Brexit news: Theresa May facing grassroots no-confidence vote as Farage's new Brexit Party takes commanding poll lead

A party leader in Northern Ireland has called for another Brexit referendum ahead of an expected run for the European Parliament.

Naomi Long, who leads the centrist Alliance Party, said: "If MPs can change their minds every two or three days or every two or three minutes, I see no reason why the public cannot be afforded that opportunity every two or three years."

Her party, the fifth largest in Northern Ireland, garners votes from both nationalist and unionist communities, and has been strongly pro-Remain.

Ms Long said she would confirm her decision on running in the EU elections within the next two days.

Naomi Long launches the Alliance Party party's local government manifesto in Belfast (picture credit: PA) 

The former chief-of-staff for the Department for Exiting the European Union is planning to run for The Independent Group (TIG) against Dominic Raab in the event of a general election.

James Chapman, who was also the Daily Mail's political editor and communications director for then-chancellor George Osborne, has set up a crowdfunding appeal to help him fund a campaign against Raab in his Esher and Walton constituency. 

He told the Evening Standard he would run as a TIG candidate "if they will have me".

As things stand he has raised £2,354 of a £100,00 target, but has reportedly already ordered some T-shirts.

Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party has opened up a five-point lead in the next month's elections to the European Parliament, according to a poll.

The YouGov survey, commissioned by the People's Vote campaign, puts the Brexit Party on 27%, ahead of Labour on 22% with the Conservatives trailing on 15%.

The findings - which are weighted by likelihood to vote - represent a surge in support for the new party since last week, when a YouGov poll for The Times last week put them on 15% - almost level-pegging with the Tories on 16%, and behind Labour on 24%.

The surge follows a burst of publicity for the Brexit Party after the launch of its election campaign last week, when it was announced that Annunziata Rees-Mogg - the sister of the leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg - would be among its candidates.

It will reinforce fears among ministers that the Conservatives are heading for a crushing defeat if the poll on 23 May goes ahead as planned - a result which would almost certainly see fresh calls for Theresa May to quit.

Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU has been accused of faking a viral video of illegal "migrants" and forging images purporting to show immigrants committing violent crimes.

The group, which is led by businessman and former Ukip donor Arron Banks, staged a video that it claimed showed how easy it was for migrants to cross to Britain illegally, according to Channel 4 News. 

The video was released in the weeks before the 2016 EU referendum and was watched hundreds of thousands of times. But Channel 4 said satellite data showed that the boat had never left UK waters, and footage appearing to show the "migrants" entering the country was filmed before they left UK shores.

Here's the full story, by my colleague Ben Kentish:

The UK's treatment of EU citizens since the Brexit referendum has been "shameful", Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said, calling for an end to "dog whistle xenophobia" in politics.

Scotland "wants no part of Theresa May's despicable" hostile environment" and must send a message it is a "welcoming country", Ms Sturgeon added in a speech at the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

She said: 

We reject utterly the dog whistle xenophobia that is too prevalent in political discourse and we stand firm and united against the rise of the far right.

One of the most shameful, and I use that word deliberately, shameful aspects of Brexit has been the treatment of EU citizens living here in our country.

No-one, least of all me, pretends that Scotland is somehow immune from racism. We are not, but the message that we as leaders must send is this one - Scotland is an open country, we are a welcoming country. We want people to come to Scotland and we want people to stay in Scotland.

Diversity is not a weakness. Diversity is a strength to be celebrated and we are determined to do that.

There will be "no chance" of a US-UK trade agreement if Brexit threatens the Good Friday Agreement, US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has said.

Speaking during visit to Dublin, the senior Democrat politician said her country stood with Ireland as it faced challenges posed by the UK's exist from the EU, including the looming threat of a hard border.

She told politicians during a speech in Irish parliament: "We must ensure nothing happens in the Brexit discussion that threatens the Good Friday accord.

"If the Brexit deal undermines the accord there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement.

"That's just not on the cards.

Ms Pelosi is part of a delegation of high-ranking US politicians on a two-day fact-finding mission to the country.

She received a standing ovation as she arrived in Dail chamber this afternoon.

Justine Greening, the former Tory education secretary, has said she has found it "challenging" to be a Conservative MP recently.

Ms Greening called for "significant root-and-branch change" to the party and stronger leadership, and said if the Tories do not represent the "broad mass" of the British public then it will not be successful.

Asked if she had considered leaving the party, Ms Greening told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "It's certainly a challenging time, I think, for me to be in the Conservative Party.

"For me, it was about three things: it was about opportunity, a strong economy and well-managed public finances.

"Clearly, I think if we become the Brexit party that really goes against those three core tenets of what I think being a Conservative Party member is all about."

Boris Johnson "will be very difficult to stop" of he makes the run-off in the race to succeed Theresa May, writes our political columnist Andrew Grice. But it is Amber Rudd who could decide the contest, he says:

Claims that pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU faked a viral video purported to show illegal migrants prove the referendum was "rotten" and should be re-run, says Sean O'Grady:

All traffic entrances to the Houses of Parliament have been shut by climate protesters. 

The activists in Westminster are taking part in demonstrations organised by Extinction Rebellion, a group which is calling for non-violent civil disobedience to push the government to take more urgent action over global warming.

Protests have been taking place in Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch since Monday, with organisers saying the action will continue for a fortnight.