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The government drifted towards a vote by the Commons, which it had cancelled in December, on its withdrawal agreement from the EU. British and European officials discussed extending the period under Article 50 before Britain leaves the EU, which would otherwise come into effect on 29 March. ‘We’re continuing to work on further assurances, on further undertakings from the European Union in relation to the concern that’s been expressed by parliamentarians,’ Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said. She even invited groups of MPs for a drink at 10 Downing Street to court their votes. The government was defeated by 303 votes to 296 on a cross-party amendment to the Finance Bill to limit tax-raising powers for no-deal preparations unless authorised by Parliament. Eighty lorries were mustered on the runway at Manston airport and driven to the coast, as if it were an exercise in dealing with 10,000 lorries a day after a no-deal Brexit. The mayor of Ostend said the port would not be ready for a freight ferry service from Ramsgate in time for Brexit. A police mugshot of Wayne Rooney was published showing him after being charged in December with public intoxication following his arrest at Dulles airport, Washington.
More than 100 MPs called on the Metropolitan Police to do more to protect MPs after Anna Soubry, a Conservative Remainer, was mobbed and called a Nazi by a group of mostly men outside the Houses of Parliament. In his own letter to the police, John Bercow, the Speaker, complained of a ‘regular coterie of burly white men who are effectively targeting and denouncing members whom they recognise and dislike — most notably female’. A new ten-year plan to spend £20 billion a year extra on the NHS could delay the deaths of up to 500,000 people by focusing on prevention and early detection, the government said.
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