Brexit news - live: Tories fear 'absolute hammering' at EU election as party slumps to fifth place in new poll

Debunking claims a final say isn't possible with Femi Oluwole

Senior Labour figures have warned a cross-party Brexit deal will be "impossible" to get through the Commons unless it includes a fresh public vote.

In an escalation of pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, both shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Tom Watson said up to 150 of the party's MPs could oppose any deal without a Final Say vote attached.

It comes as cross-party talks enter their seventh week, with pressure on both Theresa May and Mr Corbyn to walk away from the negotiations.

The latest session of talks began on Monday evening, with patience wearing out in the Tory ranks about Ms May's leadership and the attempt to strike a deal with Mr Corbyn's party.

Downing Street said the talks, which began in early April, had been "serious" but "difficult".

Asked if Monday's meeting between the negotiating teams was the "last chance" to make progress, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Let's see how this evening plays out."

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said this week would be "crunch week" for the cross-party negotiations, adding that another public vote "would be a betrayal of what people voted for, and we want to implement the first referendum".

This liveblog has now closed, but you can see Monday's events below

Key Points

• Any Brexit deal unlikely to pass without a second referendum, Starmer says
• ... as Tom Watson tells Corbyn Labour's old leader would have backed Final Say
• ... and Tories slump to fifth place as Brexit Party tops EU election poll
• Tory MP predicts 'absolute hammering' in 23 May vote
• Three-quarters of voters think the government has spent too much time on Brexit

[13 May 2019 08:31 · Lizzy Buchan]

Welcome to The Independent's politics liveblog, where we will be bringing you the latest from Westminster throughout the day.

[13 May 2019 08:41 · Lizzy Buchan]

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson has said it would be "difficult" for his party to pass a Brexit deal without another referendum.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The difficulty is just parliamentary arithmetic and Keir Starmer (the shadow Brexit secretary) has alluded to this today as well, and John McDonnell did last week.

"The whipping arrangements for these deals is very difficult because MPs have hardened their positions within their parties so I think it would be very difficult."

Mr Watson continued: "If a deal could be found that inspires enough votes in Westminster then fine, but it seemed to me that that's very, very difficult.

"And so my idea of a confirmatory ballot is not a religious point or a point of ideology, it's just how do you get an outcome, how do you sort this out?

"And one way to do it are these two minority positions - the Prime Minister's deal and those that think the people should have a say on the deal - plug them together and you build a majority."

[13 May 2019 08:52 · Lizzy Buchan]

Tom Watson described Labour's Brexit stance ahead of the European elections as a "Remain and reform" party.

"We are remain and reform party but obviously when it comes to a deal people can form their own view," he told Today.

"But when it comes to that European election let me just say Remain is not on the ballot paper in that election."

Interesting...

His shadow cabinet colleague Richard Burgon said Labour "doesn't exist to stop Brexit" only a few days ago.

[13 May 2019 09:08 · Lizzy Buchan]

Keir Starmer has said up to 150 Labour MPs would vote against any cross-party Brexit deal which excluded a second referendum.

The Holborn and St Pancras MP has been involved in Labour’s Brexit talks with the government but said a deal which failed to include a confirmatory public vote was unlikely to pass in the Commons.

“A significant number of Labour MPs, probably 120 if not 150, would not back a deal if it hasn’t got a confirmatory vote,” he told The Guardian.

​More here:

[13 May 2019 09:17 · Ashley Cowburn]

Almost three-quarters of voters think the government has spent too much time on Brexit at the expense of addressing other important issues, a new poll had found.

The BMG survey for The Independent found that 74 per cent of voters thought ministers had “forgotten” about important domestic issues and focused too much attention on negotiating Britain’s EU withdrawal.

36 per cent said they strongly agreed with the suggestion, while a further 38 per cent somewhat agreed. 

[13 May 2019 09:42 · Ashley Cowburn]

Politics Explained: The unexpected elections are shaping up to be about only one thing, writes Lizzy Buchan.

[13 May 2019 10:07 · Ashley Cowburn]

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has arrived at the EU's foreign affairs council and has given a brief clip to cameras. 

Asked about the cross-party negotiations with Labour aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock, he said: "We are talking to the Labour leadership, and we have had very, very detailed discussions.

"People have been pessimistic right from the outset that these discussions weren't going to go anywhere, but they have actually continued.

"So we have to see what happens this week. This is a crunch week."

On the possibility of a second referendum on Brexit, Mr Hunt added: "From a Conservative point of view, we've always said that we think that would be a betrayal of what people voted for, and we want to implement the first referendum.

"But let's see where these talks go to."

[13 May 2019 10:28 · Ashley Cowburn]

The Conservatives have plummeted to fifth place in the latest poll ahead of the European elections, 24 points behind the buoyant Brexit Party.

The survey ahead of next week’s contest has the Tories on just 10 per cent, securing less backing than Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

However, Nigel Farage’s newly-formed Brexit Party was in the lead, which despite only being launched weeks ago was on 34 per cent in the YouGov poll for The Times.

[13 May 2019 10:37 · Ashley Cowburn]

Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the European Research Group (ERG) of Tories, appealed for disillusioned Conservatives to stick with the party for the sake of Theresa May's replacement in his LBC radio show this morning.

He said: "I would appeal to their loyalty, to their tradition and to say that the Conservative Party will get a new leader at some point.'

"We want that new leader to have a base on which he or she can build and if we find that we are getting under 15% of the vote, if we are coming fifth behind the Greens, then it will be harder for that figure to rebuild."

He acknowledged that the European elections "look as though they will be difficult" and people were "very enthusiastic" about the Brexit Party, whose candidates include Mr Rees-Mogg's sister, Annunziata.

[13 May 2019 11:05 · Ashley Cowburn]

Nigel Farage has been banned from his local pub after the landlord accused him of walking away from the scene of a head-on car crash.

The Brexit Party leader was being driven to a campaign event when his Range Rover collided with Patrick Tranter’s Jaguar on a narrow country lane in Kent.

Mr Tranter, who was with his one-year-old son, claimed the MEP quickly left without checking if anyone was hurt.