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As it happenedended1555095470

Brexit news - live: Hammond revives talks of 'very likely' second referendum Commons vote, as Boris Johnson claim ruled 'significantly inaccurate' by watchdog

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Harry Cockburn,Ashley Cowburn
Friday 12 April 2019 14:25 BST
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Annuziata Rees-Mogg on joining the Conservative party during Brexit Party launch in Coventry

Theresa May faced fresh pressure as Nigel Farage launched the Brexit party on Friday ahead of the UK's anticipated participation in the European elections next month.

It came as cross-party talks to break the Brexit deadlock continued at Westminster with Labour's John McDonnell involved in discussions with the prime minister's effective deputy David Lidington.

Elsewhere, Julian Assange’s mother accused Ms May of using her son’s arrest as a distraction from the PM’s “Brexit dog’s breakfast”, after the Wikileaks founder was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday.

Chancellor Philip Hammond told reporters in Washington on Friday that a second referendum was “very likely” to be put before parliament, although he admitted there would not be sufficient time before Britain is due to leave the EU.

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Shadow chancellor John McDonnell arrived at the Cabinet Office just before 11am.

Asked by the Press Association if he was expecting progress today he said: "I hope so."

Michael Gove, the environment secretary, entered without responding to questions.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 11:07
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Nigel Farage is now launching the Brexit party in Coventry. He says he is going to use the European elections for a "democratic revolution" in British politics. "Even before we launched the party... interesting things have begun to happen," he says, claiming the new group has launched three quarters of a million in 10 days from small donations.

"I do know one or two other high-ranking politicians around the world," he adds - an clear brag of his close relationship with the US President Donald Trump. 

Mr Farage, who has been an MEP for the best part of two decades, also uses his speech to lash out at "classic career politicians".

"I have this morning put £1,000 on the Brexit Party to top the polls in the European election at the odds of three to one," he says.

Farage added: "All over the world, people look on with incredulity because they still think that we are a great country," he said. "And the funny thing is that we, the people, still think that we are a great country.

"But our leaders are happy to continue down the path of managed decline.

"I genuinely believe right now, this nation, we are lions led by donkeys."

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 11:15
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"I really do believe that Britain needs the Brexit Party," he claims. "This is a battle that we shouldn't have had to fight... but we are going to win it."

He also introduces a selection of MEP candidates, including Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the sister of Jacob Rees-Mogg. 

She said: "I joined the Conservative Party in 1984 and this is not a decision I have made lightly - to leave a party for which I have fought at every election since 1987, from Maggie Thatcher through to Theresa May.

"I know which one I'd rather have representing us now."

Jacob Rees-Mogg's sister to stand as candidate for Nigel Farage's Brexit party in EU elections

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 11:20
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Responding to the Brexit Party launch in a tweet, Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said: "You preach fear, hatred and division, Nigel. But the vast majority of the British people are crying out for a politics of hope, respect and community. We will face you down, and we will defeat you. Bring it." 

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 11:55
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Brexit Party URL taken hostage by pro-EU group because Farage forgot to register the websiteAnti-Brexit campaigners have seized a website domain for Nigel Farage’s new party in a bid to disrupt his European election campaign.The Led By Donkeys group claimed that the former Ukip leader forgot to register the URL for the Brexit Party before its launch.The group has now set up its own page at thebrexitparty.com with the banner “No Brexit Party – Nigel Farage Doesn’t Represent Britain”.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 12:21
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Sketch: The House of Commons had absolutely nothing new to say, and six more futile months to say itThe EU has staged an intervention on Britain, but here was the House of Commons, checking out of the clinic and heading straight back to its dealer, writes The Independent's political sketch writer Tom Peck.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 12:39
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Diane Abbott says extraditing Assange to US could breach his human rightsJeremy Corbyn has said Julian Assange should not be extradited to the US following his forcible removal from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.The Labour leader urged the UK government to oppose the attempt to put the 47 year-old WikiLeaks founder to trial for obtaining classified information from former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 13:21
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Questioned on what her brother said when she announced she was changing party, Annunziata Rees-Mogg said: "He accepted my decision. He knew my mind was made up."

Asked whether she tried to convince him to join her in the Brexit Party, Ms Rees-Mogg said: "No, I totally respect his decision-making process.

"He's an individual with his own mind. We see things differently and we agree what the end result should be - the return of democracy and the return of control."

Addressing whether she believed her brother would eventually join the Brexit Party, Ms Rees-Mogg said: "I'd be very surprised."

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 13:41
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Boris Johnson's no-deal Brexit claim was inaccurate, official watchdog rulesBoris Johnson has come under fire from the press regulator after he inaccurately claimed that a no-deal Brexit was the most popular scenario among voters.The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) ruled that the former foreign secretary breached accuracy rules in his Telegraph column when he said polls showed no deal was more popular “by some margin” than remaining in the EU or Theresa May’s Brexit deal.A reader complained to Ipso over the weekly column, saying Mr Johnson, who is tipped as a future Tory leader, had failed to cite any evidence for his claim.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 14:20
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A third of UK adults say their mental health has been affected by BrexitUncertainty about the future of Brexit is affecting the mental health of a third of UK adults, a new survey has found.Around 33 per cent of people said Britain's departure from the European Unionhas had a negative effect on their wellbeing, according to a poll by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).Older people were more likely to be affected by anxieties over Brexit with 37 per cent of over-65s saying it had a negative impact on their mental wellbeing, compared with just 28 per cent of 16-24 year-olds.Louise Tyler, a counsellor based in Cheshire, said the UK's uncertain future had left people feeling powerless, which was directly impacting their mental health.

Ashley Cowburn12 April 2019 14:40

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