John McDonnell sets out Labour’s vision for a fairer departure from the EU, as GDP figures show stronger than expected economic growth.
5.54pm BST
It’s time to draw a veil over this live blog. There’s not much point in having a closing summary, as it would be much the same as the lunchtime version, perhaps with the addition of the dropping of the education bill, the suspension of Jenny Tonge and the UK intervention over Calais.
So: thank you very much for reading, and Andrew will be back next week.
5.47pm BST
This from my colleague Alan Travis:
The prospect of 50 refugee children being stranded outside the Calais migrant camp for a second night has triggered a high level protest from the British government and a demand that the children be provided with an immediate safe place to go.
The home secretary, Amber Rudd, spoke to her French counterpart, Bernard Cazenuve, on Thursday afternoon, telling him that the children who remained in Calais had to be properly protected.
5.32pm BST
The written statement in which the Department for Education smuggled out the news that it had dropped an education bill which had been in the Queen’s speech was certainly worded in an opaque way – on this link to the statement it’s the last sentence of the fourth paragraph.
This seems to have confused Labour’s education team, which has released a statement from Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, saying the plan for new grammar schools had “been abandoned as a result of the huge pressure Labour has put the government under”.
5.17pm BST
My colleague, Rowena Mason, has written about the government’s refusal to say what, if any, special deal has been promised to Nissan in return for the Japanese carmaker committing to its Sunderland plant. Here’s an extract:
Downing Street is refusing to disclose what state support has been given to Nissan in order to convince the car manufacturer to boost production Sunderland plant, despite its worries about Brexit.
N0 10 insisted there was no “sweetheart deal” with the Japanese company but acknowledged that Theresa May had given some assurances to the wider industry that they would protected from the impact of Brexit.
5.04pm BST
My colleague Harriet Sherwood has filed this:
The Liberal Democrats have suspended Jenny Tonge, a member of the House of Lords, from the party following renewed criticism by the Jewish community over alleged antisemitic comments.
Tonge was previously suspended from the Lib Dems in 2012 over alleged anti-Israel comments. She has not taken the party’s whip in the Lords since.
4.56pm BST
There has been a very quietly-announced change to the government’s education plans. My colleague, Richard Adams, has more:
The government has announced it is dropping the education bill unveiled in this year’s Queen’s speech, abandoning a raft of proposals that had already proved unpopular but vowing to press ahead with plans to reintroduce grammar schools.
The bill had been introduced by former education secretary Nicky Morgan in March but was quickly shorn of its most controversial clauses, including forcing all state schools in England to become academies by 2020, and ending statutory places for parent governor.
4.39pm BST
A quick note: earlier I mentioned that the by-election for Richmond Park, at which Zac Goldsmith will seek to re-take his seat while standing as an independent, was likely to take place on 1 December. This date has now been confirmed.
3.56pm BST
Our latest Politics Weekly podcast is up. My colleague Rowena Mason hosts chat on everything from Heathrow and Zac Goldsmith to Calais.
Related: Heathrow third runway and Calais camp demoliton – Politics Weekly podcast
3.08pm BST
Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, has written a long Facebook post about her decision to use an opposition day debate in parliament to demand the UK withdraw support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, which has been implicated in numerous civilian casualties.
[Withdrawing UK support] would have been the right message to send to the rest of the world. That would have reflected what we should stand for as a country. And that is why I was so disgusted that all but one brave Tory MP voted against sending such a message, and disappointed that some of my Labour colleagues abstained from doing so.
2.51pm BST
Some Brexit hotline news from my colleague Libby Brooks.
When is a hotline not a hotline? Nicola Sturgeon revealed at this lunchtime’s first minister’s questions that the so-called Brexit hotline to David Davis, offered to devolved leaders by Theresa May at their meeting on Monday, has a significant time delay.
“The only new information we got on Monday was that the UK government has set up what they have called a ‘hotline’ to David Davis – I can share with the Chamber today that [Scottish government Brexit minister] Michael Russell’s office called that hotline this week.”
