Boris Johnson news – live: Downing Street insists PM won’t quit even if he loses knife-edge vote on Queen’s Speech, becoming first to do so since 1924
Boris Johnson is facing a battle to get his Queen’s Speech passed today, but will not quit even if MPs vote it down, No 10 has said. It would be the first time a government had lost its legislative programme since 1924 – when PM Stanley Baldwin was forced to resign.
It comes as Mr Johnson is preparing to push for a pre-Christmas election after talks with Labour ended without any agreement on a timetable for parliament to pass his Brexit deal.
Labour’s shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, when asked if the party would vote for an election if the EU grants an extension, said “that’s our position” – but refused to answer directly whether she wanted an election this side of Christmas.
John Bercow has not selected Lib Dem amendment on referendum
As we’ve been reporting, Jo Swinson and her Lib Dem MPs had put forward an amendment to the Queen’s Speech which would ensure a second Brexit referendum.
But the Speaker John Bercow has decided not to select it – choosing amendments by Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Blackford related to the government’s agenda instead.
Tory MP calls parliament ‘dead parrot’
Conservative MP Charles Walker has been making the argument for a pre-Christmas election, saying “this parliament is finished … we can’t go on like this”.
NHS England secures agreement for full access to cystic fibrosis drugs
NHS England has announced it has secured an agreement with pharmaceutical company Vertex to give NHS patients full access to cystic fibrosis drugs Orkambi, Symkevi and Kalydeco, writes our political editor Andrew Woodcock.
There is no cap on patient numbers, and around 5,000 people are expected to be able to use the treatments free on the NHS. Clinicians will be able to begin prescribing these drugs within 30 days.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman described the development as “positive news” for cystic fibrosis patients which would improve thousands of lives and deliver “great value for money for the NHS”.
He added: “It comes on the back of a lot of hard work from the government and some very hard work by campaigners as well.”
NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens said: “The UK has the second highest prevalence of cystic fibrosis of any country in the world, so today is an important and long hoped for moment for children and adults living with cystic fibrosis.”
Peter Bone suggests PM ignores parliament an agree treaty with EU
Tory MP Peter Bone has made a fairly wild suggestion in the House, asking Rees-Mogg if the prime minister couldn’t “just go to Brussels” and sign a Brexit deal treaty and worry about parliament ratifying it afterwards.
Rees-Mogg replies: “My right honourable friend makes an intriguing point – the problem that it wouldn’t work, as I understand it, is that the treaty needs to be given effect in UK law for it to have effect from 1 November … and therefore what he suggests is intriguing I don’t think it would achieve its objective.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg says Boris Johnson ‘always tells the truth’
The Commons’ leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, speaking in the House, has confirmed that the withdrawal agreement bill will not be part of government next week.
Despite everyone being aware the EU are considering an extension, indeed Donald Tusk has said he has recommended an extension to the EU27 ambassadors, Rees-Mogg claimed that we could still leave the EU on 31 October.
“Her Majesty’s government does not want an extension and it is making every preparation to leave on the 31st of October.”
Asked about the “paused” Brexit bill, Rees-Mogg turned all Scarlet Pimpernel-ish and said: “They seek it here, they seek it there, those parliamentarians seek it everywhere. Is it in heaven? Or is it in hell? That damned elusive Brexit bill.”
Asked about Boris Johnson and truth-telling, Rees-Mogg said: “The prime minister always tells the truth.”
DUP urges government for ‘honesty’ over Brexit deal
As Brexit secretary faces questions in the Commons about the PM’s Brexit deal, the DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said: “Let’s have a bit of clarity and honesty in this House. The fact of the matter is this will adversely affect the most important trade that we have.”
He added: “You are really in danger here of causing real problems with the Belfast Agreement, with the St Andrew’s Agreement, the political institutions and political stability in Northern Ireland by what you are doing to the unionist community.
“Please wake up and realise what is happening here. We need to get our heads together here and look at a way forward that can solve this problem. Don’t plough ahead regardless, I urge you.”
Tory MP and chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Simon Hoare said: “If the Government are serious about trying to sell this proposal to the communities of Northern Ireland, then they are doomed to failure.”
He urged Barclay to produce draft documents about border requirements to offer more clarity about “very legitimate concerns” about what will happen.
Barclay said there will be time for consultations with businesses in Northern Ireland.
What happens if Boris Johnson loses the Queen’s Speech vote?
