THREAD: Announcing the Lib Dem Plan for the Future!

Our plan sets out a bold vision on how to build a fairer, #BrighterFuture for the country - tackling inequalities, confronting the climate emergency and giving everyone the opportunities they need to succeed. 1) Stop Brexit. Invest the £50billion Remain bonus from doing so in public services and tackling inequality.

I'm a great believer in being able to count - given 21 former Tory MPs and at least 8 others clear there are no circumstances under which they would vote Jeremy Corbyn in as PM then the numbers don't add up and an alternative compromise candidate will be needed. /1

https://twitter.com/elashton/status/1179001877024972800

The Mother of the House, Harriet Harman, and Margaret Beckett are both senior members of the House of Commons, both Labour MPs who could command a majority, and have said they would serve as caretaker PM. It is hard to fathom why the Labour leadership would reject them. /2

THREAD: Speculation about the UK leaving the European Union without a deal has been at fever pitch. Dominic Cummings has suggested it’s too late to stop it, and No 10 is clearly gearing up for a No Deal Brexit outcome. (1) In such a scenario, the 245,000 UK firms that currently only trade with EU countries will need to apply for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification number (EORI) to trade goods into and out of the UK. Less than 3 in 10 have. (2)

This @TheIFS report is a damning indictment of this Tory Government. The fact there is inequality and poverty on this scale in this country - one of the biggest economies in the world - is an utter disgrace. The key findings.... /1

https://twitter.com/TheIFS/status/1141224295840006144

@TheIFS This was only the fourth year in the last 30 years in which household incomes have not grown, with median household income stalling completely in 2017–18 /2

BREAKING: We have been overwhelmed by the public support for @TheIndGroup since we were established last month, with tens of thousands or people all over the country signing up as supporters. Today we've announced we have applied to become a political party - Change UK. (1) There is clearly an appetite for an alternative to our broken politics which needs fundamental change, as shown by the disastrous Brexit process which has occurred under the watch of the two main parties. (2)

THREAD: Tonight MPs will be voting on a ‘No Deal’ Brexit. The Government’s own documents that @Anna_Soubry and I forced them to publish show just how reckless allowing it to happen would be. Here’s 10 reasons why MPs should rule out a No Deal Brexit. 1) Government is not prepared: “In February, Departments reported being on track for just under 85% of no deal projects but, within that, on track for just over two thirds of the most critical projects.”

This is not Opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer.
A strong, coherent Labour alternative to this shabby, Tory Brexit is absent - it has been since this Parliament began.
Totally demoralising. /1
theguardian.com/politics/2019/… The idea that a PM who sponsored employment tribunal fees, supported weakening unfair dismissal protection and more besides will ensure “dynamic alignment on rights and protections” is utterly laughable. A complete joke. Surely we can do better than this nonsense. /2

Today’s latest Brexit shambles from the Government - plastered over the papers and on display on broadcast - is merely the latest panicked response to the momentum generated this summer by the campaign for a People's Vote on any Brexit deal #PeoplesVote /1 This week politicians return to Westminster and we are no nearer to any deal at all but the ground has shifted since they went on holiday. All summer long the impetus has shifted across the country towards the #PeoplesVote campaign. /2

I stand by what I've said on racism in the Labour Party and won't be bullied into silence, not least because my family have experienced racism too. Jeremy Corbyn himself has said it is a problem Labour has not properly dealt with. If Len McCluskey doesn't like that, so be it. /1 Len McCluskey asks for "serious evidence" of institutional discrimination in the Labour Party against Jewish people - I set out in detail why it is wholly justified to reach this conclusion many weeks ago here independent.co.uk/voices/labour-… /2

Major new ⁦@BestForBritain⁩ analysis in today’s Observer shows most constituencies now have majority who want to Remain /1 theguardian.com/politics/2018/… The @BestForBritain analysis finds that 112 constituencies have switched from Leave to Remain. It suggests there are now 341 seats with majority Remain support, up from 229 seats at the referendum. /2

THREAD: Today's events in Westminster - which relate to the process and not the substance of Brexit - do not change the fundamental mess and chaos of Brexit. The UK is heading for a bad Brexit deal but its not a done deal - a lot will happen between now and the Autumn. /1 Its disappointing the so called "Grieve 2" amendment did not pass this afternoon (I,of course, voted for it) but significant that Ministers were forced to climb down and issue a statement acknowledging Parliament's vital role at the end of the process. /2

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by @HouseofCommons view original on Twitter

This is simply not true - if the executive can’t command a majority in the House of Commons, you can’t govern. It’s been that way since the last century. It’s called parliamentary democracy!

