Not over till it’s over….?

Brexit debate not over, Tony Blair says.

It is possible that Brexit may never happen if public opinion turns against it, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has said. Mr Blair, who campaigned for a vote to stay in the EU, said such an outcome was unlikely but that "the debate continues" despite June's Leave vote. He told French radio station Europe 1: "Who made the rule that we have to stop the debate now?" PM Theresa May has said the UK will not stay in the EU "by the back door". On Thursday her cabinet agreed to "push ahead" with triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which begins the formal two-year process for leaving the EU. Speaking in French, Mr Blair said Mrs May - who also backed a Remain vote - had to make her "Brexit means Brexit" statement to unite her party and appease the right-wing press in the aftermath of the referendum. "For the rest of us, we are free to have a debate," he said. There was currently "confusion" over the way forward because "we do not know the terms of Brexit", said Mr Blair. "We have done something rather bizarre with Brexit," said the former Labour leader. "It's like moving house without having seen the new house. We have made an agreement to exchange, but we don't yet know the terms of Brexit, we don't know the costs and the consequences."

Brexit protest: March for Europe rallies held across UK.

Thousands of pro-Europe protesters have been marching in London, calling for the UK to strengthen its ties to the continent following the Brexit vote. The March for Europe aimed to put pressure on the government to delay activating the formal process of leaving the EU. Pro-Brexit demonstrators also gathered in the capital to form a counter-protest along the marching route. Rallies are taking place across the UK including in Edinburgh and Birmingham. A sea of blue EU flags filled Parliament square shortly after 13:00 BST, where protesters sang along to The Beatles' hit Hey Jude, replacing the title words instead with "EU". Demonstrators were calling for the government to make tight economic, cultural, and social ties with the rest of Europe.

Theresa May: UK will be 'global leader in free trade'.

The UK will be a "global leader" in free trade following the Brexit vote, Theresa May has said, as she heads to China for the G20 summit. Speaking at Heathrow ahead of her first international conference since becoming prime minister, she insisted it was a "golden era" for UK-China relations. The assurance comes as she faces a row with Beijing over a delayed decision on the Hinkley Point power station. At the summit, Mrs May will meet one-to-one with US President Barack Obama. She will also hold talks with other leaders of the world's 20 major economies and is expected to tell them that the UK is "open for business" following the referendum vote to leave the European Union. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also meet with her but no announcement on the Hinkley Point project is expected.

Jobs market shrinks for new graduates, survey suggests.

The number of jobs for new graduates has shrunk by 8% in a year, suggests a survey of more than 200 top employers. This is a sharp reversal after four years of growth in graduate jobs, says the Association of Graduate Recruiters. Some firms are "repackaging" graduate roles as higher apprenticeships but overall the labour market for young people is shrinking, says the AGR. Brexit is the biggest serious challenge for recruiters, said AGR Chief Executive Stephen Isherwood. The AGR, which represents blue chip companies and major public sector employers, carries out an annual survey of graduate job vacancies among its members. "The labour market for young people is shrinking for the first time since the financial crisis, but the composition of the market is also changing as employers invest more in school leaver programmes and apprenticeships," said Mr Isherwood. "The uncertainty of Brexit is the single biggest challenge facing recruiters in the year ahead."

Brexit may bring difficult times, says Theresa May.

Britain needs to be prepared for some "difficult times" ahead as it leaves the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May has said. Speaking to the Andrew Marr Show - in her first major interview since taking office - Mrs May warned Brexit would not be "plain sailing" for the UK. She said formal EU talks will not begin until 2017, but vowed the process would not be "kicked into the long grass". Mrs May also ruled out a snap election, saying the UK needs "stability". The former home secretary became prime minister after David Cameron resigned in the wake of the EU referendum - with the Brexit process likely to dominate the first years of her premiership. Speaking before travelling to China for the G20 summit, Mrs May said she would not pretend that leaving the union would be "plain sailing", despite positive economic figures in the UK since the referendum. "We have had some good figures and better figures than some had predicted would be the case. I'm not going to pretend that it's all going to be plain sailing. I think we must be prepared for the fact that there may be some difficult times ahead. But what I am is optimistic."

G20: Theresa May faces Brexit trade pressure.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has come under pressure at the G20 summit over Britain's trade links with the US and other countries after it leaves the EU. President Obama said the US would prioritise trade negotiations with the EU and Pacific nations over a UK deal. Japan has warned of "drastic changes" after Brexit and said the potentially "harmful effects" must be minimised. But Mrs May has insisted that the UK can prosper outside the EU and become a "global leader in free trade". Mrs May is also facing questions over Chinese investment in the UK ahead of a meeting with leader Xi Xinping later. Asked whether she "trusted" the Chinese government - amid claims she is reviewing China's planned investment in a new nuclear reactor in Hinkley Point on security grounds - she said the UK "had a relationship" with China she wanted to build on.

All details above from BBC News website.

[It’s interesting, now that the Labour Party is starting to get things back together again, that the Tories seem to be laying into each other over David Cameron’s real reasons for leaving and the new Prime Minister’s ‘luke-warm’ Remain credentials. Of course this is likely to be a mixture of political smokescreen, playing to various audiences and a repositioning of Teresa May as more pro-Brexit than she probably is in order to calm things down and stop it spinning out of control. I guess that the PM need to walk a fairly narrow tightrope of doing things properly with enough planning whilst moving fast enough for the Euro sceptics in the hope of preventing any kind of backbench revolt. It’s not easy being PM!]