Brexit news: May sacks defence secretary Williamson over ‘unprecedented’ Huawei leak as MPs vote on climate change

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Countdown to Brexit: How many days left until Britain leaves the EU?

Theresa May has endured a day of intense scrutiny over her Brexit strategy ahead of an anticipated mauling in the local elections over delays to the UK's departure from the EU.

Ms May and Jeremy Corbyn held their last prime minister's questions clash ahead of Thursday's poll, as the Labour leader accused Ms May of failing to tackle the "burning injustices" she pledged to combat during her first day in office.

Amid mounting speculation that the prime minister could cave in to opposition demands, Ms May told senior backbenchers she hopes "a deal can be done" with Labour to find a consensus which can command a majority in parliament.

To see events as they unfolded, follow our live coverage below

Key Points

• Gavin Williamson sacked as defence secretary over Huawei leak
• Brexit ferry fiasco costs taxpayers another £50m as Grayling axes no-deal contract
• PM admits she could cave in to Labour demands to pass Brexit deal
• More than 800 Tory councillors will lose seats in local elections, analyst predicts
• Jeremy Corbyn crushes attempt to commit party to second Brexit referendum

[1 May 2019 08:22 · Samuel Osborne]

Good morning and welcome to live updates on Brexit from The Independent.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are to clash in the Commons as the two parties resume cross-party talks, before the prime minister faces being quizzed further on Brexit at the Liaison Committee.

A marathon meeting of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee on Tuesday to finalise the platform for this month's European elections agreed the manifesto will stick to the wording of a motion passed by the party conference last year, which keeps a public vote on the table as a last option.

Meanwhile, the Tories are bracing for a wipeout in local elections on Thursday, fearing Leave-backing supporters will stay at home or vote for Ukip in anger at Ms May's failure to deliver Brexit on time for 29 March. One analyst has predicted more than 800 Tory councillors will lose their seats.

[1 May 2019 08:32 · Samuel Osborne]

My colleague Lizzy Buchan has the full story on the prediction that the Conservatives could lose more than 800 seats in the local elections tomorrow:

[1 May 2019 08:41 · Samuel Osborne]

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson, who has led calls for a more positive stance on a second referendum, left the six-hour meeting of party's ruling National Executive Committee on Tuesday without comment, saying only that the manifesto would be published early next week.

Mr Watson had earlier walked out of a shadow cabinet meeting after being told it would not be shown the proposed wording of the manifesto commitment.

Some 115 MPs and MEPs signed a letter to NEC members organised by the Love Socialism, Hate Brexit group urging them to explicitly back a referendum in the manifesto.

The change was backed by a number of major unions, including the GMB, Unison and Usdaw, and 34 of Labour's 70 candidates in the 23 May European elections have pledged to campaign for a referendum and then back Remain if a vote is called.

[1 May 2019 08:54 · Samuel Osborne]

Here's more on Jeremy Corbyn shooting down an attempt to get Labour to commit to a public Brexit vote in all circumstances, by my colleague Rob Merrick: 

[1 May 2019 09:14 · Samuel Osborne]

After defeating the bid to commit the party to a second Brexit referendum in all circumstances, Jeremy Corbyn has been warned "demoralised" Labour voters will boycott crucial elections. Rob Merrick has more: 

[1 May 2019 09:31 · Samuel Osborne]

Labour's meeting to finalise the platform for this month's European elections came amid an increasingly positive mood music surrounding cross-party Brexit talks with Labour, with the government understood to be hoping a conclusion may be reached towards the middle of next week.

De facto deputy prime minister David Lidington told Cabinet talks on Monday were "serious and constructive".

And Ms May's official spokesman said: "Further talks will now be scheduled in order to bring the process toward a conclusion."

[1 May 2019 09:43 · Samuel Osborne]

Ms May has set out two possible outcomes from the cross-party talks - a compromise deal to get the Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament or a series of indicative votes in the Commons backed by both major parties.

It remains unclear whether the parties will be able to bridge the gap between them on issues such as a future customs union in the coming days, but any resolution next week would almost certainly come too late to prevent European elections going ahead on 23 May.

[1 May 2019 09:57 · Samuel Osborne]

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey has said the government may have no option but to move towards Labour on a customs union if it wants to get its Brexit deal through Parliament.

She said Labour is waiting to see if the government is prepared to move on some of its positions in the cross-party talks aimed at finding a compromise deal which can win support in the Commons.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said, on the crucial issue of a customs union - which Labour supports but many Tory MPs strongly oppose - the government may have to give ground.

"I think, pragmatically, that they potentially may have no option in order to be able to push this deal through," she said.

"We are fleshing out the details to see how far the government can move towards us and then we will be able to ascertain how far we are able to move towards them.

"There are certain issues that we think they will be prepared to move on and we might be prepared to support certain positions.

"There are certain areas which we haven't seen any movement at all. We want to take a view on the whole package, the whole deal, to see if there has been any true movement."

[1 May 2019 10:16 · Samuel Osborne]

Jeremy Corbyn has become embroiled in a new row over antisemitism after it emerged he had endorsed a book suggesting banks were controlled by the Jews. My colleague Lizzy Buchan wrote about the controversy here: 

[1 May 2019 10:35 · Samuel Osborne]

Theresa May has been more evasive in her responses to questions than any of her last three Tory predecessors in No 10, researchers have claimed.

Academics at the University of York have been studying the way Ms May dealt with broadcast interviews and compared it with the responses of David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

They found that in the course of two interviews after she became prime minister in 2016 and four during the course of the 2017 general election, Ms May only answered 27 per cent of the questions put to her.

In contrast, Mr Cameron answered 34 per cent of questions in the 2015 general election, while both Mr Major (now Sir John) in the 1992 election and Margaret Thatcher in 1987 answered 39 per cent of questions they were asked.

Ms May proved even more evasive in Prime Minister's Questions, according to the research led by Professor Peter Bull of the university's department of psychology.

During 23 sessions of PMQs in 2016-17, she was said to have answered only 11 per cent of the questions from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The previous year, however, Mr Cameron answered 21 per cent of Mr Corbyn's questions over the course of 20 PMQs.