Brexit news: Ken Clarke prepared to be caretaker PM as senior Tory rebels join Swinson in rejecting Corbyn

The latest developments from Westminster and beyond

Jo Swinson asks Corbyn for caretaker PM 'suggestions'

Tory veteran Ken Clarke has said he is willing to be a prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit after he was nominated by the Liberal Democrats.

"I wouldn't reject it, if it was the judgement of people that it was the only way forward,” he said.

It follows criticism over Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’​s rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to lead a caretaker government. The Labour leader said it was “not up to Jo Swinson” who becomes the next PM.

Senior Tory rebel Dominic Grieve, meanwhile, said he would “not facilitate” having Mr Corbyn at No 10 temporarily.

Key Points

• Ken Clarke 'willing to be caretaker PM to block no-deal Brexit'
• Swinson claims 'numbers don't stack up' for Corbyn...
• ...before Lib Dems say no 'principled objection' to Labour leader at No 10
• Corbyn says ‘not up to Jo Swinson’ who gets to be next PM
• Dominic Grieve says he 'will not facilitate' Corbyn as caretaker PM
• Nicola Sturgeon says Swinson's position is 'daft'

[16 August 2019 10:03 · Adam Forrest]

We haven’t heard much from Ken Clarke or Harriet Harman, despite their names being knocked around willy-nilly, as it were.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said this morning that she has spoken to the pair – who are Father and Mother of the House – and won their assurances they are ready to ”put public duty first” and lead a caretaker government.

But this tweet from Harman suggested she believed Jeremy Corbyn was the right man to be in charge of a unity government.

[16 August 2019 10:12 · Adam Forrest]

Donald Trump has said he think the US and UK will strike a “fantastic and big” trade deal.

Speaking to reporters prior to his New Hampshire rally, the president said: “I think we'll make a fantastic and big trade deal with the UK. That’s moving along rapidly.

“We should do much more business than we’re doing.

Asked about the special relationship, Trump added: “I don’t want to say closest ally, because it would make others jealous. But certainly it’s one of our closest.”

[16 August 2019 10:17 · Adam Forrest]

Rob Newman, a political adviser who helped launch Change UK, says there are lessons to be learned from the mess that followed the breakaway group of MPs quitting their parties.

[16 August 2019 10:25 · Adam Forrest]

Former chancellor Philip Hammond could face a no-confidence vote in his Surrey constituency of Runnymede and Weybridge, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Brexiteers in the local Tory party are said to be very unhappy that their MP keeps on speaking out against no-deal.

“There are people in the association...in the executive committee, who are not best pleased with some of the things that Philip has said,” one insider told the paper.

Another said: “There is a reasonably sized group who believe in hard Brexit and are not too chuffed with the route Philip has chosen.”

[16 August 2019 10:34 · Adam Forrest]

The Liberal Democrats have no “principled objection” to supporting Jeremy Corbyn as an interim prime minister, party sources have told The Independent.

So are we seeing Jo Swinson’s position shift every-so-slightly?

Here’s our political correspondent Benjamin Kentish will the latest details.

[16 August 2019 10:41 · Adam Forrest]

It looks like Germany is ready for a no-deal Brexit. The German government now expects Britain to crash out of the EU on 31 October without a deal, the Handelsblatt business daily has reported, citing a finance ministry document.

The daily said the government believes a disorderly Brexit was “highly likely” given demands by Boris Johnson that the Irish border backstop, agreed by his predecessor with the EU in November, be dropped from their Withdrawal Agreement.

The EU has no choice but to reject this demand, the finance ministry said in the document, adding that it did not expect Johnson to change his position.

The preparations for a disorderly Brexit on the German and EU side were “largely completed”, the document states.

[16 August 2019 11:02 · Adam Forrest]

Chancellor Sajid Javid is set to become the first senior member of Boris Johnson’s government to meet with an EU leader to discuss Brexit, during an expected trip to Berlin on Friday to meet German finance minister Olaf Scholz.

The German daily Handelsblatt says Scholz will welcome Javid on his inaugural visit to the German capital, but the Treasury has not commented on his whereabouts.

Despite the deadline looming, the PM has refused to meet the bloc’s leaders for discussions on a new deal unless they agree to scrap the Irish backstop.

[16 August 2019 11:14 · Adam Forrest]

Tory MP David Gauke – the man who has been posing with unicorns during his summer holidays – has had some thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn becoming caretaker PM.

[16 August 2019 11:37 · Adam Forrest]

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis has accused the Labour leadership of “trading” seats so “favourite sons” have a better chance of winning the safest Labour constituencies.

“In recent weeks, however, I am aware of discussions and ‘negotiations’ around the existing seats that seek to overturn that practice, flipping AWS [all-women shortlist] seats and trading them around for what appears to be favourite sons taking up the safest seats,” Prentis wrote in a letter leaked to The Guardian.

“This I find deeply concerning and wish to flag up the inherent risks and dangers of meddling with a process that has served us reasonably well to date.”

[16 August 2019 11:49 · Adam Forrest]

Well well. Rebel Tory MP Dominic Grieve – a staunch opponent of a no-deal Brexit – has said he “will not facilitate” a government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Although he was one of four Conservative signatories to a letter to the Labour leader saying he was willing to meet, Grieve has now ruled out backing a Corbyn-led caretaker government.

In an email seen by the New Statesman, Grieve responded to someone critical of the Labour leader’s plan by stating: “I entirely agree. I am not about to facilitate Jeremy Corbyn’s arrival in Downing Street.”