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    In the political realm, no one knows how Brexit’s long running theater of the absurd will end. But for much of the business world, Britain’s departure from the European Union has effectively happened. Nearly three years of uncertainty since the June 2016 referendum has forced companies to plan for the worst the prospect that Britain could crash out of the bloc without a deal governing future relations. The twisting road to Brexit has already slowed economic growth, discouraged investment and damaged the reputation of the nation as a haven for commerce. Global banks and other financial services companies are steadily shifting thousands of jobs and more than $1 trillion (£766bn) in assets to European cities to ensure that they are able to serve customers across the E...

    Jeremy Corbyn set out plans to rebuild Britain as he declared Labour is ready to win a general election and lead us into Brexit and beyond. The Labour leader is ready to deliver his alternative plan for leaving the EU and to head a government for the many, not the few. Labour could press for a vote of no-confidence in the Government as soon as this week, as a poll put it five points ahead of the Tories. It came as pressure increased from within the Prime Minister’s inner circle to call a general election and end the Brexit deadlock. Mr Corbyn told the Mirror: We’re ready for a general election, whenever it comes. Labour has an alternative Brexit plan and we are ready to deliver it. But he added: An election must be about the future of our country, not just Brexit...

    Shamima Begum's husband has been banned from Britain after being seen as a security risk, reports claims. Dutch jihadi Yago Riedijk has reportedly been added to an exclusion list by Home Secretary Sajid Javid. It comes just weeks after ISIS bride Begum, who is living in a Syrian refugee camp, was stripped of her own British citizenship. The 19-year-old had hoped to raise the couple's third child in the UK before the newborn's death this month. Riedijk, 27, is currently being held in northern Syria and was jailed for six years in his absence in his native Netherlands for membership of a terrorist organisation. Tory MP Philip Hollobone told The Sun the ban was very welcome news.  We need to see more of this. There is going to be the threat of thousands of th...

    Theresa May has been warned by one of her senior ministers that she cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it unites around a softer Brexit. With MPs set to hold a second round of indicative votes on alternatives to the prime minister’s deal on Monday, Justice Secretary David Gauke said she would have to look closely at any option that could command a majority. After 170 Tory MPs including 10 members of the Cabinet wrote to May urging her to take the UK out of the EU quickly as possible, Gauke reiterated he would resign rather than support a no deal break. Despite MPs rejecting May’s deal for a third time on Friday, Downing Street has made clear that she intends to to bring it back to the Commons for a fourth vote possibly on Tuesday or Wednesday. May h...

    Theresa May is considering bringing her Brexit deal back to the Commons for a fourth vote next week and has hinted that she may call a general election if Parliament cannot agree a way forward. I fear we are reaching the limits of this process in this House, she told MPs who voted her deal down again on Friday. Her remarks appeared to signal that she is prepared to call a General Election to try to break the deadlock. Mrs May said the vote would have grave implications and that failure to support her plan was almost certain to involve an extended delay to Brexit, with the UK required to hold elections to the European Parliament in May. Mrs May will not be able to bring her deal back to the Commons for a fourth attempt until MPs have taken part in the second round o...

    The EU has given the British government 11 days to come up with a fresh Brexit plan to avoid crashing out of the bloc at 11pm on 12 April. In the immediate aftermath of the crushing rejection of the prime minister’s deal, the European council president, Donald Tusk, called an emergency leaders’ summit. Should the UK seek a lengthy extension, leaders will debate any request at an extraordinary meeting on 10 April. Should May succeed in getting her deal past the Commons next week at a fourth time of asking, the EU would likely waive through an extension until 22 May. But speaking in Poland, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said it was becoming more likely the UK could crash out on the new default Brexit date of 12 April. The European commission’s most sen...

    The Conservative MP behind a series of indicative votes in the Commons has insisted the process could still find a consensus despite Wednesday night’s first attempt ending in deadlock, saying a final collapse of Theresa May’s deal would focus minds. Eight votes on alternative Brexit options, put before the Commons after MPs seized control of the parliamentary process from the government, resulted in no majority for any of them, although the vote was close on one softer Brexit option. Oliver Letwin, the Tory former minister whose amendment created the process, said this was to be expected, and that if May’s deal is defeated for a third time if put to MPs on Friday, this could forge unity if the only other option was no deal on 12 April. The process that led to Wedne...

    Theresa May’s announcement to Conservative MPs that she is prepared to step down for the second phase of Brexit talks should her EU withdrawal deal pass has sparked speculation about who might replace her. The Prime Minister’s decision to tell the 1922 Committee that she won’t stand in the way of new leadership prompted leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg to say: The great joy of the Tory Party is it has so many talented people in it. It’s like finding a fast bowler in Yorkshire. You just call and one appears. Here’s a look at key names currently being floated to take the helm if Mrs May steps down. Boris Johnson Prominent Brexiteer and former foreign secretary Mr Johnson has been a leading voice of opposition to Mrs May’s Brexit plan. The colourful Old Etonian...