Boris Johnson: EU gives fresh Brexit ultimatum as Supreme Court told 'mother of parliaments shut down by father of lies'

Nigel Farage is now speaking the European Parliament. He is promising his remarks will be “helpful”. He is being sarcastic. If you hadn’t already guessed.

Oh dear. He promised to be “helpful”. But Nigel Farage has called Luxembourg’s prime minister a “pipsqueak”.

The EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has accused the British government of “pretending to negotiate”.

Our correspondent Jon Stone has more on the remarks made by Barnier – and by Jean-Claude Juncker – in the European Parliament.

A Home Office minister has defended the settlement scheme for EU citizens in the UK as it came under fire from Poland’s ambassador and a senior MEP.

Polish ambassador to the UK Arkady Rzegocki said there were “quite a lot of problems” with the system.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator, hit out at the “bureaucratic” process which had even caused problems for EU citizens who had been in the UK for decades.

But Home Office minister Victoria Atkins insisted the government wanted to make the process “as easy as possible”.

Verhofstadt told MEPs in Strasbourg: “There are, every day in the British press, examples of people already living one decade, even two decades, in Britain who cannot have this so-called settled status.

“I think we need a fundamental shift in the way the UK Government applies at least that part of the Withdrawal Agreement.

“What we don’t need is a bureaucratic application as it is now. What we need from the British government is an automatic registration of all our EU citizens.”

Following Boris Johnson’s promise to be like the Incredible Hulk and break free of the EU’s “manacles”, Guy Verhofstadt has another movie character for the PM to emulate.

The PM’s right-hand man Dominic Cummings has move a little closer to becoming all-powerful at No 10.

He has been handed a new formal responsibility to sack cabinet ministers’ advisers – triggering a protest from the head of the civil service union.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has the details.

So. Proceedings have begun in the Supreme Court – the second of three days of arguments in the historic hearing over the suspension of parliament.

This morning Sir James Eadie, the government brief, will explain to the panel of 11 judges why they have no right to interfere in the prorogation.

Then Aidan O’Neill, barrister for Joanna Cherry, who led the SNP’s successful case in the Scottish courts against prorogation, will have his turn this afternoon.

Our correspondent Benjamin Kentish will be reporting here, live from the court.

Sir James Eadie QC sets out government case (UK Supreme Court) 

Sir James Eadie, opening this morning's proceedings in the Supreme Court, is focusing on the issue of justiciability - in other words, whether the issue of proroguing parliament is a matter for the courts.

He says the courts have no right to rule on whether Boris Johnson acted lawfully in suspending Parliament, saying it would "not be constitutionally appropriate" because the prime minister's power to suspend parliament "is appropriate for political, not judicial, resolution and control".

Lord Kerr, one of the Supreme Court judges, asks him whether prorogation should not be a matter for the courts if it has "the potential to effect or undermine parliament's ability to carry out its constitutional function of holding the executive to account".

Sir James says cryptically that "prorogation has the effects that it has", before admitting the prorogation means that bills before parliament are dropped, parliamentary committees do not sit and the government does not have to answer questions from MPs and peers. But he says:

 

"This is a well-established constitutional function exercisable and to be exercised by the executive".

Responding to Jeremy Corbyn’s latest statement promising a second Brexit referendum, Labour MP Phil Wilson, a leading supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, said it was “great news”.

But Wilson said “there will be many people in the party worried that hints Jeremy might stay neutral in a final say referendum would not really be a sustainable position.

“It’s clear that the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs, party members and voters – including in so-called heartland areas – want the UK to be inside the EU.

“At next week’s party conference, our party will not only show that we’re backing a People’s Vote on a No Deal, a Tory Deal or a new deal agreed by a Labour government – but we will also show we’re a party that recognises that any form of Brexit is not as good as staying in the EU.”

The European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt has taken a pop at prorogation, saying: “The British Parliament may be shut down ... but the EU is not.”