The U.K.’s opposition Labour Party will vote on its Brexit policy on Monday as divisions between leader Jeremy Corbyn and senior politicians overshadow its annual conference. At the same time, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in New York, where he’ll hold intensive discussions with European leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly; Saudi Arabia and Iran will also feature prominently on his agenda.
The British government has started the largest repatriation program in peacetime history after the collapse of Thomas Cook.
- Labour delegates to vote on party’s Brexit policy after 5 p.m.
- Economy spokesman John McDonnell says Labour MPs should be given a free vote on any Brexit deal the party negotiates with the EU if it comes to power
- McDonnell making speech to Labour conference
- Prime minister begins a week of diplomacy in New York as he seeks to thrash out a Brexit deal with EU leaders
- Thomas Cook calls in administrators after failing to reach bailout deal, stranding about 150,000 holidaymakers; Johnson questions role of directors in company’s collapse
Labour Pledges to Cut Working Week (12:15 p.m.)
The Labour Party would cut the average working week to 32 hours with no loss of pay within a decade, if elected into power, Treasury spokesman John McDonnell said in his speech to the party’s conference.
Labour will set up a Working Time Commission to make recommendations on increasing statutory leave requirements and would opt out of the European Time Directive, he said.
A Labour-commissioned study published earlier this month rejected the idea of a French-style cap on work time. Instead, economist Robert Skidelsky said the aim should be to reduce hours for public-sector employees to 35 hours per week in a decade, through a policy of investment in automation and efficiency.
McDonnell Calls for End to Brexit Division (12:10 p.m.)
Ahead of a debate on the party’s position on Brexit later Monday, Treasury spokesman John McDonnell used his keynote speech to tell delegates he will campaign to remain in the European Union after Labour has sought its own deal with the bloc.
“We aim to trust the people in having the final say on Brexit. A deal or Remain,” he said. “Some of you will know I have said I will campaign for remain, but let me make it clear that I profoundly respect those who support a genuine alternative.’’
“In our debates today I want us to demonstrate in the respect we show each other and how we bring our party together just how we can also bring the country together again,” he said.
McCluskey ‘Implores’ Party to Back Leader (11:25 a.m.)
Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, told Labour delegates: “I implore you, please give Jeremy the support he needs later’’ after the conference was dominated by in-fighting and rival union Unison said it wouldn’t support leader Jeremy Corbyn’s position on Brexit (see 11 a.m.).
McCluskey, who denies he was involved in an attempt to depose Deputy Leader Tom Watson at the weekend, called on the party to support Corbyn. “From Brexit to the banks, the country needs a united Labour voice,’’ he said.
More Trouble Ahead for Corbyn on Brexit (11:00 a.m.)
There were indications that the Brexit votes at the Labour conference could go against party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Monday afternoon.
The delegation from the trade union Unison, one of the biggest funders of the party, decided at a meeting on Monday morning that they will vote for a motion saying the party should commit to backing Remain in any referendum on a Brexit deal negotiated with the EU by a future Labour government (see 8:25 a.m.).
They will abstain on the motion backing the leadership’s plan not to say how it would vote in the referendum until it sees the terms of the agreement and will vote against the statement from the party’s ruling National Executive Committee endorsing Corbyn’s position.
Jon Lansman, leader of the Momentum grassroots activists group, also said the way the NEC came to its decision was a “travesty” and said members should vote as they choose. “On conference floor members should feel free to vote with their conscience,’’ he wrote on Twitter.
Hancock: Brexit Deal ‘More Likely Than Not’ (9:55 a.m.)
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told LBC radio a deal is now “more likely than not” due to the shifting stance of the European Union on renegotiating the withdrawal agreement.
“I think the penny is starting to drop on the continent that since they don’t want a no-deal exit, the way to avoid the no-deal exit is for the EU to offer a deal that can get through Parliament,” Hancock said on Monday. “The debate is on what changes and the details that need to change and getting rid of the backstop.”
U.K. Business Warns of ‘Messy’ Brexit Risk (9:20 a.m.)
With the chance of a no-deal Brexit still hanging over corporate Britain, business lobby groups are banging the drum for certainty.
Companies are facing “the potential for a messy and disorderly exit on Oct. 31,” British Chambers of Commerce Director General Adam Marshall said in a Bloomberg TV interview at the Labour Conference in Brighton.
“We’ve already got businesses who are sending goods around the world for example, that don’t know what trading conditions those goods will arrive at port under,” he said. ‘These uncertainties are very, very real; we’ve got to get to a conclusion.”
Businesses “need to know some very basic things about the trading conditions that they face,” he said. “They want all of the political parties, Labour included, to come together and deliver that.”
Labour Plan Could Unite Country, McDonnell Says (8:40 a.m.)
Jeremy Corbyn’s compromise Brexit plan that seeks to satisfy both Remain and Leave voters, is the best to unite the country and party, according to John McDonnell, Labour’s Treasury spokesman.
“The way in which Jeremy Corbyn is managing it is I think the one way we can heal some of the divisions that there are in our community at the moment,” McDonnell said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
McDonnell, who has said he would probably support Remain in another referendum, dismissed Deputy Leader Tom Watson’s suggestion that supporting remain offers the party its clearest path to power. McDonnell said the issue has moved beyond party politics.
Labour is meeting almost daily with MPs from rival parties in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31, he said.
Labour’s Brexit Motions Show Party Divide (8:25 a.m.)
The Labour Party will hold votes Monday on two Brexit motions that illustrate the divisions over whether the party should unequivocally back remaining in the European Union.
The first option says a second referendum pitching Remain against “a credible leave option” is “the only way to resolve Brexit,” saying the party should take a clear position to “campaign energetically for a public vote and to stay in the EU in that referendum.”
The second option echoes leader Jeremy Corbyn’s position, prioritizing the fight to block a no-deal Brexit and commending the party leadership for trying to bridge the divide between Remain and Leave voters. The motion also calls for a second referendum with both Remain and a “credible” Leave option on the ballot paper—but stays silent on how the party should campaign.
McDonnell: MPs Should Get Free Vote on Brexit (8 a.m.)
Labour Treasury spokesman John McDonnell said senior Labour Party figures should be given a free vote on any Brexit deal they negotiate with the EU if they get into power.
McDonnell laughed off a suggestion by Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey that shadow cabinet members, including Emily Thornberry, should step aside if they don’t agree with leader Jeremy Corbyn on Brexit.
McDonnell reiterated in a series of media interviews that he would probably campaign to remain in the European Union, and said others would take a different view and should be allowed to express that.
It’s the latest sign that Corbyn is struggling to keep his party together over Brexit as he tries to strike a balance to avoid alienating pro-Brexit voters. Prominent Labour politicians, including Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer, foreign affairs spokeswoman Thornberry and deputy leader Tom Watson, are pushing for unambiguous support for staying in the EU.
