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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and reaction to May’s Brexit speech

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Wed 18 Jan 2017 12.38 ESTFirst published on Wed 18 Jan 2017 03.53 EST
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Labour’s Louise Ellman says patients cannot be discharged because of cuts to social care. Why is the government blaming MPs?

May says there is pressure on social care. She quotes the extra money going to Liverpool, where Ellman is an MP.

Juncker opens press conference in Brussels

Mark Smith

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, has started his press conference in Brussels.

Jean-Claude Juncker.

He is joined by the new European parliament president, Antonio Tajani, and the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, who said earlier that Brexit negotiations would be an “arduous task” and “not a happy event” for the former British colony.

It will be interesting to see whether Juncker will adopt a similarly regretful tone to Muscat, or seek to meet Theresa May’s tough rhetoric yesterday head-on. He’s already been speaking today of course, to the European parliament, where revealed he had told May last night that one speech “will not launch the negotiations”.

The Guardian’s Brussels correspondent Jennifer Rankin is following the press conference and will file snap reaction.

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The Conservative MP Anna Soubry asks if May will publish her Brexit principles in a white paper so MPs can debate them.

May says she understands this point. It continues to be the government’s intention to provide clarity wherever it can.

Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP, asks if May will attend a meeting to oppose the closure of a Mitcham surgery. Or is she happy to oversee the collapse of the NHS on her watch.

May says she used to sit on Wimbledon council with McDonagh. There are 5,000 more GPs coming into the NHs, she says. But she wants to ensure they provide services at the times when patients want to come.

Paul Scully, a Conservative, asks about the rail strike.

May says she hopes the talks will lead to the strikes being called off.

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The Labour MP Barry Sheerman says there are dark clouds looming, in terms of intolerance and racism across Europe. Are we fit for purpose on this issue?

May says she wants UN to be able to do the job it needs to do. And she says the government will continue to support Nato. The main thrust of her speech yesterday as about how the UK wants a strong partnership with the EU. Now is not a time to cooperate less; it’s a time to cooperate more.

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The Conservative MP Andrew Selous asks about air quality. Will May remove all diesel cars from the government car pool?

May says the government car service is working to remove diesel cars from its fleet.

Snap PMQs verdict

Snap PMQs verdict: Perhaps Corbyn should stick to the NHS. Of course, that wasn’t really an option today, in the light of the huge interest in May’s Brexit speech, but having done well on health and social care in recent PMQs he today came slightly unstuck when he tried to dismantle her speech with six questions all focused on Europe. His point about May snubbing parliament was true, but a process point of little interest to people outside Westminster, and his “irony” lady line was groan-inducing (He should just have nicked the line that Labour MP Stephen Doughty used yesterday about May and how “the lady’s not for turning up”.) His point about corporation tax and May’s threat to turn the UK into a offshore tax haven was a good one, but then he got sidelined into slightly obtuse questions about payments to the EU, where May’s reply (there will be payments for single market access, even if she is not saying how much they will be) was unusually direct by PMQs standards. May seemed more confident than at previous PMQs, and her mockery of Corbyn’s response to her speech yesterday was effective. She will be satisfied that that she saw Corbyn off.

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Corbyn says his question was about paying for access to the single market. May still has not answered. Does May agree with her minister who said employers could still have access to cheap foreign labour.

May says she is talking about payments to secure access to the single market.

Corbyn says he wanted to know how much we would pay. Still no answer, he says. He says there are 55,000 EU citizens working in the NHS. There are 80,000 care workers, and 5,000 teachers from the EU. The real pressure is coming from cuts. Instead of threatening to turn Britain into an off-shore tax haven, let’s fund public services properly.

May says there will still be people coming to the UK from the EU after Brexit. There is a difference between them, she says. When she looks at an issue like Brexit, she considers the issue, sets out a plan and sticks to it. It’s called leadership. He should try it.

Corbyn says reducing corporation tax would cost the country £120bn. How do you fund public services without that. May said in April that leaving the EU would create the risk of the UK not being able to get better trade deals. Does May now disagree with herself?

May says she also said that the sky would not fall in if we left. Corbyn wants no controls on immigration and to borrow an extra £500bn. That would lead to no jobs.

Corbyn says May talked about frictionless access to the single market. Has she ruled out any kind of access fee for the single market.

May says this is exactly what she was talking about in her speech. The point about frictionless access was about borders, she says.

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