Tony Blair personally urged the EU‘s chief negotiator to delay Brexit beyond March 29 as Theresa May was insisting to European leaders that she wanted the UK to leave on time, The Telegraph can disclose.
The former prime minister held a private meeting with Michel Barnier in February in which he declared that an extension of the Article 50 notice period would „provide the time required“ for „clarifying“ the type of relationship Britain wanted with the EU.
Not only did the court declare the prime minister’s action unlawful, it also declared the order itself, which Queen Elizabeth II issued at Mr. Johnson’s request, “unlawful, void, and of no effect.” The request, said the court’s president, Baroness Brenda Hale, might as well have been a “blank sheet of paper.”
Stephen Tierney, a professor of constitutional theory at Edinburgh University, said it was “astonishing” that the court had ruled decisively that it “can review something as fundamental as that, done by Her Majesty, as unlawful.”
What that means is that prorogation can be limited by statute and the courts would enforce that statute. I doubt anyone disputes that. What it does not mean, yet what has happened, is that in the absence of such a statute, the ‘Supreme’ Court can step in and invent one. So lawyers and judges have, step by step, decided to give themselves more and more power.
No one expected them to do what they did today. No one expected it to be unanimous – which perhaps hurts the most.
If Labour wins the next election, it will hold a second referendum. The choice would be between staying in the EU and ‘leaving’ via a tweaked version of Theresa May’s withdrawal deal – that is, between Remain and Remain By Another Name. Whoever wins that rigged referendum, Brexit would lose. This internal spat is over which flavour of betrayal to recommend to the electorate, and when might be best to announce that preference.
Amid stormy scenes in the hall, Labour delegates then approved so-called composite motion 14 – which again supported Mr Corbyn‘s Brexit position while not committing the party to pursue a particular view at a second Brexit referendum.
At the Labour conference Jeremy Corbyn has taken to the stage.
He says the supreme court judgment demonstrates Boris Johnson’s contempt for parliament.
He says he will write to the Speaker demanding an urgent recall of parliament.
He says a Labour government would want to be held to account. It would not bypass democracy.
And he says Boris Johnson should “in the historic words, consider his position”.
That means he thinks Johnson should resign.
Labour MPs started singing revolutionary anthem The Red Flag after Scottish and Welsh nationalists sang Flower Of Scotland and Bread Of Heaven.
The extraordinary scenes erupted as the Commons session was closed down shortly before 2am by the prorogation order, recommended to the Queen by the Prime Minister, in an act most MPs believe was intended to prevent Parliament having a say over Brexit. Minutes earlier, Mr Johnson suffered his sixth Commons defeat when MPs failed to back his call for a snap general election.
On the biggest issue in British politics, Labour promised one thing before the election and then did the complete opposite afterwards. The last party that performed such an outrageous U-turn was the Liberal Democrats over tuition fees, and they were rightly destroyed in the following election.
Labour is now possibly facing that same oblivion.
As of this morning, just under five million Labour Leave voters are homeless. I’m sure The Brexit Party will be delighted.
Already Labour are below 20 per cent in some general election polls and it is hard to see how they will survive a four-way squeeze in any snap election.
The only thing that might avoid this doomsday scenario is if the Tories manage to take the UK out of the EU by 31st October. Given that the dreadful withdrawal agreement is now dead in the water, that means, somewhat ironically, only a ‘no deal’ Brexit can save Labour.
Today is a tragic day in the Labour Party’s history, and a fatal day for British democracy. It is, potentially, the beginning of the end of the Labour Party as we know it.
In backing Remain, Corbyn has turned Labour into an authoritarian tool of the establishment.
In a bombshell announcement Jeremy Corbyn said today that his party will back another divisive vote to stop Brexit – as long as the Tories are still in power.
After years of flip-flopping on the issue, he said that no matter what Brexit deal the next PM gets with the EU, they should put it back to the people for another say.
