Brexit news: Grayling interrogated by MPs over botched no-deal ferry contracts as Labour says it will order MPs to back second referendum
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Chris Grayling has been branded a "departmental wrecking ball" by MPs after the government paid Eurotunnel £33m to settle legal action over its botched no-deal Brexit preparations.
The transport secretary dismissed renewed calls for him to quit in the wake of a fiasco over ferry contracts, in a fractious appearance in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
The clash came as attorney general Geoffrey Cox and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay travelled to Brussels to seek concessions to the Irish backstop ahead of a critical vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal next week.
Meanwhile, shadow chancellor John McDonnell gave fresh hope to supporters of a second referendum when he indicated Labour would whip its MPs to support an amendment on the subject next week.
To follow events as they unfolded, see our live coverage below
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Grayling's biggest failings
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Labour MP Peter Kyle says he is 'shocked by the complete lack of humility that £33m of taxpayers' money was wasted'. He asks if Grayling will apologise?
Grayling says he is sorry the government was taken to court.
Mr Grayling, urged by Labour MP Peter Kyle to apologise for his decision, replied: "I very much regret the fact we were taken to court - it was a risk that we acknowledged was there but I stand by the decision to make sure that we could guarantee the supply of drugs to the NHS in the event of a no-deal Brexit."
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald added: "What he is laying bare today is that advice he received, he's acted in contravention of that advice and he has lost.
"What we're asking for is not an absence of preparation for contingencies, what we're asking for is a modicum of competence and he's singularly failed."
Andy McDonald repeats his call for Chris Grayling to resign over the fiasco.
He adds: "It's good to see the transport secretary finally in his place today, having tried and failed to bring him to the House yesterday. Instead he sent the health secretary as his human shield, but this comes as no surprise considering how this transport secretary has made a habit of treating this House with disdain."
"I'm just astonished that people can hide behind what they perceive as being the national interest. I fail to see how it is in the national interest to pour millions of pounds of taxpayers' money down the drain. I don't call that the national interest at all."
Peter Lamb was suspended by the party in 2015 after series of posts online about Muslims.
He was later readmitted to the party after he had served a suspension and “apologised for his comments”, the Conservatives said.
The Independent Group of MPs in the Commons are today meeting with officials at the Electoral Commission for talks about becoming a fully-fledged political party, group spokesman and ex-Labour MP Chuka Umunna said.
"We are going to have that discussion today," he said. "We think people want an alternative. If you want to present an alternative you have to become a party, so we want to find out what that involves."
Amber Rudd has given a speech this afternoon where she promised an overhaul of personal independence payments for older people.
From the spring around 270,000 disabled pensioners will no longer have to through “unnecessary” reviews to keep on claiming the personal independence payment (PIP), the work and pensions secretary was expected to say.
Here's a preview of the speech:
Fourteen Conservative party members have been suspended after posting Islamophobic or racist comments on social media, The Independent can reveal.
Comments found on Facebook from Conservative party members included calling for Muslims to be "turfed out of public office" and to "get rid of all mosques".
More here:
European Council president Donald Tusk has rowed in behind Emmanuel Macron for criticising the UK over the Brexit vote.
Commons speaker John Bercow has told MPs he will write to the relevant petition officer to confirm Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya is subject to a recall petition.
Ms Onasanya lost a legal challenge against her conviction for perverting the course of justice this morning. She has already served a month in prison.
But what is a recall petition - and what does that mean?
Recall is a process where voters can remove their MP outside of an election.
Firstly, a petition will be launched calling for the MP to be recalled. If enough local people sign it then that person is removed from office and a new election is held.
Recall occurs when:
An MP is convicted of an offence and receives a prison sentence of a year or less.
An MP is suspended from the Commons for at least 10 sitting days, or 14 calendar days.
An MP is convicted of providing false or misleading information for allowance claims.
If an MP is convicted and receives a custodial sentence of more than a year they would automatically lose their seat.
How does the petition process work?
If one of the required conditions is met, the speaker gives notice to the petitions officer in the MP's constituency.
A petition stays open for six weeks.
What needs to happen for a petition to succeed?
A petition requires 10 per cent of the constituency's voters to support it to succeed. In Peterborough, this would be roughly 7,000 people.
The result would be sent to the Speaker, the MP's seat would become vacant and a by-election held.
The recalled MP is permitted to take part in the by-election.
A recall petition was triggered last year when DUP MP Ian Paisley Jnr was suspended from the Commons for 30 days after failing to register two family holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
A recall petition in his North Antrim constituency failed after it was backed by only 9.4 per cent of the electorate.
Here's our story from the time:
Car giants Toyota and BMW have issued stark warnings about the impact a no-deal Brexit would have on their plants in the UK.
The future of the Mini factory at Cowley, near Oxford, would be thrown into doubt if there is a no-deal scenario, parent company BMW said.
The German firm said production of Minis could be moved to Holland if the UK crashed out of the European Union without a deal on March 29.
And Toyota warned that a no-deal Brexit would make it "extremely complicated" for the Japanese firm to build new models in the UK.
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