Politics

Vote Leave has been accused of conveniently dropping its appeal against a £61,000 referendum spending fine on Friday as MPs voted on Theresa May's withdrawal bill for the third time and March to Leave protesters descended on London. The official pro-Brexit campaign was fined in July for exceeding its £7 million spending limit for the vote. The campaign said at the time the findings were "wholly inaccurate" and politically motivated, but according to the Electoral Commission the appeal has now...

European elections are a near certainty after MPs rejected Theresa May's deal with the EU by 344 votes to 285. A 58-strong majority defeated the government on the day the UK was due to leave the EU. It means the UK has missed an EU deadline to delay Brexit to 22 May and leave with a deal. The prime minister said the UK would have to find "an alternative way forward", which was "almost certain" to involve holding European elections....

Theresa May’s motion on the EU withdrawal agreement will be batted away by 320 MPs in Parliament today, according to a betting firm. The Prime Minister’s two Brexit deals prior to this one were rejected, with 432 MPs voting no in January and 391 nays following that earlier this month. Now, on the day that Britain was supposed to officially break away from the EU, another of May’s withdrawal agreements will be knocked back, with a no deal Brexit looking...

Banksy said his painting of politicians as chimpanzees is back on public display to “mark Brexit day”. It was put back on show at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery in time for March 29 – the original date of Brexit. It was first on display there in 2009 as part of the Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibition. An unknown collector bought the artwork, but has loaned it to the Bristol gallery. Banksy posted a photo of the chimp piece on his Instagram account on Thursday, along with a...

BBC’s Newsnight political editor repeated what he was old by a Cabinet minister and it makes despairing footage. Nick Watt had earlier asked an unnamed Cabinet minister: “why is the Prime Minister holding a vote when she is pretty sure she will lose?” He said the minister responded using "very strong language": “F*** knows. I am past caring. It is like the living dead in here.” Mr Watt said the minister then told him that May's cabinet had “completely broken down.”...

Conservative MP Jake Berry has suggested that a new Royal Yacht Britannia would act as a boon to the UK’s international trade and “unite” the country following the bitter divisions of the Brexit debate. Speaking to The House magazine he argued the vessel would "bring our country back together" and help drive the UK’s overseas trade policy outside the European Union. He said: “The rebuilding of the Royal Yacht Britannia is not government policy. However, my personal view about it is...

The numbers with a pessimistic outlook has increased from a sixth - 16 per cent - since the referendum.

Theresa May has thrown down the gauntlet to Brexiteers by giving them the chance to vote on parts of her Withdrawal Deal on what would have been Brexit day. MPs will be asked to vote again on elements of the agreement tomorrow, the initial proposed exit date, but will not vote on the UK's future relationship with the EU. They will cast a ballot on the "divorce bill", citizens' rights and the controversial Irish "backstop", which will be sufficient to...

Suggestions that Theresa May could be planning a third vote on her Brexit deal have been quashed after Andrea Leadsom appeared to make the proposal in the Commons earlier today.  According to Faisal Islam attempts to get the so-called "MV3" back for a vote failed earlier after David Lidington and Geoffrey Cox went to see the speaker this morning.  May has said she would quit as PM if Tory rebels and the DUP backed her deal. My understanding is that...