As our political correspondent Benjamin Kentish writes, a prime minister staying in office having lost such a major vote would be unprecedented, but there is no prospect of Boris Johnson resigning.
Read more here:
What will happen if Boris Johnson loses the Queen’s Speech vote?
Politics Explained: A prime minister staying in office having lost such a major vote would be unprecedented
PM won’t resign if Queen’s Speech is voted down
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has confirmed that the prime minister will not resign if his Queen’s Speech is voted down by MPs later today, writes our political editor Andrew Woodcock.
Asked whether Johnson would follow the example of Stanley Baldwin, who quit immediately after his Queen’s Speech was defeated in 1924, the spokesman said: “The prime minister wants to get on with delivering both Brexit and his domestic agenda.”
Urging MPs to back the Queen’s Speech in a series of votes due around 5pm today, the PM’s spokesman said: “The PM is very clear that this is an ambitious legislative programme, and that parliament should get behind it and that MPs shouldn’t be sending a signal that if legislation were brought forward on serious violent criminals or on improving the NHS or on improving standards in our schools, that they would vote it down.”
Asked if it was still possible for the UK to leave the EU on 31 October with a deal, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “That’s absolutely what the PM wants to achieve, but at the same time, we have to recognise the fact that parliament has handed control of the timetable to the EU and we will wait to see what the EU says.”
Barclay challenged on Norther Ireland border checks and forms
Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said she had just been given a memorandum from the Home Office confirming that there would be checks on goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under Boris Johnson’s deal.
“The home secretary couldn’t answer this in committee yesterday,” she added.
Brexit secretary Steve Barclay sought to reassure MPs and businesses about the nature of checks on goods proposed in the PM’s deal.
Responding to an urgent question in the Commons, Barclay said: “I think it’s important to reassure businesses in terms of this is an administrative process, this an electronic form.
“It is something that is part of bookings that will be done with the haulier as part of the shipment of goods and actually involves … fairly straightforward data in terms who is exporting, who is importing and indeed what the nature of the goods are.”
Barclay clarified comments made by Johnson on Wednesday when he said there would be no checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Barclay said: “It is the case the prime minister was distinguishing between the paperwork that is required, which will be done digitally and is a single form, rather than actually introducing physicals checks.
“In the coming months, we will need to work both within the United Kingdom and with the European Union to discuss how to eliminate the limited and administrative processes.”
George Osborne corrects Tory press office
Former chancellor George Osborne – now Evening Standard editor – has clashed with Tory press office.
It follows a claim by the Conservatives’ twitter account that Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal had already “passed” parliament. Osborne points out there’s a difference between passing at the second reading stage and suggesting it’s won the approval of parliament.
Jo Swinson pleads with Jeremy Corbyn to back referendum amendment
The Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has now written to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asking him to get behind her party’s amendment to today’s Queen’s Speech, seeking a referendum on the Brexit deal.
“This week may present our last meaningful chance to get a People’s Vote in this Parliament,” she says. “I believe we cannot afford to wait any longer.”
A reminder that two Labour backbenchers – Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson – had tabled an amendment to attach a referendum to Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement bill before the legislation was “paused” by the PM.
Division over timing of Lib Dem referendum amendment?
The Lib Dems earlier shared their amendment to the Queen’s Speech calling for a second Brexit referendum.
According to Kevin Schofield of the Politics Home website, there are “big splits” in the People’s Vote movement over whether now is the right time to have a vote on a Final Say public vote.
Damian Green says PM has ‘done great things’
Asked about an early, pre-Christmas election, Tory MP Damian Green said: “My advice to the prime minister, whatever it’s worth, would be, ‘You are very close, you have done great things … You have got a deal’.
“We are very, very close to Boris Johnson being able to go to the people and say, ‘I said I would get a deal, we’ve got a deal, we’ve signed it and parliament’s signed it off.’ That seems to be a more sensible time to hold a general election,” he told Sky News.
Fellow Tory MP James Brokenshire agreed. He said: “I think that now we have got that second reading through … get the deal done, then go to the country.”
Labour peer Lord Adonis, a leading advocate of a Final Say referendum, warned the PM off a snap poll.
“An election in December is clearly a very tough thing to do. We haven’t had an election in December for 109 years.
“It gets dark 4.30pm in the afternoon and Scotland could be snow bound … the deal is falling apart day by day.”
Who would win a general election?
Jeremy Corbyn says that he wants an election – although it’s not clear whether the leadership will agree to one in the days ahead. But whether Labour should want one is another question entirely.
