Jo Swinson, who is visiting border communities in Northern Ireland today.
The Lib Dem leader said she was “not surprised” Boris Johnson took almost a week to contact Irish premier Leo Varadkar after he was appointed.
“He was perhaps our worst ever foreign secretary and does not possess the skills or diplomacy that was required for that role so we shouldn’t be shocked that in the role of prime minister he is also not demonstrating that statesmanlike approach that ought to be needed,” she added.
“At this time more than ever our country needs that. Of course Boris Johnson famously enjoys causing offence and doesn’t mind when he makes a gaffe. It’s further evidence he is not fit to be a prime minister.
“His actions have been driven by what is best for Boris Johnson. He’s wanted to be prime minister for so long that he is prepared to say anything including contradictory things to different people that it would take for him to get that role.”
The Lib Dems’ Treasury and business spokesperson Chuka Umunna argues that Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit backers are “reckless gamblers” who do not speak for the majority of the country.
Boris Johnson and his team believe Monday 9 September is the critical day for the cross-party campaign to block a no-deal departure.
“If MPs are going to pull some sort of political stunt then that would be the point when they would do it,” a senior government source said.
Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has all the details.
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