Profile picture
Robert Peston @Peston
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
Here is the motion that would see “ministers” - presumably Cox and Lidington - found in contempt by parliament for not publishing Brexit legal advice. If government still won’t publish - and Cox adamant that would be wrong - privileges committee could suspend them, which would...
...be unprecedented for serving ministers. This is the LAST THING @theresa_may needed tomorrow, on day she is launching her fight back with her speech inaugurating 40 hours of debate over five days on her Brexit, preceding BIG VOTE next Tuesday. That bus she is driving still...
...heading towards cliff edge
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Robert Peston
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Peston see all

Profile picture
I put to senior government source whether attached is official NHS advice. This was the reply: “No. This is not an official NHS publication. People should trust advice from official NHS sources. We are confident that if everyone does what they need to do, medicine...
”supplies will be uninterrupted, and patients will get their prescriptions in the usual way”. That said, I understand why anyone with chronic or acute illness will be anxious. If @theresa_may really wants no-deal Brexit to be seen as preferable to a referendum, which...
...apparently she does, then providing credible reassurance to the most vulnerable must surely be top priority.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
For the civil service Brexit is becoming very real indeed. Officials at the Department for International Development, which isn't much affected by Brexit in a direct sense, were told this morning that up to 600 of their number - out of just 3000 - may have to be redeployed to...
...departments that are suffering from staff shortages because of their Brexit workloads. One department they are likely to be seconded to, they were told, is @michaelgove's Department for Environment, Food and Regional Affairs. A source at DFID tells me that it won't be till...
...the new year that anxious DFID civil servants know their fate. Another source told me that this unsought Brexit merry-go-round for civil servants will affect every Whitehall department in some way. There is a widespread sense that planning, for both no-deal and a deal-based...
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
Very important decision by @ONS that a proportion of student loans should count as public spending, because they will never be repaid. This has big implications. It means government’s annual deficit rises at a stroke by £12bn or 0.6% of GDP. Which...

blog.ons.gov.uk/2018/12/17/acc…
...in turns means 1) there is much less of a perceived saving for government from lending to students rather than giving grants, or funding universities directly (so makes Labour’s grant abolition more affordable), and 2) reduces scope for @PhilipHammondUK to end austerity
Sorry. Solecism just spotted. I meant “Labour’s loan abolition”, not “grant”. But I know you are all smart enough to know what I was driving at.
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
The #Brexit legal advice blown massive hole in PM’s so called deal.
❗️GB would be a “third country according to NI”.
❗️NI would have full SM access, putting Scotland at competitive disadvantage
❗️UK might become subject to protracted & repeated rounds of negotiations 1/3
2/3 Here is the letter in full across two tweets. It shows a complete failure of May’s negotiation, because she backed herself into an impossible position as she drew so many conflicting red lines.
The PM is now in an even more desperate and precarious position.
3/3 there is no way this will be accepted by UK Parliament next week. It is due to be rejected by Holyrood later too. There are different paths available to us, we don’t have to accept this nonsense.
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
There seem to me to be three key paragraphs in the Attorney General's legal advice to the Prime Minister on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland - the 'backstop - in the Withdrawal Agreement.

Here they are. 1/4

Para 16: The Protocol will "endure indefinitely".
Para 30: The review mechanism does not provide a unilateral route out of the backstop. 2/4
Para 33 (conclusion): There is a legal risk that UK could become stuck in "protracted and repeating rounds of negotiations". 3/4 #Brexit #Art50
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
An eventful day in parliament.. govt went down to a defeat on contempt instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/con… - and will publish AG legal advice
that will look at the NI backstop - and presumably contains some warning on how hard it is to exit instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/no-easy-e… spoiler: it is
the govt then went down on an amendment to the business motion on the meaningful vote instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/par…
Read 15 tweets
Profile picture
What a day for #Brexit! All in all, we’re in a more powerful place now to do what’s right for the country.
‘No deal’ is dead: the @EUCourtPress Advocate General‘s opinion is that the UK can unilaterally revoke article 50 under certain circumstances. So we don’t have to leave the EU without a deal unless we’re irrational enough to decide that’s what we want
Parliament will rightly now be able to consider the Government’s legal advice on the ‘Withdrawal Act’ before it has to vote whether or not to accept the Govt’s #Brexit deal next Tuesday
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
Meanwhile, the UK government has been found in #ContemptOfParliament, . Ayes 311 Noes 293 for refusing to reveal the AG's #Brexit legal advice.
#GeoffreyCox yesterday on why his secrets were "guarding the public interest" #BrexitLegalAdvice #ContemptOfParliament
Never forget, the Tory's spawning ground @OxfordUnion censored Heather Marsh when she explained exactly who that public was whose interests were being protected. #BrexitLegalAdvice #ContemptOfParliament #Epstein Thread 👇
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
Once again the @frontlineclub is packed with journalists, @Byline_Media folk, and TV cameras for the latest revelations in the Cambridge Analytica / Trump / Brexit saga from two whistleblowers.

Follow this thread for live-tweeting coverage, and forgive my typos...
... first thing to note is that security has been increased a level or two since last week’s gathering. Two checkpoints against the guest list, and a minder scanning the room.

We’re about to kick off...
... the focus of attention tonight is Shahmir Sanni, joined again by @chrisinsilico who was the focus last week. @carolecadwalla will be joining later when she’s filed at the @guardian
Chris is carrying a large ring binder of documents...
Read 49 tweets

Trending hashtags

#PECS #bbcqt #scrap #criminal #peoplesvotemarch #trade #brexit #BrexitImpactReports #Brexit #VoteLeaveBrokeTheLaw #pay #ECJ #racist #food #NHS #penalties #C4Brexit #textiles #EUCO #2ndEUref #integrated #StopBrexitSaveBritain #German #cheese #footwear

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!