However his message, which came during a day of meetings with senior party figures, raised fresh questions over Labour‘s Brexit strategy in a general election.
It comes as attempts to stop the next prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit by Halloween were rejected by the deputy speaker.
A senior Labour source told The Times that Mr Corbyn was supporting the policy change.
The new policy paper has been written by Andrew Fisher, Mr Corbyn‘s head of policy, and suggests a second referendum on any deal negotiated with Brussels.
As it stands Labour currently is asking the government for a custom‘s union or a general election.
He said: „In the aftermath of the local elections and particularly the EU elections, there are many in the Labour party who feel we need to be very clear about a second referendum and about making the case for Remain.
„That‘s certainly what I‘m advocating, discussions are going on at the moment, I hope we can resolve it pretty soon, and that will be a material step in the right direction as far as I‘m concerned.“
One of the most striking but neglected outcomes of the European election last week was the complete collapse of the Labour Party in traditional Labour territory. From Ashfield to Redcar, Merthyr Tydfil to Middlesbrough, Barnsley to Bolsover, most of Britain’s working-class and pro-Brexit areas abandoned the traditional defender of the working class. Instead, they put their tick next to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, a party only launched six weeks earlier.
The Labour leader said he was “listening very carefully” to both sides of the debate after the party fell behind the Liberal Democrats and also lost ground to the Greens.
Labour’s preference would be a general election but any Brexit deal “has to be put to a public vote”, he said. Several Labour sources noted this was a shift from his previous position that a second referendum was being kept as an option on the table to stop a damaging Tory Brexit.
– Theresa May‘s plan to bring forward new Brexit Bill is in tatters after repeated attempts to woo Labour MPs
– Her chances of getting the deal through are fading as Tories voice opposition with 65-plus set to rebel
– Michael Gove has refused to guarantee that the Withdrawal Agreement Bill would come to the Commons
– Tory 1922 committee is meeting at 4pm – after PM faces Commons – with members pledging to topple her
Theresa May‘s premiership is on the brink amid a full-scale revolt over her new Brexit deal, with Tory MPs calling for a change in the party rules to facilitate a leadership challenge.
As Mrs May faces her final battle:
– Tory grandees threaten to change party rules so the leader can be removed immediately
– Fed-up backbenchers said she should go now and leave Brexit to her successor
– The PM‘s DUP allies warned she is leaving Britain at the mercy of the EU
– Even Mrs May‘s most loyal MPs said she should scrap the planned vote on her deal
Environment Secretary Michael Gove gave an apparent hint that a big Commons vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, due in the week of June 3, should be pulled.
Sources said several Cabinet ministers agreed with him that the vital Bill should be kept back for a new Tory leader to manage.
A long-standing – but not usually a very public – critic likened me to a spectator at the guillotine as I stalked the commons corridors.
I asked him when he felt the political blade would fall on Theresa May‘s premiership.
With a smile, he said: „Soon – very soon.“
I fear we are in for a long, hot summer.
Senior Tory backbenchers will now try to force a confidence vote in the PM when the party’s grandees meet at 4pm on Wednesday.
Brexiteer Nigel Evans said: “She has U-turned on absolutely everything. We cannot put up with this any longer.
Theresa May has committed to ‘ten commandments’ as part of the new offer she is putting before Parliament in one final attempt to pass her Withdrawal Agreement. They include a vote on a second referendum. Read them here:
– Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer warned Labour MPs would reject deal
– This is unless another referendum is part of the agreement with the Government
– Meanwhile, Tom Watson will use a speech today to push for second referendum
Where I live, in West Yorkshire, everywhere I go – to work, to the shops, to the pub, speaking with neighbours and friends – people have never been more openly political and unafraid to air their opinions. Talk is of democracy and its denial by Westminster; of traitors and authoritarians. The kind of language that would once only be used by marginal, radical groups has become the new normal. Even the local papers, not known for their political coverage, echo the public’s disgust at the denial of the referendum vote.