Thornberry ‘wanted Jeremy in No 10’ – but clashed with Corbyn over Brexit policy

Emily Thornberry has admitted that three months before the general election she worried Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to take a position on Brexit could cost the party.

In an interview with the BBC in September, due to be broadcast on Tuesday evening, the shadow foreign secretary said a neutral position would “make it more difficult” to win an election.

“What worries me is that every single interview he does will all be about Brexit,” she told the BBC documentary, The Brexit Storm Continues.

Asked at the autumn party conference whether Labour could win a public vote with a neutral stance, Thornberry added: “I think it makes it more difficult.

“That’s why I’m really pushing this because I want Jeremy in No 10,” she said, according to a clip previewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Northern voters should be ‘wary’ of PM’s promises, says Andy Burnham

The mayor of Manchester issued a warning to Boris Johnson that he could not simply offer infrastructure improvements that were “decades away” to keep his new Northern voters on side.

Andy Burnham, the former Labour leadership hopeful told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I would warn people across the North to be wary of these promises.

“Infrastructure is decades away, very easy things for politicians to promise because actually it is not going to be delivered anytime soon.”

He added: “The North definitely does need new infrastructure. The rail chaos – that we see this morning even, with more cancellations across the North – is due to Victorian infrastructure more than anything.

“But they can’t say that they are doing everything to the North by simply promising infrastructure in the distant future. They have got to deal with the here and now.”

Burnham said Labour under Jeremy Corbyn leadership had been “thwarting” its traditional voters’ views on Brexit. He said his party was in a “pretty dark place right now,” but refused to say whether an emerging leadership successor had his support.

Angela Rayner ready to back Rebecca Long-Bailey for Labour leadership, say reports

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is to step aside and support her friend Rebecca Long-Bailey to succeed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, according to reports.

Rayner is expected to run as deputy leader in a bid that would allow her flatmate, shadow business secretary Long-Bailey, to take the party’s top job.

It comes as Corbyn indicated he would quit as Labour leader in the early part of next year after the party suffered its worst general election defeat since 1935.

Tom Watson stepped down as deputy leader shortly before the election was called.

According to multiple reports, Rayner has not made a final decision, but is exploring a deputy leadership bid.

PM accused of ‘reckless’ behaviour as he puts no-deal back on the table

Boris Johnson is to legislate to prevent MPs extending the Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020, government sources have said.

Ministers have re-worked the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) – due to come before the Commons this week – to “legally prohibit” any further extension.

Under current plans, Johnson intends to end Britain’s EU membership on 31 January, with an implementation to run to the end of 2020 while the government negotiates a trade deal.

However, key EU figures – including chief negotiator Michel Barnier – have expressed scepticism that a deal can be agreed in time, raising the fresh prospect of a no-deal break.

Labour’s Keir Starmer said it was “reckless and irresponsible”.

Nicky Morgan peerage and cabinet role causes outrage

Boris Johnson has been accused of showing “two fingers to democracy” after announcing Nicky Morgan will carry on as culture secretary, despite her quitting the Commons.

No 10 said the former MP would be made a life peer and would answer questions in the House of Lords.

It still drew a furious response from opposition MPs, with Labour’s former shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant saying it “stinks”.

“You abandon your constituents, eschew the tough work of representing a constituency but remain in the Cabinet. That really is two fingers up to democracy,” he said.

His fellow Labour MP Jo Stevens said it was “absolutely disgraceful” MPs would not be able to scrutinise or challenge her on the performance of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The Lib Dems’ culture spokeswoman Layla Moran said the “sycophancy” showed why reform of the Lords was needed while the SNP’s Pete Wishart accused the Tories of showing “disdain for democracy”.

The decision to keep her on appeared to surprise even the now Baroness Morgan. “Well it turns out that leaving the Cabinet is harder than leaving the EU!” she tweeted.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the post-election fallout, as MPs prepare to be sworn in at parliament today.