2.41pm BST
It’s a slightly late lunchtime summary, but just about qualifies:
2.14pm BST
Jeremy Corbyn has called for the details of any government deal with Nissan to be made public. On a visit to Blackburn to see motor mechanic apprentices, he said (quotes via PA):
It must be made public, because it is public money that will be used if there are any inducements that have been offered and quite obviously, if you are offering big inducements to one industry or one manufacturer, then all the others will quite reasonably say, ‘Well, what about us?’
We are only a few months into Brexit and we don’t know what the terms of the agreement are between Nissan and the government.
2.10pm BST
In a political endorsement that Zac Goldsmith might not entirely welcome, Ukip has backed the now-former MP for Richmond Park over his opposition to the expansion of Heathrow.
Zac Goldsmith has resigned on a matter of principle and Ukip admire him for having the courage to do so. Ukip have always believed that Gatwick was a preferred option to Heathrow.
Recognising Zac as a principled man, who was fully committed to helping get Britain out of the European Union, Ukip Leader Nigel Farage, in conjunction with our national executive committee, have agreed that we will not be fielding a candidate in the upcoming by-election for Richmond Park.
1.53pm BST
It’s a bit delayed, but I’ve finally got a full copy of John McDonnell’s speech on Brexit. Here’s a few sections from it:
The EU is a flawed institution, but we judged it better to fight for its reform than to leave. By a majority, the referendum shows that the British people made a different choice.
Britain voted to leave the EU, and that decision should be and must be respected. We have to now think about what Britain after Brexit will be like.
There ought to be a political consensus on finding a deal that protects jobs, prosperity, and the public finances. Yet there is a minority Tory opinion that favours a scorched earth approach. They are making the running in the government’s own Brexit negotiations.
The government is hurtling towards a chaotic Brexit that will damage our economy, and hurt the poorest and most vulnerable most of all. By pulling up the drawbridge and tearing up longstanding ties to Europe, we will inflict huge and unnecessary pain on our society.
We are also committed to making sure that Brexit works for everyone not an elite few. The Tories want to cut special deals for bankers, and cut taxes for big multinationals.
Labour would work with our European neighbours to protect our key industries like steel, and negotiate deals with the EU to make sure big multinationals like Google pay their fair share in tax.
1.39pm BST
The business secretary, Greg Clark, has just treated listeners of BBC Radio 4’s World at One to a masterclass in political waffling. By my count, host Martha Kearney asked him six times whether the government had struck some sort of deal with Nissan over potential post-Brexit tariffs to persuade the carmaker to build new models in its Sunderland plant.
I think we’ve established a clear understanding of the seriousness of the government’s intention to make sure that the car manufacturing industry not only retains its competitiveness, but actually, through our commitment through the industrial strategy we’re developing for investment in research and innovation and science – especially on very important technologies like electric vehicles – that we are going to be even more a magnet for investment in the future.
And over the weeks that I’ve been having conversations with Nissan, and indeed other companies, I think we do have mutual confidence that this is going to be a very exciting place to invest, and that’s what we agreed.
We talked about the Brexit negotiation and obviously it is something that was in their minds, but the first thing we were able to show was that we are absolutely determined to do a good deal with our European friends and neighbours.
There’s strong mutual interest in the automotive sector in particular, where there is mutual exporting from one country to another, and from Britain to the rest of the EU, supply chains are quite integrated. So we not only have the ambition and the intention but actually good grounds for looking forwards to a good relationship here.
There’s no question of financial compensation over tariffs, because we’ve said that what is necessary is that we are going to maintain the competitiveness of the sector.
1.05pm BST
I’m still lacking a copy of John McDonnell’s Brexit speech, but here are some more full quotes from it via PA:
Labour are not about to make cynical promises like the Conservatives on reducing migrant numbers, knowing full well they can’t be met on the scale, or timescale, with the methods they propose.
It is not migrants [who are] to blame for low pay and insecurity at work, or the high cost of housing, it is the failure of our whole economic model, which is not supplying the investment in work, or in housing, that people need. We have to change the model.
1.02pm BST
Michael Gove, who has in the last couple of days sat on more sofas than a new homeowner touring Ikea, has just been on BBC2’s Daily Politics, where he faced a slightly less bruising time than he did earlier on Sky News.
