Brexit: Labour MPs to hold no-confidence vote in Jeremy Corbyn - as it happened

Jeremy Corbyn is resigned to a leadership challenge taking place, my colleague Anushka Asthana reports.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has asked Scotland Yard to be “extra vigilant” regarding hate crime after a number of incidents were reported in the capital and around Britain following the EU referendum. He said:

I take seriously my responsibility to defend London’s fantastic mix of diversity and tolerance. So it’s really important we stand guard against any rise in hate crimes or abuse by those who might use last week’s referendum as cover to seek to divide us.

I’ve asked our police to be extra vigilant for any rise in cases of hate crime, and I’m calling on all Londoners to pull together and rally behind this great city.

We will have a zero-tolerance approach to any attempt to hurt and divide our communities.

But he also urged people not to demonise Londoners who voted for Brexit.

It’s also crucial that we don’t demonise the 1.5m people in London who voted for Brexit.

While I and millions of others disagreed with their decision, they took it for a variety of reasons and this shouldn’t be used to accuse them of being xenophobic or racist.

We must respect their decision and work together now to get the best deal for London.

And here’s another Labour resignation - but not one involving the frontbench. Michael Cashman, a Labour peer, is resigning as the party’s global LGBT envoy.

Jo Johnson, the universities minister, has tweeted this morning to assure EU students studying in the UK that they will still receive funding.

27 Jun 201607.24 EDT

Pound hits new 31-year low as shares keep sliding

Graeme Wearden

Over in the City, Boris Johnson’s claim this morning that “the pound is stable, the markets are stable” is turning to dust.

Sterling has suffered fresh falls this morning, and hit a new low of $1.3192 vs the US dollar.

That’s its lowest point since 1985, down almost five cents (or 3.5%) today.

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The pound has also lost almost three eurocents against the European single currency, to €1.199. That means holidays on the continent are going to be more expensive – but might help UK exporters.

Shares are also in retreat again, despite George Osborne’s attempts reassure investors.

The FTSE 100 index was down 97 points, or 1.6%, at noon, in a rout led by financial companies and property firms.

Royal Bank of Scotland has slumped by 20% to a seven-year low, in a blow to taxpayers who still own around 73% of the bank.

Budget airline EasyJet and estate agent Foxtons both issued profit warnings this morning, and are both down around 20%.

The FTSE 250 index of smaller UK companies is down over 5%. It’s arguably a better guide to the British economy.

The crisis engulfing Westminster is causing major worries in the City, as investors wonder who will be leading Britain’s two major political parties in a few months time.

As Kallum Pickering of German bank Berenberg puts it:

UK politics has fallen into crisis following the vote for Brexit last Thursday.

The resulting uncertainty and market tensions could further dampen activity in the domestic economy in the near-term.

John Healey has resigned as shadow housing minister. According to the BBC, that means Jeremy Corbyn has lost half his shadow cabinet within the last day and a half.

Angela Eagle has resigned as shadow business secretary and shadow first secretary of state.

Here is the key quote from her letter.

It is with the greatest of sadness that, after nine months of trying to make your leadership work and despite your considerable personal qualities, I have come to the conclusion you are not the right person to lead the party we both love.

And here is the letter.

27 Jun 201607.16 EDT

Kate Connolly

As Brexit continues to dominate every front page in Europe, here are a few more snippets from some of the editorials today.

Nepszabadsag, from Hungary, says there is much confusion over how to view what has happened.

So which British decision should we now respect? The one resulting from the referendum? Or the fact that very many Britons are now shocked about the result and its effects and basically want to reverse everything?

Der Standard, Austria, believes there is still a chance the referendum result might not lead to a Brexit.

The British people’s decision is to be respected. But the referendum is not binding. It is still not clear whether the parliament in London will vote in favour of this monumentous decision with all the tragic economic and political consequences that will go with it. The EU partners should not force them...we should wait to see what the British decide to do.

Berlingske, Denmark, says the referendum result only underlines the conviction in America that most politicians are too far removed from the people.

The British ‘no’ to the EU will strengthen the Americans in one thing: they are not on their own with their fears and worry for the future. They are not alone with their feeling that politicans who are deciding on their lives are following their own interests and not those of their people. They are not alone when they demand that in the future politics should be decided much more closely with the people rather than by bureaucrats in distant Washington or just as distant Brussels.

Tages Anzeiger, Switzerland, says Merkel is now responsible for turning Europe round, but she lacks the necessary charisma.

Whatever direction the developments (in Europe) take, one thing is for sure, Germany will now get the task of reuniting Europe and to prepare it for the future. Angela Merkel, Europe’s dinosaur, is suited to this task, and at the same time unsuited for it. As a crisis manager she has proved numerous times that she is capable of leading with a calm hand and in so doing she thinks and behaves in a more European way than all the other heads of state and government in this continent ... but at the same time, she’s lacking the vision and passion. She knows that Europe will remain Germany’s horizon, and she’s a convinced European, but she has no success in trying to convince the citizens of the continent of the future of their Union.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is saying this morning that Jeremy Corbyn should not resign.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Angela Eagle, the shadow business secretary, will resign shortly.

Labour sources have told the Echo the shadow business secretary and first secretary of state’s request for a meeting with the Labour leader “was ignored”.