Sean O’Grady has taken a look at who is likely to triumph at the ballot box.
Jeremy Corbyn says that he wants a public vote but, Sean O’Grady writes, whether he should want one is another question entirely
Jeremy Corbyn says that he wants a public vote but whether he should want one is another question entirely
McDonnell says Labour would agree to pre-Christmas election ‘if necessary’
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell confirmed on ITV’s Peston last night that Labour offered the prime minister a new timetable for his Brexit bill which could see it wrapped up – if agreed – by mid-November.
McDonnell said Labour is prepared for an election if there can’t be an agreement over the bill.
“We’re hoping, step by step, hoping we can get some agreement with the government … If we can’t we’re up for an election for whenever it comes, and we’re confident,” he told Robert Peston.
Asked if the party would agree to an election before Christmas, he said: “Well, if necessary”.
Nick Boles will abstain on Queen’s Speech vote
The former Tory MP Nick Boles – who now sits as an Independent – says he will abstain on the Queen’s Speech vote later today. He is not pleased the government agenda fails to even mention housing.
French senator says extension should be ‘as short as possible’
French senator Nathalie Goulet has speaking about the thinking on the extension in Paris. Unlike the rest of the EU power brokers, thought to be keen on agreeing to a three-month extension, Emmanuel Macron is thought to be keen on much shorter delay.
“I have to tell you we don’t understand anything in the proceedings – it’s a little foggy. It’s like a bad soap [opera],” Goulet said of events in the Commons this week.
Asked how long a delay she thinks there should be, Goulet said: “As short as possible … as soon as possible. If we need an exact schedule I think we need a fortune teller or a crystal ball, because it becomes totally unreadable.”
According to The Telegraph, Emmanuel Macron is keen on giving the UK until November 15, while the respected EU analyst Mujtaba Rahman said Macron “has decided that Boris Johnson is a good thing” and “sees him as the best way of getting Brexit done quickly”.
But Rahman says this morning that the French are beginning to be persuaded against a short extension to get the Brexit bill through parliament.
James Cleverly denies cabinet splits over early election
The Tory chairman James Cleverly has denied a split in the party over whether to bring a vote on a general election.
There are widespread reports of a rift in cabinet this morning, with some ministers said to be telling Boris Johnson to push for the pre-Christmas election he appears to want, while others advise the PM to hold off and make an effort to get his Brexit bill through the Commons.
No 10 chief of staff Edward Lister is reportedly keen to focus on the bill, while strategist Dominic Cummings is desperate for that pre-Christmas “people vs parliament” election.
But Cleverly played the stories down. He told Sky News: “Don’t always believe the papers. The cabinet makes collective decisions and when the cabinet speaks, it speaks with one voice.
“That is how it is meant to do, the cabinet position, the government’s position, the prime minister’s position is clear. We are ready for a general election, we have been calling for an election for months. The Labour Party is frightened.”
All the details here:
Senior Tory denies Boris Johnson’s cabinet split over early general election
Labour frontbencher also says party will back an election after EU grants delay – despite splits among MPs.
What happens if Boris Johnson loses his Queen’s Speech vote?
The last time a government lost a Queen’s Speech vote was in January 1924 under the Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin – except, of course, it was a “King’s Speech”, with under George V the reigning monarch.
After he tried and failed to get his legislative programme passed, Baldwin subsequently resigned and a minority Labour government then assumed office.
Downing Street has previously made clear Johnson would not quit if he loses today, however.
There was speculation the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) could vote against him today because of their anger over the Brexit deal which sees special customs arrangements for Northern Ireland.
But the party’s 10 MPs are now expected to back the Johnson legislative agenda – boosting his chances of getting it passed in the Commons later.
James Cleverly claims Halloween Brexit could still happen
Tory Party chairman James Cleverly has not ruled out Brexit taking place on October 31 and said the Government has had to “ramp up” its no-deal preparations.
He told the Today programme: “The EU has not agreed an extension and therefore it is absolutely essential that we make sure that we are ready to leave.”
On the possibility of a nearly election, Cleverly said: “We’ve been calling for a general election, me personally, the prime minister at the ballot box, my friends and colleagues all around the country, for months now.
“The Labour Party are running scared and I can completely understand why, their Brexit message is confused at best.”
On the possibility of a Christmas election affecting Nativity plays at schools which will have to be used as polling stations, he added: “I don’t want to be the Grinch. But the point is democracy is incredibly important and we have been prevented on discharging the duty imposed upon us.”