Follow live coverage and get the latest news as leadership elections in Britain’s main parties get under way in earnest
- Michael Gove’s surprise leadership bid announcement
- Gove’s announcement - Analysis
- Theresa May’s leadership campaign launch - Summary
- Afternoon summary
That’s about it for our live coverage of Thursday’s momentous political events - thanks for reading. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events:
The Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll has been watching Newsnight so we don’t have to.
Wow.... Boris?. "As a national treasure yes, but as a politician, busted,"Boris Johnson's former spokesman on Newsnight @Guto_Harri
Daily Mirror associate editor Kevin Maguire notes:
Now that's awkward: Mail columnist Sarah "Mrs Gove" Vine's paper backs his rival Theresa May https://t.co/RhWLUt1BnB
DAILY MAIL FRONT PAGE: 'Tory day of treachery' #skypaperspic.twitter.com/2aYPOHwTHr
Friday’s front page of the Sun sticks the knife into Boris Johnson, following the lead of Michael Gove:
Friday's Sun: "Brexecuted" #tomorrowspaperstoday#bbcpaperspic.twitter.com/4FBooymVcv (via @hendopolis)
Friday's Telegraph: "An act of midnight treachery" #tomorrowspaperstoday#bbcpaperspic.twitter.com/UDRUNFLeQK (via @hendopolis)
As the five candidates for the Tory leadership sought to win support from MPs tonight, David Cameron and his wife Samantha popped into Il Posto on Vauxhall Bridge Road near Victoria station for a spot of dinner. He had earlier attended a memorial service to commemorate the Battle of the Somme at Westminster Abbey.
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman responds to ITV News presenter Tom Bradby’s quip about BoJo.
I'll take a bet with you he'll leave politics https://t.co/osXDajDh3o
I wonder if Boris will, one way or another, end up on Top Gear...
If you’re looking for a laugh - if that’s quite the right word - take a stroll back through Boris Johnson’s Twitter account, full of gems like this one:
Please Vote Leave on Thursday, because we'll never get this chance again: https://t.co/x9GsokCeXC
Election analyst and blogger Mike Smithson says Andrea Leadsom is moving up the ranks.
Andrea Leadsom now 2nd favourite on Betfair exchange as sentiment moves away from Gove pic.twitter.com/Z1Q5xcWsZ5
More on the surge in Labour party membership from political editor Heather Stewart:
Are new Lab members signing up in droves to back Corbyn in any leadership contest - or to oust him? Both rebels and backers are recruiting.
Theresa May is at the US ambassador’s London residence, Winfield House, for the annual Fourth of July celebration tonight. I ask her if she’d give Boris Johnson a job in her cabinet. “I’m not offering any jobs at the moment,” she replies.
ITV political editor Robert Peston tweets:
Sources tell me Gove urgently wooing @George_Osborne to stay on as chancellor if he wins.
Number of Labour joiners in past week is 60,000. Bloody hell. If most joining to defend Corbyn, scary for estranged MPs (& vice versa)
The bloc of 13 Scottish Labour MSPs who have backed demands for Jeremy Corbyn to stand down includes two former Scottish party leaders – Iain Gray and Johann Lamont – who both resigned after suffering humiliating election defeats, and Anas Sarwar, formerly deputy leader under Jim Murphy and once acting Scottish Labour leader.
Their decision to support the Corbyn rebellion en masse, following party leader Kezia Dugdale’s lead from yesterday, opens up a schism inside the Labour group at Holyrood.
With the first vote to whittle down the five Conservative leadership candidates to two coming on Tuesday, the five hopefuls are frantically wooing fellow MPs for support.
Several Tory MPs have been speaking to Channel 4 News.
Labour MPs have been urged to contact the police about threatening behaviour amid reports that the attempted coup against Jeremy Corbyn has resulted in some politicians receiving death threats.
Author and former Telegraph journalist Robert Colville gets a football analogy into the mix:
Until recently, it would have been as crazy to bet on a Tory leadership shortlist w/out Boris and Osborne as on Leicester winning the league
Jeremy Corbyn - who is still the Labour leader in case you were wondering - was engulfed in a fresh row over Israel earlier today when he appeared to compare the government of Binyamin Netanyahu to Islamic extremists. His comments came at the launch of an independent review into antisemitism in the Labour party.
Paul Waugh, the Huffington Post’s politics executive editor, tweets:
Exclusive: Emily Thornberry phoned Israeli ambassador in London to apologise for any offence caused by Corbyn remarks today.
Turning back to the Labour turmoil for a moment, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones makes an interesting observation:
https://t.co/1YdpUVXrCi Someone registered angela4leader on Saturday - two days before Angela Eagle resigned...
Europe now has yet another reason to grumble about the UK’s Brexit vote: it has prompted credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to cut its credit rating for the European Union.
In Wroclaw in west Poland, the UK’s Brexit decision has been met with bewilderment and regret. Szymon Rozwadowski, a 25-year-old welder, said he had been shocked by how British politicians had fought the Vote Leave campaign.
“It feels like the British politicians lied and none of them actually wanted to leave, but they won anyway. I hope people realised that the politicians didn’t care about them, just their own careers,” he said.
With Johnson out of the race, Theresa May appears to have built a commanding lead in winning the support of the 329 Tory MPs to become the next Tory leader and thus prime minister. She and her four rivals – Michael Gove, Liam Fox, Andrea Leadsom and Stephen Crabb – have until Tuesday to drum up support.
Whichever of the hopefuls proves least popular is eliminated until just two remain from whom the wider Conservative party membership will choose. Bookmakers make May the odds-on favourite to be the next PM, with Gove the clear favourite to be her rival. Fox is set to win the fewest backers, behind Leadsom and Crabb.
