Brexit LIVE: Letwin, Starmer & Grieve bid to control Commons & stop NO Deal in 24 HOURS

A leaked document seen by BuzzFeed News revealed they will attempt to rush legislation blocking a no-deal Brexit through Parliament in just a few hours. It comes after independent MP Nick Boles discussed plans to force Boris Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond October 31 to avoid no deal on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Sky News’s political correspondent Kate McCann tweeted: “Nick Boles reveals the plan to block no deal is for a law to stipulate Boris Johnson must seek a short extension to Art50 if he can’t get new deal or parliament to back no deal. Extension would be ‘a couple of months’, not long enough for a second referendum.”

But former Brexit Secretary David Davis said “the futile parliamentary games in the Commons” only serve to damage the UK’s negotiating hand with the EU.

Meanwhile, rebel Tories have been warned they will be booted out of the party if they team up with opposition MPs to vote against no deal.

A source from the Tory whips office said: “The whips are telling Conservative MPs a very simple message – if they fail to vote with the Government on Tuesday they will be destroying the Government’s negotiating position and handing control of Parliament to Jeremy Corbyn.

“Any Conservative MP who does this will have the whip withdrawn and will not stand as Conservative candidates in an election.”

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1pm update: David Davis insists Brexit deal will not be agreed until final weeks leading to October 31

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis tweeted: “I have consistently argued that a Brexit deal will not be sealed until the final few weeks leading up to 31 October.

“Attempts to block no deal only serve to weaken the UK’s negotiating hand at this critical time and reduce the likelihood of a deal.”

12.40pm update: Labour will back general election under any circumstances

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Sky’s political correspondent Kate McCann: “Of course, we are the opposition party, we want a general election.”

Meanwhile the Guardian’s chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot added there were “very strong rumours” in Westminster that a general election could be called this week.

12.30pm update: Former PM warns of ‘constitutional outrage’ if Government ignores no-deal Brexit legislation

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has said it would be seen as a “constitutional outrage” if the Government did not abide by legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking on a visit to Homebaked co-operative bakery in Liverpool, Mr Brown said: “If Parliament this week passes a law that says the Government cannot go ahead with no deal on October 31, in my view, and in most people’s view, the Government would be bound to follow that and to adhere to that decision of Parliament, and if they do not then there are major consequences for our democracy as a result.

“We were told that we were leaving the EU to uphold parliamentary sovereignty and if the Government themselves are prepared to abandon parliamentary sovereignty in the interests of their own ideology or their own dogma, then I think most people round the country would see that as a constitutional outrage and they would not want to support it, and, indeed, would be complaining about that happening.”

11.50am update: ‘Not letting you get away with that!’ Piers Morgan stuns Sturgeon as he pulls her up

Piers Morgan ripped into Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during an explosive Brexit debate on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

The presenter was left fuming after Ms Sturgeon insisted she offered Theresa May a compromise over Brexit to stay in the single market and customs union.

Mr Morgan hit back: “I am sorry, Nicola Sturgeon, I am not going to let you get away with that. It is complete nonsense.

“David Cameron made it crystal clear as the Prime Minister a week before there referendum, be under no illusion, he said, this is a once in a lifetime vote, there won’t be another one, and it will mean coming out of the single market.

“He couldn’t have made it clearer. Everybody knew when they voted that you voted to leave. We were leaving, we were not staying partly in.

“I knew, that, why didn’t you know that? How did you not know that?”

11.30am update: Khan urges London MPs to do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop no deal

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has made a desperate, last-ditch bid to block a no-deal Brexit by writing to every London MP asking them to back Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as caretaker Prime Minister.

Mr Khan has even written to Zac Goldsmith, the Tory MP for Richmond, the man he defeated in 2016, as he urged Parliamentarians to do “whatever it takes” to prevent the UK leaving the bloc without a withdrawal agreement in place.

Speaking to Politico’s Playbook bulletin in Poland, Mr Khan said MPs should be willing to put Mr Corbyn in Number 10 if necessary in order to stop no deal.

He also backed the idea of a Remain alliance with rival pro-EU parties in the event that a snap general election is called before October 31, the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to take the UK out of the EU “do or die”.

10.50am update: Blair suggests Johnson could win general election

Speaking at the Institute for Government, former prime minister Tony Blair said: “Our Government has been taken over by a gang of adventurers, but don’t underestimate the appeal of adventure after a long period of paralysis”.

10.30am update: Leadsom demands Parliament ‘obey instruction’ to leave EU

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom tweeted: “The highest authority in the UK is the People. They voted to leave the EU. Parliament must obey that instruction.”

9.50am update: Williamson backs threat to oust Tory rebels

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said it would be right to kick out any Tory MPs who vote against the Government on Brexit.

He told Good Morning Britain: “Anyone who is voting against the Government is in a position where they are voting to undermine the Prime Minister’s negotiating hand.

“They should think very seriously about that and the consequences.

“I think that if they (the Government) take the view that it is serious enough, that it is undermining the nation’s position and the Prime Minister’s position, if that is their decision it would be the right decision. If that is what is necessary.”

9.35am update: Brexiteers hit back at Soubry tweet ‘sense of outrage’

Former Tory MP Anna Soubry tweeted: “There is a growing sense of outrage, a sense this is no longer our country this is not the British way. Suspending Parliament to stifle debate, bullying & blackmailing long serving loyal MPs & threatening to defy the rule of law. That’s the way of the far left not @Conservatives.”

But one Brexiteer hit back: “There is an epic sense of outrage that politicians are still three years later trying to thwart the referendum.”

Another replied: “There is a growing sense of outrage, that angry undemocratic remain voters, think their vote was more important than the leave vote.

“They have caused all the trouble in this country over the last three years by their arrogance in not accepting the result. Shame on you!”

9.15am update: Rees-Mogg challenges Tory rebels over suspending Parliament

He told LBC Radio: “This decision to have a new Queen’s Speech was made by the Prime Minister.

“If the Commons doesn’t like that they can have a vote of no confidence in him and they can have a new prime minister, if that’s the will of the Commons.”

Mr Rees-Mogg said that a “Government of national unity” led by Tory grandee Ken Clarke would be “blowing a raspberry at 17.4 million people”.

The Commons leader added: “And I am not a raspberry blower.”

9am update: Gauke warns of 95% chance of no-deal Brexit if MPs don’t act this week

Former Cabinet minister David Gauke warned there is a 95 percent chance of a no-deal Brexit if MPs cannot legislate against it this week, as he accused the Government of having no credible plan to leave with an agreement.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there is now insufficient time to get a departure agreement voted through Parliament.

He said: “Frankly, there’s not a credible plan coming from the Government to be able to leave with a deal on October 31.

“I would say it’s a 95 percent chance, to be honest, that if Parliament does not act this week that we will leave without a deal on October 31.”

Mr Gauke added that Boris Johnson is “goading” some Tory MPs to rebel so he can force a snap general election having purged opponents of a no-deal Brexit from the party.

8.40am update: Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna ‘optimistic’ a no-deal Brexit can be blocked

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The focus of efforts this week will be on legislating to stop the country crashing out of the EU without a deal. We are very optimistic this can be achieved.”

He said the current departure date would need to be delayed for “at least two months” for a general election to be held and then for up to a further six months for a second referendum.

The Remainer MP added: “We believe that MP colleagues would be making a grave mistake if they throw all their eggs into the basket of legislating to extend Article 50 because we saw from the Vote Leave campaign, let’s face it they now run the Government, that we’ve got a group of people here who are prepared to lie, to cheat and break the rules to win at any cost.

“So, even if the Commons successfully legislates to get an extension, it may not necessarily work. The Government may find a way around it.”

8.15am update: Former Tory minister Nick Boles says Johnson ‘must be stopped’

The independent MP tweeted: “Johnson truly is Britain’s Trump. There is no institution, no relationship and no international commitment that he is not willing to sacrifice to achieve a No Deal Brexit. He is turning the Conservative and Unionist Party into the English National Party. He must be stopped.”

It comes after he said the Tory party was finished on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Mr Boles said: “The hard right has taken over the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has fallen prey to an almost religious obsession with the hardest form of Brexit.”

He added that Brexit is “not necessarily” a hard-right move but that “foisting” a no-deal departure on the UK is.

8am update: Channel tunnel operator GetLink “ready for a no-deal Brexit”

Channel tunnel operator GetLink said it is “ready for a no-deal Brexit” ahead of the UK’s imminent departure from the EU.

The group, which owns Eurotunnel, said it is prepared to deal with new customs regulations if a no-deal scenario takes place.

GetLink said it will introduce “pit stop” areas for customs controls to take place as well as construct larger parking areas for trucks entering the UK as part of its measures.