Brexit news: US warns chlorinated chicken must be on the table for trade deal as UK urged to unite on eve of ‘dark day’
Follow the day's developments as they happened
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK
Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said chlorinated chicken must be part of a post-Brexit trade deal, after dodging questions on the US suspect in the death of British teenager Harry Dunn.
It comes as Liberal Democrat acting leader Sir Ed Davey urged Remain voters to come together with the rest of the country after Britain’s “dark day” on Friday, as the nation prepares to leave the EU.
Meanwhile, chancellor Sajid Javid was expected to throw his weight behind the controversial HS2 rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and transport secretary Grant Shapps.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.
Sajid Javid set to back HS2
The chancellor is set to throw his weight behind the controversial HS2 rail project at a meeting with Boris Johnson and transport secretary Grant Shapps today.
It is understood Javid will “broadly back” the high-speed line from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, having reviewed costs and alternatives.
It’s a boost for the pro-HS2 lobby, follows a leaked review that estimated the whole thing could end up costing £106bn.
No 10 has said a final decision would not necessarily be taken today, but Johnson said during the election campaign his “instinct” was that the project should go ahead.
Rebecca Long-Bailey lays down gauntlet over nationalisation
The Labour leadership hopeful will challenge her rivals to stay loyal to Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to nationalise key utilities with a vow to take on “rip off privatisers”.
In a rally for party faithful, the shadow business secretary will pledge to retain a core promise for the 2019 manifesto – a pledge to bring energy, water, rail and mail into public ownership.
Long-Bailey will throw down the gauntlet to the other candidates on nationalisation, in an attempt to put clear red water between herself and her rivals.
Her opponents Sir Keir Starmer, Emily Thornberry and Lisa Nandy have indicated they would take more limited approaches to nationalisation.
Leavers and Remainers must unite after ‘dark day’, says Ed Davey
Remain voters must come together with the rest of the country after Britain’s “dark day” on Friday, the Lib Dems’ acting leader will urge.
Sir Ed Davey, in a speech in Manchester today, will call for referendum divisions to be buried after Britain leaves the EU at 11pm on Friday.
Sir Ed, in an apparent admission that the pro-EU campaign is over following Boris Johnson’s crushing election win, said the country “must no longer be divided by Leave and Remain”.
He is expected to say: “Tomorrow will be a celebration for some. But for others it will be a dark day.
“For the millions of us who marched against Brexit and the millions who voted to stay, tomorrow will be desperately hard. We built the largest pro-European movement this country has ever seen.
“And though ultimately we did not succeed in stopping Brexit, I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved.”
Addressing the need for unity after the UK’s withdrawal, he will add: “We must no longer be a country that is divided by Leave and Remain, but that means we must heal our country’s other divides too.”
Green MEP Molly Cato was less keen to drawn a line under the pro-EU cause. She received a standing ovation in the European Parliament as she made a tearful farewell on Wednesday.
“Now is not the time to campaign to rejoin but we must keep the dream alive, especially for young people who are overwhelmingly pro-EU,” she said.
Lib Dem acting leader Sir Ed Davey (AFP)
‘Put your flags away’: Farage’s party scolded in Brussels
Brexit Party MEPs were scolded for flag-waving in the European Parliament at the end of Nigel Farage’s farewell speech.
“Please sit down and take your seats, put your flags away, and take them with you,” the presiding speaker Mairead McGuinness told the MEPs.
Farage had said he would miss being the “pantomime villain” of Brussels – but managed to give one final turn as the wicked queen.
“We don’t hate Europe, we just hate the European Union!”
Despite being told to stop, he and his Brexit Party MEPs kept waving their tiny Union flags– then walked out of the chamber en masse.
‘I will oppose’: PM faces backbench Tory rebellion over HS2
Greg Smith, the newly elected Conservative MP for Buckingham, has warned that he will vote against HS2 in parliament if the government presses ahead with the project.
