- Benn says he has lost confidence in Labour leader
- Conservative candidates vie to ‘Stop Boris’
- EU leaders insist Britain must act soon to quit the union
- But Merkel calls for ‘businesslike’ timeframe for talks
9.29am BST
Jon Lansman, the founder of Momentum, the Labour group for Corbyn supporters, and a very close ally of Corbyn’s, has been tweeting this morning. He was unhappy about Hilary Benn being invited on the Andrew Marr Show.
I hear BBC has taken John McDonnell off Marr to be replaced by Hilary Benn. What happened to supposed BBC balance? #BBCpoliticalbias
I’m told Marr has relented – McDonnell re-invited. It seems being conspired against does justify an interview https://t.co/LGR0BgGvrQ
Heidi Alexander has resigned. Why do some shadow cabinet members think now’s the time for Labour MPs to engage in a war with the membership
9.26am BST
These are from the New Statesman’s George Eaton.
Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray expected to resign. Job would have to be filled by non-Scottish MP. https://t.co/u6n1T9WUHU
Diane Abbott promised post of shadow foreign secretary, Labour source tells me. https://t.co/u6n1T9WUHU
9.25am BST
Earlier I mentioned that Jeremy Corbyn was heckled at Pride. Craig Murray has an alternative view of what happened here, on his blog.
9.23am BST
Hilary Benn, the former shadow foreign secretary, was doorstepped by reporters as he left his house this morning. He said:
We need strong and effective leadership of the Labour party. I told Jeremy Corbyn last night that I no longer had confidence in his leadership and he dismissed me from the shadow cabinet. I want to thank him for having given me the chance to serve our party.
9.12am BST
This is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.
I suspect that people who will go include: Angela Eagle, Lucy Powell, Jonathan Ashworth, Lisa Nandy, Chris Bryant, Luciana, Gloria, Andy B.
Also – my suspicion: Charlie Falconer, Rosie Winterton, Ian Murray..
9.11am BST
Labour source: @jeremycorbyn won’t have a Shadow Cabinet by the end of the day. And significantly no-one to replace them. So no opposition
There is a lot of ‘what if’ Labour speculation around this morning. What if half of the shadow cabinet does resign? Jeremy Corbyn probably could just about find enough supporters in the parliamentary Labour party to replace them, but it would be a struggle and the shadow cabinet would have a distinctive D-list look to it.
9.06am BST
Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.
Sunday morning is often a busy time politically, but that is because it is dominated by set-piece political interviews on the TV programmes. Instead, this morning we’re in the midst of a dramatic running story; what is effectively a shadow cabinet coup against Jeremy Corbyn is under way. Colleagues are urging him to resign, but his office is saying he is not budging. He is engaged in a trial of strength with his party. It is possible that by the end of the day he may have resigned.
9.05am BST
At this point, I will hand you over to Andrew Sparrow to follow all the latest developments, resignations and whatever else Sunday throws at us.
Thanks for reading and for all the comments.
9.03am BST
The BBC’s Marr show has begun, with host Andrew Marr asking:
What happens now, and is anybody in charge?
8.52am BST
The Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh says – of that list below – that Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle and Chris Bryant could all quit today, along with the shadow home secretary, Andy Burnham.
Lab MPs believe that Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle, Andy Burnham, Chris Bryant all set to follow Alexander and quit today.
Angela Eagle is the most senior woman in the party, as shad 1st sec of state + PMQs deputy.
No one expecting @tom_watson to quit tho
8.50am BST
If – and it’s very much an if – Robert Peston is right that those who voted with Benn to back airstrikes on Syria last year are the ones who will now resign, here are the names of those who voted that way:
8.43am BST
More than half of the Labour shadow cabinet is expected to stand down on Sunday in a major coup against Jeremy Corbyn, triggered by the result of the EU referendum and the leader’s decision to sack Hilary Benn.
The decision of Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, to resign on Sunday morning is seen as hugely significant, because unlike Benn she was a more “loyal and pragmatic” member of the Corbyn team, a Labour source said:
She is seen as a moderate, practical and pragmatic voice. Hilary always had a problem with Jeremy. Now that Heidi’s gone, most of the shadow cabinet will step down. He can’t just replace those positions because other front bench ministers won’t step up to the roles.
8.41am BST
Jeremy Corbyn’s office has issued a defiant message:
There will be no resignation of a democratically elected leader with a strong mandate from the membership.
8.37am BST
Dear Jeremy,
It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to you to resign from the shadow cabinet.
8.33am BST
The Guardian’s political editor, Anushka Asthana, says:
Sources say Alexander’s resignation will trigger over half the shadow cabinet stepping down because she is seen as a more loyal and “pragmatic” member.
So the shadow cabinet members resigning with Hilary Benn are those who voted with him on Syria plus two others. They are calling it Jexit
8.29am BST
Chuka Umunna sounds less direct and more philosophical than most this morning, but this isn’t exactly a slap on the back for Corbyn:
Either you look your flaws in the face and address them or you stick your head in the sand, destroy the Labour Party and the country suffers
8.25am BST
Here is Heidi Alexander’s resignation, posted to Twitter just now:
It is with a heavy heart that I have this morning resigned from the Shadow Cabinet. http://pic.twitter.com/amBRk30RtR
8.24am BST
Heidi Alexander, the shadow health secretary, has resigned
8.23am BST
Labour sources tell me to expect shadow cabinet resignations first through the day, then other frontbenchers.
One senior backbencher told me:
If the shadow cabinet don’t resign now then they will have no place to hide when parliament returns tomorrow.
8.17am BST
And some more Labour MP reaction: still pro-Benn so far.
Woke up to the news of sacking of Hilary Benn. An excellent principled Labour man. Shadow Cabinet must now act swiftly to Save our Party
The sooner the better. https://t.co/KZRai412vr
8.04am BST
Shadow cabinet members told the Guardian that Corbyn’s decision to sack Benn could cause a mutiny. One loyal member said they were “staggered”. Another added:
A bad-tempered sacking is likely to lead to more trouble for Jeremy.
Hilary Benn was sacked because Jeremy’s lost confidence in him. Corbyn rang Benn at 12.50 and following that conversation he sacked him.
8.02am BST
I should point out that this is not something I’m able to verify. But the BBC political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, is saying Benn could be followed out of the shadow cabinet today by several more MPs – perhaps as many as half of them.
Just been told half the shadow cabinet to resign this morning
7.55am BST
Labour reaction on Twitter has so far been supportive of Benn (I’d be happy to include the counter view, but it’s pretty much all one-way so far).
.@hilarybennmp is about the nicest guy you could ever meet – honest, principled & kind. And he loves the Labour Party with all his heart.
@GdnPolitics irony is @hilarybennmp could win gen election for @UKLabour Not even his supporters think Jeremy could @guardian @SkyNews
A man who could actually be a good Foreign Secretary sacked by someone who could never be Prime Minister
7.48am BST
The phone call that ended Benn’s shadow cabinet tenure came after a report in the Observer said he had been sounding out Labour colleagues on whether they would back a move to oust Corbyn.
Daniel Boffey reported:
It is understood that the shadow foreign secretary called fellow MPs over the weekend to suggest that he will ask Corbyn to stand down if there is significant support for a move against the leader. He has also asked shadow cabinet colleagues to join him in resigning if the Labour leader ignores that request …
Senior sources said on Saturday that Benn had been ringing shadow cabinet colleagues over the past 24 hours asking two questions. First, sources say, he asks whether he should ask Corbyn to stand down. He is then said to ask if they will join him in resigning should Corbyn refuse.
7.42am BST
It now looks as if Hilary Benn might be appearing on the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC from 9am – we’ll cover it live if so.
George Eaton, the New Statesman political editor, says Benn will be on in place of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who was due to be on the programme.
Hilary Benn to appear on Marr Show this morning, rather than McDonnell.
7.24am BST
Hilary Benn issued his defiant response to his sacking in a statement just after 3.30am on Sunday:
It has now become clear that there is widespread concern among Labour MPs and in the shadow cabinet about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of our party.
In particular, there is no confidence in our ability to win the next election, which may come much sooner than expected, if Jeremy continues as leader.
6.43am BST
Well, that was an unexpected night. Most people – and newspapers – went to bed on Saturday night thinking (if this is the kind of thing they think about on a Saturday night) about divisions in the Conservative party, as MPs jostle to take over from David Cameron at No 10. “Tories at war” screeched the Sunday Telegraph front page.
And then at 1am, Jeremy Corbyn sacked Hilary Benn from the shadow cabinet.
In a phone call to Jeremy, I told him … I had lost confidence in his ability to lead the party and he then dismissed me from the shadow cabinet.
It has now become clear that there is widespread concern among Labour MPs and in the shadow cabinet about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of our party.
In particular, there is no confidence in our ability to win the next election, which may come much sooner than expected, if Jeremy continues as leader.
Yes, there are some people in the Labour party, and the parliamentary Labour party in particular, who probably want someone else to be the leader – I think they’ve made that abundantly clear.
There is no need to plunge into tabling article 50 now, whatever Mr Juncker may want. The period of informal negotiation prior to an article 50 process will be crucial and should not be rushed. We should engage widely as we take the negotiation forward.
Quite honestly, it should not take ages, that is true, but I would not fight now for a short time frame. The negotiations must take place in a businesslike, good climate.
TORY LEADERSHIP LATEST
Running: Boris, May, Morgan, Crabb, Freeman
Probably: Fox, Leadsom
Possibly: Hunt
Probably Not: Osborne, Javid
Much depends on the disposition of Labour’s 20 MEPs. Prior to Britain’s Brexit vote, they were believed to be the most sensitive to the concerns of the party’s activists, as Labour members vote on the order of the party’s list, making anti-Corbynites vulnerable.
Now all 20 MEPs are out of a job at or before the next European election regardless, the question is whether they decide to keep Corbyn off the ballot or try to curry favour with Corbyn’s supporters in the membership prior to making a bid for seats at Westminster.
The political leaders of any of the main parties have more in common with each other than they have with many of their foot-soldiers, and the referendum has made that plain. This is clearly one of those issues (capital punishment is always said to be another) on which the governing class and the people they purport to represent are entirely at odds.
David Cameron knew that a referendum was a constitutional nonsense, and that potentially one day a House of Commons overwhelmingly made up of people who believe in the European Union would have to pass the laws to leave it.
Less than an hour after Cameron announced he would stand down, I interviewed Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary. He knows the realities and constraints of our EU dealings inside out.
The price of free trade access to Europe’s large single market will, he told me, be retaining freedom of movement with only cosmetic tweaks. Without that commitment the EU has no reason to keep trade with Britain free of barriers that will do us severe economic damage. That might not be what the jubilant Brexiteers want to hear this weekend. It is nonetheless true.
The media do not damn themselves, so I am speaking out of turn when I say that if you think rule by professional politicians is bad, wait until journalist politicians take over. Johnson and Gove are the worst journalist politicians you can imagine …
Never has a revolution in Britain’s position in the world been advocated with such carelessness. The leave campaign has no plan. And that is not just because there was a shamefully under-explored division between the bulk of Brexit voters who wanted the strong welfare state and solid communities of their youth and the leaders of the campaign who wanted Britain to become an offshore tax haven. Vote Leave did not know how to resolve difficulties with Scotland, Ireland, the refugee camp at Calais, and a thousand other problems, and did not want to know either.
Realistic chance of UK’s two main political parties both having leadership elections at same time during moment of constitutional crisis.
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Sig Nordal 