The EUCO “all four freedoms” line is not for show. I seen draft and it was an addition. It means they are determined for showdown w Boris

News: EU Council also to insist no negotiations of any kind without A50 and firmed up wording to make that categoric from earlier draft

The journalist Paul Mason says the EU leaders beefed up the draft of the communique they issued at the end of their “EU27” meeting today (the one Britain was not invited to) to make it clear they they will fight any attempt by David Cameron’s successor to try to get access to the single market while not allowing free movement.

This could be significant if the NEC ends up having to rule on matters relating to the expected leadership contest, such was whether or not Jeremy Corbyn needs the backing of 50 MPs and MEPs to stand.

Ken Livingstone has announced he has given up his seat on Labour’s national executive committee. He was not able attend because he was suspended, and he will be replaced by another Corbynite.

BBC2’s Newsnight has contacted 50 constituency Labour party chairs and secretaries who backed Jeremy Corbyn last year. Of those, 45 still support Corbyn. “Many we spoke to were nothing short of incensed at the antics of the party’s MPs,” Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall writes.

Tom Watson is saying that he won’t stand against Jeremy Corbyn , but that there will be a contest. That means it will almost certainly be Corbyn v Angela Eagle (assuming Corbyn continues to refuse to resign).

Party sources in Edinburgh admit that appointing Dugdale would be complicated: Corbyn would need to appoint a constitution or UK nations spokesman to speak in the Commons. They said Corbyn said the proposal was interesting, but no action has been taken.

Murray, an open critic of Corbyn’s leadership but Labour’s only MP in Scotland, was in the first wave of shadow cabinet resignations on Sunday, calling on Corbyn to resign as UK leader.

An ally of Murray’s, Dugdale told Corbyn it would be “unacceptable” for Scottish Labour not to have direct representation in the shadow cabinet, despite there being no other MP available in Scotland.

Dugdale told Corbyn she would be extremely unhappy if the UK Labour leader appointed a non-Scottish MP or peer to the vacancy, during a series of text conversations and then a phone call on Monday.

With further announcements on Corbyn’s shadow cabinet thought to be imminent, the post is one of a handful which Corbyn has yet to fill. The disclosures from party sources shed further light on the cause of the delay replacing Murray – the only Labour MP left in Scotland.

The Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale told Jeremy Corbyn she would take on the vacant post as shadow Scottish secretary on Labour’s cabinet in a bid to fill the vacuum left by Ian Murray’s resignation on Sunday, party sources have told the Guardian.

Sarah Vine's leaked email - Analysis

Sarah Vine’s leaked email (see 4.41pm) is short, and there is very little detail or context in it, but nevertheless it is hugely revealing. Here is a paragraph-by-paragraph snap analysis.

Very important that we focus on the individual obstacles and thoroughly overcome them before moving to the next. I really think Michael needs to have a Henry or a Beth with him for this morning’s crucial meetings.

Analysis: That “we” is very telling. There is nothing unusual about a wife, or husband, offering their spouse support but that “we” suggests that the Gove/Vine operation is something of a duopoly. It is very House of Cards. Or, as Sky’s Kay Burley has said slightly less charitably, it makes Sarah Vine sound rather like Lady Macbeth.

The references to Henry and Beth are to Gove’s special advisers, Henry Cook, Henry Newman and Beth Armstrong. It is normal for cabinet ministers to take their advisers with them into meetings but there is a suggestion here that Gove needs to have someone sitting alongside him to strengthen his resolve. (This is surprising. Of the many complaints about Gove as a minister, lack of steel is not one. It is not spelt who the meetings are with, but they may well be Boris Johnson, and perhaps Gove finds it harder saying no to Johnson than he did to government colleagues.)

One simple message: You MUST have SPECIFIC assurances from Boris OTHERWISE you cannot guarantee your support. The details can be worked out later on, but without that you have no leverage.

Analysis: This is where Vine sets out the Gove/Vine negotiation red line. Sadly, the email does not say what those specific assurances are. A job? A policy commitment? Or perhaps both? But the key point is that Vine is describing this as a transaction. And she is also implying that Johnson cannot be trusted; the assurances have to be “specific” otherwise Johnson will not be bound by them. (Students of Boris Johnson would point out that even if Johnson has made a specific promise, that is no guarantee that he will keep it, but that’s another story.) And those capital letters are worth noting too. It is the epistolary equivalent of a rant. (At the risk of sounding like Kay Burley, Lady Macbeth would have typed her messages in caps if they had had email in 11th-century Scotland.)

Crucially, the membership will not have the necessary reassurance to back Boris, neither will Dacre/Murdoch, who instinctively dislike Boris but trust your ability enough to support a Boris Gove ticket.

Analysis: This reinforces the point about Johnson being untrustworthy. Vine’s claim that the party membership will need reassurance to back Johnson is surprising, because the regular ConservativeHome survey shows that members do support Johnson. But Vine is surely right when she talks about Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre (the editor of the Daily Mail). Vine used to work at the Times, and now works for the Mail, and therefore surely knows the internal politics of both media groups extremely well. Murdoch is known to be a strong supporter of Gove’s, and it is thought that Dacre rates him highly too (although the Mail may have its doubts about Gove’s liberal prisons agenda). The crucial claim is that Murdoch and Dacre “instinctively dislike” Johnson. If this is true, in Dacre’s case it may be because of Johnson’s womanising, and in Murdoch’s case it may be because of Johnson’s core liberalism. Vine says Gove’s key value to Johnson is his ability to win over Britain’s two most powerful press barons. Who said the power of the press was waning?

Do not concede any ground. Be your stubborn best.

Analysis: Or, as Lady M put it, “Screw your courage to the sticking place.” Kay Burley’s comparison seems more and more apt.

GOOD LUCK.

Analysis: Those caps seem to say: this matters. Gove himself may play down his personal ambition, but someone else in his household seems to be very ambitious on his behalf.

Updated at 12.09 EST