Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
The first thing to note about the ‘South Bank seven’ is that they are nothing like the four former Labour cabinet ministers who split the party in 1981, forming the SDP. The Gang of Four were national figures who between them had held every major office of state, bar the top job. Most of the
What does Theresa May want to get from Brussels? At Prime Minister’s Questions, Jeremy Corbyn pressed the Prime Minister on what type of concession she would be seeking from the EU on the backstop. May refused to divulge many details but the word in Whitehall is that the UK government is ready to present a
After days of bad news for Labour over the decision of several moderates to quit and form The Independent Group, it’s now the turn of the Tories. Three Conservative MPs have today resigned the party whip to join the group. In a joint letter to the Prime Minister, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen
Is a Brexit breakthrough imminent? The talk in Westminster tonight is that the government could soon have something to present to MPs on the Irish backstop. Geoffrey Cox – the Attorney General – has been in Brussels this week working with EU officials on a legally binding change. He has managed to charm some on
Here we go. After over a year of speculation about a Labour party split, the departure of Labour moderates appears imminent. Over the weekend, speculation mounted that this will be the week a number of Labour MPs quit the party. Now a press conference has been scheduled for this morning on the ‘future of British politics’.
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Join Katy Balls as she talks to MP Jess Phillips about growing in an activist home, her life path before becoming an MP and her newfound Twitter fame. Hosted by Katy Balls.
Yesterday, Donald Tusk used a hellish press conference to say that Remain had no effective representation in the UK owing to the fact that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition support Brexit. Tusk said that as a result it was time to face up to the fact that the UK really
Westminster is in a flurry this afternoon over Donald Tusk’s comments at a press conference this morning with Leo Varadkar. The European Council president used the platform to declare that he had been pondering of late what that ‘special place in hell’ for ‘those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of
Theresa May has been in Northern Ireland today attempting to ease concerns over her commitment to avoiding a hard border. The Prime Minister told business leaders in Belfast that while Parliament wanted ‘changes to the backstop as it currently exists’, her commitment to no hard border in Northern Ireland was ‘unshakeable’. However, May’s words also went
As Theresa May attempts to reopen negotiations on the terms of the backstop, there is a view in Downing Street that May won’t be able to win any substantial changes until Yvette Cooper’s no deal amendment has been defeated for a second time. The Prime Minister will put down a neutral motion next Wednesday and
Oh dear. It’s only Monday and already Theresa May’s week appears to have taken a turn for the worse. The Prime Minister’s plan to renegotiate the terms of the backstop has received a strongly-worded rebuke from the European Commission. MPs from the Commons Brexit committee were in Brussels this morning meeting with Martin Selmayr, the commission’s
Nearly one week on from Tory MPs uniting around a Brexit position and the cracks are starting to show. After Brexiteers and Remainers alike came together to vote for the Brady amendment on Tuesday calling for the backstop to be replaced with alternative arrangements, Theresa May was triumphant that she could now tell Brussels there
After much speculation, Andrea Leadsom has confirmed that the February recess will be cancelled. This means that – in theory – MPs will be deprived of any ski holidays scheduled for the week of 18 February. It’s still up in the air what Commons business – if any – will take place that week given
After refusing to meet with Theresa May until she ruled out a no deal Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn finally held talks with the Prime Minister this afternoon. Accompanied by members of his inner circle – Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy – the Labour leader used the meeting to put May under pressure on the customs union.
It’s been a disappointing night for the Remain and soft Brexit factions of parliament. Ahead of the votes on amendments to Theresa May’s Brexit plan, there had been a hope among some that the votes would serve as an opportunity to soften the government’s Brexit position. After the Prime Minister’s deal was voted down by
Is the Conservative party finally uniting around a Brexit plan? This afternoon, the Prime Minister had a surprisingly good turn at the despatch box. Opening the debate for tonight’s amendment votes, May explained why she was supporting the Brady amendment calling for an alternative to the backstop – and why she rejected all other amendments.
After the European Research Group announced on Monday night that they would not get behind the Brady amendment to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements, it looked as though the grand plan to salvage Theresa May’s deal was on the rocks. Now there is a new proposal doing the rounds which has the backing of
When Sir Graham Brady tabled his Brexit amendment asserting that Theresa May’s deal would be palatable if the backstop is replaced with an alternative arrangement, the hope was that enough Conservative MPs would align behind it to show Brussels that – so long as they were prepared to compromise – a deal could pass the
On paper, this week ought to be a decisive one for the government’s Brexit position. After Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down by 230 votes, MPs now have the chance to vote on their own amendments to that deal. The majority are non-binding – but they do carry political weight – while a handful
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Sarah Baxter is Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times. Katy talks to Sarah about what it was like to be a woman in the lobby before ‘Blair’s Babes’, the best way to tackle sexism (she says, ignore it and go ‘full speed ahead’), and whether Jeremy Corbyn is quite the Labour leader she hopes for.