Newsnight’s political editor, Nick Watt (formerly of this parish), tweets this insight from Nadhim Zahawi (the Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon) ahead of tonight’s programme:
Boris Johnson ally @nadhimzahawi tells me BJ bowed out saying: I am not doing a @jeremycorbyn I am not splitting party. Details #newsnight
Guardian political editor Heather Stewart tweets:
Ouch: one of Boris's key lieutenants is not best pleased with Gove... https://t.co/py8iPYNmFA
"There a number of people who have said to me during the week: Michael, it should be you." https://t.co/pbAtS5ZFL4
Gove has told the BBC he only made his decision to run last night.
He said:
There were a number of people that said to me during the week: ‘It should be you.’
There are far too many people who feel left behind ... I want to heal and unite.
It never rains, it pours:
Jeremy Corbyn has just released a statement. In which he spells his own name wrong. https://t.co/ZPy1H1A6Ejpic.twitter.com/UnlDGdH1QJ
Three senior and influential Labour MSPs on the left of the Scottish parliamentary party have attacked critics of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, accusing them of “exploiting” the membership and treating it as an electoral plaything.
Alex Rowley, the party’s deputy leader at Holyrood, Neil Findlay, a previous Scottish leadership contender, and Richard Leonard, a senior GMB Scotland official who joined Holyrood in May’s election, issued a joint statement saying the current feud has “broken the hearts” of party members across the UK.
Labour party members are not passive onlookers to be used and exploited at election time, only to be ignored thereafter – they are the lifeblood of our party, we are nothing without them.
Democracy wherever it is found is a precious thing – we therefore want to make it clear that we wish to uphold the democratic rights of Labour party members and support the democratically elected leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn.
Barack Obama has suggested Brexit may not actually happen:
Shami Chakrabarti, the chair of Labour’s antisemitism inquiry, has accused the media of spinning Jeremy Corbyn’s comments at today’s event, which have seen him accused of comparing Israel with Islamic State.
The former Liberty chair told LBC radio:
I’m sorry that there are a few things that have been spun in the media ... have kind of cast a shadow over two months’ really hard, open-hearted work ...
I learned something today.
The comments by the leader of the Labour party at the launch, however they were intended, are themselves offensive, and rather than rebuilding trust among the Jewish community, are likely to cause even greater concern. Full and unhesitating implementation of the report’s findings must now follow. I call upon the Labour party to guarantee that there will be zero tolerance of antisemitism.
Jeremy Corbyn has struck a defiant tone in an email to Labour party members, which includes a plea for unity.
He writes:
United we stand, divided we fall is one of the oldest and truest slogans of the Labour movement.
After last week’s referendum, our country faces major challenges. Risks to the economy and living standards are growing. The public is split.
The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has signalled possible interest rate cuts following the Brexit vote, saying some monetary policy easing will likely be required over the summer. You can follow Carney’s speech on our business live blog.
This is how the pound has reacted to Carney's announcement of the possibility of more QE. https://t.co/yTCnQEghTLpic.twitter.com/EBh2yPchXI
You might see this replayed quite a lot in the coming weeks:
ICYMI here's Mr Gove telling us he wouldn't make a very good PM and wd happily confirm in blood he doesn't want it..https://t.co/4jNF0YPzFw
Israel’s former foreign minister has joined in the criticism of Jeremy Corbyn over his choice of words at the launch of Labour’s antisemitism report earlier today.
Corbyn's words imply a serious lack of moral judgement. Just as all Muslims are not to blame for ISIS, not all Brits are to blame for Corbyn
There’s been another resignation by a shadow minister, accompanied by a call for Jeremy Corbyn to go.
This time it’s Rob Marris, who was appointed shadow financial secretary to the Treasury in September.
Rob Marris resigns as shadow treasury minister and calls on Jeremy Corbyn to resign. The pressure continues...
And the Labour resignations are continuing. This is from the Sun’s Craig Woodhouse.
Labour resignations have started again: Rob Marris as Treasury frontbencher, during Finance Bill committee
Here is more on the Johnson/Gove fallout.
From Sky’s Sophy Ridge
Tory MP & former Boris backer: "Michael has behaved badly towards Boris.I'm not sure people will feel they can trust him after this morning"
View from small unscientific sample of Cons MPs - much distrust of Gove after morning's events, he needs to be handshaking & reassuring
Boris was trying to get @andrealeadsom on his team (they did @ITV& @bbc debates together). But she pulled out overnight & made her own bid
Jacob Rees-Mogg has switched his support from Boris Johnson to Michael Gove
The Tory grandee Michael Heseltine has really put the boot into Boris Johnson for pulling out of the leadership race, accusing him of ripping the party apart and creating “the greatest constitutional crisis in peacetime in my life”.
Here's what Lord Heseltine had to say about Boris Johnson pulling out of leadership race pic.twitter.com/pffxChI00k
Theresa May will be pleased with this.
Our colleagues in Germany are seeing parallels between Theresa May and the German chancellor pic.twitter.com/BGkak6y4jH
Here is an extract from George Parker’s account of the Gove/Johnson fallout for the Financial Times.
Stories circulated that Mr Johnson had failed to attend a meeting with about 50 pro-Remain Conservative MPs. Key people, including the prominent pro-Brexit minister Andrea Leadsom, had failed to commit to his campaign. “Michael tried to make Boris’s campaign work but it was becoming clear it wasn’t going to work,” the ally said. “He wasn’t giving people the love or attention or making the offers to people that were required.”
Mr Gove’s friends say that a convoluted Daily Telegraph article written by Mr Johnson on Monday had added to a sense of concern among Conservative MPs about his leadership qualities, but allies of the former London mayor said the piece was “sub-edited by Michael”. Mr Johnson’s backers also deny he was responsible for chaos in the leadership bid, saying that Mr Gove was in charge of the campaign, including arranging meetings with MPs and signing up new backers.
Boris Johnson’s father has likened Michael Gove to the assassins who murdered Julius Caesar.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s The World at One, when asked about Gove’s intervention, Stanley Johnson quoted Caesar’s supposed last words after he was stabbed by his former friend Brutus.
‘Et tu Brute’ is my comment on that. I don’t think he is called Brutus, but you never know.
This has obviously been a very, very stressful time. I think he was probably very surprised by Michael Gove’s sudden move as indeed many people are.
Boris’s career move I think was in a sense an absolutely brilliant move in one way because it did put on the table crucial issues for the British electorate.
It put on the table the immigration issue, the direction of travel issue, the sovereignty issue - all those things.
The Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has urged Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately, accusing him of a “catastrophic failure of leadership”, after he failed to defend her when she was abused at the launch of a report into antisemitism in the party. In a statement she said:
I was verbally attacked by a Momentum activist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter who used traditional antisemitic slurs to attack me for being part of a ‘media conspiracy’. It is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a report on antisemitism in the Labour party and espouse such vile conspiracy theories about Jewish people, which were ironically highlighted as such in Ms [Shami] Chakrabarti’s report, while the leader of my own party stood by and did absolutely nothing.
People like this have no place in our party or our movement and must be opposed. Until today I had made no public comment about Jeremy’s ability to lead our party, but the fact that he failed to intervene is final proof for me that he is unfit to lead, and that a Labour party under his stewardship cannot be a safe space for British Jews.
No one from the leader’s office has contacted me since the event, which is itself a catastrophic failure of leadership. I call on Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately and make way for someone with the backbone to confront racism and antisemitism in our party and in the country.
The former German chancellor Helmut Kohl has warned European leaders against applying too much pressure on Britain, in the wake of the vote for Brexit.
In an account of an interview for the tabloid newspaper Bild by its editor-in-chief, Kai Diekmann, Kohl, 86, is indirectly quoted as warning against “unnecessary severity and haste” in the post-referendum negotiations.
I’m hearing strong rumours that some of the “core loyal” Corbyn supporters are planning to tell him that they think it’s time to go.
Emma Reynolds, chair of the parliamentary Labour party’s (PLP’s) health committee, has written to the party’s general secretary Iain McNicol to complain about John McDonnell in response to an article in the Guardian about the shadow chancellor setting up a secret group of advisers to help shape Labour’s stance on the NHS.
She writes:
It has been reported in today’s Guardian that John McDonnell has set up a parallel organisation to formulate health policy. As you can see from the article, members of other political parties, including somebody who stood in competition with one of our party’s parliamentary candidates, are members of this organisation:
I would like to formally complain against John McDonnell. I would also like to seek your advice as to whether, in setting up this parallel organisation and working with members of other political parties, he is breaking any of the party rules or the PLP code of conduct.
This is a video of Jeremy Corbyn at Labour’s anti-semitism event earlier today, when he was accused of comparing Israel with Islamic State:
Dan Hodges just tweeted that Corbyn is about to resign, so presumably he'll be leader until 2025.
Understand Corbyn on edge of resigning.
Eagle launch definitely pulled. Want to give Corbyn space do decent thing.
Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench, has announced that the first vote in the Conservative leadership contest will take place on Tuesday next week, 5 July.
In theory the voting will go like this.
Angela Eagle is definitely not launching her Labour leadership challenge today, it has been confirmed.
Source close to Angela Eagle confirms no launch today but she is DEFINITELY running. "Today's a day for the Tories. But she will stand"
The Eagle hasn't landed, but may take off next week. #labour
The Eagle is stranded https://t.co/FamItPThtN
Corbynista source on Eagle: "She's already the disunity candidate. Some of these people are just confirming why we lost two elections."
Pro-JC Lab source: "Where Eagles Daren't...that's the movie title. Even she's not sure if she should run. Shes's a second rung Brownite"
Discussions on transitional arrangements for an independent Scotland to remain in the European Union (EU) after the UK leaves are taking place in Brussels, a former senior adviser to the European Commission (EC) has disclosed.
As the Press Association reports, Dr Kirsty Hughes told MSPs discussions are taking place about putting Scotland in a “transitional holding pen” after Brexit to avoid “an absurd out and then in process”.
I talk to people in Brussels, off the record, who are talking about Scotland being in some sort of transitional holding pen.
It wouldn’t have a seat in the council of ministers until ratification of the treaties, but it wouldn’t have to go through an absurd out and then in process.
For what it’s worth, here’s a snapshot from what’s going on in the Labour party. A source (who is not well disposed towards Jeremy Corbyn) says that Holborn and St Pancras Labour party debated a motion supporting Corbyn last night and that it was defeated by 44 votes to 35. Apparently soft left members who have supported Corbyn in the past swung against him because of his performance in the EU referendum. Sir Keir Starmer, the MP, criticised Corbyn not just for being lacklustre during the campaign, but also for saying on Friday morning that the government should trigger article 50 (starting the withdrawal process) immediately. That would limit the government’s room for manoeuvre, Starmer said. The Momentum organiser James Schneider was there and apparently was none too pleased ...
Here is the Guardian’s panel - Jonathan Freedland, Zoe Williams, Mary Dejevsky and Mark Wallace - on how Boris Johnson’s departure will affect the Conservative leadership contest.
