MPs reject attempt to seize control of Commons agenda in latest attempt to prevent no-deal Brexit

During PMQs, the PM is asked about a motion blocking a future prime minister suspending the House of Commons to force through a no-deal Brexit.

The motion is about handing control of government business in the House of Commons to Labour and the SNP, she says - something she will not countenance. 

Responding to Boris Johnson's leadership campaign launch, Rory Stewart, who is running against the ex-foreign secretary, suggests Mr Johnson may have been using the same soundbites.

SNP leader in Westminster Ian Blackford called for an end to "no-deal madness" and asked Mrs May to support a Labour motion that would block a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Blackford asked the PM: "Tonight, will you vote to stop any no-deal madness?"

Mrs May replied: "The motion that is on the table tonight is about whether or not the Government should hand control of business in this House to the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party, and that is something we will not do.

"Can I also say to you, you talk about the need to use this time wisely. Well you could have been using the time wisely had you voted for the deal we negotiated with the European Union, we would have left the European Union, and we would be out with an orderly exit."

The past drug use of Tory leadership hopefuls has become an unlikely theme of the race to succeed Theresa May.

Several candidates have spoken about using Class A or B substances, with Michael Gove's cocaine admission continuing to cast a shadow over his campaign.

"If this Tory leadership election was a fifth-rate spy novel, the double agent would have blown his cover by page three," writes Matthew Norman.

"Boris Johnson’s pledge to raise the threshold for top rate income tax to £80,000 would reveal him to the dimmest reader as the mole – a socialist sleeper planted in the Conservative movement long ago, with the mission to propel Labour into power when the time was right.

"But it isn’t a fifth-rate espionage novel. It’s a ninth-rate sitcom, twice as broad and archaic as When The Whistle Blows, Ricky Gervais’s pastiche in Extras, and thrice as witless."

Ex-cabinet minister and leadership contender Esther McVey had - yet another - awkward encounter as she was out on the airwaves this morning promoting her vision to MPs and Tory members.

She claimed in an interview with LBC that some foreign aid money has been mis-spent around the world in a rush at the end of the financial year to spend money. McVey gave one example as an airport was built in the wrong direction.

While her claim about the actual airport - it was dubbed "useless" (see more here) - appears correct, when pressed on on what runway she was talking about, the contender to be the next prime minister, offered:  "It's in... one of the continents... abroad..."

Her suggestion the money was "foreign aid" was also disputed, due to the fact the location of the airport - St Helena - is actually a UK overseas territory.

It's also not a "continent", given St Helena is in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Boris Johnson has renewed his vow to take Britain out of the EU with or without a deal on 31 October, but admitted that withdrawal without an agreement will hurt the UK in the short term.

Breaking cover to launch his campaign for the Conservative leadership in Westminster, Mr Johnson said he had the “vigour” and “guts” to persuade the EU27 to renegotiate the terms of Brexit and talked at length about his time as London mayor. 

But he dodged questions about whether he had taken illegal drugs and cut the event short after just six questions from the media, to the anger of many journalists who still had their hands raised. 

During PMQs, Theresa May was urged to end the "burning injustice" of homelessness by an MP who said politicians have to "step over the bodies to enter parliament".

Labour's Catherine West told the PM to use the "dying days of her premiership" to deal "with this terrible Dickensian situation".

She highlighted the deaths of two homeless men in Westminster Tube station last year, yards from the entrance to the House of Commons.

She asked: "Will the Prime Minister deal with this terrible Dickensian situation?

"And in the dying days of her premiership will she address the burning injustice of homelessness, where we have to step over the bodies to enter Parliament?"

Ms May said the government does take the issues of homelessness and rough sleeping seriously, saying the "latest figures on rough sleeping show the number is down for the first time in eight years".

She said although that is a "step in the right direction" there is "much more to do", highlighting a £100 million fund as part of a plan to end rough sleeping altogether.

The PM added: "We are determined to make sleeping on the streets a thing of the past."

Interesting point here...

Labour's cross-party bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit is now underway in the Commons.

Sir Keir Starmer is moving the motion. He says it is an attempt to prevent any future Tory PM "foolish enough" to pursue a no-deal exit.

He says this is not an attempt to frustrate Brexit, but a "safety valve" following alarming rhetoric about suspending parliament from some Tory leadership contenders.

Catch up on what Labour is trying to do here: