• Johnson says plan for Brexit ‘cannot wait until September’
• George Osborne suggests cut to corporation tax
• Legal challenge to halt triggering of article 50
• Jeremy Corbyn to address MPs on antisemitism review
• Read Monday’s morning briefing

8.41am BST

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is on the Today programme now.

8.31am BST

While in the UK legal moves and opinion columns ponder the possibility of not triggering article 50, EU officials are wondering the same thing.

Politico reports:

What if the UK never withdraws?

The EU cannot force to the UK to notify its withdrawal, but it could try to invoke sanctions under Article 7 using the rationale that the political and economic uncertainty created by the delay is undermining the union. But that’s unlikely. Tusk’s top aide [Piotr] Serafin urged national diplomats at their meeting last week to remember that the UK is going through a crisis and they should avoid escalating it by threatening sanctions.

8.25am BST

This afternoon, Jeremy Corbyn will appear in front of the home affairs select committee to answer questions from MPs about Labour’s antisemitism review, published last week.

Keith Vaz, the committee’s chairman, said:

We have seen a deeply troubling upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents and speech across Britain and Europe in recent times, including within our political discourse …

We are grateful to Jeremy Corbyn for coming to give evidence on his and the Labour party’s position following the publication of the independent report on anti-Semitism in the party on Thursday.

8.11am BST

Boris Johnson has found unlikely agreement on his claim that the vote to leave the EU has been met with hysteria – from shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

McDonnell has told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

Now is the time to sort of calm down, everyone calm down.

Since the referendum there’s sort of been mass hysteria in virtually all our political parties and I can’t completely understand it.

That has never been discussed. Last week I was accused of a coup against Jeremy myself. This week I was accused of forcing him to stay in. It gets ridiculous.

8.03am BST

Hammond said voters had made it clear that they wanted restrictions on freedom of movement, but that this came at a cost:

We need to be realistic – we need to accept that the terms of trade must change.

Simply doing our ‘stubborn best’ by demanding access to the market while offering nothing in return may sound brave, but would be foolhardy.

8.00am BST

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond – who has declared his backing for Theresa May today – has been speaking on the Today programme.

He was questioned about May’s reluctance to guarantee that EU nationals already living in the UK will be allowed to stay post-Brexit.

7.50am BST

Alain Juppé, former prime minister of France and a candidate for the centre-right presidential nomination, says in the Financial Times today that the remaining EU states shouldn’t give the UK a hard time:

[Brexit] does not mean we are going to punish the UK. We need to find ways to co-operate, to find a solution to have the UK in the European market, one way or another – whether that is part of the European Economic Area or something else.

They can’t say yes, no, maybe. Now they must draw the conclusions of the vote. When you get divorced, you don’t stay in the same house. It’s not a question of days, but it has to be fast.

7.40am BST

The decision to leave the EU has cast the future of the so-called Osborne Doctrine – by which Britain positioned itself as China’s best friend in the west – into doubt.

Many observers believe that as a result of Brexit, the “golden” relationship between London and Beijing, whose main architects were David Cameron and George Osborne, is now on life support.

We’ve got to get on a plane and sell Britain to the world. And for me that means putting more effort still into our relationship with China.

I am going to buy a Louis Vuitton handbag as soon as possible in case the exchange rate changes again.

7.28am BST

Today’s secretary of state for closing the stable door after the horse has bolted is John Whittingdale:

“I don’t want it to descend into a dispute over personality.” @JWhittingdale on newspaper h/lines abt Gove.@NickyAACampbell @bbc5live

When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve. Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers. Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be …

UK citizens deserve to know that when they go to sleep at night their secrets and their nation’s secrets aren’t shared in the newspaper column of the prime minister’s wife the next day, or traded away with newspaper proprietors over fine wine.

7.18am BST

Tory MPs vote tomorrow in the first round of leadership culling that will see the five candidates reduced to four.

John Redwood – previously a Boris Johnson backer – announces today that he’s opting instead for Andrea Leadsom:

She has a fresh and determined mind, with the qualities necessary to get us out of the EU quickly and with the minimum of disruption.

I know that Theresa has the qualities and the character to take our country forward and, with her quietly determined, down-to-earth style, to reunite us after the referendum.

Related: The Conservative leadership contest: who’s backing who

7.09am BST

Mishcon de Reya, the law firm taking action on behalf of an anonymous group of clients against the triggering of article 50, has published this explainer on the move:

The referendum held on 23 June was an exercise to obtain the views of UK citizens, the majority of whom expressed a desire to leave the EU. But the decision to trigger article 50 of the Treaty of European Union, the legal process for withdrawal from the EU, rests with the representatives of the people under the UK constitution.

The government, however, has suggested that it has sufficient legal authority. Mishcon de Reya has been in correspondence with the government lawyers since 27 June 2016 on behalf of its clients to seek assurances that the government will uphold the UK constitution and protect the sovereignty of parliament in invoking article 50.

Related: UK government faces pre-emptive legal action over Brexit decision

6.46am BST

Welcome back to a fresh week of Brexit live blogs, a week in which we will find out the first two Tory leader wannabes to be kicked off the list; we might find out if a Labour MP (or two) is going to launch a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn; and we certainly won’t find out what’s going on with the whole leaving-the-EU thing.

Here’s the morning briefing to set you up for the day ahead, then stay glued to the live blog with me and (later) Andrew Sparrow through the day. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

It was wrong of the government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing – in the event that people voted leave – to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM.

The future is very bright indeed.

There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales.

There is no doubt that elements of Ukip are intending to try to steal a Conservative leadership election.

One option could be a collective leadership with a ‘kitchen cabinet’ representing different wings of the party … Under such a plan being discussed by some left-leaning MPs, Corbyn could become chairman rather than ‘supreme leader’.

Another alternative is for him to assume a more presidential role, with a consensual leader of the PLP being appointed who would satisfy MPs.

The notion that it should be left to Conservative members to handpick a new prime minister for what in effect will be a new government pursuing new priorities is absurd. This election would also give all parties the opportunity to set out their stalls on what our new relationship with Europe should be.

We just need to get on with it.

I would allow EU citizens already in UK to continue their lives here, and expect same for Brits in EU. People are not bargaining chips

On Friday I heard a new dawn chorus outside my house. There was a rustling and twittering, as though of starlings assembling on a branch. Then I heard a collective clearing of the throat, and they started yodelling my name – followed by various expletives. ‘Oi Boris – c—!’ they shouted. Or ‘Boris – w—–!’ I looked out to see some otherwise charming-looking young people, the sort who might fast to raise money for a Third World leprosy project.

He knows from experience that pushing change through the system can be like trudging through a swimming pool filled with sand – so he hits the task with uncompromising velocity. He gets things done …

To set this aside in light of last week would be a profound shame. If Gove is Machiavelli then Ant and Dec are the Kray twins. His concern for the national interest simply trumped etiquette. That is the long and short of it.

Anticipating the possibility of victory for the leave camp, the National Front had posters on hand proclaiming, ‘And now, France?’ In the current tense domestic and global situation, with a presidential election only 10 months away, Ms Le Pen’s party, which got 28% of the vote in the regional poll held last December, couldn’t have dreamed of such a godsend.

But France doesn’t seem to be ready for Ms Le Pen’s Frexit dream. A TNS Sofres poll taken in the immediate aftermath of the British vote … showed that less than half of the electorate, 45%, would favour holding such a referendum. If it were held, 45% of French voters would have chosen remain and 33% would have voted leave. Three days later, after giving it cooler thought, 55% of French voters rejected the idea of a referendum … and the remain camp had grown to 61%.

Lot of tweets saying we should do a Brexit Thick Of It – a) too bleak, b) TTOI found comedy in chaos behind the facade. No facade any more.

I’m at a garden party. Hope I’m not sitting next to Voldemort or Fromage. I might be sick http://pic.twitter.com/ILsuu6kDPM

-exit is the new -gate http://pic.twitter.com/Yt6HTtbWwr

Things are going great, and they’re only getting better.

Continue reading…

Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/29iDexX

Many people tend to ignore domestic politics until something goes wrong and it bites them – as it has now with Brexit

Do you know much about the technological “singularity”? No, nor do I, it’s way above my pay grade. But I heard it mentioned this week in the context of the meltdown over Brexit and the shambolic mess into which second-rate political leadership has led us.

Basically the much-disputed thesis of the singularity is the moment in the not too distant future when the exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates to the point where supercomputers can improve themselves without human knowledge, let alone consent. They can then take over, if they so choose.

Continue reading…

Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/29iAbtp

Michael Gove launches his bid with a damning character reference about Boris Johnson, with whom he ran the Vote Leave campaign

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.

On Thursday the Gove career-destroying machine has turned on Boris Johnson, who until about 9am was the favourite to win the Conservative leadership. Gove, who is respected by colleagues, Tory members and the media, published a damning character reference about the man with whom he jointly ran the victorious Vote Leave campaign. Here’s the key section:

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.”

Continue reading…

Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/297RgT7

Cameron and Corbyn debate fallout from EU vote – including effect on each other’s careers

Corbyn quizzed the PM on what he and the chancellor are doing to reassure businesses that might be considering relocating, the reported increase in hate crimes since the referendum and whether inequality was a trigger for the result.

Related: Brexit live: ‘sad’ Cameron says EU must deal with immigration concerns – latest news

For heaven’s sake man, go.

Continue reading…

Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/292rVfX

• 27 EU leaders meet without Britain for first time
• Corbyn faces leadership challenge after news 172 MPs fail to back him
• Stephen Crabb confirms he will stand for Tory leadership with Sajid Javid
• Nicola Sturgeon in Brussels for meeting with Juncker
• Catch up with today’s morning briefing

8.47am BST

Q: You are part of a government that has failed to control immigration.

Morgan says we have ended up with a bit of a soundbite political era. She says it is important for politicians to level with people.

8.44am BST

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.

Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, is on the Today programme now. She say she is actively considering running for the party leadership.

8.31am BST

As 27 EU members – minus the UK – begin the second day of the Brussels summit, I’m handing over the live blog to Andrew Sparrow. Thanks for reading and stay with us.

Tusk @eucopresident has rung the bell to start first informal #EU27 meeting

8.15am BST

Stephen Crabb, who is planting his name firmly on the nominations list to be the next Tory leader and prime minister this morning, sets out in the Telegraph what he wants to do with “the government I intend to lead”:

First, we must unite. Just over a year ago, every Conservative MP was elected on a manifesto that committed us to holding a referendum. The campaign is now over.

We cannot allow this leadership election to be defined by divisive labels like remainer and Brexiteer. The quicker we can focus on the future, the better chance we have to unite our party and the country.

8.04am BST

Sajid Javid – the business secretary who’s backing Stephen Crabb for Tory leader in a joint ticket that would see him in the Treasury – has been speaking to the Today programme.

Batting away the fact that both he and Crabb were pro-remainers hoping to lead the country through its exit from the UK, Javid said:

There’s no distinction any more … In some ways we’re all Brexiteers now … It is really all about how we get on with it.

There’ll be no going back on the decision; there’ll be no second referendum.

The British people want to know it is a policy in full control of the UK.

It’s all about delivery now … No one knows yet what kind of deal we’re going to get with the EU. We need people who can do the negotiations.

7.51am BST

As I mentioned in the morning briefing, the SNP in Westminster will apparently today ask the Speaker to recognise that party – rather than Labour – as Her Majesty’s Opposition.

The SNP’s leader in Westminster, Angus Robertson, does now technically command the support of 14 more MPs than the Labour leader, following the no-confidence vote in Jeremy Corbyn. That vote saw just 40 MPs back Corbyn, with 172 against.

Interesting thought. Ministers of Crown Act 1937 gives Speaker power to choose official leader of Opposition if uncertainty over who it is.

7.41am BST

It’s a question a lot of people are asking: is there a way back from a Brexit vote? (Can I be the first to call it an EU-turn?)

Angela Merkel last night said no:

I see no possibility to reverse this. We would do well to accept this reality.

I think there are a number of ways.

The short answer is yes, just about, but many forces would have to align.

Related: UK voted for Brexit – but is there a way back?

7.30am BST

Margaret Beckett – formerly an acting leader of the Labour party – is in tears on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as she explains why she thinks Jeremy Corbyn needs to stand down.

She praises his integrity and principles – “but they don’t of themselves make you a leader”.

He has no experience at all of the problems of leadership … the hassle, the scrutiny, the compromises you have to make to get to the best common ground.

Jeremy has brought on a whole new raft of talent … and they have gone because they felt they could no longer deal with the situation in which they found themselves.

I’m afraid the people in the leader’s office act like a separate unit from the Labour party … There are people around Jeremy who are prepared to see the Labour party split rather than for him to go. The Labour party has to survive … because we need an alternative government.

7.21am BST

The Guardian’s front page today documents those scenes in the European parliament yesterday, as Nigel Farage was met with boos by most MEPs – but praise from the Front National president, Marine Le Pen:

The Guardian front page, Wednesday 29.06.16: As Farage looked on, Le Pen said: ‘Look how beautiful history is …’ http://pic.twitter.com/ENNMFREZOc

6.52am BST

Another day, another Brexit live blog: welcome.

Here’s the morning briefing to run you through the key developments and what we expect to happen today (as far as anyone can predict this stuff any more). Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

I think [British] people recognised the strength of the economic case for staying, but there was a very great concern about the movement of people and immigration, and I think that is coupled with a concern about the issues of sovereignty and the absence of control there has been.

I think we need to think about that, Europe needs to think about that and I think that is going to be one of the major tests for the next prime minister.

It’s a sad night for me – I didn’t want to be in this position. I wanted Britain to stay in a reformed European Union … I fought very hard for what I believed in. I didn’t stand back. I threw myself in head, heart and soul to keep Britain in the European Union and I didn’t succeed.

It was not the responsibility of those who wanted to remain in the EU to explain what plan we would follow if we voted to quit the EU.

There must be, and there will be, a palpable difference between those countries who want to be members of the European family and those who don’t … If you wish to have free access to the single market then you have to accept the fundamental European rights as well as obligations that come from it. This is as true for Great Britain as for anybody else.

We did not discuss the possibility that the UK will not invoke article 50, and I consider this an impossibility.

I see no possibility to reverse this. We would do well to accept this reality.

Everything must be on the table to protect Scotland’s place in Europe.

He isn’t the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening!

I was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60% of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning. Today’s vote by MPs has no constitutional legitimacy.

For those asking how this is possible it’s in Erskine May. The official opposition must be ‘prepared to assume office’. Labour can’t anymore

If Brexit really is the will of the people, a second referendum will confirm it … What possible prime minister would have the courage, the chutzpah, to call a second referendum? Certainly not Damaged Goods Cameron. Not any ‘safe pair of hands ship-steadier’ from either party. It would have to be a leading Brexiteer. Only such a one could carry the country with him, and get away with such a bold decision. I can think of only one British politician with the sheer bottle, the idiosyncratic contrariness, the endearingly impudent bloody cheek, to get away with it. Boris Johnson, of course …

Johnson is probably the only British politician who is in a position to remove the poison from the chalice, and who has the ability to do so. And the way he could do it is by calling a second referendum.

The Conservatives decided to move back the date by which their leader must be confirmed to 9 September, which will come as a relief to those Tories who were grumbling about being hauled back from the Mediterranean a week early. The consensus in the party is that the two frontrunners in the leadership contest are Boris Johnson and Theresa May. Both have significant operations around them. May has supporters in the whips’ office, while Boris has Lynton Crosby signed up to advise him, and Michael Gove working on his behalf to charm MPs from across the party …

Some Tories claim that there is resentment building against Boris from members who feel that he wasn’t really sincerely in favour of Brexit, but has caused a colossal mess, though his supporters point out that the Uxbridge MP at least put his heart and soul into the Leave campaign, whereas the home secretary practically went into hiding after declaring for Remain.

The only argument that could have stopped Brexit was that austerity and neo-liberalism caused the housing crisis, falling wages and stretched public services – not Romanians and Bulgarians …

Corbyn’s main mistake was not to take tighter control of Labour’s campaign from the outset – although, of course, had he done so he would have been roundly denounced. Like so many quandaries of the Corbyn leadership, the referendum campaign was characterised by a need for footwork and firefighting within the parliamentary Labour party rather than a strategic focus on winning the vote. The Labour right created an impossible situation and are now attempting to exploit the aftermath. If it wasn’t so desperate and irresponsible, it could be described as shrewd.

Rupert Murdoch: if [Boris] backtracks on serious things there’ll be another bloody revolt #TimesCeoSummit

4.15am on day 1 of fight to protect Scotland’s place in Europe – off to Brussels.

Continue reading…

Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/292YQzC

• Prime minister heads to Brussels for tense summit
• George Osborne won’t contest Tory leadership; Jeremy Hunt ‘seriously considering’ it
• Labour MPs to hold vote of no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn
• Catch up with our morning briefing

9.09am BST

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire.

The Labour MP John Woodcock, who is firmly on the right of the party and who is a vocal opponent of Jeremy Corbyn’s, has also been giving interviews this morning, ahead of the no confidence vote. He told Sky News that many party members who voted for Corbyn last year were now having second thoughts.

A lot of people who voted for Jeremy last year have looked at what’s happened and thought, ‘No, actually it’s not right’. And this has real consequences. We are not just talking about a man who can say nice things and who can make us feel good about our party … I think party members are changing their view, right across the country. Of course there are people who want him to stay on but many are thinking, this is the time to change.

Jeremy has surrounded himself with people who have never cared about the electoral fortunes of the Labour party. It is a project on the very fringes of the left. So you have the image of Jeremy being given a stark and dignified message at the PLP meeting and then to go and address a rally that sf full of people from the Socialist Workers party and the very hard left and people walking around wearing t-shirts saying ‘Get rid of the Blairite vermin’.

That not only suggests that Jeremy is wrapping himself in a bubble from which there is absolutely no chance of us being able to change the country and also to allow tacitly that message which dehumanises members of parliament.

8.48am BST

I’m handing over to Andrew Sparrow now, to guide you through the rest of the day.

Thanks for reading and for your comments so far.

8.47am BST

My colleague Aditya Chakrabortty has written powerfully today about the spate of racist incidents reported since the vote to leave the EU:

None of this is coincidental. It’s what happens when cabinet ministers, party leaders and prime-ministerial wannabes sprinkle arguments with racist poison. When intolerance is not only tolerated, but indulged and encouraged. For months leading up to last week’s vote, politicians poured a British blend of Donald Trumpism into Westminster china. They told 350m little lies. They made cast-iron promises that, Iain Duncan Smith now admits, were only ever ‘possibilities’. And the Brexit brigade flirted over and over again with racism.

Michael Gove and Boris Johnson peddled their fiction about Turkey joining the EU. One didn’t need especially keen hearing to pick that up as code for 80 million Muslims entering Christendom. Foregoing any subtlety, Nigel Farage said allowing Syrian refugees into the UK would put British women at risk of sexual assault. In order to further their campaign and their careers, these professional politicians added bigotry to their armoury of political weapons.

Related: After a campaign scarred by bigotry, it’s become OK to be racist in Britain | Aditya Chakrabortty

8.40am BST

European stock markets are rallying at the start of trading after two days of big falls. In London, the FTSE 100 has jumped by 125 points, or about 2%, to 6,109 – recovering some of yesterday’s losses.

Every share has risen, led by builders, who endured the brunt of the Brexit backlash. The French and German stock markets are also up by about 2% this morning, matching the recovery in London.

Related: Brexit wipes $3tn off global shares in record rout – business live

8.33am BST

Diane Abbott has criticised the process facing Corbyn today, arguing that the no-confidence motion is not part of the rules and the secret ballot unfair. She suggested the leader would do better if the vote was public, claiming that you wouldn’t even run a “parish church” in this way.

The new shadow health secretary argued that the only way forward was a leadership election, and said if Corbyn won again then the party had to fall into line.

8.31am BST

Pressed on how Labour will fare in an election, Abbott says presenter Sarah Montague is being “very Westminster-centric”. But she says “of course” Corbyn wants to win and form a government.

This isn’t about Westminster MPs, this is about the party and the country.

8.29am BST

Diane Abbott is next up on Today to back Corbyn.

She says there is nothing in the rule book that permits today’s confidence vote. You wouldn’t run a parish council like this, she says.

There’s a very good chance that Jeremy will win a leadership election. The party will want MPs to rally behind the leader. Party members will look dimly on MPs who have chosen to unleash this kind of mayhem.

8.22am BST

George Osborne confirms he won’t run for the party leadership and isn’t endorsing anyone else “at the moment”.

It could be a pro-remain candidate, he says, if that someone has a clear vision for the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

8.21am BST

Osborne: Do I think there’s going to be a postmortem about why the campaign was lost? Of course. We didn’t win. We need a plan as a country to get ourselves out of this, while respecting the decision of the British people.

We have extensive contingency plans for the financial stability consequences of Brexit … and we spent a long time preparing those plans.

8.16am BST

The chancellor says the markets will inevitably be a bit up and down:

We are in a prolonged period of economic adjustment … it will not be as economically rosy as life inside the EU. It’s very clear that the country is going to be poorer as a result of what is happening to the economy.

That decision will come under a new prime minister.

8.13am BST

George Osborne is next up on Radio 4.

He says he warned of the economic risks of leaving the EU, but will now do “everything I can” to steer the country through it.

I don’t think you can take the attitude: ‘The people have made a mistake, you need to elect a new people.’

8.05am BST

Margaret Hodge says the rally in Parliament Square last night in support of Jeremy Corbyn does not mean he should stay as leader.

Those weren’t Labour party members – they were members of the Socialist Workers party and of Momentum.

I thought I would get attacked … Actually I have had hundreds of emails from Labour party members and supporters asking me to pursue what I’m doing.

There were 9.3 million people who voted Labour in the last election – it’s their interests we have to serve.

… to do what we all know decent men do … and resign with dignity. This is the time when friends* should come up to the mark and say … this is the best interests of the party. The country needs strong opposition and a clear route forward.

7.59am BST

Margaret Hodge – who kickstarted today’s vote of no confidence in Corbyn with a letter circulated to Labour MPs last week, has been talking on the Today programme.

She says MPs might have stayed with Corbyn if he had mounted a stronger campaign in favour of remaining in the EU:

If we’d had that strong, effective, decisive leadership, that might have made a difference.

7.44am BST

Jeremy Hunt has now confirmed that he is “seriously considering” running for the Conservative leadership and the keys to No 10.

Hunt told ITV’s Good Morning Britain:

I am seriously considering it. Nominations close on Thursday lunchtime. But what I want to do now is start making an argument as to what we do next as a country. This is a big, big change and if we get it right we can succeed.

Firstly we must not invoke article 50 straight away because that puts a time limit of two years on negotiations after which we could be thrown out with no deal at all.

So before setting the clock ticking, we need to negotiate a deal and put it to the British people, either in a referendum or through the Conservative manifesto at a fresh general election.

7.39am BST

Global stock markets have suffered their biggest two-day rout ever, thanks to Britain’s shock decision to vote to leave the EU.

Yesterday, $930bn was wiped off the world’s stock markets, in a fresh bout of selling. That followed the rout on Friday, which destroyed $2.03tn of value.

Related: Brexit wipes $3tn off global shares in record rout – business live

7.30am BST

Sky News says it believes Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, will throw his hat into the ring to be the next Tory leader (and prime minister).

Jeremy Hunt to run for Tory leader – @SkyNews sources

The Conservative modernisation project succeeded in reassuring many younger and more liberal voters – but will not be complete until we are also connecting with many who are struggling to make ends meet at the more brutal end of modern capitalist economies.

We need to unite the party after a bruising battle on the referendum – but we must remain resolved to unite the country as well. This is a time to remember our heritage as the party of one-nation Benjamin Disraeli as much as the free-trading Robert Peel – and tap into their remarkable vision and optimism for the future.

7.24am BST

Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has been speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in defence of Jeremy Corbyn.

He thinks Corbyn will win today’s confidence vote and accuses the Labour leader’s opponents of a “well-planned, orchestrated coup” – and says the wider Labour membership won’t thank them for “playing silly games”.

If people really want to consult local party activists, they will have to go to a vote. They feel they can force Jeremy Corbyn to resign without any genuine democratic process.

7.16am BST

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has asked supporters of the beleaguered Labour leader not to protest outside the offices of those MPs who aren’t backing Corbyn:

Please don’t protest outside MPs offices.Staff feel threatened.Instead attend rallies & join party to have your say if you haven’t already.

Labour MPs have this evening been contacted by their whips to advise them on their personal safety as they leave parliament after the late votes. They have been advised on what entrances are being kept open for their safety, and told that anyone who is worried should contact the serjeant at arms.

Ian Murray, the former shadow Scotland secretary, asked his leader to “call off the dogs” after facing protests outside his constituency office following his decision to resign from Labour’s frontbench at the weekend.

“Momentum are people you and your office control,” he said, to shouts from others of: “They’re outside.”

7.06am BST

The shadow justice minister, Andy Slaughter, has left his post this morning, adding to the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn on the day Labour MPs vote on a motion of no confidence in him.

In a letter to the Labour leader, Slaughter writes:

The decision is my own, but taken after consultation with the officers of my local party and other members and councillors in Hammersmith. The view, by a clear majority, is that I should take this course.

6.39am BST

Welcome back to another busy day of EU referendum fallout. I’m kicking things off with the morning briefing to set you up for the day ahead and steering the live blog until Andrew Sparrow takes his seat. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

He’s likely to talk about a number of factors that he thinks were issues in the campaign, and in the debate. He will want to encourage people to think about how both the UK and the EU need to work together to make the best of the decision the British people have taken.

He will reiterate that article 50 is a matter for the next prime minister.

… agreed that there will be no informal or formal talks about an exit of Great Britain until a request has been submitted to the European council.

We don’t want this to turn into a never-ending story … So I await a communication about article 50 from the UK addressed to the EU … We should not wait a long time.

Have you got confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the parliamentary Labour party when this country is facing immensely challenging times?

Let me make it clear: if there is another leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn will be standing again and I will be supporting him.

I will not be a candidate in the Conservative leadership election to come.

It isn’t in my nature to do things by half-measure, and I fought the referendum campaign with everything I’ve got … So it is clear that while I completely accept the result, I am not the person to provide the unity my party needs.

No miracle was ever so dull. Britain tended to see the EU in prosaic terms: it had not been delivered from ignominy or tyranny by European integration. Still, it gave the union heft, a free-market prod, a universal language and its second-largest economy. It was that recalcitrant member any good club needs …

The union, for all its failings, did not deserve to be betrayed by a huckster. It will not die because of this imbecilic vote, but something broke – a form of optimism about humankind, the promise of 1989.

It is not the job of LabourList to take sides on a day like this but the party cannot go as it is. The current situation is untenable and, after a day of quickfire resignations, it is deteriorating faster than many hacks can even type …

Corbyn has repeatedly said the leader will not resign. Nor will he do as John Major did 21 years ago and issue a ‘put up or shut up’ ultimatum to rebellious backbenchers, sources have confirmed. Corbyn sees no need to demand a fresh vote, given that he was elected so decisively less than a year ago, and he does not have the power to call an election. It is only if – or, rather, when – the Labour rebels muster the signatures of 51 MPs and MEPs that they will be able to trigger a leadership ballot. It is possible this could happen as soon as today …

To govern is to choose. A potential prime minister does not have the luxury of being able to fudge it. But Mr Johnson is riding two horses that are galloping towards rapidly diverging paths. If the nation is split between young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, then so are the Brexiteers: between the buccaneering free marketeers who want to conquer the world and the anxious traditionalists who want to pull up the drawbridge.

Mr Johnson and Michael Gove are in the first group … but they won the referendum by securing the support of the ‘left behind’ voters in the second group, who feel alienated by globalisation and angry about immigration.

I think we’ll be all right. Everyone needs to stop panicking and we’ll be fine.

Hodgson, the only man in England with a coherent plan for leaving Europe.

Tsk, Tusk http://pic.twitter.com/Mx0OwZBEXv

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Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2976yLx

Today’s politicians lack the intellectual heft and stature of our bygone leaders

Britain’s self-harming Brexit crisis, its unsettling outcome made worse by the feeble incoherence of the political class’s response, again highlights a wider problem for us all. What has gone wrong with quality control on the production lines of leadership in public life?

It’s not just our problem, of course, any more than aggressive populism tinged with nationalism is unique to Brexit, though parochial Brexiters may think so. There are people like them, thinking the same, in every country, that’s the point. Our national mood, angry and resentful, is part of a bigger malaise. Let’s call it Trumpery.

Related: Brexit: Osborne tries to calm markets as Angela Eagle joins Labour resignations – live

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Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/291LGmO

• Firms plan to quit UK as City braces for more post-Brexit losses
• More shadow cabinet resignations expected
• Corbyn insists he won’t quit ahead of meeting with MPs
• Boris Johnson sets out leadership vision

9.08am BST

Could international allegiances between cities be an answer to the current chaos

Following the referendum result, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo this morning issued a joint pledge for the two cities to work closer together as a counterweight to nationalism. They said Paris and London are part of “just a handful of truly global cities” and argued that cities “can act as a powerful counterweight to the lethargy of nation states and to the influence of industrial lobbies.”

9.07am BST

The Labour party’s leaders in the House of Lords are set to refuse to attend meetings of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, the Press Association reports.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, the Labour leader in the Lords, and Lord Bassam, the chief whip, are both in post because of elections within the ranks of the party’s peers – rather than being appointed by Corbyn.

9.04am BST

The Scottish secretary, David Mundell, on BBC Radio Scotland’s GMS, repeatedly sidestepped the question about the transfer of powers from Westminster to Holyrood necessary to hold a second independence referendum.

I believe that the arguments for Scotland being part of the UK are as compelling now as in 2014.

9.01am BST

The Welsh government’s cabinet is meeting this morning to discuss the implications of the EU referendum vote for Wales.

Ahead of the meeting, the first minister and Labour leader in Wales, Carwyn Jones, said it was one of the most important since devolution. He said:

We will look at an initial evaluation of the potential consequences of this result for Wales, and agree how we will take the priorities forward in the national interest.

On Friday, I set out my priorities for action, including even closer working with Welsh business to protect jobs, renewed intergovernmental engagement and a commitment to protect and maintain EU funding for Wales for as long as possible.

8.57am BST

Tom Watson, the Labour deputy leader, is due to meet Jeremy Corbyn for talks later today. Watson hinted yesterday that he will tell Corbyn it is time to go, but Corbyn’s allies are saying that the leader will say he is carrying on. This is from Sky’s Tamara Cohen.

Corbyn source: Jeremy Corbyn will tell Tom Watson he’s appointed a new shadow cabinet and will continue to appoint them throughout the day

8.55am BST

Labour MP Jess Phillips has resigned as a parliamentary private secretary to the shadow education team.

Seems slightly highfalutin to resign as I was just the PPS in the Education Team but it was Lucy who asked me, she is gone. So am I.

8.52am BST

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Claire and Matthew.

Lord Heseltine, the former Conservative deputy prime minister, is on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme now. He says that before the referendum, Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said a close result could justify a second referendum. Farage was talking about a narrow remain win, but Heseltine says he thinks the same argument applies in the light of the narrow leave win. He says he will be signing the petition for a second referendum.

8.44am BST

Labour continues to haemorrhage frontbench spokesmen and women.

Yvonne Fovargue, the Shadow Business Minister, has resigned.
Steve Reed, Trickett’s deputy at DCLG, has gone too.

8.37am BST

We’re struggling to keep up with the resignations from the junior ranks of Labour’s team. At least two more parliamentary private secretaries resigned as Corbyn announced a new shadow cabinet.

Neil Coyle resigns as Labour PPS on Sky News https://t.co/5xUCH7iIVh

Resignation of Labour justice PPS Chris Matheson MP significant: On the left of the party and former Unite official.

8.34am BST

It looks like Osborne has managed to calm the markets, a bit. The FTSE 100 is down just 20 points right now (-0.37%).

There’s more here on our business live blog.

8.32am BST

Jeremy Corbyn has replaced 10 of the shadow ministers who resigned (or were sacked in Hilary Benn’s case).

8.25am BST

Back to Osborne. Here’s the full text of his response to questions about whether there will an emergency Brexit budget as he had threatened.

There will have to be action to deal with the impact on the public finances, but of course it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have a new prime minister. Of course, the economy is going to adjust, and there will be an impact on the public finances, that’s what I said before the referendum, I don’t resile from anything I said before the referendum. And I said there would have to be action, actually as it happens in the autumn, to address that. I think it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have new prime minister before we address that.

8.12am BST

The shadow housing housing minister, Roberta Blackman-Woods, is threatening to resign if Corbyn doesn’t step down.

“It is time for another leadership election. It is time for him to go”, she told BBC Newcastle.

3/3 The City of Durham MP added that she will resign from the frontbench today if Mr Corbyn does not step down as leader.

8.08am BST

Ian Murray, until yesterday the shadow Scottish secretary, has been explaining his resignation from Jeremy Corbyn’s cabinet on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

8.06am BST

Another few minutes goes by and Corbyn is hit by another resignation in his junior ranks. This time it’s Stephen Kinnock as parliamentary private secretary to Angela Eagle.

It is with regret that this morning I have resigned as a PPS http://pic.twitter.com/0KFG1bhRaD

7.57am BST

There have further resignations in the junior levels of Labour’s frontbench team.

Toby Perkins has resigned as shadow armed forces minister, saying that the Labour party “needs a change at the top”.

#Breaking Toby Perkins resigns as shadow armed forces minister, saying Labour “needs a change at the top” http://pic.twitter.com/D7LBys35pX

7.53am BST

Osborne closed his statement by signalling that he intends to play an “active part” in the debate about Britain’s role in Europe after the referendum. He also suggested he’ll make a statement on whether he plans to run for PM in the coming days.

He said:

The third and final challenge I spoke of, was that of ensuring, that Britain was able to agree a long-term economic relationship with the rest of the Europe, that provided the best possible terms of trade in goods and services. Together my colleagues in the government in the Conservative party and in parliament, will have to determine what those terms should be, and will have to negotiate with our European friends and allies to agree them. I intend to play an active part in that debate, for I want this great trading nation of ours to put in place the strongest possible economic links with our European neighbours …

I do not want Britain to turn its back on Europe or on the rest of the world. We must bring unity of spirit and purpose and condemn hatred and division wherever we see it. Britain is an open and tolerant country and I will fight with everything have to keep it so. Today I am completely focused on the task in hand as chancellor of the exchequer to bring stability and reassurance. There have been questions about the future of the Conservative party and I will address my role within that in the coming days. The British people have given us their instructions, there is much to do to make it work. We start from a position of hard-won strength, and whatever the undoubted challenges my colleagues and I are determined to do the best for Britain.

7.40am BST

The general message from Osborne’s statement was that he warned there would be problems, but by playing for time we can cope.

As a result of Thursday’s decision, some firms are continuing to pause their decision to invest or to hire people. As I said before the referendum this will have an impact on the economy and the public finances, and there will need to be action to address that. Given the delay in triggering article 50 and the prime minister’s decision to hand over to a successor, it is sensible, that decisions on what that action should consist of, wait for the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] to assess the economy in the autumn, and for the new prime minister to be in place. But no one should doubt our resolve to maintain the fiscal stability we have delivered for this country. The British economy is fundamentally strong, we are highly competitive and we are open for business.

7.36am BST

The pound has recovered some of its early losses following Osborne’s statement, but is still down against the US dollar. It is now trading around $1.345, a fall of 1.7% this morning.

Sterling had fallen to $1.339 before the chancellor spoke, down from $1.36 on Friday night.

7.30am BST

Here’s some instant reaction to Osborne’s statement:

Shorter Osborne: look I said this was going to hurt, I was right. Financial system is sound but this is still going to hurt.

Osborne’s upbeat 7am statement one of his better performances: first officer arrives on bridge of SS Titanic while Boris pleads with iceberg

My translation of Osborne’s statement: “I’m off to be Foreign Secretary. One of my colleagues who backed Leave can have my job. Good luck.”

7.27am BST

Osborne: the fundamentals are strong, we have dealt with the immediate impact because of the contingency plan. Britain is open for business. And with that he’s back off to work.

7.25am BST

Osborne: I said there would have to be action to adjust, in the autumn as it happens.

Q: Are we at the start of a recession? I made predictions and warnings, but all will require adjustment. I will make very hard to mitigate the impact.

7.22am BST

Q: An emergency budget?

I’ve got an important job to do. I respect the decision of the referendum. The result will have an impact on public finances, but we will have to wait until we have a new prime minister.

7.20am BST

Third challenge:

Long-term trading relationship with European neighbours: I am completely focused on bring stability and certainty. We start from a position of hard-won strength.

7.19am BST

Second challenge:

Uncertainty: we should only trigger article 50 when a plan is in place. Some firms are pausing their decisions to invest and hire people. The delay in triggering article 50 will help.

7.17am BST

Osborne said there are three challenges:

Volatility: contingency plans have been put in place. “Swap lines” have been put in place. Mark Carney’s statement on Friday was part of the plan. The governor and I have been in regular touch or the weekend.

