Brexit: Varadkar says PM's plans 'do not fully meet agreed objectives' – live news

Nicola Sturgeon told Peston what she thinks of Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on a second referendum, as far as she can “work out what it is”:

Asked by Robert Peston how the UK is going to leave on October 31, Michael Gove said: “The most important thing about bridges is that you cross them when you come to them.”

Asked whether he was part of Boris Johnson’s “inner circle”, and privy to conversations about leaving without an extension at the end of the month, Gove said: “The conversations I have with the PM are confidential.”

This from Sky’s Lewis Goodall:

The Conservative MP John Whittingdale just told Peston that he hopes the EU will accept the proposals and that it was a “serious” one.

The Labour MP Melanie Onn said she would, if confronted with the choice of a no deal Brexit and this deal, vote for the deal.

The Lib Dem MP Sarah Wollaston said the proposal was “plain games from Boris Johnson” and that he didn’t have the numbers to get it through parliament.

Michael Gove told Peston “nobody” wanted a no deal outcome, including the PM.

Steve Baker, the ERG hardline Brexiter who rejected May’s deal three times, has stopped short of telling Emma Barnett on BBC Newsnight outright that he will support Boris Johnson’s new proposals for a withdrawal deal.

Baker said the PM had offered “a very dramatic change of destination” with his proposal. “His model is about […] a free trade agreement as a destination,” Baker said.

“Boris Johnson is not going to choose to extend,” he added. “We are not going to extend.” When pressed, he said he was not willing to support another extension of even just a few more days and even if that meant a deal would pass parliament. He said he doesn’t “wish to know” how government will manage not seeking another extension despite the stipulations of the Benn bill, but said he had had a number of conversations with ministers who believe they have found a way to circumvent the law.

Baker said he was “very encouraged” by the DUP being on board with the government’s proposals.

He also said he was prepared to vote against the deal if it represented “Brexit in name only”, even if that meant having the Tory whip removed.

This from the Daily Mirror’s political editor Pippa Crerar:

The MP Mike Gapes, who left the Labour party in February to form what is now known as Change UK – the Independent Group, has described the government’s new withdrawal proposals as a “No Deal Scam” and a “Trojan Horse”.

The Independent’s John Rentoul reports that Michael Gove will tell Peston tonight that he believes the new proposal has “got a very good chance of getting through” the Commons if the EU accepts it.

Guy Verhofstadt, a member of the pro-European Renew Europe group in the EU parliament and chair of the European parliament’s Brexit steering group, said earlier that he would publish a statement tomorrow detailing ”what is not acceptable” about the PM’s proposals.

Buzzfeed’s Alex Wickham reports that aides of the PM have instructed Tory MPs via a memo on how to play the blame game if the EU rejects Johnson’s proposals.

An extract of the memo reads:

If the EU maintains the position that in effect Northern Ireland is never allowed to leave the Customs Union, then it is impossible to negotiate any deal – in which case there will be checks according to the Commission’s own logic. This will be seen by everybody as a crazy policy. We have offered a compromise to avoid this situation.

It ends with a statement hat will infuriate MPs who voted for the Benn bill, which has enshrined in law that the PM must seek another extension if no deal is passed by October 19:

Government policy is to oppose any further delay which would be extremely damaging for democratic politics and the economy.

The memo also states, however, that the government is “obviously happy to negotiate details”, adding to efforts by No 10 to distance itself from previous assertions that this proposal would be a “final” offer.

The Labour MP Ruth Smeeth has responded to reports that she and her colleague Gareth Snell would support the PM’s new deal if the EU agreed.

Both MPs represent Leave constituencies, but voted against Theresa May’s deal three times.

On September 10, a cross-party group of MPs, nicknamed “MPs for a Deal”, was launched in Westminster, aiming to bring back a version of May’s deal for another vote. The group also called on Boris Johnson to put a new deal before MPs by October 14.

Both Smeeth and Snell are members, and, like the rest of the group, desperate to avoid a no deal exit.

When May’s deal failed to pass parliament for the third time on March 29, only five Labour MP’s supported it. Stephen Kinnock, also a member of MPs for a Deal, claimed last month that up to 50 Labour MPs could back a deal at the next opportunity.

My colleague Heather Stewart has written a piece on Labour’s reaction to Boris Johnson’s proposal, in which she quotes shadow chancellor John McDonnell calling the PM’s plans “a cynical attempt to force through a no-deal Brexit”.

Here an interesting tweet from Labour peer Stewart Wood on a clever rewording of “customs clearance centres” from the government.

Only yesterday, Boris Johnson had said that customs clearance centres would not be part of the government’s new withdrawal agreement proposals.