I don’t have the same degree of 100% certainty I do about the single market, but I think it’s pretty clear we should be outside the customs union too.
12.42pm BST
I’m still awaiting the full text of John McDonnell’s speech – perhaps it’s being sent in the post – but in the interim, my colleague Jessica Elgot has sent some details of what the shadow chancellor said about today’s Nissan announcement in a post-address Q&A:
John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, criticised the deal done with Nissan as a “chaotic” strategy. In a speech where he had criticised the government for appearing to prioritise financial services over manufacturing and small businesses, said there had been no public discussion of the deal hashed out for the car maker.
“We know nothing about it,” he said. “Are they literally going to decide factory by factory which one gets support? We have to have a comprehensive plan, and this is chaos at the moment.”
12.29pm BST
David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, has appeared before a committee at Scotland’s devolved parliament, and told them there will be no “special deals” for different parts of the country under Brexit.
What is envisaged ... is there would be a single agreement for the whole of the United Kingdom.
That doesn’t mean that within that agreement there can’t be specific issues that would relate to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There won’t be a Scotland-only agreement, or a Wales-only agreement, or a Northern Ireland-only agreement.
12.13pm BST
David Owen, the former Labour foreign secretary and SDP leader, as well as a campaigner for Brexit, has warned that the UK must press ahead with negotiating trade deals or risk being “pushed over a cliff” economically.
The UK has to be able to start negotiating international trade agreements before exit. This is a non-negotiable issue. So is the UK having full World Trade Organisation membership in our own right.
To fail to have these two issues put into operation and sanctioned under UK law in the European Communities Act legislation would be gross negligence.
11.44am BST
McDonnell is – I assume – still speaking, but I still don’t have a copy of what he has said from his people.
Related: UK economy defies Brexit vote slowdown fears
Related: Nissan to make new Qashqai and X-Trail models in Britain
11.29am BST
Sky News, the only channel showing the John McDonnell speech live, has cut away from it to bring more reaction to the Nissan deal. You have to wonder if that was deliberate timing on the part of the government. His press people have yet to send me the text of the speech – I’ll give more extracts when I can.
My colleague, Jessica Elgot, is there.
John McDonnell speech at Institute of Directors - says Tory right pursuing a "scorched earth" policy on Brexit which risks jobs & growth pic.twitter.com/WGkruFvAP9
McDonnell has also said breakfast instead of Brexit three times which is a bit distracting
11.23am BST
McDonnell is talking about how, he says, many voters felt economically left behind, which in part prompted the Brexit vote. Labour cannot seek to “wind the clock back” to an idyllic pre-referendum past which never existed, he warns.
He then outlines what he calls a “nightmare vision” of some Conservatives who, he says, seek to turn the UK after Brexit into a low-tax, low-regulation economy.
They don’t want the bankers’ Brexit any more than I do.
11.17am BST
To break off briefly from McDonnell, Theresa May has just released a statement on Nissan’s decision to commit to manufacturing in Sunderland:
This is fantastic news for the UK. Nissan is at the heart of this country’s strong automotive industry and so I welcome their decision to produce the Qashqai and a new model at their Sunderland plant.
It is a recognition that the government is committed to creating and supporting the right conditions for the automotive industry so it continues to grow, now and in the future.
11.14am BST
John McDonnell has begun his speech in central London. He has outlined Labour’s insistence that the Bank of England must stay independent.
We should not pretend that the result should be undone.
11.10am BST
More good post-Brexit economic news on our Business Live blog – it seems that Nissan is about to confirm it will build two models, the Qashqai and X-Trail, at its plant in Sunderland. This followed worries expressed by the Japanese auto giant about the prospects for UK manufacturing after the country left the EU.
Related: UK GDP: Economy grew by 0.5% after Brexit vote – business live
10.54am BST
The attorney general, Jeremy Wright, has raised the possibility of a change to the law in the wake of the acquittal for rape of Ched Evans, in which the jury at the footballer’s re-trial heard details of the sexual history of his accuser.
