Political news

• Ben Jennings on the Stoke byelection – cartoon

  19-02-2017 23:26
  
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• EU targets UK’s €60bn exit bill before trade talks

  19-02-2017 21:53 via ft.com
  Divorce-first approach a setback for Britain’s hopes of fast-track deal
  
  Read more

• Paul Nuttall's Website Is Still Offline - So Here's Five Posts From It On The NHS, Abortion And More

  19-02-2017 21:23
  
  It’s been four days since the official website of under-fire Ukip leader Paul Nuttall was taken down for “scheduled maintenance” amid the controversy of his Hillsborough claims - and there’s no sign of its return.The site was where it was suggested the MEP had “lost personal friends” in the Hillsborough football disaster, a claim he revealed to Radio City in Liverpool last week was “wrong”.
  His press officer Lynda Roughley took the blame for
  
  Read more

• Treasury to push on with business rate changes

  19-02-2017 20:29 via ft.com
  Revaluation to go ahead in April despite investment warnings
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Trump’s fragile male ego craves the dangerous drug of adulation | Joan Smith

  19-02-2017 19:49
  
  The president’s hyped-up behaviour at his Florida rally was an alarming display of his neediness. Maybe he should have his own theme parkTherapy has never been so expensive. At the weekend, it cost American taxpayers millions of dollars to fly Donald Trump down to Florida so he could hold a session with thousands of adoring fans after another trying week in the White House. At a cost of roughly $3m per trip, it would have been cheaper to hire Dr Freud but, sadly, aides who tried to contact
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on the Northern Ireland election: vote to keep the border soft | Editorial

  19-02-2017 19:38
  
  The assembly elections on 2 March were not necessary. But they give voters the opportunity to demand fresh thinking about Brexit’s impact on the Irish borderBritain’s political parties await Thursday’s two byelections with anxiety. Politicians from Theresa May down have campaigned in them. On all sides, large conclusions about Britain’s Brexit-dominated politics will be read into the two results. For all that, the contests in Copeland and Stoke Central will do well to att
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on vocational education: choice at 14 is not working | Editorial

  19-02-2017 19:33
  
  Few dispute the importance of better vocational education pathways. But the current system is failing and should be revisitedEngland’s beleaguered vocational education system has been subjected to wave after wave of reform. Yet improving the quality of technical education has eluded governments of all colours. University technical colleges (UTCs) are only the latest example of a shiny innovation that ran on to the rocks. Seven UTCs have now announced they are closing their doors, and Micha
  
  Read more

• Kraft case showed limits to UK’s power to intervene

  19-02-2017 19:28 via ft.com
  Unilever approach was warning shot to May after takeover pledge
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Corbyn allies insist byelections will not challenge his leadership

  19-02-2017 19:02
  
  Supporters are confident of victories in Stoke and Copeland, but say losses would not threaten the Labour leaderAllies of Jeremy Corbyn have insisted his leadership will continue if Labour loses one or both byelections in Stoke-on-Trent and Copeland on Thursday.The party is optimistic of hanging on in both contests, triggered by the resignations of two sitting MPs, Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed, to take up new jobs. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Piers Morgan Pulls Out Of Hosting 'Royal Television Society' Awards After Backlash

  19-02-2017 18:52
  
  Piers Morgan has pulled out of hosting a television awards ceremony following a social media backlash over the “inappropriate” choice for the job.
  The Good Morning Britain presenter, who has drawn criticism for his support of US President Donald Trump, was lined up to host the Royal Television Society (RTS) awards, a celebration of British television.We are thrilled to announce the host for the RTS Programme Awards will be @GMB's @piersmorgan https://t.co/njmVLN74jA pic.twitter
  
  Read more

• The conundrum of Theresa May’s Great Repeal Bill

  19-02-2017 18:24 via ft.com
  The prime minister has to decide what she wants from Brexit
  
  Read more

• Theresa May: The Enigmatic Prime Minister by Rosa Prince – digested read

  19-02-2017 18:00
  
  ‘I’d better not say how boring she was at Oxford,’ says a cabinet colleague, ‘in case I get sacked’It was 10am on Monday 11 July 2016 and Theresa May was preparing to launch her leadership campaign in Birmingham when Fiona Hill entered the room where she was sitting with her husband, Phil, to tell her that Andrea Leadsom was on the phone. May told everyone to leave before taking the call and then went on stage to deliver her speech. Only at the end did she tell ever
  
  Read more

• Home Office agrees to review asylum claims of child refugees in France

  19-02-2017 17:52
  
  Cases of children with direct family links to UK will be reconsidered, as refugees return to Calais to try to cross ChannelThe Home Office has agreed to review asylum applications from child refugees in France after it emerged that several had returned to the site of the former Calais camp in a renewed effort to make the crossing to the UK.
  One teenager who arrived in London this weekend after hiding beneath a coach at the port told the Guardian that increasing numbers of children in French rece
  
