Brexit today - as it happened: Guy Verhofstadt hopes to 'conclude' citizens rights issue in coming weeks after Theresa May meeting
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Your support makes all the difference.Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said he hopes the issue of citizens' rights after Brexit can be concluded in the coming weeks.
His comments came after a meeting with senior ministers and Theresa May in Downing Street on Tuesday, in which “useful” progress had been made.
Mr Verhofstadt also said the UK economy will benefit from sticking as closely as possible to EU rules after Brexit.
He told reporters outside Downing Street: “I think it's possible that in the coming days and weeks we make progress on this [citizens' rights] we can conclude.”
But he warned that the European Parliament will not accept any deal on citizens’ rights that involves discrimination against people who come to the UK during the transition period.
Earlier on Tuesday, the French economy minister Bruno Le Marie said there had to be a “good deal” with the UK, but the City of London and the financial sector would have to rely on an equivalence regime.
My colleague Lizzy Buchan is at David Gauke's first speech as Justice Secretary in central London - she brings these updates:
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has been on Radio 4 talking about this story:
My colleague Lizzy Buchan, who has been listening to David Gauke's speech at the RSA in London sends some more details from the Justice Secretary:
David Gauke has said prisoners should be given greater incentives for good behaviour behind bars, such as extra family time and release on temporary licence.
In his first speech since becoming Justice Secretary, Mr Gauke said it was clear that standards had fallen well below what was expected in some prisons, as he outlined the challenge of coping with a toxic cocktail of drugs, violence and self harm behind bars.
Announcing new plans to isolate crime bosses using a “deliveroo-style” service to sell drugs to other inmates, he said he was “shocked and sickened” by social media videos of inmates showing the extent of drug use in jails.
He described seeing two naked prisoners wearing muzzles and fighting like dogs while high on Spice, while another got into a tumble dryer.
Munroe Bergdorf, an activist who was last week appointed as an LGBT+ adviser to the Labour Party has resigned from the positon.
It follows various reports of language used by Ms Bergdorf in tweets from a number of years ago, including referring to someone as a "hairy barren lesbian" and a "butch lezza" on the platform.
On Tuesday, Ms Bergdorf said: "Following last week's exciting announcement that I had accepted a place on an LGBT advisory board assembled to offer counsel to Dawn Butler, the Labour party's women and equalities minister, it is with great sadness that I have decided to step down.
"This is a decision that I've had to make due to endless attacks on my character by the conservative right wing press and relentless online abuse. I refuse to be painted as a villain or used as a pawn in the press' efforts, especially those at The Daily Mail, to discredit the Labour Party and push their transphobic rightist agendas."
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