Related: How will Boris Johnson’s departure change the Tory leadership contest? | The panel
The choice now is between, in Gove, a true Brexit believer and, in May, a candidate who today declared “Brexit means Brexit”. Those who had hoped that the next prime minister might look for a fudge, a way out of the 23 June verdict, need to lower their expectations – and accept that out might really mean out.
Turning to the Labour party for a moment, we were expecting an announcement this afternoon from Angela Eagle about challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership. But, according to Sky’s Jon Craig, that may be delayed.
Shad Cab member tells me probably no Angela Eagle launch today. Expects hustings between Eagle & Owen Smith on Mon to decide who will run.
Dominic Raab, the justice minister, was on the Daily Politics earlier explaining why he and his boss, Michael Gove, the justice secretary, decided they could no longer support Boris Johnson’s bid for the Conservative leadership. Along with Gove and Johnson, Raab was a leading leave campaigner.
Raab told the programme:
We were striving and struggling not just for a dream ticket, but a dream team ... We had certain reassurances about the team that were treated in a rather cavalier fashion - and you can see if you look at the runners and riders this morning the outcome of that ... Putting together a really strong unifying team was an absolute condition. When that fell away, I think that Michael felt things had changed ...
Boris was cavalier with assurances he made ... We’re picking a prime minister here to lead the country, not a school prefect.
Michael Gove is the right leader for the country ... He can speak out to the aspirational underdog in our society, the kid from the council estate ... I also think when it comes to delivering on Brexit, we need someone with a passion but also the mastery of the detail. He combines both.
My colleague Sam Coates from the Times (standing on the right, behind Norman Smith) found it hard to conceal his surprise after Boris Johnson’s announcement.
The lobby's reaction as expressed by @SamCoatesTimespic.twitter.com/iOjhy1lhfa
Here is the Tory MP Paul Scully on Boris Johnson’s announcement.
Gracious speech by @BorisJohnson pulling out of the race for leader. Hope he continues to play a big role.
Jeremy Corbyn is attracting more criticism over the anti-semitism event, where he was accused of comparing Israel with Isis.
From PA:
A Labour MP stormed out of a press conference staged by Jeremy Corbyn after being accused of colluding with the right-wing press by one of the leader’s grassroots supporters.
A clearly upset Ruth Smeeth had been at the launch of a report into anti-Semitism in the party when it was claimed she was in cahoots with The Daily Telegraph.
You sat there and watched our colleague Ruth Smeeth abused at a Labour event this morning. Your words are hollow. https://t.co/XvJQQUeFt6
Stewart Jackson is another disappointed Brexit Tory MP
I feel terribly disappointed for Boris who on any event has made history and for whom the UK will be indebted. I'll make my choice on Monday
These are from my colleague Martin Kettle.
Boris Johnson will be editor of the Daily Telegraph by Christmas
As Boris Johnson has a US passport maybe he is about to run for president instead
The Tory party has proved yet again it has PhD in ruthlessness. Labour hasn't even passed GCSE.
These are from the BBC’s Andrew Sinclair.
Boris supporter @JDjanogly "i'm dissappointed" @JamesCleverly fighting back tears "i'm gutted"
Boris supporter @NadineDorriesMP in tears at decision not to stand
Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are both coming in for stick over today’s drama but for different reasons.
Rob Ford, professor of political science at Manchester University, says of Johnson:
Boris engineered the largest constitutional crisis in post-war history but won't even put his name forward to clear it up?
What. A. Prat.
@BorisJohnson You spineless c$&t You lead this ludicrous campaign to leave EU. Win, and now fuc& off to let someone else clear up your mess.
I will say a bit not good of Boris to invite his supporters and strand them in public like that without telling them. Feel sorry Nadine now
One MP loyal to Boris:"What Michael Gove has done today will live on in political history for a long time. He's trashed his own reputation"
Michael Gove has just been the most amazing shit.
James Wharton, a communities minister, who declared his support for Boris Johnson yesterday has said that he does not know who he will support now. He said:
I am disappointed but it is a fast moving political environment. I will now look at what other candidates will propose.
I had a private meeting with Boris on Monday where he gave me assurances about the sort of things I wanted to see for the north of England, for the way we will take the Northern Powerhouse forward.
Michael Gove decided late last night that he could no longer support Boris Johnson’s bid for the Tory leadership, according to sources familiar with what happened. Until very recently he had been clear that he would not stand himself. But he thought it would boil down to a contest between Theresa May and Boris Johnson. Having concluded he could not support Johnson, he was then reluctant to see May go unchallenged, because he thought there had to be a leave candidate. And so he decided to stand himself.
Gove tried to call Boris Johnson this morning to tell him, but could not get hold of him. But he did speak to Sir Lynton Crosby, who was running Johnson’s campaign, before releasing his statement to the media.
Here is the official list of contestants in the Tory leadership contest. Nominations closed at noon.
Here now are the official runners and riders (candidates, proposers, seconders) as announced by the 1922 Committee. pic.twitter.com/QZsVjYu1OH
A Labour briefing says Michael Gove has gone on the record as saying he is “not equipped to be prime minister” and points out that he has ruled himself out of standing at least nine times.
It says:
In doing so [standing] Michael Gove has sent a message that he would rather the country get a prime minister who himself thinks he’s not up to the job than let one of his Tory rivals succeed.
In saying that he is better suited for the role than his other rivals, Michael Gove is in effect saying that they are not up to the job of prime minister. We know this because he doesn’t think he is up to the job and shouldn’t be doing it.