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by @marrshow view original on Twitter

The more I think about this, the more ridiculous this claim by the PM seems. She clearly does not understand the UK’s, albeit unwritten, constitution. Parliament acts as a check and balance on the executive, not a rubber stamp. This is not a dictatorship.

NEW: Dominic Grieve’s ‘meaningful vote’ amendment as tabled in the Lords by Lord Hailsham. Be in no doubt- if the Govt renege on their promise to adopt its principles, this will pass in the Lords on Monday and we’ll have the numbers to pass it in the Commons afterwards #Simples What is going on is very straightforward: the hard right of the Tory party want the Govt to have a passport to crash out of the EU with no deal if Parliament rejects the Brexit deal - the PM, their hostage, doesn’t have the numbers in the Commons for this #EUWithdrawalBill

THREAD: The resignation of a Government minister who has immediately gone on to endorse a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal is a hugely significant moment. (1) Brexit will affect generations for generations. Brexit is going badly not just because of incompetence but because it is impossible to deliver in the form it was promised, and it is the people of Britain who will suffer the consequences. (2)

Thread: A trade deal with the US on the day we leave the EU was apparently going to be the great prize of Brexit. But even Liam Fox knows he can no longer hide the reality. news.sky.com/story/liam-fox… (1) Any trade deal with the US will in fact take years to negotiate, and the talks are yet to even begin. (2)

THREAD: Today, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a man who grew up in extremely privileged circumstances, accused my constituents and anybody who opposes his extreme Brexit plans of being "cave-dwellers". /1 My constituents, many of whom live in difficult circumstances, are not "cave-dwellers" or a "liberal elite" for opposing Brexit. They share the same challenges affecting areas that votes to leave, including child poverty and job insecurity. /2

Thread: There inevitably will be those that jump to defend and who declare this issue is being ‘weaponised’ to attack @jeremycorbyn. But every @UKLabour member should be deeply ashamed that it has come to this. /1

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If you are incapable of seeing that @UKLabour has a problem with anti-semitism, you really should not be in our party. We are not a personality cult, we are a party that is supposed to stand against hatred and racism. It’s about time we lived up to our values. /2

BREAKING: @CommonsNIAC including 3 DUP MPs says it “was unable to identify any border solution currently in operation across the globe that would enable physical infrastructure to be avoided” given the Govt decision to leave the Customs Union & Single Mkt parliament.uk/business/commi… The @CommonsNIAC said the Govt “will not have the time to implement a new non-visible customs regime before withdrawal day” on the Irish border...

This was a hugely significant intervention from the Brixton-born former PM Sir John Major. Utterly damning of this government and its Brexit strategy. The people have every right to have a vote on the Brexit deal. 1/

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As John Major said, the vote in 2016 gave the government a mandate to begin negotiations, but "not any Brexit; not at all costs; and certainly not on any terms." 2/

Thread: David Davis insists that Brexit won’t mean a race to the bottom on everything from workers’ rights to environmental standards but not everyone around the Cabinet table agrees with him. 1/ Theresa May has repeatedly failed to rule out scrapping working time regulations, Boris Johnson wants to get rid of the Social Chapter and Liam Fox says he’s in favour of importing chlorinated chicken from the United States. 2/

Thread: David Davis today backtracked more times than a mountaineer who has no map, no compass and no idea where he's going. 1/ He admitted he was wrong to promise the UK would have dozens of free trade deals ready to come into force on the day we leave the EU. 2/