Updated

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has suggested Labour frontbenchers would be expected to back the party’s push for a second Brexit referendum in any Commons vote. Asked if shadow ministers would be sacked if they broke any whip on voting for a second referendum, McDonnell told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘Normally we will whip […]

Hundreds of dogs and their two-legged companions, together with MPs and celebrities, will hold the world’s biggest ‘dog’s dinner’ to demand that the government pull the country back from the brink of a no-deal Brexit disaster. On Sunday 10th March the hungry hounds will gather around huge cans of ‘Pedigree Chump’s Brexit Dog’s Dinner’ and […]

A London council has defended putting adverts on bin lorries telling EU residents ‘this is your home’ after Twitter users suggested the message could be misconstrued. Labour-led Tower Hamlets Council has been placing adverts around the East London borough encouraging its 41,000 residents from the European Union to secure their right to stay after Brexit. […]

The anti-migration ‘think tank’ Migration Watch UK has pulled a report on post-Brexit immigration levels after the organisation admitted an ‘error in calculations’. It claimed net migration to the UK could increase by more than 100,000 under the government’s proposed new immigration system. The organisation – which describes itself as an ‘independent and non-political think […]

John Humphrys, who has been criticised for his handling of Brexit coverage on the Today programme, has announced he will quit the show after 32 years. The veteran broadcaster, 75, announced he planned to quit the programme but had not yet set a date for his departure. Speaking to the World At One said: ‘I […]

The former Conservative chairman Lord Patten has criticised Theresa May’s handling of Brexit, and believes that a People’s Vote is the only way to stop Brexit self-harm. The Conservative peer is urging MPs to reject Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement and block a no-deal Brexit saying it should be ‘put out of its misery as soon […]

Awarding a £13.8m contract for no-deal Brexit ferry services to a company with no ships is an example of the government “supporting new business”, Chris Grayling has said. The beleagured transport secretary defended the decision to do a deal with Seaborne Freight, despite it never having run a Channel service. It was one of three […]

Jeremy Corbyn has refused to back a second EU referendum despite a poll suggesting almost three-quarters of Labour members want one. A survey of more than 1,000 party members found that 72% would like to see their leader throw his weight behind a People’s Vote. But Corbyn has long resisted such calls and, asked today […]

Jeremy Corbyn is facing further pressure to back a second Brexit referendum after polling showed support among Labour members for another vote. The Labour leader has resisted calls from within his party to back a referendum, instead calling for a general election and promising to strike his own “jobs-first” Brexit deal with Brussels retaining all […]

A government department has spent more than £100m on ferries to ease potential problems in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Documents outlining the £107.m agreements say increased border checks in UK ports after Brexit could “cause delivery of critical goods to be delayed” in the event of no deal. The move was described as […]

Britain’s most senior police officer has suggested Brexit could put the public at risk if security cooperation with the EU is weakened. Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick said she hoped police would have “as much as possible of the instruments” they currently have, such as database access, or something very similar as quickly as possible […]

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party would continue with Brexit if it won a snap general election in the new year. The opposition leader told the Guardian he would “go back and negotiate and see what the timetable would be” with Brussels if Theresa May triggered a vote and lost, thrusting his party […]

There is a “plausible argument” for the public to be asked to vote again on Brexit if MPs remain deadlocked, a Cabinet minister has said. Amber Rudd acknowledged her comments would “distress” some of her Tory colleagues and stressed she was fully committed to Theresa May’s Brexit deal. But Commons leader Andrea Leadsom hit back […]

Judges at Scotland’s highest civil court have rubber-stamped a European Court of Justice decision allowing the UK to unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU. The Luxembourg court ruled last week that the UK can go back on its decision to trigger Article 50, which started the Brexit process, without the agreement of the other […]

Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of being “the midwife of Brexit” after failing to call a no-confidence vote in the government. The Labour leader tabled a motion calling on MPs to declare they have “no confidence in the prime minister due to her failure to allow the House of Commons to have a meaningful vote […]

3,500 troops will be on stand-by to deal with the impact of a no-deal Brexit, it has emerged as Theresa May ramps up her planning. The prime minister’s Brexit deal remains the preferred outcome for the government, she continues to insist, but with just over 100 days until the UK’s departure from the bloc the […]

Theresa May spent almost £100,000 on Facebook adverts promoting the Brexit deal before the vote was pulled. Figures from the social media firm reveal that in the week leading up to the key vote – which has now been pulled – the government spent nearly £100,000 advertising through Facebook and Instagram. MORE: ‘EU legislation at […]

A cross-party group of anti-Brexit politicians has said the UK can ‘stop the clock’ on Brexit after a top European law officer said the country can unilaterally revoke its withdrawal from the EU. Alyn Smith MEP, one of those who brought the case, said the opinion issued by a European Court of Justice (ECJ) advocate […]

Britain can unilaterally reverse its decision to leave the EU, Europe’s top court has been told, as Remain supporters try to pave the way for a People’s Vote that would stop Brexit. Aidan O’Neill QC is representing a cross-party group of politicians who launched the action to determine whether the withdrawal process triggered under Article […]

A Labour frontbencher has broken ranks with the party leadership and called unequivocally for the people to have a say on the final Brexit deal. Steve Reed, Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow culture minister, has written in London’s Evening Standard newspaper that a fresh referendum was the only way to unblock the impasse facing Parliament. It comes […]

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has told a tech event that he “hadn’t quite understood” the importance of the Dover-Calais crossing for UK trade. According to the website Politico, Raab was speaking last night when he confirmed the choice of goods available to buy in the shops would be hit unless “frictionless trade” was maintained at […]

Reverend Richard Coles treated his Twitter followers to a quite incredible painting of Theresa May riding a lion, apparently discovered in a charity shop in Poole. The Saturday Live presenter tweeted the striking image to his 172,000 followers, saying: “This, spotted by someone in a charity shop in Poole apparently, must surely be saved for […]

A manufacturing firm is to close two sites in the UK with “uncertainty” surrounding Brexit given as a factor behind the decision. Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler said the sites in Plymouth and Llanelli, South Wales, will close within two years. It is understood that up to 500 jobs could be affected. The German-owned company […]

Remainer Tory MP Dominic Grieve has said proposals for the UK to remain in a customs union after Brexit made the whole process “questionable”. The former attorney general told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “At the end of the day it highlights why the entire enterprise is questionable, because in fact what we are likely […]

The self-anointed ‘bad boy of Brexit’ Arron Banks is being investigated for ‘suspected criminal offences committed during the EU referendum’. Arron Banks with Nigel Farage Photo: PA / Ben Birchall – Credit: PA Archive/PA Images The Electoral Commision’s director of poltical finance said the commission has ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect money donated to Better for […]

John McDonnell has announced today’s Labour Brexit policy: a customs union and a “close” relationship with the single market. The shadow chancellor said Labour MPs would vote in favour of a Brexit deal which “protects jobs and the economy” – echoing Jeremy Corbyn’s mantra of a “jobs-first Brexit” – but acknowledged that was “not the […]

A no-deal Brexit may be the “most likely outcome” of negotiations, Nicola Sturgeon has told MSPs. The prime minister said that while the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc were 95% agreed, there remained an “impasse” over the issue of the Irish border. Sturgeon said she was “increasingly concerned” about the prospect of leaving […]

Nigel Farage has made a rare appearance in the European Parliament to attack his own country’s civil service, accusing it of being “the enemy within”. The Ukip MEP for South East England turned up for work to denounce the UK negotiating team under Olly Robbins as attempting to sabotage Brexit and said Britain was heading […]