The justice secretary Michael Gove compared pro-remain economists to Nazi collaborators, a startling example of the way in which the Nazi regime and the Holocaust can be minimalised, trivialised or even forgotten by ill-judged comparisons.
Here is Johnson’s surprise announcement at the end of his speech. It came after he called for measures to cut inequality and spread opportunity.
That is the agenda for the next prime minister of this country.
Well, I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punchline of this speech, that having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me.
Meanwhile, the embattled Labour leader Jeremy Corby has put the cat among the pigeons at the launch of a report into antisemitism within the party with a quote which appeared to liken Israel to Islamic State (Isis):
Corbyn: "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel than our Muslim friends are for the self-styled Islamic State"
.@PolhomeEditor asking Corbyn whether he's comparing Israel to Isis. Corbyn says no. No questions taken from UK Jewish media. Shambolic
Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the [Binyamin] Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of self-styled Islamic states or organisations.
Jewish supporters of Labour party, after Corbyn compares Israel to ISIS, during launch of report on antisemitism pic.twitter.com/zlyo2UAfFh
He is not taking questions.
Johnson has finished his speech now.
Johnson says that this is the agenda for the next leader.
But that person will not be him.
Johnson says the biggest gains in life expectancy have been made in London amongst the poor.
He says the prophets of doom were wrong about Brexit.
Johnson says the party needs to unite now. He wants the most talented people in the country to come together.
London has been transformed from relative stagnation to a dynamic economy.
Johnson says now is the chance to strike trade deals.
He says some countries have already been in touch.
Boris Johnson says people voted to leave the EU last week. It was a cause he passionately supports.
This is our chance, he says. We need to create an economy where everyone benefits from success.
Liam Fox set out his case to be the next Tory leader and prime minister on Sky News (quotes from Politics Home). Like everyone else, he tried to portray himself as the unifying candidate.
I think that we’ve just been through quite a traumatic period in our referendum and I think we need to try to heal the divisions on that and I think I can do that having been on the leave side of that equation but having many friends on the other side who were in the remain camp and all through that referendum I urged people to be civil and courteous to one another which I think is the tone we should also adopt, incidentally, in the leadership campaign.
I think we’ve just broken free from the EU into a much wider, greater opportunity, one that Britain is very well placed to take advantage of and so it’s with a great sense of optimism that I come into this contest. I know people are saying ‘look at the difficulties of the world around us’ – I think there’s really a new dawn here for this country and we’re particularly well-placed to take advantage of the challenges and the opportunities out there.
In terms of the EU I think we need to make it very clear that we intend to honour the instruction given to us by the British people last week, we will leave the EU. I don’t believe the British public will accept the concept of free movement in return for full membership of the single market, I think we need a more free trade approach.
Here are the main points from Theresa May’s speech and Q&A. It was a solid, serious speech, with more detail than Stephen Crabb’s speech yesterday, and concessions designed to appeal to Tory Brexiteers and Tory liberals (there are a few) respectively.
Here are the main points.
Britain still needs a government that is capable of delivering a programme of serious social reform and realising a vision of a country that truly works for everyone.
The evidence of this need has been known to us for a long time. If you’re born poor, you will die on average nine years earlier than others. If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white. If you’re a white, working-class boy, you’re less likely than anybody else to go to university. If you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately. If you’re a woman, you still earn less than a man. If you suffer from mental health problems, there’s too often not enough help to hand. If you’re young, you’ll find it harder than ever before to own your own home. These are all burning injustices, and - as I did with the misuse of stop and search and deaths in police custody and modern slavery - I am determined to fight against them.
But the mission to make this a country that works for everyone goes further than fighting these injustices. If you’re from an ordinary, working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise. You have a job, but you don’t always have job security. You have your own home, but you worry about mortgage rates going up. You can just about manage, but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school, because there’s no other choice for you.
Some need to be told that what the government does isn’t a game, it’s a serious business that has real consequences for people’s lives.
While it is absolutely vital that the government continues with its intention to reduce public spending and cut the budget deficit, we should no longer seek to reach a budget surplus by the end of the Parliament. If before 2020 there is a choice between further spending cuts, more borrowing and tax rises, the priority must be to avoid tax increases since they would disrupt consumption, employment and investment.
The second point is while the ability to trade with EU member states is vital to our prosperity, there is clearly no mandate for a deal that involves accepting the free movement of people as it has worked hitherto. Now is not the time for me to set out my full negotiating principles - that will come later. But I want to be clear that as we conduct our negotiations, it must be a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services - but also to regain more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe. Any attempt to wriggle out of that - especially from leadership candidates who campaigned to leave the EU by focusing on immigration - will be unacceptable to the public.
I will therefore create a new government department responsible for conducting Britain’s negotiation with the EU and for supporting the rest of Whitehall in its European work. That department will be led by a senior secretary of state - and I will make sure that the position is taken by a member of parliament who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU.
Brexit means Brexit. The campaign was fought, the vote was held, turnout was high, and the public gave their verdict. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door, and no second referendum.
Lots of people on the Tory left couldn't support a candidate who would pull the UK out of the ECHR, so May is dropping that pledge now
I know some politicians seek high office because they’re driven by ideological fervour. And I know others seek it for reasons of ambition or glory. But my reasons are much simpler. I grew up the daughter of a local vicar and the granddaughter of a regimental sergeant major. Public service has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember.
I know I’m not a showy politician. I don’t tour the television studios. I don’t gossip about people over lunch. I don’t go drinking in parliament’s bars. I don’t often wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me.
