Brexit news: Conservatives plotting to change rules to stop Johnson being toppled by own party as soon as he becomes PM

As it happened

Boris Johnson says his first task if he becomes Prime Minister will be to launch a huge no deal ‘public information campaign’ to help minimise any possible disruption

Senior Tories are considering changing party rules to stop Boris Johnson facing a no-confidence vote within the first year of being prime minister, by preventing a vote of no-confidence in the leader being called until they had been in office for at least 12 months.

It came after Philip Hammond suggested he would be willing to vote against the next Conservative government in a vote of no confidence if it pursued a no-deal Brexit.

The chancellor’s latest comments followed a claim by leading Tory Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg, a supporter of Mr Johnson, that suspending parliament so that MPs cannot stop the next prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit “may have to happen”. The leading Tory Eurosceptic said he did not support a lengthy prorogation but that parliament could have to be closed for one or two days.

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Key Points

• EU leaders show 'solidarity' on Withdrawal Agreement
• UK budget deficit balloons
• Corbyn under fresh pressure on antisemitism

[19 July 2019 08:32 · Benjamin Kentish]

Welcome to today's live coverage from Westminster.

[19 July 2019 08:53 · Benjamin Kentish]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said parliament may have to be suspended for a short period if MPs attempt to block a no-deal Brexit. 

The leading Tory Brexiteer said the idea of a lengthy prorogation was "never a sensible idea or a realistic idea" but that a suggestion that MPs and peers could be sent home "for a day or two" to stop any legislation designed to block no deal "may have to happen at a future date".

He said MPs opposing no deal "don't have the courage" to admit that they don't want Brexit at all and were trying to "bluff their way to stopping us leaving". 

[19 July 2019 09:05 · Benjamin Kentish]

A committee of MPs has warned that a 'no deal' Brexit would cause 'severe disruption' to the economy 

[19 July 2019 09:27 · Benjamin Kentish]

Sajid Javid has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Donald Trump over the US president's racist 'go-home' comments

[19 July 2019 09:36 · Benjamin Kentish]

Stephen Hammond, currently a health minister, has suggested that he would be willing to vote to bring down a Boris Johnson government if the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May opted for a no-deal Brexit.

Asked during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today if he would be prepared to press the "nuclear button" by voting against the government in a no-confidence vote, he said:

"I hope we never get there but I think a lot of people were taught that you must put the interest of the country before yourself.

"I don't think we will get there actually, and I'm pretty certain, as a Conservative, that I would be very, very, very cautious about ever doing that. I'm a Conservative through and through and no-one takes any pleasure in rebelling.

"I think it's really important that. at this historic stage in this country's lifetime in modern politics. that politicians put aside any of their own personal ambitions or views and actually make sure they do the right thing as they see it for the country."

[19 July 2019 09:57 · Benjamin Kentish]

Senior Tories are considering changing party rules to stop Boris Johnson facing a no-confidence vote within the first year of being prime minister.

The change would prevent a vote of no-confidence in the party leader being called until they had been in office for at least 12 months.

Nigel Evans, a member of the 1922 Committee, which represents Tory MPs, has told Sky News: 

"There is a discussion within the 1922 as to whether we should change the rules. Those talks are still ongoing. Change them to safeguard a new leader. When they've been elected by the members that [the new leader] should be given at least a 12-month run before any challenges."

[19 July 2019 10:07 · Benjamin Kentish]

Theresa May is to use her final days as prime minister to give public sector workers a pay rise, reports suggest.

The Treasury is set to unveil a £2bn package that will amount to the biggest public sector pay rise for six years, according to The Times. 

Two million workers will benefit from the rise, with police officers expected to see their pay go up by 2.5 per cent, soldiers by 2.9 per cent, teachers by 2.75 per cent and dentists and consultants by 2.5 per cent. 

However, the money will come from existing budgets, meaning cuts will need to be made elsewhere. 

Jonathan Cribb, a senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said:

"These public sector pay rises are higher than last year's and considerably higher than the 1% for many years before that.

It is the highest nominal pay increase since the coalition. But these increases are still slower than pay rises that are happening on average in the private sector."

[19 July 2019 10:26 · Benjamin Kentish]

Parliament's intelligence committee has urged the next government to make a decision on Huawei's role in UK telecoms 'as a matter of priority' 

[19 July 2019 10:39 · Benjamin Kentish]

Philip Hammond has suggested that he could vote to bring down a Boris Johnson government if the next prime minister tries to push through a no-deal Brexit.

The outgoing chancellor has told the Le Monde and Süddeutsche Zeitung newspapers:

“I will take steps to avoid an exit without agreement apart from an explicit parliamentary approval.

“There should be a new and sincere attempt to reach a consensus. If we do not find a solution with the members, we may have to ask the British to give their opinion again, in one form or another.”

Asked if he would rule out voting against Mr Johnson in a vote of no confidence, Hammond responded:

“I do not exclude anything for the moment.” 

[19 July 2019 11:04 · Benjamin Kentish]

Sadiq Khan has demanded the power to introduce greater rent controls in London.

The London mayor has backed a new report by the New Economics Foundation think-tank which calls for a "Private Rent Index" in London that would reduce rents and then cap annual increases.

He said:

“It is high time for private renting in London to be transformed. Londoners need fundamental change that is long overdue.

Unlike other mayors around the world, I have no powers over the private rented sector. That’s why this landmark report sets out a detailed blueprint of what the government must do to overhaul tenancy laws, and what powers City Hall needs from them to bring rents down.”