Sajid Javid has become the latest senior minister to throw his weight behind the high-speed rail scheme, with an announcement expected soon.
Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I was very clear in the general election campaign that I am opposed to HS2. It is absolutely wrong for my constituency and I believe it to be wrong for the country as well.
“I made very clear commitments in the general election that, come what may, I will oppose HS2.”
Smith said his view was shared by many other MPs, including newly-elected Tories in northern constituencies.
“We are not against infrastructure. We are just saying that HS2 is the wrong project, it goes along the wrong route at a cost that, frankly, the nation can’t afford,” he said.
“What the HS2 review group – which has many new northern Conservative MPs on it – is saying is that, instead of HS2, we can do great things that will really improve people’s lives – local commuter routes in our Midlands and northern towns and cities – big improvements to those.”
‘Let’s keep it sisterly’, says Lisa Nandy – as she rejects welfare voting record claims
The Labour leadership candidate has fired back at critics claiming she abstained during votes on welfare cuts introduced by the Conservative government.
“I didn’t abstain. I was on maternity leave. This sort of attack hurts all women in politics. Let’s keep it sisterly.”
Johnson set to welcome Trump official at No 10
It feels like this one’s been rumbling on for ages. But Boris Johnson will finally meet the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo today, as transatlantic tensions simmer over the decision to allow a Chinese tech giant to take part in Britain’s 5G roll-out.
Pompeo will meet the PM in Downing Street after making a joint appearance with foreign secretary Dominic Raab at the Policy Exchange think tank.
Speaking to reporters on the flight over to London, Pompeo said: “Our view of Huawei has been that putting it in your system creates real risk.
“This is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party with a legal requirement to hand over information to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Mike Pompeo speaking to reporters on flight (AP)
Long-Bailey accused of lying in story told to activists
Rebecca Long-Bailey has been accused of telling fibs about the time she pulled an all-nighter, scoffed a load of pizza, and saved the day for Team Corbyn.
The Labour leadership hopeful told a rather tedious story to activists at the weekend, in which ex-colleague Robert Marris MP “flounced off” before a Commons committee hearing into the finance bill in 2016 (as part of a wider rebellion against Corbyn).
Long-Bailey claimed she worked until the early hours before the committee resumed “the next day at 9 o’clock” (while Angela Rayner ordered Dominos’ pizzas).
But it has emerged there was a five-day gap between the flounce-off and the hearing. According to Hansard, the committee rose on 30 June and was adjourned until 5 July.
One unnamed Labour figure told Politics Home: “Rebecca tells this story at every CLP or union meeting… that is demonstrably a total lie.”
Long-Bailey’s spokesperson acknowledged the five-day gap, but said the spirit of her late-night efforts was the important thing.
“Rebecca recalls her and her staff having to work all through the weekend including during the night until 3am each day until the next sitting day, which commenced on Tuesday at 9am.”
Anyway, told you it was tedious.
Rebecca Long-Bailey speaking in Leeds (Getty)
Brexit: history of a portmanteau
The word “Brexit” was first spoken in the House of Commons in April 2014 – more than two years before the UK voted to leave the European Union, new analysis reveals.
It has since been mentioned in the Commons more than 24,000 times, with nearly 9,000 appearances in 2019 alone.
The word was slow to catch on among MPs. The first ever mention is recorded as happening on April 2014, by former Conservative MP David Nuttall, who referred to a competition run by the Institute of Economic Affairs called the “Brexit prize”.
But the very first use of the word “Brexit” anywhere in the world is recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary as taking place around two years earlier, in May 2012.
It is ascribed to Peter Wilding, founder of pro-EU think tank British Influence, who wrote in an article online: “Unless a clear view is pushed that Britain must lead in Europe at the very least to achieve the completion of the single market then the portmanteau for Greek euro exit (Grexit) might be followed by another sad word, Brexit.”
Britain will exit EU on Friday (AFP)
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies