UK politics - as it happened: Theresa May's Brexit plan 'substantially worse' than status quo, says Boris Johnson

What does a no-deal Brexit mean?

Boris Johnson has branded Theresa May’s Brexit blueprint “substantially worse to the status quo” during an event designed to highlight benefits of a no-deal Brexit.

Asked whether he was confident the prime minister’s plan, which he resigned over, was “equivalent to the status quo”, the former foreign secretary said: “That seems to me to be a particular economic risk in Chequers that makes it substantially worse to the status quo.”

His remarks came after the former Conservative leader William Hague warned Britain faces the “most serious constitutional crisis” for a least a century if Ms May’s deal is eventually blocked in the Commons.

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[11 September 2018 08:53 · Ashley Cowburn]

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Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has insisted Labour will not rule out a new Brexit referendum if it opposes EU withdrawal terms.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If we can't get a general election, we are keeping the option of a people's vote on the table and keeping all options on the table.

"I think the way in which things are going, I think the way in which the Conservative Party are ripping themselves apart, there isn't a deal that I can see being brought back that will achieve the support of the Conservative Party or Parliament.

"In that instance, I'd rather this Government shifts to one side and let's us negotiate."

[11 September 2018 09:27 · Ashley Cowburn]

Greg Clark, the business secretary, has called on Tory opponents of May's Chequers strategy to produce alternate plans of their own on how Brexit will impact on sectors of the economy like the motor industry.

He told the Today programme: "The plan that we have would allow the jobs and prosperity to continue, and I haven't seen any alternative that would do other than risk that."

[11 September 2018 09:45 · Ashley Cowburn]

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Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson will break from convention by opting not to speak from the main stage at the party's annual conference.

Mr Watson's office confirmed that he would seek to address party activists at a fringe event at Labour's gathering in Liverpool in a fortnight - rather than making a traditional conference hall speech alongside other senior party figures.

His decision to tell officials to give his slot to Richard Corbett, the leader of Labour's MEPs, comes after his name was missing from the conference agenda last month, prompting speculation that he was being rebuked over criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn.

[11 September 2018 10:59 · Ashley Cowburn]