PMQs: Sajid Javid warns PM he must not stop cabinet ministers 'speaking truth to power' - live news

Barnier has finished his speech. He is now taking questions.

Q: Has anything surprised you in the Brexit negotiations so far?

Barnier says what was surprising was that the PM could not reach a majority for a deal.

He says he once asked Nigel Farage what his vision was for life after Brexit. He says Farage told him that after Brexit the EU would no longer exist. He says that showed that, for some people behind Brexit, they wanted to use it to destroy the EU.

He says he is surprised by how far the British government has moved from its previous commitments (ie, in the Northern Irish protocol and in the political declaration). But the EU will have to check this in the coming days and weeks, he says.

Q: You say you think the British government is distancing itself from the withdrawal agreement, and what it said about Ireland. Do you think Ireland could unite in the coming years, and Northern Ireland rejoin the EU that way?

Barnier says he listens to everybody, including people from Northern Ireland and from Scotland. But he does not want to intervene in the national debate in the UK.

Q: What are the changes since 1973 that led to the UK leaving the EU?

Barnier says the UK joined the EEC mainly for trade reasons. But for Europeans, the EU is more than a supermarket, or a free trade zone. It has become an economic ecosystem. And that is why China and the US respect the EU, he says. That is why the EU will never let it unravel.

He says there are specific British reasons for Brexit. But there are common popular views. There are many British regions where was is behind Brexit is “social anger”, and the feeling that the EU does not protect people. Politicians must take the time to listen, to understand and to respond, he says. He says it is too late to do this in Britain, but not elsewhere.

And he says you should not confuse this popular sentiment with populism. Populism used this sentiment, he says.

And he says there are answers to people’s concerns.

Q: How will the EU make up for the loss of the UK’s contribution?

Barnier says the UK has been a net contributor to the EU budget. The loss amounts to 1% of the EU’s GDP, he says. But he says there is a huge and very difficult debate about the budget. This debate has never been easier, but it has been made harder by the departure of the UK. The gap amounts to €10bn.

Barnier has now switched to speaking in English.

He says trade is about more than boosting economic performance. It is also about maintaining and promoting high standards, he says.

He says the EU has heard Boris Johnson’s assurances about planning to never engage in a race to the bottom. Johnson says he has higher standards, he says. And Barnier says he believes Johnson on this.

He says that means it should be possible for the two sides to agree on ground rules.

The UK wants to be sovereign, Barnier says. He says the EU accepts that. But he says trade deals are about opening up markets.

There is no single template that could apply for a trade deal with the UK, he says.

He says the UK says it wants a Canada-style deal. “But the problem with that is that the UK is not Canada,” he says.

He says you can fly from Brussels to London in 70 minutes. The flight to Ottawa takes more than 10 hours, he says.

And he says trade with the UK is worth more than 10 times more than trade with Canada.

He says because the UK is on the EU’s doorstep, the EU will insist on a level playing field. Competition must be free and fair, he says.

That is why they want level playing field provisions, he says, covering state aid, environmental protection, climate change, social and labour rights and taxation.

Here are the key points from Sajid Javid’s resignation statement. It was not a Geoffrey Howe-style sabotage mission by any stretch of the imagination, and the tone of his remarks – and of Boris Johnson’s response – implied that a return to government at some point in the future may well be an option. But Javid did deliver two messages that sounded like polite but firm warnings about the direction in which Johnson is leading his government.

• Javid said Johnson should not try to stop his ministers “speaking truth to power”. Javid resigned in the reshuffle because Johnson said he could only stay at the Treasury if he agreed to sack some of his advisers and replace them with officials jointly appointed by No 10. Javid said he thought that was unreasonable. He said:

It has always been the case that advisers advise, minsters decide and minsters decide on their advisers. I couldn’t see why the Treasury, with the vital role that it plays, should be the exception to that.

More importantly, Javid suggested that Johnson would not be able to govern properly if he was not exposed to independent advice from his ministers. He said:

A chancellor, like all cabinet ministers, has to be able to give candid advice so he is speaking truth to power. I believe that the arrangement proposed would significantly inhibit that and it would not have been in the national interest.

So while I was grateful for the continued trust of the prime minister in wanting to reappoint me, I am afraid that these were conditions that I could not accept in good conscience.

• Javid made it clear that he held Dominic Cummings, the PM’s chief adviser, responsible for what happened. He made this point by means of a joke. He said:

Now I don’t intend to dwell further on all the details and the personalities ... the Cummings and goings if you will.

Perhaps that line also contains a hint that Javid was expressing a hope that Cummings himself would be going quite soon.

• Javid backed Rishi Sunak, his successor. He said:

I very much hope that the new chancellor will be given space to do his job without fear or favour. And I know that [Sunak] is more than capable of rising to the challenge.

On the day of his resignation Javid said that “any self-respecting minister” would reject the conditions imposed by Johnson, implying that Sunak was not a self-respecting minister. Javid did not use the same line today, and his complimentary comments about Sunak sounded genuine.

• Javid said it would be a mistake for Johnson to water down the commitments given in the Tory manifesto about reducing the national debt. He said:

The prime minister has won a huge mandate to transform our country and already he is off to a great start - ending the parliamentary paralysis, defeating the radical left, getting Brexit done, a points-based immigration system and an infrastructure revolution.

We need a resolute focus on long-term outcomes and delivery, not short-term headlines. The Treasury as an institution, as an economic ministry should be the engine that drives this new agenda.

But the Treasury must also be allowed to play its role as a finance ministry with the strength and credibility that it requires.

You see, I’m a proud, low-tax Conservative and I always will be. Already our tax burden is the highest it has been in 50 years.

It is fair to say not everyone at the centre of government always feels the pressure to balance the books. It was ever thus.

But the Treasury has a job to do. It is the only tax-cutting ministry. Every other department has an in-built incentive to seek and to spend ever more money ...

At a time when we need to do much to level up across generations it would not be right to pass the bill for our day-to-day consumption to our children and grandchildren.

And unlike the US, we don’t have the fiscal flexibility that comes with a reserve currency, so that’s why the fiscal rules that we are elected on are critical.

To govern is to choose, and these rules crystallise the choices that are required to keep spending under control, to keep taxes low, to root out waste and to pass that fitness test that was rightfully set in stone in our manifesto on debt being lower at the end of the parliament.

This passage was a reference to speculation that Johnson and his new chancellor may abandon the fiscal rules announced by Javid during the general election. The Tory manifesto specifically said that under the Conservatives “debt will be lower at the end of the parliament – rather than spiralling out of control under Labour.”

Javid says he wants to explain why he resigned.

He thanks MPs who have supported him, and he thanks his family.

He came into politics to give something back, he says.

He says he hopes he has more to contribute to public life.

He ran four departments, he says. Each taught him something.

He never took a decision that he did not think to be in the national interest, he says.

He says this country is strong because of its institutions. Conservatives believe that no one person has a monopoly on good ideas, he says.

He says there is no one model for the No 10/No 11 relationship. That relationship should depend on “mutual trust”, he says. It should be the case that “advisers advise, ministers decide, and ministers decide on their advisers”.

He says the chancellor must be able to give candid advice to the PM, and to “speak truth unto power”.

He says he could not stay as chancellor because the conditions imposed by the PM would not make this possible.

He will not dwell any more on this – on “the Cummings and goings, if you will”, he jokes.

He says the new chancellor must be allowed to do his job. Rishi Sunak is capable of rising to the challenge, he says.