Brexit 'War Cabinet' holds crunch meeting after Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May clash over crime at PMQs - as it happened

Prime Minister tries to find common ground between clashing ministers

Can Brexit be reversed?

Theresa May faced Jeremy Corbyn for the weekly Prime Minister's Questions clash, shortly before chairing a crunch meeting of the Cabinet's Brexit sub-committee, where senior ministers attempted to thrash out a shared position on Britain's future relationship with the EU.

At PMQs, the Labour leader pressed Ms May on police cuts and rising levels of knife crime, citing complaints about a "national crisis" in policing.

The Prime Minister managed to avoid too many questions on Brexit, ahead of the tense meeting of her so-called "War Cabinet".

The meeting included pro-EU ministers such as Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and Greg Clark, who want to maintain close customs ties with the EU, and Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Michael Gove, who fear that doing so will restrict the UK's ability to make new trade deals.

It comes after a leaked document revealed European leaders could threaten to restrict the UK's access to the single market if it breaches EU rules during the Brexit transition period.

As it happened...

Key Points

• Leaked documents reveal how the EU could punish Britain during the Brexit transition period
• Brexit 'war Cabinet' to thrash out plan for future relationship

[7 February 2018 13:43 · Kristin Hugo]

Ms May’s answer on the potential for the NHS’s inclusion in a post-Brexit US trade deal prompted a strong response from Labour.

Speaking after PMQs, Jeremy Corbyn's spokesman said: “It’s clear that the failure to rule out the kind of predatory corporate access to [our NHS] means that’s part of the deal being considered by this government and this Prime Minister – that can’t be accepted.”

He continued: “We’ve said from the beginning of the past referendum debate that any attempt to use Brexit to push Britain into a race to the bottom in protections, standards and regulations is completely unacceptable.”

A spokesman for the Prime Minister would not comment further on Ms May's response.

However, he did highlight that during previous talks between the EU and US, over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the UK had pro-actively marked out the NHS as an area that should not be affected by the final deal.

  

[7 February 2018 13:56 · Kristin Hugo]

Philip Hammond's Spring Budget will be just 15 minutes long and won't include any new spending announcements, an official has told The Independent. Read Joe Watts' story here:

[7 February 2018 13:59 · Kristin Hugo]

Here's more, from Ashley Cowburn, on the news the Government will review laws around driving licenses for young people:

[7 February 2018 15:10 · Kristin Hugo]

Nigel Farage has said the UK risks becoming "Vichy Britain" if it accepts the EU's demands over Brexit - a reference to the French Vichy regime's collaboration with the Nazis during the Second World War.

https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/961176407329071105

https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/961176407329071105

In response, former cabinet minister Lord Adonis said: “By describing this country as ‘Vichy Britain’ Nigel Farage is engaging in wish fulfilment of the most repulsive kind.

“It is emblematic of the increasingly hysterical tone that Brexiteers are deploying in order to distract from the error they are imposing on our country.

“In one regard, however, Farage is correct. A prolonged period as ‘rule takers’ - bound by the laws of the EU but unable to influence those laws - is a sub-optimal outcome for the British people.

“That is why we need a final say on Mrs May’s deal - so that we can choose to lead Europe rather than being led by Europe.”

[7 February 2018 17:05 · Kristin Hugo]

A Government analysis document on the impact of Brexit shows the Northern Irish economy could shrink by up to 12 per cent if the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal, according to sources who have seen the paper.

[7 February 2018 17:18 · Kristin Hugo]

Jacob Rees-Mogg is giving evidence to Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights about a protest at an event he was due to be speaking last week at the University of the West of England.

He says TV images of the protest made the incident look "much more dramatic than it was".

Mr Rees-Mogg said the protest was "perfectly legitimate" but descended into a "little bit of pushing" after those attending the event tried to get the protesters to leave.

"People coming along and shouting at you or heckling you is part of political life," he says, although he criticses the protesters for wearing masks.

[7 February 2018 17:22 · Kristin Hugo]

[7 February 2018 17:34 · Kristin Hugo]

[7 February 2018 18:17 · Kristin Hugo]

The meeting of the Brexit "War Cabinet" went on an hour longer than scheduled. Senior ministers had gathered in Theresa May's House of Commons office to try to thrash out a position on the UK's future relationship with the EU. We don't yet know what, if anything, was agreed, but it's a fair bet that some of the details will emerge later this evening...