“Boris Johnson’s failure to condemn the Spanish government over this violence is a shameful dereliction of duty.

“This is a welcome u-turn from attempts to use security co-operation as a bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations.

“There is a mounting sense that the government could be defeated if it does not immediately pause the roll-out of Universal Credit. 

Following on from Johnson’s reprimand from the head of the UK Statistics Authority due to his repeated peddling of the discredited £350 million a week for the NHS figure, Tom Brake has called for the PM to investigate whether Boris has breached the Ministerial Code on three fronts 

“Michel Barnier’s statement that we are ‘months’ away from even starting substantive Brexit negotiations shows that Theresa May’s Florence speech was a flop, that David Davis is dangerously delusional about the level of progress that is being made, and that the government is still scandalously lacking a Brexit plan.

“The greater the uncertainty, the more the economy will flounder and the more vital workers will quit the UK.

“Brexit is a mess made in Westminster by the Conservatives. The time is ticking, on the deadline before we leave and on the last remaining shreds of this government’s credibility. We need to stay in the single market and the customs union, and we need to give the people a vote on the final deal.”