House of Lords
Parliament

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One of the concerns of those trying to block a no-deal Brexit was that their bill could be talked out or filibustered in the House of Lords.

Labour's leader in the House of Lords Baroness Angela Smith has therefore tabled a motion to ensure peers debate all stages of the proposed legislation before 17:00 BST on Friday.

"Should MPs agree to the proposed bill, it would be completely unacceptable for the government to try and use its peers to scupper that legislation," she says.

The bill also has support from the Lib Dems in the House of Lords - including Lord Dick Newby who says the motion balances "the need for proper scrutiny with the need to get the bill through in an orderly way before prorogation".

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The SNP's leader in Westminster Ian Blackford describes today's cross-party meeting as "another vital and productive step in working together" to prevent Boris Johnson's government from "inflicting lasting harm with its extreme Brexit plans".

"We already know that there is no such thing as a good Brexit and under all Brexit outcomes we will be left poorer and worse off," he says. "The time to act is fast running out."

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts accuses the prime minister of "running scared".

"If he was so confident of a general election, he would have announced it yesterday," she says.

"Our job is to make sure we do not leave with a no deal and that we do not then dance to the tune of the prime minister.

"We will not be tricked - we know he is not true to his word."

Reports from the Scottish court case on proroguing Parliament said that No 10 had declined to provide a sworn statement to court, instead sending emails and documents late last night.

Those documents suggested that the suspension, which is being challenged by a cross-party group of Parliamentarians, was approved two weeks earlier than the public announcement.

But now sources are replying to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, saying No 10 staff were never asked to provide a statement to court.

BBC Scotland political correspondent Andrew Kerr says government lawyers have responded by saying the suspension of Parliament is not a matter for the courts.

Instead, they say it is up to Parliament itself.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Polling expert

The answer as to whether Boris Johnson can profit from an early election depends on the tussle between the Conservatives and the Brexit Party.

The Brexit Party has suggested it could support the PM, if he committed himself to a no deal.

However, that is not what the prime minister's official position is.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage will have to persuade Leave voters that eventually his government would succeed in delivering Brexit.

The Brexit Party leader might say to those voters: "You gave your votes to the Tories once and they failed to deliver - should you do so again?"

That tussle could be crucial to Mr Johnson's future.

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

An MP who quit in protest at Boris Johnson becoming prime minister has said he would defend the PM in the same way he defended Theresa May while she was in office.

Sir Alan Duncan said: "I've concluded over the summer while lying on the beach and chucking my mobile phone in the ice bucket that the best thing to do is to stick with [Mr Johnson], give him our backing, and make sure that the regiment sticks together so that he can do his best."

"He's now the prime minster and the clock is ticking," the MP for Rutland and Melton added. "We really are now at the endgame. We are into last minute brinkmanship in terms of [Brexit] negotiations."

He said he shared the political opinions of his fellow Tory MPs who have said they will defy the government whip - describing them as "kindred spirits".

"But this is about tactics," Sir Alan said.

Sir Alan also said he hoped the deselection threats made by Mr Johnson's government would not be followed through.

"I do not approve of ejecting people in that way and I hope it doesn't ever come to that. We've got to hold the ship together," he said.

There are 10 minutes left until MPs flood back into the Commons chamber for the first time since their summer break - and they've got a busy day ahead:

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Speaking about cross-party plans to prevent a no-deal Brexit, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he hoped MPs didn’t “fall for” what he termed “Corbyn’s surrender bill”.

“If this bill went through, it would mean that we would literally have the terms [of an extension] dictated by Brussels,” he said.

The BBC's Reality Check correspondent Chris Morris says: "The legislation to be put forward on Tuesday seeks to tie Boris Johnson's hands, and instructs him to ask the EU for an extension of the Brexit process until 31 January 2020.

"A lot of attention will be on the clause which says that if the European Council proposes an extension to a different date, then the prime minister must accept it within two days, unless that extension has been rejected by the House of Commons.

"In other words, the power to decide will lie with members of Parliament not with the government."

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No 10 is facing a rebellion by senior Conservative MPs over plans to effectively block the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October.

More than a dozen Tories could potentially back a motion later paving the way for legislation to delay Brexit until January 2020 unless Parliament has agreed a new withdrawal agreement by 19 October, or agrees to a no-deal exit.

The ringleaders of the rebellion, who held talks with Boris Johnson earlier, were senior figures in Theresa May's and David Cameron's governments.

A guide to the Tory rebels

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg highlights another detail from the Scottish court battle over the suspension of Parliament.

She points out that No 10 "declined to give a sworn statement to court", instead providing emails and documents late last night.

It was those that provided the cross-party group bringing the case with the information that Boris Johnson approved the shutdown two weeks before it was made public.

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The PM's chief of staff Dominic Cummings has come in for criticism from those rebels on the Conservative side.

In what was seen as a tacit attack on the adviser, Philip Hammond said: "I am going to defend my party against incomers, entryists, who are trying to turn it from a broad church to a narrow faction."

But who is Mr Cummings?

Listen to Radio 4's profile of him here.

And read more about the PM's advisers here.

Reality Check examines Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's claim that the UK will have to pay £1bn in extra payments to the European Union each month if Brexit is delayed.

But the real figure is substantially less.

Read the full analysis

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Joe Moor, who served former PM Theresa May as director of legislative affairs at No 10, told the World at One the rebel bill does not necessarily take a no-deal Brexit off the table.

"This legislation doesn't prevent no deal," he said.

"All it does is prevent a no deal on 31 October."

Image source, Reuters

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has said Labour is "absolutely ready to fight" a general election, if it is called.

Speaking after a meeting with other opposition parties this morning in Parliament to discuss attempts to put down legislation to prevent a no deal Brexit, he said:

"Let's see what happens after this legislation has gone through and if an election is called, I'm absolutely ready to fight it, our party is ready to fight it."

Asked what would be the next step if the legislation fails to pass this week, Mr Corbyn suggested he could put down a motion of no confidence in the government.

But pushed on whether that could come as early as this week, he said "I will choose a time but you'll know soon enough."

The full hearing of the court case in Scotland challenging the Prime Minister's decision to suspend Parliament started this morning.

A cross-party group of Parliamentarians is arguing that the proroguing is illegal and unconstitutional.

Evidence presented so far has suggested that Boris Johnson considered suspending Parliament much earlier than previously thought, BBC Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon reports, external.

She says that lawyers for the cross-party group drew attention to a document dated 15 August to Boris Johnson, his key adviser Dominic Cummings and others.

They say it shows that the prime minister approved approaching the Queen to prorogue Parliament in mid-August - "well before it was made public".