UK and the UN
The UK is facing a diplomatic rout at the UN on Wednesday when the general assembly is expected to vote overwhelmingly to demand Britain relinquish hold of the Chagos Islands, one of the last vestiges of empire in the Indian Ocean.
Philip Alston, the UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, has compared Conservative welfare policies to the creation of 19th-century workhouses and warned that unless austerity is ended, the UK’s poorest people face lives that are ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’. Meanwhile a report published by the independent Poverty and Inequality Commission has found that the Scottish Government will miss its own child poverty targets unless it substantially increases investment.
UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU
Theresa May is to ask her Cabinet to sign off a package of Brexit concessions, gearing up for one last bid to win over MPs and salvage something concrete from her troubled premiership.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has stated that MPs have “a duty” to pass Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the House of Commons and ensure the UK leaves the EU. Meanwhile Philip Hammond has stated that a no-deal Brexit would be a betrayal. Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, has warned Theresa May that she will not accept a new Brexit plan that leaves open the possibility of a customs union, before a key cabinet meeting to finalise the proposals.
A 60-strong group of Tories led by Amber Rudd and Damian Green have launched a bid to block leadership candidates backing a no-deal Brexit.
Michael Gove has refused to confirm Theresa May will bring forward her withdrawal bill as planned in the first week of June after MPs from across the political spectrum rejected her 10-point ‘new deal’.
Theresa May has made her final big gamble as prime minister, offering Labour a ‘new deal’ that included the possibility of a second EU referendum in what she claimed was ‘the last chance’ to deliver Brexit. The Financial Times has explained Theresa May’s new Brexit offer. However, Laura Kuenssberg has suggested it is very unlikely to gain support and the prime minister’s critics have wasted little time in giving it the thumbs down.
Speculation is mounting that Theresa May will cancel the vote on the Bill and resign earlier than planned.
Andrea Leadsom has quit the Cabinet in protest at Theresa May’s latest attempt to win MPs’ backing for her Brexit plans, and PoliticsHome have published her resignation letter and Theresa May’s response.
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