And you can judge me by my record. As Home Secretary, I was told I couldn’t take on the Police Federation, but I did. I was told I couldn’t cut police spending without crime going up, but crime is lower than ever. I was told I shouldn’t start asking questions about police corruption, but everywhere I’ve seen it - from Stephen Lawrence to Hillsborough - I’ve exposed it. I was told I couldn’t stop Gary McKinnon’s extradition, but I stood up to the American government and I stopped it. I was told I couldn’t deport Abu Qatada, but I flew to Jordan and negotiated the treaty that got him out of Britain for good.
Tory MP Nigel Evans, who is backing Boris Johnson, was asked whether Theresa May had stabbed his favoured candidate in the back and Michael Gove had stabbed him in the front. He replied:
That’s about it. It makes House of Cards look like Teletubbies.
I think there’s almost an expectation that it should be Theresa and Boris. I think they’d be real surprise if it ended up with someone else.
The decision on expanding airport capacity in south-east England has been deferred until a new Conservative leader is elected, the government has confirmed.
David Cameron was expected to confirm whether projects at Heathrow or Gatwick would get the go-ahead in the coming weeks if the UK voted to remain in the EU.
But Cameron’s resignation following the Brexit vote means the decision will not be made until the autumn.
I had hoped that we would be able to announce a decision on airport capacity this summer.
Clearly any announcement on airport capacity would have to be made when the House is in session and being realistic, given recent events, I cannot now foresee an announcement until at least October.
Here is Nicky Morgan’s statement on why she is backing Michael Gove. And here’s an extract.
It is equally important that we now secure the right deal for Britain – and the next leader must have the skill and credibility to put together the right team to renegotiate our exit from and future relationship with Europe and explain the final terms to the British people.
Having spent the past week talking to colleagues in parliament, party members and constituents I have concluded unequivocally that the right person to do that is Michael Gove and I am delighted to be endorsing his candidacy today.
And Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, who was also mulling over his own leadership bid, has announced that he is backing Theresa May. He said:
I have decided that now is not the right time for me to run for the leadership - though I remain completely committed to ensuring we secure our position as a great trading nation with sensible controls on migration. I believe that Theresa May has the strength, judgement and values to deliver those things. She is the right choice to lead Britain in a challenging period and will make a truly outstanding prime minister.
According to Sky News, Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, has said she will not stand for the leadership. She is backing Michael Gove, Sky says.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries not part of the alleged “stampede” to Gove. She is typically outspoken about his candidature for the leadership, suggesting he cannot be trusted. She also says Conservative party members will be furious if Boris Johnson does not make the final two.
Conservative party members will be very very angry if Boris not on final 2. Treachery of Gove won't be forgiven easily
Gove didn't get the big job Mrs Vine wanted for him - Boris doesn't do bribes
Conservative party members have no forgiveness for opportunism and treachery - those days are gone
' I don't want to be PM' who can ever believe a word Gove says again
Channel 4’s Tim Bouverie quotes an MP saying there is a “stampede” from Johnson to Gove.
There is "a stampede away from Boris to Gove" - Tory MP.
Nick Boles who had declared for Boris is running Gove's campaign. Other defections: Raab, Hayes, Gibb
Michael Gove is the man the party and country can trust to deliver Brexit. He's a passionate believer in social justice and a true reformer.
Dominic Raab, the justice minister, was backing Boris Johnson. But he’s just told Sky News that he is now backing Michael Gove.
As 5 News’s Andy Bell points out, Raab has an article in today’s Sun saying why Johnson should be the leader.
Just watched Dominic Raab backing Michael Gove while reading his Sun article backing Boris #ToryLeadershippic.twitter.com/46LAggVoWW
Good morning, this is Haroon Siddique, I’ll be helping Andrew out with blog today as there is so much going on today.
Bookies have installed Michael Gove as the second favourite behind Theresa May.
I am quite surprised [by his announcement]. I never really thought it [the referendum campaign] was about Michael’s political ambitions ...
I am also surprised at what he said. He talks about healing and speaking for all and bringing the country together. From my experience of Michael and his approach towards teachers, the legal profession, ethnic minorities, that is not the Michael Gove I see.
Here is Paul Goodman, editor of ConservativeHome, on why Michael Gove abandoned Boris Johnson.
Gove's decision 1) He came to believe that @BorisJohnson was prepared to backtrack on Brexit.
Gove's decision 2) It's claimed that Johnson refused to allow his Daily Telegraph column text to go through a campaign approval process.
Gove's decision 3) The Justice Secretary & supporters concluded that Johnson was unlikely to defeat May.
Here’s a clip from Theresa May’s leadership launch.
These are from the Spectator’s James Forsyth.
Think if Gove can make it to the last two, then he has a chance. But next 24 hours absolutely key for him
Understand that it was concerns, and frustrations, about the Boris operation and Boris’s way of working that tipped Gove over the edge
Here is Channel 4 New’s Gary Gibbon’s take on Michael Gove’s declaration he is standing. And here is an extract.
The PM’s circle were already calling him Brutus. Samantha Cameron has told friends she will never speak to the Goves again.
Now the Johnsons’ dinner parties are off limits.
The Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has announced he is switching his support to Michael Gove from Boris Johnson.
I am transferring my support to Michael Gove for the leadership of the @Conservatives and Prime @Number10gov. pic.twitter.com/C8yUvy9mhg
Q: What would you do about the border with Ireland?
May says there is a common travel area in Ireland. The government is speaking to the Irish government about this.
Q: Given the government is abandoning so many policies, aren’t voters entitled to another election?
May says the government was elected on a clear manifesto. It should deliver on that. And, given the uncertainties around at the moment, it would be wrong to introduce further uncertainty by having an election.
