Political Headlines – Corbyn says Brexit talks are inconclusive while MPs vote for an extension

Today’s political headlines includes the inconclusive Brexit talks, MPs voting to force Prime Minister to request Brexit extension, Lynton Crosby’s firm linked to no-deal Brexit Facebook ads and Carney warns of alarmingly high risk of no-deal. 

Brexit talks ‘inconclusive’, Corbyn says
The Times says that both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are facing backlashes from their parties over their talks to try to end the Brexit deadlock, with two ministers resigning from the Government. Both sides initially said the first meeting was ‘constructive’ and announced that a working party would meet today. However, Corbyn subsequently claimed that it was ‘inconclusive’ and that May’s position had not changed as much as he’d expected. Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, has written to other members of the shadow cabinet insisting that any deal agreed by Parliament should be subject to a referendum.

MPs vote to force Prime Minister to request Brexit extension
As The Guardian reports, last night MPs voted by a margin of just one vote to back a bill tabled by Yvette Cooper and Sir Oliver Letwin which forces the Prime Minister to request an extension to the Brexit process. It passed through all of its stages in the Commons within hours and will now be considered by the Lords. An attempt by Hilary Benn to reserve Monday for further indicative votes resulted in a tie, which was broken by Speaker John Bercow, who followed precedent and voted with the Government, causing the vote to be lost.

Lynton Crosby’s firm linked to no-deal Brexit Facebook adverts
The Guardian reveals that a series of apparently separate grassroots campaigns placing adverts on Facebook backing a no-deal Brexit are actually being overseen by employees of CTF Partners, a lobbying company run by Sir Lynton Crosby, who assisted with the last four Conservative General election campaigns and has been linked to a leadership bid by Boris Johnson. It is not clear who is paying for the adverts, which may have cost as much as £1m.

Carney warns of ‘alarmingly high’ risk of no-deal Brexit
The Financial Times says Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has criticised his predecessor, Mervyn King, claiming that suggesting that a no-deal Brexit could be easily managed was ‘absolute nonsense’ and the risk of such a scenario was ‘alarmingly high’. He confirmed there was ‘absolutely no’ chance he would continue in post after January 2020.

All English regions other than London favour no-deal Brexit over remaining in the EU
According to a YouGov poll featured in The Daily Telegraph, London is the only region of England and Wales which did not believe that the UK should leave the EU without a deal rather than revoke its application to leave should no deal be agreed by 12 April. However, Scotland would also prefer to remain a member of the EU.

Windrush scandal compensation to cost up to £310m
The Daily Telegraph reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that compensation to Windrush scandal victims will cost up to £310m, with a ‘baseline estimate’ of £200m, and there will be no cap on the amount they can claim. He said this was an attempt to ‘right the wrongs’ of ‘a terrible mistake that should not have happened’.

MPs criticise China
The Sun carries details of a new report by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee about China. It warns of ‘troubling allegations’ about Chinese interference in British universities, recommends that Chinese companies such as Huawei shouldn’t be allowed to build vital technology, and attacks the Chinese government for supporting Russia over the Salisbury poisonings. However, it also warns against deploying naval vessels to the South China Sea.

MPs call for delay to loan charge implementation
The Financial Times says a report by the loan charge all-party parliamentary group, to which over 100 MPs belong, calls for a six month delay to the implementation of the loan charge, due to be brought in tomorrow, and for an independent review, claiming that it was a ‘cynical’ cover-up by HMRC and the policy breaks civil service and ministerial codes.

Brexit is nine days away, apparently, find out what will happen next with Vuelio Political Services.