7.14am BST

Thank goodness we fixed the roof, while we could, Osborne said. Leaving the EU was not the outcome that I wanted or campaigned for, but now that democracy has spoken we must act on that result. I will fully respect that result.

The economy will have to adjust.

7.13am BST

“Britain is ready to confront whatever the future holds for us,” Osborne insists.

7.05am BST

The chancellor is about to stand up at the Treasury in London in his attempt to reassure the markets.

7.04am BST

Japan’s stock market put on a show of resilience, writes Justin McCurry from Tokyo:

The Nikkei 225 rose more than 2% by early afternoon as prime minister Shinzo Abe held an emergency meeting early on Monday and instructed the Bank of Japan to do all it could to stabilise financial markets.

6.45am BST

You can follow George Osborne’s speech – due to start in about 15 minutes’ time – here, of course, but also keep an eye on tweets from our political editor, Heather Stewart, who’s at the Treasury this morning:

On my way to Treasury to hear reassuring words from George Osborne, the man who warned us Brexit would unleash economic catastrophe.

6.27am BST

Happy Monday and with the aftermath of last week’s vote to leave the EU showing no signs of tiring, welcome to another day of Brexit liveblogging.

The morning briefing rounds up what you need to know to start the day, before the live blog takes you through it all happening, along with all the extras we didn’t expect. Do come and chat in the comments below or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps.

The chancellor will make a statement to provide reassurance about financial and economic stability in light of the referendum result and the actions that he and the rest of the government will be taking to protect the national interest over the coming period.

A survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD), which found that the majority of businesses believed Brexit was bad for them, comes amid fears that investors will wipe billions more pounds off share values on Monday morning, and signs that the pound, which hit a 30-year low on Friday, was coming under further pressure from trading in Asia. Sterling was down more than 1% as the Asian markets opened late on Sunday.

The IoD said a quarter of the members polled in a survey were putting hiring plans on hold, while 5% said they were set to make workers redundant. Nearly two-thirds of those polled said the outcome of the referendum was negative for their business. One in five respondents, out of a poll of more than 1,000 business leaders, were considering moving some of their operations outside of the UK.

No he hasn’t made any decisions at all – he has been totally focused over the last 72 hours on talking to counterparts and investors across the world to try to ensure a period of stability.

They are our neighbours, brothers and sisters who did what they passionately believe was right … We who are part of this narrow majority must do everything we can to reassure the remainers. We must reach out, we must heal, we must build bridges – because it is clear that some have feelings of dismay, and of loss, and confusion.

The nation needs an effective opposition, particularly as the current leadership of the country is so lamentable. It’s very clear to me that we are heading for an early general election and the Labour party must be ready to form a government. There’s much work to do.

It was clear last summer that Jeremy was only ever partially interested in keeping Britain in Europe and an honourable leader would bear the responsibility for the failure to persuade Labour voters to vote remain.

I was elected by hundreds of thousands of Labour party members and supporters with an overwhelming mandate for a different kind of politics.

I regret there have been resignations today from my shadow cabinet. But I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me – or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them. Those who want to change Labour’s leadership will have to stand in a democratic election, in which I will be a candidate.

I never said that during the course of the election … What we actually said was a significant amount of it would go to the NHS. It’s essentially down to the government, but I believe that is what was pledged and that’s what should happen. There was talk about it going to the NHS, but there are other bits and pieces like agriculture, which is part of the process. That is the divide up. It was never the total.

Mr Cameron has said nothing since Friday morning. George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, has been silent … The prime minister’s loyalist allies in Westminster and in the media are largely mute.

Apart from ashen-faced, mumbled statements from the Vote Leave headquarters on Friday, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have also ducked the limelight … Neither seems to have the foggiest as to what should happen next. Today Mr Gove’s wife committed to Facebook the hope that ‘clever people’ might offer to ‘lend their advice and expertise’. And Mr Johnson’s sister, Rachel, tweeted: ‘Everyone keeps saying “we are where we are” but nobody seems to have the slightest clue where that is.’

Could the UK negotiate ‘associate status’, outside the EU but with devolved powers for Scotland to maintain free movement and other EU benefits? … The ‘associate’ option, which would be decried as a sell out by hardline Brexiters, would see the future prime minister try to keep Britain in the EU single market, accepting large tracts of EU law, but with autonomy over agriculture, fishing and trade deals …

[Nicola] Sturgeon is key to making this happen. If she can go back to Edinburgh claiming victory – protecting Scotland’s access to the single market and getting back fishing rights – the UK could be saved. But the UK as a whole would lose its seat at the EU table and be firmly more Out than In. It would be powerless, but sovereign. It is a hard sell in the long term.

I don’t agree that his time as leader has been a disaster – leave would have won the referendum regardless. It would always have turned the debate into a conversation about immigration and hammered out its racist cant, whoever opposed it. A more centrist Labour leader would have made more concessions – offered bogus and unworkable migrant caps – but the more strident voice would still have won.

Corbyn has been a one-man Occupy movement, squatting in the office of Labour leader on behalf of the people (of whom I was one) who felt the party’s high command was lifeless and intellectually spent. The point has been made, and the apparatus now has to be put to better use.

“It sounds like I’m making that up” – @FaisalIslam told the Leave campaign did not have a post #Brexit plan https://t.co/VY6ATlAowP

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Politics blog | The Guardian http://ift.tt/293o03v

• 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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