Q: Can you guarantee that EU citizens living in the EU will be allowed to stay?
May says this will be part of the negotiation.
Q: Are you committed to getting net migration below 100,000?
May says it was in the manifesto in 2010 and 2015. The government will have to negotiate controls on free movement.
Q: Would leaving the EU bring down net migration below 100,000?
May says you cannot simply pull a lever and bring down immigration. You have to work at this through various policy means.
Q: You are home secretary, and responsible for immigration. And remain lost because of immigration. So why should people trust you to control it?
May says she has done this. She has sat around the table in Europe. And she delivered in Europe. Other people have delivered in Europe too. Like Boris Johnson. The last time he did a deal with the Germans, he came back with three nearly new water cannon.
I will summarise Theresa May’s speech soon. It was substantial.
She is now taking questions.
This is what political journalists are saying about Michael Gove’s declaration that he is standing for the Conservative leadership.
This massively helps Theresa May look like unifying, stable candidate while Gove and Johnson fight it out
The other interesting thing about Michael Gove's statement is that the pitch he's making is continuity Vote Leave.
Must assume Murdoch and Dacre could not endorse Boris - step forward the proprietors choice Michael Gove.
To the extent official Leave campaign had a policy prospectus, Michael Gove will attempt to fulfil it. The @odysseanproject continues.
Important: Gove wants to leave the single market https://t.co/7fleFljNkb
Nick Boles abandons Boris Johnson to chair Gove campaign
So if you were a conspiracy theorist, you would say that Mr Gove was behind the leaking of the prophetic Mrs Gove email, to soften us up
The power of a determined wife: Gove runs!
Or is Gove's running he power of Dacre and Murdoch..who are said to doubt Boris?
The 3 people who spent the last few months working hand-in-glove with Boris—Gove, Leadsom and Boles—all abandon him at once. Fancy that.
Maybe Boris didn't see this quote from Cameron: "(Gove is) basically a bit of a Maoist. He believes in...a process of creative destruction.”
This is a terrific Gove profile by Decca Aitkenhead from four years ago https://t.co/FZU2TdPhEe
This is from the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn.
A text arrives from a senior Team Boris figure: "Gove is a c*** who set this up form start". This is going to be bloody.
Last week Michael Gove’s Vote Leave campaign ended the career of David Cameron - a man that Gove has counted as a close friend for more than a decade.
Today the Gove career-destroying machine has turned on Boris Johnson, who until about half an hour ago was the favourite to win the Conservative leadership. Gove, who is respected by colleagues, Tory members and the media, has just published a damning character reference about the man with whom he jointly ran the victorious Vote Leave campaign. Here it is again:
I respect and admire all the candidates running for the leadership. In particular, I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future.
But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.
But I understand that Gove is not planning to put himself forward.
One influential figure in the Leave campaign says: “Michael has acquired a new respect for Boris in this process.”
Chris Grayling, the leader of the Commons, is introducing Theresa May. He is chairing her campaign.
That is significant because he was as significant leave campaigner.
Theresa May, the home secretary, is launching her leadership bid with a speech around now.
She has set out her case in a long post on Facebook.
Andrea Leadsom, the pro-Brexit energy minister, has announced that she is also running for the Conservative leadership.
Delighted to say I'm running for the @Conservatives Leadership.
Let's make the most of the Brexit opportunities!#FreshStart
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Nadia.
Michael Gove has announced that he is standing for the Conservative leadership.
The British people voted for change last Thursday. They sent us a clear instruction that they want Britain to leave the European Union and end the supremacy of EU law. They told us to restore democratic control of immigration policy and to spend their money on national priorities such as health, education and science instead of giving it to Brussels. They rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country.
There are huge challenges ahead for this country but also huge opportunities. We can make this country stronger and fairer. We have a unique chance to heal divisions, give everyone a stake in the future and set an example as the most creative, innovative and progressive country in the world.
The gossip among some MPs and their researchers is that Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary is also collecting names as a possible alternative Labour leadership challenger.
MPs do not want two contenders as that would split the vote, but some are concerned that Eagle will be characterised as not left wing enough to challenge Corbyn. Smith is seen by some as closer to the leadership and perhaps more likely to be able to beat the leader.
Today’s Telegraph cartoon gives us food for thought:
Superb Matt this morning pic.twitter.com/62vu3tF6oL
In an opinion piece for the Telegraph, Nigel Farage says he believes the next Tory leader should be a Brexiteer. He writes:
It is an absolutely vital task and so we need somebody who has the courage and vision to deliver.
It is inconceivable that the next Prime Minister, whose most urgent task would be to implement the brexit process, could be someone who only days ago was insisting we Remain in.
Shami Chakrabarti’s report on anti-Semitism in Labour is due at 11am today. Corbyn is expected to speak at the launch. As Buzzfeed’s Jim Waterson points out, what a day for it...
Not saying they chose a busy news day to launch the report into Labour anti-Semitism but it's up against two Tory leader launches and a coup
Damian Green, former Home Office minister for immigration and the campaign spokesman for Theresa May was just on the Today programme.
Green said the ideal position for the UK “is the one that gives us the most ability to trade with the single market in both goods and services.”
What the british people have said is the freedom of movement is unacceptable therefore we have to negotiate a new arrangement. It’s clear this morning we’ve had slightly different responses from a French minister and a German minister... we don’t know what the negotiating position of the other side is yet.
She has done more to bring immigration down and abolish things like bogus colleges... one of the things that has been a problem is the amount of immigration from the EU... there are two key principles here, one is that you want to bring in people who are going to be useful but you want to keep people out who are just coming here to claim benefits. We have been much more successful at that than other countries... nobody could have been tougher and more consistent than the home secretary.
We have to consider who is going to be the best prime minister to take on a “one nation” agenda. A form of conservatism that makes clear we have problems in this country, it’s not just about individualism, we have to help people who feel they’re being failed by the system.. When [May] says something she means it and she gets her way.
The simple answer is that is we have to have an Australian style point system, where we control our borders and economy, and we still get access to single market.
You don’t have to have a trade-off, you can negotiate on both sides.
On the theme of angry letters regarding Jeremy Corbyn, here’s one from Alan Johnson to his constituency Labour party. Johnson writes that “three of Corbyn’s closest associates were actively undermining the party’s Remajn campaign”.
This is quite the letter. Alan Johnson to his Constituency Labour Party. pic.twitter.com/gzVEJchCxi
Peter Altmaier, head of the federal chancellery in Germany, and a key ally of Angela Merkel, has poured more cold water on the idea that the UK could have post-Brexit access to the EU’s single market while also imposing limits on the arrival of people from the bloc.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while anything could be negotiated, this idea, mooted earlier this week by Boris Johnson among others, would seem unacceptable:
There will be a process where the British government is considering what they are putting on the table. But nobody in this negotiation will be obliged to accept anything that is put on the table. It is a negotiation...
What you can find from the past is that freedom of movement is at least as important as freedom of goods, services and capital. These four fundamental freedoms are at the heart of the single market. That means that any country that would like to participate in the single market, basically has to accept the single market as it exists.
Despite statements from various political figures yesterday that Brexit is definitely going to happen, in London and Scotland the message is still yet to fully hit home. The Evening Standard reported that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar has revealed he is in talks with Sadiq Khan and Nicola Sturgeon to draw up plans for protection against Brexit.
Labour’s Tam Dalyell also told the BBC’s Newsnight that MPs should have the courage to overrule the Brexit vote.
Brexit continues to dominate the news agenda beyond the front pages. Although global stock markets had a much better day yesterday after a torrid week, the governor of Bank of England Mark Carney is expected to speak today to reassure the city that contingency plans will keep the funds flowing.
But this sobering 23-tweet forecast from Alan White of the Economist Intelligence Unit is worth a read (if you want to depress yourself further):
EIU Brexit Take
1. Brexit has plunged the UK into political, economic and market turmoil. We expect this turmoil to be sustained
2. Financial market volatility will persist, while uncertainty over the future of the UK's relationship with EU will feed into real economy
3. We significantly revised our economic fcast. After growth of 1.5% this year, we expect contraction of 1% in 2017 pic.twitter.com/MuaeHpav6m
4. We expect to see decline in investment of 8% and decline in private consumption of 3% in 2017 with the pound levelling out at $1.24
5. The vote has transformed our fiscal forecasts. Falling tax rev & higher social transfers as unemployment rises pic.twitter.com/DEg0Qu9gpq
6. We now expect the UK's public debt burden to reach 100% of GDP by 2018 pic.twitter.com/Qj3cjsHAcj
7. This hit brings UK's post-crisis recovery to a halt. 2018 real GDP will be almost 4% below pre-referendum forecast (2020 = 6% below)
8. While this is going on, politics will remain deeply fractious. The Govt, the main parties, parliament & the Union all face big threats
9. We expect two months of chaos in the near-term. New PM Johnson (or May) will be in post in Sept, and start to figure out way ahead
10. The UK will likely invoke Art 50 before year end, implying that negotiations will conclude in late 2018
11. UK will agree an EEA minus deal with significant constraints on services access in return for limitations on migration
12. Much of the financial services sector may be left in the cold
13. New PM will eat heroic quantities of humble pie to get the deal; UK will be permanently out of the room on big decisions
14: This new deal will be confirmed through either a second referendum or a general election at the end of the process
15. Leavers will tell voters they wont get what they want on migration. Will lead to major backlash = structural rise for radical right
16. This is a particular threat for Labour. We expect UKIP etc to mount a serious challenge in Labour heartlands (even with Corbyn gone)
17. UK establishment will take time to fully reassert itself. Lack of planning / credibility will lead to ongoing doubts about capacity
18. Much of the UK's 'political stability premium' based on predictability / reliability etc could be lost for long time
19. As UK leaves, recovery will be underway but economy & politics will look structurally different
20. We are not predicting second Scot ref at this stage, but constitutional settlement needs to change (inc London / FPTP?)
21. Impacts across Europe will be substantial. We have taken 0.2% off growth and see larger political risks – particularly in Italy/France
22. The region is capable of managing Brexit, and other crises in isolation. It may not be capable of managing several crises at once
23. We expect things to hold together, but see major downside risks – include possibility EU wont deal, or that crises spin out of control
Good morning and welcome to our daily EU referendum live blog.
Here’s the morning briefing to run you through the latest developments and what we expect to happen throughout the day. Please do leave your comments below the line, or you can find me on Twitter @nadiakhomami.
“Leave it, Jez, ‘e ain’t worth it. We’ve all ‘ad a drink.” - “Come back here, Miliband, and say that to my face.” pic.twitter.com/zOWQdBXZ8D
My letter to @jeremycorbyn tonight. pic.twitter.com/QHYkhs7sx0
I think Ukip needs to be reformed root and branch and we will be looking at that. With a million supporters there’s also a wonderful opportunity if we want to do something, to back something. I think a new party, a brand new party.
Ukip grew so rapidly it had problems with personnel and all sorts of issues and I believe that could be better tackled with a new party.
Jeremy Corbyn must do the decent thing. Prune that rosebush outside his front door so he doesn’t have to duck under it every morning.
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