  Read more

• EU pushes back on Brexit trade talks until next year

  19-02-2017 17:35 via ft.com
  Divorce-first approach will hurt UK’s plans for a fast-track deal
  
  Read more

• Stop Trump group aims for biggest protests in UK history

  19-02-2017 15:08
  
  Group has hired a staff member to coordinate plans for demonstrations during president’s state visitActivists, MPs and trade unions have vowed to hold the biggest demonstrations in UK history, outstripping the Iraq war protests, when Donald Trump makes his state visit later this year, and will kick off a programme of opposition to the US president with a migrant solidarity rally on Monday.
  The Stop Trump coalition has hired a permanent staff member to coordinate protest efforts, with &poun
  
  Read more

• Sunday Show Round-Up: Diane Abbott, Peter Mandelson And Liz Truss

  19-02-2017 14:21
  
  The Andrew Marr Show
  Ahead of the Article 50 Notification Bill being debated in the Lords this week, Peter Mandelson took to the Andrew Marr Show to rattle some cages.
  The former Cabinet Minister and EU Trade Commissioner urged his colleagues in the Upper House not to “throw in the towel” over Brexit, and warned Theresa May she faced a defeat on two amendments: guaranteeing the status of EU migrants in the UK and giving Parliament a meaningful vote on the negotiation.
  He also warned
  
  Read more

• May orders officials to examine Unilever bid

  19-02-2017 13:43 via ft.com
  The $143bn approach is a big test for the prime minister’s industrial policy
  
  Read more

• Diane Abbott on abuse of MPs: 'My staff try not to let me go out alone'

  19-02-2017 13:28
  
  Shadow home secretary says abuse is demoralising and calls for inquiry into how social media firms tackle hate speechDiane Abbott has revealed her staff try not to let her walk around her Hackney constituency alone after the murder of fellow Labour MP Jo Cox, as she called for parliament to consider launching an inquiry into racist and sexist abuse of MPs.The shadow home secretary, who in 1987 became the first black woman to be elected as an MP, said she had been personally affected by the scale
  
  Read more

• Diane Abbott Reveals True Extent Of Racial And Misogynistic Abuse As She Calls For Inquiry

  19-02-2017 13:04
  
   Warning: This article contains strong language.@HackneyAbbott says the level of abuse she is receiving on an "almost daily" basis has forced her to speak out https://t.co/JF2nY5SHwU— SophyRidge On Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 19, 2017
  Diane Abbott today called for an inquiry into the “turbo-charged” racist and sexist abuse she and others in politics receive on an “almost daily basis.”
  The Shadow Home Secretary this morning revealed the vile abuse she has b
  
  Read more

• Prison officers' union dismisses pay rise as 'plaster over a wound'

  19-02-2017 12:30
  
  Liz Truss’s plan to pay frontline staff in south-east jails up to £5,000 more will not help a system in meltdown, says unionA pay rise for prison officers unveiled by the justice secretary will not help a system that is in “meltdown” and is like “placing a plaster over a gaping wound”, according to the prison officers’ union.Liz Truss announced that thousands of prison staff would receive a pay rise in a drive to increase staffing levels, as the governme
  
  Read more

• Lords Will Defeat The Government Over Brexit, Mandelson Warns

  19-02-2017 12:19
  
  Theresa May’s is set for a fresh battle over Brexit this week as Lord Mandelson confirmed peers are primed to defeat the Government on two key measures.
  The former Labour Cabinet Minister today called on his House of Lords colleagues not to “throw in the towel” over Brexit, and predicted the Government could lose votes on the rights of EU citizens to stay in the UK and giving Parliament a meaningful vote on the negotiation.
  Both measures were defeated by May when the Brexit Bil
  
  Read more

• Pro-EU politicians must show courage to oppose Brexit, says Mandelson

  19-02-2017 12:16
  
  New Labour architect and peer says the government’s pursuit of leaving the bloc at any cost must be challengedPro-EU politicians need to show more courage in opposing Brexit, Peter Mandelson has said, as he urged the public to donate in support of Tony Blair’s call for an uprising against leaving the bloc.Lord Mandelson, who was one of the architects of New Labour, said many people were feeling bulldozed into a Brexit they did not vote for, adding that the government’s pursuit
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump Urges Supporters To 'Take Back Control', Points To Brexit As An Example

  19-02-2017 10:40
  
  Donald Trump adopted the mantra of Vote Leave during his rally in Florida on Saturday night, pointing to Brexit as an example of people “taking back control”.
  Last night’s speech was clumsy and confusing at times, with the US President seemingly inventing a terror attack in Sweden and launching another vicious tirade against the media.
  Trump, who proudly labelled himself ‘Mr Brexit’ following the EU Referendum result, has made no secret of his friendship with former
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump speaks to the media

  19-02-2017 01:05
  
  Chris Riddell on the US president’s infamous press conference Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!