The case prompted warnings that women might in the future be put off reporting sexual assaults to avoid such inquisitions in court. Jess Phillips and some other female Labour MPs, are seeking a change to the law.
There is concern here and we need to accept that that concern is sensible and deal with it.
I think what we need to look at is a number of things. We need to understand more about the decision in this particular case, we need to understand whether a change in the law is appropriate, and if not whether it is sensible to look at the guidance that is given to judges about when this evidence is admissible and the guidance that judges give to juries about how that evidence should be used.
10.46am BST
Michael Gove has just been interviewed on Sky News, and it’s fair to say that his interrogator, Adam Boulton, quite enjoyed giving the former justice secretary a good kicking.
I made a mistake. I should either have paused before supporting Boris in the way that I did or, having agreed to support Boris, I should have stuck with it. The final thing that I’ve said is that having made that decision not to support him but to run myself, I should probably have presented my case in a different way to the way that I did.
"You must feel a prize idiot": @michaelgove on #ToryLeadership, @BorisJohnson and #Brexit #AOP @adamboultonSKY https://t.co/v9VRMA8ykI
10.18am BST
My colleague Jessica Elgot has been sent another extract from John McDonnell’s upcoming speech – a section about how Labour would promise to protect the independent of the Bank of England:
We have seen Conservative backbenchers attack the governor of the Bank of England, followed up by a Conservative prime minister questioning the Bank of England’s independence.
Labour gave the Bank of England independence to stop Tory chancellors leaving monetary policy to the whims of their backbenchers. Operational independence for monetary policy, as I’ve made clear in the past, should be sacrosanct.
10.15am BST
There is likely to be discussion today as to whether the UK could have done more to assist unaccompanied child refugees in the Calais camp, which is now being dismantled by French authorities. Charities expressed alarm last night at teenagers seemingly sleeping rough in Calais, despite authorities’ stated intention to process all people in the camp before it was knocked down.
The situation for children in Calais after the demolition is the worst it’s ever been. Vulnerable children slept under bridges, outside warehouses and in the Jungle camp itself, which has become an increasingly volatile environment.
Last night, we spent hours trying to negotiate a place for three young Eritrean boys – two were 13 years old and the other was 14 years old. Despite their pleading and most of the jungle being burnt to the ground, these boys were refused. They had to spend another night in the Jungle, which is now the most dangerous it has ever been for children.
It’s disappointing to see this being reported as a ‘success’ when so many vulnerable children have been left behind and so many more have run away. We may never know where they’ve gone.
9.59am BST
Over on our Business Live blog we have full coverage of the news this morning that the economy grew by 0.5% in the three months after the Brexit vote – less than the 0.7% in the preceding quarter, but also more than the 0.3% predicted by many.
This is being seen as a sign the economy didn’t suffer much of an immediate “Brexit shock”, though of course it is still early days.
Here's my response to today's @ONS GDP figures. pic.twitter.com/GGdt0UCFkr
Related: UK GDP: Economy grew by 0.5% after Brexit vote – business live
9.51am BST
Business in the Commons has begun with questions to the attorney general (as well as the solicitor general, Robert Buckland, who kicked things off).
Related: Anticipation abounds as the Lib Dems begin battle for Richmond Park
9.29am BST
Among those speaking last night at the annual awards ceremony for the LGBT online newspaper PinkNews was David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, who publicly announced in January that he was gay. Here’s some of what he said, quotes courtesy of PA:
While coming out earlier this year was one of the most difficult things I have done in my life, it’s also proved to be among the best.
There is no template for it and everybody must do what is right for them and their personal circumstances, but I have no regrets.
9.01am BST
Good morning. It looks like the political pace might turn down a notch today following a frantic week of airports and Brexit news.
The main event of the morning will be John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, making a speech to warn that the terms of departure from the EU should not be tilted in favour of financial institutions at the expense of manufacturers and small business – or in his catchy phrase, it shouldn’t be a “bankers’ Brexit”.
Related: Tories want a Brexit deal for themselves, not the many - John McDonnell
Related: Theresa May under fire for secret talk of Brexit fears
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